Search

The Mongol‐Okhotsk suture and the Adaatsag ophiolite belt are associated with the closure of the Mongol‐Okhotsk paleo‐ocean and are located within the Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB) and Mongolia. The suture zone is flanked by volcanic‐plutonic belts that host significant metallogenic zones, containing deposits of copper and gold. The tectonic evolution of this region is not fully understood and the lithospheric structure has been poorly studied. We analyze magnetotelluric data and generate a model of the electrical resistivity distribution across this region. Whereas the northern segment has a sharp transition from a high‐resistivity upper crust to a low‐resistivity lower crust, as observed beneath the Hangai Dome, the southern segment does not show this transition. A wide, low‐resistivity zone (1–100 Ωm) imaged in the crust and lithospheric mantle is coincident with the Mongol‐Okhotsk suture and ophiolite, revealing a clear and significant lithospheric‐scale feature. Across the profile, numerous narrow, vertically oriented, low‐resistivity features (1–100 Ωm) are spatially associated remarkably well with the proposed boundaries of tectonic domains. These results confirm ideas about the development of the CAOB. Some of these low‐resistivity features are beneath the surface locations of large mineral zones, and likely represent fossil fluid pathways. We show congruent seismic velocity models for comparison and the results show a large‐scale low‐velocity anomaly (decrease of 2%–3%) that correlates with the location of the low‐resistivity anomaly below the Mongol‐Okhotsk suture. The geophysical results, combined with geological and geochemical data, provide insights into the structure of this region and help shed light on unanswered questions. Plain Language Summary: When the ancient Mongol‐Okhotsk ocean closed, due to subduction from tectonic re‐arrangement, it left the Mongol‐Okhotsk suture zone and the Adaatsag ophiolite as a trace of its location. Similarly, other tectonic boundaries are hypothesized to exist from terrane accretion across the Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB) and Central and Southern Mongolia, which is located between the Siberian and North China cratons. This region is also rich in economically significant copper and gold deposits. The tectonic evolution of this region and especially the lithospheric structure is not fully understood and has been poorly studied. We analyze magnetotelluric data and generate a model of the electrical resistivity distribution. Additionally, we show models of the seismic velocity for comparison. Examining multiple complementary geophysical models helps to reduce interpretation uncertainty. Anomalies are observed in both models (e.g., low resistivity and low velocity). The suture zone is proven to be a strong lithospheric‐scale boundary. The proposed boundaries of tectonic domains are also imaged, confirming ideas about the development of the CAOB, and solving some controversies. Key Points: Lithospheric‐scale, wide, low‐resistivity zone revealed below the ophiolite belt associated with the closure of the Mongol‐Okhotsk oceanVertical, narrow low‐resistivity features aligned with proposed tectonic boundaries and locations of large mineral zones (copper and gold)The northern part of central Mongolia has a sharp mid‐crustal transition from high to low resistivity, whereas the southern part does not [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The Gobi Altai region is an ideal setting for studying processes of continental growth and subsequent intracontinental and intraplate deformation, including terrane accretion and dispersal, ophiolite obduction, crustal reactivation and intraplate mountain building. To assess the diverse tectonic evolutionary models of the Gobi Altai and the wider region, more field data and geochronological data are required to constrain the tectonic evolution of individual terranes, and the relationship of adjacent crustal domains to each other throughout time. In this paper, we present new lithological, structural and 40Ar/39Ar age data, which constrain the crustal evolution across a previously unreported late Paleozoic terrane boundary in the Gobi-Altai. Nemegt and Altan Nuruu are topographically linked mountain ranges that were formed by Miocene-recent uplift at a right-stepping restraining bend along the left-lateral Gobi–Tien Shan Fault System in southern Mongolia. Ordovician–Carboniferous arc rocks and an ophiolite are exposed in the mountain ranges and form a small part of the east–west arcuate Trans-Altai Zone. Field observations of rock types and structures, combined with petrographic data are used to distinguish metamorphosed volcano-sedimentary arc rocks in Altan Nuruu and western Nemegt Nuruu from arc rocks in central and eastern Nemegt Nuruu. These distinct sequences are correlated with the Dzolen and Edrengin terranes in the Trans-Altai Zone along strike to the west. Integration of field data, 40Ar/39Ar age data and published studies are used to describe a polyphase deformation history that includes late Carboniferous ophiolite obduction, mid-Permian to late Triassic shortening and lateral terrane redistribution, Cretaceous rifting and late Cenozoic intraplate mountain building. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]