Final closure of the Paleo-Asian Ocean along the Solonker Suture Zone: Constraints from geochronological and geochemical data of Permian volcanic and sedimentary rocks

There is a broad consensus that the Solonker Suture Zone marks the final closure of the Paleo-Asian Ocean, which led to the formation of the eastern segment of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt. However, when and how the final closure occurred still remains controversial. To address this issue, provenance analysis of Permian sedimentary rocks of arc basins along the Xar Moron River was carried out. Geochemical analysis revealed a close relationship between the sedimentary and volcanic rock suite in the study region suggesting short transport distances and a complex convergent arc setting. Detrital zircon U-Pb analysis identified two major age provenances: (1) the Precambrian basement of the North China Craton (similar to 2497 Ma and similar to 1844 Ma) and (2) the Paleozoic Southern Accretionary Orogen along the northern margin of North China (similar to 436 Ma and similar to 269 Ma). The present locations of identified age provenances indicate southward subduction beneath the northern margin of North China. A comparison of the youngest age population in the sedimentary rocks with U-Pb ages obtained for subduction-related volcanic rocks implies that the Solonker Suture Zone formed from the Late Permian to Early Triassic. The results of our study advocate a complex Permian arc system which was probably similar to present-day Southeast Asia.