U-Pb Dating and Lu-Hf Isotopes of Detrital Zircons From the Southern Sikhote-Alin Orogenic Belt, Russian Far East: Tectonic Implications for the Early Cretaceous Evolution of the Northwest Pacific Margin

Abstract

The Sikhote-Alin orogenic belt in Russian Far East is comprised of several N-S trending belts, including the Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous accretionary prisms and turbidite basin which are now separated by thrusts and strike-slip faults. The origin and collage of the belts have been studied for decades. However, the provenance of the belts remains unclear. Six sandstone samples were collected along a 200 km long east-west traverse across the major belts in the southern Sikhote-Alin for U-Pb dating and Lu-Hf isotope analysis to constrain the provenance and evaluate the evolution of the northwest Pacific margin at this time. The result reveals that the sediments from the main Samarka belt was mainly from the adjacent Bureya-Jiamusi-Khanka Block (BJKB); the eastern Samarka belt and the Zhuravlevka turbidite basin were supplied by detritus from both the North China Craton (NCC) and the BJKB; the Taukha belt was mainly fed by sediments from the NCC; whereas the data from the Sergeevka nappes are insufficient to resolve their provenance. In the Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous, collision and subduction was important in the initial collage of most belts in Sikhote-Alin. However, merely E-W trending collage cannot explain the increasing importance of the NCC provenance from west to east. It is proposed that the main Samarka belt was located adjacent to the BJKB when deposited, whereas the other belts were farther south to accept the materials from the NCC. Sinistral strike-slip faulting transported the eastern belts northward after their initial collage by thrusting.