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Late Carboniferous high-pressure metamorphism of the Kassan Metamorphic Complex (Kyrgyz Tianshan) and assembly of the SW Central Asian Orogenic Belt

Mühlberg M, Hegner E, Klemd R, Pfänder JA, Kaliwoda M, Biske YS (2016)

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Publication Language: English

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2016

Journal

Book Volume: 264

Pages Range: 41-55

DOI: 10.1016/j.lithos.2016.08.008

Abstract

High-pressure (HP) metamorphism of the Kassan Metamorphic Complex (KMC) in the western Kyrgyz Tianshan has been related to either late Ordovician or late Carboniferous-Permian subduction processes. We report Sm-Nd ages for retrogressed eclogite samples and 40Ar/39Ar cooling ages for enclosing garnet-muscovite samples from the KMC as new age constraints on HP metamorphism and rock exhumation. These data will be used for an upgraded paleogeographic model for late Paleozoic crustal consolidation in the southwestern Central Asian Orogenic Belt. The retrogressed eclogite samples have transitional alkaline to tholeiitic affinity and trace-elementpatterns consistent with protoliths derived from garnet-bearing mantle sources at rifting plate margins. Geothermobarometric data for a retrogressed eclogite sample indicate peak-metamorphic conditions of 540 ± 30 °C at 1.6 ± 0.1 GPa. Samples from different lithotectonic units of the KMC provide coherent Sm-Nd garnet-whole rock ages of 317 ± 4 Ma and 316 ± 3 Ma (2σ). The prograde major-element zoning in the mm-sized garnets in combination with the moderate peak-metamorphic temperature, support our interpretation of the Sm-Nd garnet ages as unambiguous evidence for late Carboniferous HP metamorphism. The Sm-Nd garnet growth ages overlap within-error with the 40Ar/39Ar mica cooling ages of 314 ± 2 Ma and 313 ± 2 Ma (2σ) indicating rapid uplift of the subduction complex after peak metamorphism. The ca. 317-313 Ma HP-exhumation event of the KMC is contemporaneous with those of the Atbashi and Akeyazi (ca. 500 km east in NW China) HP complexes and implies similar collision histories at the South Tianshan Suture to the east and west of the Talas-Fergana Fault (TFF). The exhumation of the KMC and Atbashi HP complexes overlaps with the initiation of the TFF (Rolland et al., 2013) suggesting incipient separation of the Chatkal and Atbashi complexes during rock exhumation and early plate collision.

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APA:

Mühlberg, M., Hegner, E., Klemd, R., Pfänder, J.A., Kaliwoda, M., & Biske, Y.S. (2016). Late Carboniferous high-pressure metamorphism of the Kassan Metamorphic Complex (Kyrgyz Tianshan) and assembly of the SW Central Asian Orogenic Belt. Lithos, 264, 41-55. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.lithos.2016.08.008

MLA:

Mühlberg, Moritz, et al. "Late Carboniferous high-pressure metamorphism of the Kassan Metamorphic Complex (Kyrgyz Tianshan) and assembly of the SW Central Asian Orogenic Belt." Lithos 264 (2016): 41-55.

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