TY - JOUR
KW - accretionary wedges
KW - Chinese Altai
KW - crustal anatexis
KW - crustal differentiation
KW - Pacific-type granitoid magmatism
AU - Yingde Jiang
AU - Karel Schulmann
AU - Min Sun
AU - Pavla Štípská
AU - Alexandra Guy
AU - Vojtěch Janoušek
AU - Ondrej Lexa
AU - Chao Yuan
AB - Granitoid magmatism and its role in differentiation and stabilization of the Paleozoic accretionary wedge in the Chinese Altai are evaluated in this study. Voluminous Silurian-Devonian granitoids intruded a greywacke-dominated Ordovician sedimentary succession (the Habahe Group) of the accretionary wedge. The close temporal and spatial relationship between the regional anatexis and the formation of granitoids, as well as their geochemical similarities including rather unevolved Nd isotopic signatures and the strong enrichment of large-ion lithophile elements relative to many of the high field strength elements, may indicate that the granitoids are product of partial melting of the accretionary wedge rocks. Whole-rock geochemistry and pseudosection modeling show that regional anatexis of fertile sediments could have produced a large amount of melts compositionally similar to the granitoids. Such process could have left a high-density garnet- and/or garnet-pyroxene granulite residue in the deep crust, which can be the major reason for the gravity high over the Chinese Altai. Our results show that melting and crustal differentiation can transform accretionary wedge sediments into vertically stratified and stable continental crust. This may be a key mechanism contributing to the peripheral continental growth worldwide.
BT - Tectonics
DO - 10.1002/2016TC004271
N2 - Granitoid magmatism and its role in differentiation and stabilization of the Paleozoic accretionary wedge in the Chinese Altai are evaluated in this study. Voluminous Silurian-Devonian granitoids intruded a greywacke-dominated Ordovician sedimentary succession (the Habahe Group) of the accretionary wedge. The close temporal and spatial relationship between the regional anatexis and the formation of granitoids, as well as their geochemical similarities including rather unevolved Nd isotopic signatures and the strong enrichment of large-ion lithophile elements relative to many of the high field strength elements, may indicate that the granitoids are product of partial melting of the accretionary wedge rocks. Whole-rock geochemistry and pseudosection modeling show that regional anatexis of fertile sediments could have produced a large amount of melts compositionally similar to the granitoids. Such process could have left a high-density garnet- and/or garnet-pyroxene granulite residue in the deep crust, which can be the major reason for the gravity high over the Chinese Altai. Our results show that melting and crustal differentiation can transform accretionary wedge sediments into vertically stratified and stable continental crust. This may be a key mechanism contributing to the peripheral continental growth worldwide.
PY - 2016
EP - 3095–3118
T2 - Tectonics
TI - Anatexis of accretionary wedge, Pacific-type magmatism, and formation of vertically stratified continental crust in the Altai Orogenic Belt
UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/2016TC004271
VL - 35
SN - 1944-9194
ER -