Mesozoic and Cenozoic collisional structures of the southern Great Altai

We suggest a model of the continental collisional framework of the southern Great Altai (Central Asia) produced by the convergence of the Tuva-Mongolia and Jonggaria terranes (microplates) during the latest Permian-Mesozoic and Cenozoic tectonic activity. The collisional structures in the region classified on the basis of their geometry and deformation style, dynamic metamorphism, and compositions of tectonites are of three main types: (i) mosaic terranes made up of large weakly deformed Paleozoic blocks separated by younger shear zones, (ii) collisional deformation systems involving post-Paleozoic structures, parallel faults oriented along collisional deformation systems, and relict lenses of Paleozoic orogenic complexes, and (iii) isolated zones of dynamic metamorphism composed mostly of collisional tectonites.