High-pressure complexes of Central Asian Fold Belt: geologic setting, geochemistry, and geodynamic implications

Blueschists are constituents of subduction-accretion complexes, where they occur either as separate tectonic slabs, slices, and lenses, or as exotic blocks in a melange. Often associated with ophiolites, blueschists are commonly metamorphosed members of ophiolite sections. Along with ophiolite, a typical component of high-pressure belts is alkaline ocean-island basalt comprehensively studied in the Uimon zone of Gorny Altai and Chara zone of Eastern Kazakhstan. This suggests active plume magmatism in the Early Paleozoic evolution of the Paleoasian Ocean. As inferred from sutures with high-pressure rocks, different parts of Paleoasian Ocean were closing successively. (C) 2007, IGM, Siberian Branch of the RAS. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.