Ophiolites in the Central Asian Orogenic Belt record Cambrian subduction initiation processes
Abstract Subduction initiation remains elusive because no present example exists. Ophiolites formed over nascent subduction zones in the past provide the key to constraining the processes of subduction initiation. Here we document three Cambrian ophiolites with supra-subduction zone affinity, which...
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| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2024-12-01
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| Series: | Communications Earth & Environment |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-024-01905-7 |
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| author | Mingshuai Zhu Daniel Pastor–Galán Matthijs A. Smit Laicheng Miao Miao Dong Fuqin Zhang Dorjgochoo Sanchir Ariuntsetseg Ganbat Chenghao Liu Ye Luo Shun Li |
| author_facet | Mingshuai Zhu Daniel Pastor–Galán Matthijs A. Smit Laicheng Miao Miao Dong Fuqin Zhang Dorjgochoo Sanchir Ariuntsetseg Ganbat Chenghao Liu Ye Luo Shun Li |
| author_sort | Mingshuai Zhu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Subduction initiation remains elusive because no present example exists. Ophiolites formed over nascent subduction zones in the past provide the key to constraining the processes of subduction initiation. Here we document three Cambrian ophiolites with supra-subduction zone affinity, which likely reflect the inception of a plate-boundary scale subduction zone within the Paleo-Asian Ocean. Our findings, together with a compilation of Cambrian ophiolites in the Central Asian Orogenic Belt, indicate diachronous subduction initiation(s) along a > 6000 kilometer zone within the Paleo-Asian Ocean between 536 and 528 million years ago. The subduction initiation of the Paleo-Asian Ocean coincides with the closure of the Mirovoi Ocean following the collision of a series of microcontinents with the Siberian craton, likely representing a typical record of collision-induced subduction jump. Our observations and numerical modeling provide a new scenario that subduction initiations would locate at oceanic weak zones rather than passive margins of accreted microcontinents during collision-induced subduction process. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-c69b5c6e9e554d6e9e24c14809fd5122 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2662-4435 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-12-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Communications Earth & Environment |
| spelling | doaj-art-c69b5c6e9e554d6e9e24c14809fd51222024-12-08T12:46:56ZengNature PortfolioCommunications Earth & Environment2662-44352024-12-015111210.1038/s43247-024-01905-7Ophiolites in the Central Asian Orogenic Belt record Cambrian subduction initiation processesMingshuai Zhu0Daniel Pastor–Galán1Matthijs A. Smit2Laicheng Miao3Miao Dong4Fuqin Zhang5Dorjgochoo Sanchir6Ariuntsetseg Ganbat7Chenghao Liu8Ye Luo9Shun Li10State Key Laboratory of Lithospheric and Environmental Coevolution, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of SciencesInstituto de Geociencias, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones CientíficasDepartment of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, University of British Columbia, 2020–2207 Main MallState Key Laboratory of Lithospheric and Environmental Coevolution, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of SciencesKey Laboratory of Petroleum Resource Research, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of SciencesState Key Laboratory of Lithospheric and Environmental Coevolution, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of SciencesState Key Laboratory of Lithospheric and Environmental Coevolution, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of SciencesDepartment of Mineralogy and Petrology, Georg-August-University GöttingenState Key Laboratory of Lithospheric and Environmental Coevolution, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of SciencesState Key Laboratory of Lithospheric and Environmental Coevolution, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of SciencesSchool of Oceanography, Shanghai Jiao Tong UniversityAbstract Subduction initiation remains elusive because no present example exists. Ophiolites formed over nascent subduction zones in the past provide the key to constraining the processes of subduction initiation. Here we document three Cambrian ophiolites with supra-subduction zone affinity, which likely reflect the inception of a plate-boundary scale subduction zone within the Paleo-Asian Ocean. Our findings, together with a compilation of Cambrian ophiolites in the Central Asian Orogenic Belt, indicate diachronous subduction initiation(s) along a > 6000 kilometer zone within the Paleo-Asian Ocean between 536 and 528 million years ago. The subduction initiation of the Paleo-Asian Ocean coincides with the closure of the Mirovoi Ocean following the collision of a series of microcontinents with the Siberian craton, likely representing a typical record of collision-induced subduction jump. Our observations and numerical modeling provide a new scenario that subduction initiations would locate at oceanic weak zones rather than passive margins of accreted microcontinents during collision-induced subduction process.https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-024-01905-7 |
| spellingShingle | Mingshuai Zhu Daniel Pastor–Galán Matthijs A. Smit Laicheng Miao Miao Dong Fuqin Zhang Dorjgochoo Sanchir Ariuntsetseg Ganbat Chenghao Liu Ye Luo Shun Li Ophiolites in the Central Asian Orogenic Belt record Cambrian subduction initiation processes Communications Earth & Environment |
| title | Ophiolites in the Central Asian Orogenic Belt record Cambrian subduction initiation processes |
| title_full | Ophiolites in the Central Asian Orogenic Belt record Cambrian subduction initiation processes |
| title_fullStr | Ophiolites in the Central Asian Orogenic Belt record Cambrian subduction initiation processes |
| title_full_unstemmed | Ophiolites in the Central Asian Orogenic Belt record Cambrian subduction initiation processes |
| title_short | Ophiolites in the Central Asian Orogenic Belt record Cambrian subduction initiation processes |
| title_sort | ophiolites in the central asian orogenic belt record cambrian subduction initiation processes |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-024-01905-7 |
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