The Tarim Craton in the Northwest of China

The Tarim Craton (or Tarim Block) is geographically located in the Northwest of China and tectonically between the Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB) to the north and the Tethys to the south, which underwent a secular Precambrian evolution history from Ecoarchaean to Ediacaran. Owing to its marginal positions both in the Columbia (or Nuna) and Rodinia supercontinent configurations, it could play a key role in understanding the geodynamics of the assembly and break-up of the Precambrian supercontinents. This paper aims to present a critical review on the comprehensive synthesis of the Tarim Craton, detailing the Precambrian evolution processes and discussing its coupling with the Precambrian supercontinents. The Tarim Craton shows a typical plateform-like and double-layered structure, comprising the pre-middle Cryogenian basement with the middle Cryogenian-Ediacaran cover sequence. During its protracted basement evolution, diverse types and multiple stages of pre-Ediacaran intrusions were emplaced in the basement. Since Pleoproterozoic to early Cryogenian, crust reworking, rather than juvenile crust addition, played a key role in the final cratonization of its basement. Despite the final cratonization of the Tarim completed in the middle Cryogenian, both the bulk-rock Sm-Nd and zircon Lu-Hf isotope compositions demonstrated that its crust mainly formed in Archaean. Its characteristics of sedimentary features, metamorphic temporal-spatial architecture, the multiple phases and diverse types of intrusions reveal that the Tarim Craton is possibly composed of two main terranes with distinct features, i.e. the Northern Tarim Terrane (NTT) and the Southern Tarim Terrane (STT). It has been suggested that the STT could be a continental fragment that has drifted from West Africa, while the NTT shows a significant affinity with the India–North China Craton before Calymmian. Both were involved in the assembly and break-up of the Columbia supercontinent, and amalgamated during the assembly of the Rodinia. At the same time, it docked at the northern margin of Australia in the middle Cryogenian. Nevertheless, the subduction along the northern margin of the NTT continued at least until ca. 760 Ma. The voluminous 820–760 Ma diverse-type intrusions in the NTT have been ascribed to a genetic relation in the interaction between the circum-Rodinia subduction and the Rodinian superplume. The upwelling of the Rodinian superplume terminated the long-lasting subduction along the northern margin of the Tarim Craton. Since 740 Ma, being consistent with the break-up of the Rodinia, the Tarim Craton started drifting from the Rodinia supercontinent. The transition from signature to the passive continental margin of the middle Cryogenian-Ediacaran (for its cover sequences) rules out the possibility of the circum subduction along its northern margin lasting to early Palaeozoic. Additionally, with the Rodinia breaking up into the assembly of the Gondwana, the Tarim Craton, together with other continents in Eastern Asia, had docked at the margin of the Eastern Gondwana in early Palaeozoic.

塔里木克拉通（Tarim Craton，又称塔里木地块Tarim Block）地理上位于中国西北部，构造上北邻中亚造山带（Central Asian Orogenic Belt, CAOB）、南接特提斯洋，其经历了从始太古代至埃迪卡拉纪的前寒武纪长期演化历程。由于其在哥伦比亚（或努纳）超大陆与罗迪尼亚超大陆的构型中均处于边缘位置，该克拉通对于理解前寒武纪超大陆聚合与裂解的地球动力学机制具有关键研究价值。本文旨在对塔里木克拉通的综合研究成果开展批判性综述，详细阐述其前寒武纪演化过程，并探讨其与前寒武纪超大陆的耦合关系。塔里木克拉通呈现典型的台地型双层结构，由成冰纪中期之前的基底与成冰纪中期-埃迪卡拉纪的盖层序列共同组成。在漫长的基底演化过程中，基底内发育了多期次、多类型的前埃迪卡拉纪侵入体。从古元古代至成冰纪早期，地壳再造而非新生地壳增生在基底最终克拉通化过程中发挥了核心作用。尽管塔里木克拉通的最终克拉通化完成于成冰纪中期，但全岩Sm-Nd同位素与锆石Lu-Hf同位素组成均表明，其地壳主要形成于太古代。其沉积特征、变质时空格架，以及多期次、多类型侵入体的研究结果显示，塔里木克拉通可能由两个特征差异显著的主要地体组成，即北塔里木地体（Northern Tarim Terrane, NTT）与南塔里木地体（Southern Tarim Terrane, STT）。现有研究认为，南塔里木地体可能是源自西非的陆壳碎片，而北塔里木地体在固结纪之前与印度-华北克拉通具有密切亲缘关系。两个地体均参与了哥伦比亚超大陆的聚合与裂解过程，并在罗迪尼亚超大陆聚合阶段发生拼合；与此同时，北塔里木地体在成冰纪中期停靠于澳大利亚北缘。然而，北塔里木地体北缘的俯冲作用至少持续至约760 Ma。北塔里木地体内广泛发育的820~760 Ma多类型侵入体，被认为与罗迪尼亚周缘俯冲与罗迪尼亚超级地幔柱的相互作用存在成因联系。罗迪尼亚超级地幔柱的上涌终止了塔里木克拉通北缘长期持续的俯冲作用。自740 Ma起，与罗迪尼亚超大陆裂解的时间节点相吻合，塔里木克拉通开始从罗迪尼亚超大陆漂移分离。其盖层序列从成冰纪中期至埃迪卡拉纪由活动陆缘转变为被动陆缘的特征，排除了其北缘周缘俯冲作用持续至古生代早期的可能性。此外，随着罗迪尼亚超大陆裂解并逐步组装为冈瓦纳大陆，塔里木克拉通与东亚其他陆块一同，在古生代早期停靠于东冈瓦纳大陆的边缘。