The western Central Asian Orogenic Belt: A window to accretionary orogenesis and continental growth

The architecture of accretionary orogens is a key to understand continental growth. Here we present an overview of the orogenic components and their amalgamation in the western Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB). The CAOB records the convergence and interactions among various types of orogenic components including the Japan-type, Mariana-type, and Alaska–Aleutian-type arc systems, as well as the active marginal sequences of the Siberia Craton, which incorporated wide accretionary complexes and accreted arcs and terranes. During construction of the CAOB, the Kazakhstan arc chain was characterized by multiple subduction, whereas the northern fringe of the Tarim Craton remained mostly as a passive margin. The multiple convergence and accretions among these various orogenic components generated huge orogenic collages in the late Paleozoic and even in the early Triassic, involving parallel amalgamation, circum-microcontinent amalgamation and oroclinal bending. The preservation of trapped basins played a significant role in orogenesis with some parts of the oceanic plate being subducted and others behaving as rigid units. The orogenesis in the CAOB was long-lived, lasting for more than 800 m.y., involving multiple-subduction and long, continuous accretion, and featuring the complexity of accretionary orogenesis and continent growth.