Early Cambrian eclogites in SW Mongolia: evidence that the Palaeo-Asian Ocean suture extends further east than expected
2010
Abstract
Newly discovered eclogites, Early Cambrian carbonates and chloritoid-bearing metapelites form the Tsakhir Uul accretionary wedge, which was thrust during the Early Cambrian over the Mesoproterozoic Dzabkhan-Baydrag continent. The rock association of the wedge forms a tectonic window emerging through the hangingwall Khantaishir ophiolite unit, which preserves a typical Tethyan-type ophiolitic sequence.
The P–T data, geochemistry of eclogites and cooling ages suggest an affinity between the Tsakhir Uul wedge and the Gorny Altai and the north Mongolian blueschist belt, which are believed typical for subduction of warm oceanic lithosphere and closure of small oceanic basins.