Late Paleozoic tectono–metamorphic evolution of the Altai segment of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt: Constraints from metamorphic P–T pseudosection and zircon U–Pb dating of ultra-high-temperature granulite

Abstract

Ultra-high-temperature (UHT) granulite-facies rocks offer important constraints on crustal evolution processes and tectonic history of orogens. UHT granulites are generally rare in Phanerozoic orogens. In this study, we investigate the late Paleozoic pelitic UHT granulites from Altai in the western segment of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB). The diagnostic minerals in these rocks include high alumina orthopyroxene (Al2O3 up to 9.76 wt.%, and y(opx) = AlVI in orthopyroxene up to 0.21) coexisting with sillimanite and quartz, and low Zn spinel (ZnO = 1.85–2.50 wt.%) overgrowth with quartz. Cordierite corona separates sillimanite from orthopyroxene. The high alumina orthopyroxene is replaced by symplectites of low-alumina orthopyroxene (~5.80 wt.% Al2O3) and cordierite. These textural observations are consistent with a significant decompression following the peak UHT metamorphism. Phase equilibrium modeling using pseudosections and the y(opx) isopleths indicate an anti-clockwise P–T path for the exhumation of the Altai orogenic belt. The pre-peak assemblage of spinel + quartz in garnet is stable at high- to ultra-high-temperature and low-pressure conditions (P b 5.8 kbar at T ~ 900 °C). The peak P–T values recorded by high aluminium orthopyroxene is N940 °C and 7.8 to 10 kbar. Subsequent near-isothermal decompression occurred at 890 to 940 °C and 5 to 6 kbar. The final-stage cooling is recorded at 750 and 800 °C and 4 to 5 kbar accompanied by a decrease in the y(opx) values (0.11–0.12). In the UHT granulite, zircon grains are commonly enclosed within cordierite. The overgrowth rims of the zircon grains yield a weighted mean 206Pb/238U age of 277 ± 2 Ma using LA–ICP-MS zircon dating, which is interpreted to mark the timing of decompression and cooling. We propose that the anti-clockwise P–T path of the UHT granulite in the Altai orogenic belt could be related to an extensional event related to the sinistral strike-slip along the Irtish tectonic belt after the subduction and slab detachment during the convergence of the Kazakhstan–Junggar plate and the Siberian plate.