Polycyclic Andean-type orogenic evolution of the Dunhuang block in NW China: A result of Paleozoic reconfiguration of oceanic subduction systems

Despite numerous studies of metamorphic and magmatic rocks from the Dunhuang block, its protracted Cambrian to Permian geodynamic evolution as well as its role in the final amalgamation of the Tarim−North-China Craton Collage during the Pangea assembly, remain controversial. In order to understand the evolution of the Dunhuang block in the frame of Paleozoic plate tectonics, we review and synthetize recently published P−T data along with geochronological and geochemical data for its northern, central and southern mountain ranges, which we placed in the context of structural observations. Zircon and monazite U−Pb ages combined with P−T constraints determined for Ordovician to Devonian metamorphic rocks reveal that M₁ and M₂ metamorphic events define a clockwise P−T evolution and distinctly hot metamorphic gradients. Ordovician to Devonian protracted garnet growth evidenced by low (Yb/Gd)_N ratios in metamorphic zircon and monazite, together with low Th/U ratios, negative ε_Hf(t) and Eu anomalies in magmatic and metamorphic zircon, mark a period of continuous metamorphism accompanied by crustal reworking during thickening of a previously thermally softened crust. Zircon and monazite U−Pb ages suggest that the early Paleozoic D₁-M₁ and D₂-M₂ events started ca. 10 m.y. earlier and lasted longer in the northern and central ranges compared to the southern range consisting of significantly older crustal basement components. In all three mountain ranges, the formation of an E-W trending steep cleavage related to D₃-M₃ event was concomitant with emplacement of numerous late Devonian to Carboniferous diorites and I-type granitoids. The negative ε_Hf(t) of magmatic zircon and high (Yb/Gd)_N ratios in metamorphic zircon and monazite show that a magma-assisted N-S-directed shortening event responsible for further crustal reworking started in the late Devonian and lasted over 60 m.y. The latest Permian M₄ metamorphic event, restricted mainly to the southern range, defines anticlockwise P−T paths associated with the emplacement of high-K calc-alkaline granitoids. This event is characterized by the increasing from negative to positive zircon ε_Hf(t) values, suggesting input of juvenile crustal and mantle-derived material. High metamorphic gradients and the petrogenesis of magmatic arc-related rocks intruding a Precambrian basement suggest that the Dunhuang block developed as a supra-subduction continental hot orogenic system formed above subducting oceanic plates similar to the northern and southern margins of the American Cordillera. Our data show that its evolution was related to two kinematically independent early to middle and late Paleozoic orogenic cycles. In the context of plate tectonic reconstructions, the revised chronology of events points to the kinematic interplay between the continental blocks moving within the Proto-Tethys oceanic domain in association with the south-dipping Panthalassa, Paleo-Asian, and north-dipping Paleo-Tethys oceanic subduction systems.