As one of the major Phanerozoic orogenic systems on Earth, the huge Palaeo-Tethyan orogenic system along the southern Eurasian margin comprises the North Pamir, West Kunlun, East Kunlun, Qilian Shan, West Qinling and Songpan–Ganze orogenic belts. This Palaeo–Tethyan orogenic system, including associated suture zone (Tanymas suture, Mazar–Kangxiwa suture, Kunlun–A’nyemaqen suture and Jinshajiang suture) and adjacent basins, which was derived from the oceanic basin closure and terrane accretion during the convergence of Gondwana microplates (also called Cimmerian terranes) to the southern Eurasian, is the preeminent natural laboratory exploring tectonic frame and sedimentary evolution of the Northern Tibetan Plateau during the pre-Cenozoic. Understanding this tectonic evolution could provide better constraints on the assembling processes of the Cimmerian terranes and the interactions between the Cimmerian terranes and southern Eurasian margin, and it will also help reconstruct the pre–Cenozoic evolution history of East Asia.
Although important advances in understanding their formation and tectonic evolution have been made over the last decades, the following issues remain unresolved: (1) the timing of the initial subduction and subduction polarity; (2) the timing and geodynamic processes of Palaeo-Tethyan ocean closure, terrane collision and post-collisional extension; (3) the provenances, transport processes and tectonic implications of Permian-Triassic sedimentary basins in the northern Palaeo-Tethyan orogenic system; (4) the nature of the basement beneath the Palaeo-Tethyan orogen, such as the Songpan-Ganze orogenic belt. Therefore, summarizing the research progress of Permian-Triassic magmatism, sedimentation, metamorphism and mineralization in the northern Palaeo-Tethyan orogenic system along the southern Eurasian margin, and conducting comparative studies on other orogenic belts with similar tectonic settings, are helping understand those unresolved issues.
We welcome Original Research, Reviews, Methods, and other article types of contributions suited for this topic. We particularly encourage (but are not limited to) contributions of the following issues:
• Petrological and geochemical studies on the igneous and metamorphic rocks of the Palaeo–Tethyan orogenic belts in the Northern Tibet;
• Studies on the origin and emplacement of accretionary complex and ophiolite mélange in this huge Palaeo–Tethyan orogenic system;
• Provenance studies, source to sink relationships, and paleogeographic reconstructions of associated sedimentary basins;
• Permian–Triassic Palaeo–Tethyan orogeny-related mineralization and geodynamic processes along the southern Eurasian margin;
• Comparative studies on the classic collisional orogens and accretionary orogens in world scale, and orogenic-scale synthesis on the geodynamic processes in various orogens;
• Orogenesis processes and geodynamic reconstructions in the Northern Tibet Plateau.
As one of the major Phanerozoic orogenic systems on Earth, the huge Palaeo-Tethyan orogenic system along the southern Eurasian margin comprises the North Pamir, West Kunlun, East Kunlun, Qilian Shan, West Qinling and Songpan–Ganze orogenic belts. This Palaeo–Tethyan orogenic system, including associated suture zone (Tanymas suture, Mazar–Kangxiwa suture, Kunlun–A’nyemaqen suture and Jinshajiang suture) and adjacent basins, which was derived from the oceanic basin closure and terrane accretion during the convergence of Gondwana microplates (also called Cimmerian terranes) to the southern Eurasian, is the preeminent natural laboratory exploring tectonic frame and sedimentary evolution of the Northern Tibetan Plateau during the pre-Cenozoic. Understanding this tectonic evolution could provide better constraints on the assembling processes of the Cimmerian terranes and the interactions between the Cimmerian terranes and southern Eurasian margin, and it will also help reconstruct the pre–Cenozoic evolution history of East Asia.
Although important advances in understanding their formation and tectonic evolution have been made over the last decades, the following issues remain unresolved: (1) the timing of the initial subduction and subduction polarity; (2) the timing and geodynamic processes of Palaeo-Tethyan ocean closure, terrane collision and post-collisional extension; (3) the provenances, transport processes and tectonic implications of Permian-Triassic sedimentary basins in the northern Palaeo-Tethyan orogenic system; (4) the nature of the basement beneath the Palaeo-Tethyan orogen, such as the Songpan-Ganze orogenic belt. Therefore, summarizing the research progress of Permian-Triassic magmatism, sedimentation, metamorphism and mineralization in the northern Palaeo-Tethyan orogenic system along the southern Eurasian margin, and conducting comparative studies on other orogenic belts with similar tectonic settings, are helping understand those unresolved issues.
We welcome Original Research, Reviews, Methods, and other article types of contributions suited for this topic. We particularly encourage (but are not limited to) contributions of the following issues:
• Petrological and geochemical studies on the igneous and metamorphic rocks of the Palaeo–Tethyan orogenic belts in the Northern Tibet;
• Studies on the origin and emplacement of accretionary complex and ophiolite mélange in this huge Palaeo–Tethyan orogenic system;
• Provenance studies, source to sink relationships, and paleogeographic reconstructions of associated sedimentary basins;
• Permian–Triassic Palaeo–Tethyan orogeny-related mineralization and geodynamic processes along the southern Eurasian margin;
• Comparative studies on the classic collisional orogens and accretionary orogens in world scale, and orogenic-scale synthesis on the geodynamic processes in various orogens;
• Orogenesis processes and geodynamic reconstructions in the Northern Tibet Plateau.
