U-Pb zircon age and geochemical constraints on tectonic evolution of the Paleozoic accretionary orogenic system in the Tongbai orogen, central China

The Tongbai orogen is located in a key tectonic position linking the Qinling orogen to the west and the Dabie-Sulu orogen to the east. This orogen comprises a Paleozoic accretionary orogenic system in the north and a Permo-Triassic collisional orogenic system in the south; hence it may serve as an ideal place to unravel the tectonic evolution from the initial oceanic subduction/accretion to the final continental collision between the Sino-Korean and Yangtze cratons. Pb zircon geochronology of metasedimentary and metaigneous rocks and geochemical characterization of metabasalts indicate a close genetic relationship between the individual tectonic units of the Paleozoic accretionary orogenic system: (1) the Kuanping Group as a Neoproterozoic-Ordovician subduction-accretion complex which received sediments from the Qinling microcontinent, (2) the Erlangping Group and Huanggang diorite-granodiorite complex as an Ordovician-Silurian island arc evolving from backarc basin, (3) the Qinling Group as a Precambrian microcontinent converted into continental arc during the Ordovician, (4) the Guishan Complex as a mixture of the Qinling continental arc and Devonian forearc sediments, and (5) the Nanwan Flysch as a Devonian forearc sequence deposited on the newly accreted active margin of the Sino-Korean craton. Consequently, the northern and southern boundaries of the Paleozoic accretionary orogenic system represent two sutures of the Qinling microcontinent with the Sino-Korean and Yangtze cratons. The new and previously published data reveal that the tectonic evolution of the Tongbai orogen involved a series of events from Ordovician-Early Silurian (ca. 490-440 Ma) oceanic subduction and arc magmatism, Silurian-Early Devonian (ca. 440-400 Ma) arccontinent collision, Carboniferous (ca. 340-310 Ma) oceanic subduction and accretion, Late Permian-Triassic (ca. 260-200 Ma) continental subduction and collision, to Cretaceous (ca. 140-90 Ma) extension and lateral eastward extrusion. The entire accretionary orogenic processes until the final collision between the Sino-Korean and Yangtze cratons may have lasted more than 200 Ma. (C) 2013 Published by Elsevier B.V.