Early Paleozoic tectonic evolution of the North Qinling Orogenic Belt in Central China: Insights on continental deep subduction and multiphase exhumation

The North Qinling orogenic belt is an important component of Qinling composite orogen in Central China. High-pressure and ultra-high pressure (HP-UHP) rocks occur as lenses or layers surrounded by gneissic rocks in the northern, central, and southern Qinling Complex of the North Qinling belt, considered to have formed through deep continental subduction. The magmatic protoliths of the HP-UHP metamorphic rocks show formation ages (ca. 800 Ma),...