156 / 2015-08-03 18:39:35

Paleozoic sutures and prospects of mineral resources potential of basement of Uzbekistan

Present-day Central Asia is perhaps the best location to investigate compression tectonics resulting from multiphase continental collision. This zone is geologically complex, and is also the location of important mineral deposits. Subduction-related accretion in the Tien Shan paleooceanic basins, mainly in the Paleozoic, gave rise to the present 2400 km-long Tianshan orogenic collage that extends from the Aral Sea eastwards through Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, to Xinjiang in China. This paper presents a re-evaluation of the tectonic setting of the orogenic part of the Southern Tien Shan and parts of the Amu Darya basin based on seismic, gravity and magnetic data. Mantle-rooted structures represent pathways favorable for the transfer of heat, magma and ore-forming fluids towards the Earth’s surface. Such mantle-rooted structures usually observed in intersections of subduction zones with transverse faults where there are formed zones of increased permeability, serving as channels for mantle degassing and fluids relieve. Suture of Turkestan ocean is the boundary structure of the Southern Tien Shan with Kazakh microcontinent and suture of Gissar oceanic basin is the boundary structure of the Southern Tien Shan with Karakum - Tajik unit. Suture zone of Turkestan ocean is a zone of significant mineralisation, with recorded anomalies of gold, silver, copper and several other elements Suture zone of Gissar oceanic basin covered by Mesozoic rocks are associated with location of large deposits of hydrocarbons in Bukhara - Khiva - South-Western Gissar area.