DIACHRONOUS EVOLUTION OF BACK-ARC BASINS IN THE SOUTH TIANSHAN: INSIGHTS FROM STRUCTURAL, GEOCHRONOLOGICAL AND GEOCHEMICAL STUDIES OF THE WUWAMEN OPHIOLITE MÉLANGE

• Main Authors: Bo Wang, Yazhong Zhai, Paul Kapp, Koen de Jong, Linglin Zhong, Hongsheng Liu, Yuzhou Ma, Hujun Gong, Hongyan Geng
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Institute of the Earth's crust, Siberian Branch of RAS 2017-09-01
• Series: Geodinamika i Tektonofizika
• Online Access: https://www.gt-crust.ru/jour/article/view/438

The South Tianshan is located to the north of the Tarim block and defines the southern margin of the Paleozoic Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB). This study presents new structural data, geochronological and geochemical results for the Wuwamen ophiolite mélange in the Chinese segment of the South Tianshan. In the south, the Wuwamen ophiolite mélange shows typical block-in-matrix fabrics and occurs in the footwall of a south-dipping thrust fault, hanging wall of which is composed of weakly metamorphosed and deformed Lower Paleozoic marine to deep marine sequences from the South Tianshan. In the north, a southdipping thrust fault juxtaposes the Wuwamen ophiolite mélange in its hanging wall against the high-grade and strongly deformed metasedimentary rocks from the Central Tianshan in its footwall.