Seminar

The Western Kunlun Orogen sandwiches the Tarim Craton and Tibet Plateau, occupying a ley tectonic position at the junction between the Pan-Asia and the Tethyan tectonic domains.
It resulted from multiple subductions processes of Proto- and Paleo-Tethys oceanic plates and resultant collisions of Terranes. Tectonostratigraphically, it is subdivided into the North Kunlun, the South Kulun, the Tianhaishui and the Karakorum Terranes. The South Kunlun Terrane was inferred to be separated from the Tarim Craton by the Proto-Tethys Ocean during late Neoproterozoic or Paleozoic time. However, the opening, subduction and closure of Proto-Tethys Ocean are long-standing debates. To bring new answers to these longstanding debates, I investigate not only igneous rocks but also sedimentary strata along the Western Kunlun by a synthesis of petrology, geochemistry and geochronology