Late Paleozoic final closure of the Paleo-Asian Ocean in the eastern part of the Xing-Meng Orogenic Belt: Constrains from Carboniferous-Permian (meta-) sedimentary strata and (meta-) igneous rocks

- The majority of material in the XMOB is juvenile.
- The Solonker-Linxi suture marks the final closure location.
- Double-sided subduction of the PAO occurring during the Late Paleozoic.

Zircon U-Pb dating and whole-rock geochemical data for Carboniferous-Permian (meta-) sedimentary sequences, igneous rocks, and Precambrian amphibolite in the eastern Xing-Meng Orogenic Belt (XMOB) were used to constrain the final stage evolution and the position of closure of the Paleo-Asian Ocean (PAO). Detrital zircons from Late Paleozoic strata range in age from Archean to Late Paleozoic, with major age groups at ~ 1.0-0.7 Ga and ~ 0.5-0.25 Ga in the northern part and at ~ 2.7-2.5 Ga, ~ 2.1-1.8 Ga, and ~ 0.5-0.25 Ga in the southern part of the XMOB. Striking changes in zircon age distribution patterns indicate inputs to these strata were separated by the Paleo-Asian Ocean (PAO) in the Late Paleozoic. The PAO closed along the Solonker-Linxi suture. The Late Paleozoic formation ages (~ 346 Ma, ~ 303 Ma, and ~ 269 Ma) of the igneous rocks with arc-like geochemical features south to the PAO, together with previously published data on the regional igneous rocks and ophiolites, indicate double-side subduction of the PAO in the Late Paleozoic.