The structural positions of the ophiolite complex in the Earth crust of the western Tien-Shan

Research reveals that the western Tien-Shan region, sandwiched between two ancient oceanic sutures—the Turkestan and Gissar Oceans—hosts Paleozoic ophiolites, remnants of the Paleo-Asian Ocean. These ophiolites, primarily found in Uzbekistan's Southern Tien Shan, exhibit a diverse age range from Ordovician to Devonian on the northern slope and Early Carboniferous on the southern slope. The study suggests that subduction of the Turkestan Ocean beneath the northern Karakum-Tadjik terrane initiated back-arc continental rifting by the Early Carboniferous, forming a small oceanic basin. By the late Carboniferous to early Permian, both basins were fully subducted. This work synthesizes published and unpublished data to clarify regional geological correlations, addressing long-standing ambiguities in the literature.

Nurtaev, B. S., Tsai, O. G., & Kurbanova, D. U. (2021). The structural positions of the ophiolite complex in the Earth crust of the western Tien-Shan. IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science, 929(1), 12004. https://doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/929/1/012004