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{{Short description|Geological region in Central Asia}}
{{Unreferenced|date=May 2012}}
'''Kazakhstania''', also known as the '''Kazakhstan Block''', is a small continental region in the interior of [[Asia]]. It consists of that area north and east of the [[Aral Sea]], south of the Siberian [[craton]] and west of the [[Altai Mountains]] and [[Lake Balkhash]]. Politically, it comprises most of [[Kazakhstan]] and has a total area of around 1.3 million km². The [[Junggar basin]] in [[Xinjiang]], [[China]] is also part of Kazahstania, though sometimes referred to as the '''Junggar Block'''.
'''Kazakhstania''' ({{langx|kk|Qazaqstaniya}}), the '''Kazakh terranes''', or the '''Kazakhstan Block''', is a geological region in [[Central Asia]] which consists of the area roughly centered on [[Lake Balkhash]], north and east of the [[Aral Sea]], south of the [[Siberia (continent)|Siberian craton]] and west of the [[Altai Mountains]]. The [[Junggar basin]] in [[Xinjiang]], [[China]], is also part of Kazakhstania, though sometimes referred to as the '''Junggar Block'''.
Because the Kazakh terranes merged during the Late Ordovician as part of the [[Central Asian Orogenic Belt]] they are also referred to as the '''Kazakh Orogen'''. These terranes are located in what is today [[Kazakhstan]], north-eastern [[Uzbekistan]], northern [[Kyrgyzstan]] and south-western [[China]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Popov|Cocks|2017|loc=Introduction, pp. 323, 325}}</ref>
Today Kazakhstania is surrounded by three large, former continents: to the north-east the [[Gornostaev Shear Zone]] separates it from [[Siberia (continent)|Siberia]] with which it collided during the [[Carboniferous]]; to the north-west is [[Baltica]] which lay adjacent to the Kazakh [[Turgai Valley|Tourgai]] terrane but far away from Kazakhstania; to the south and east was [[Gondwana]] stretching from the South Pole to the Equator. Not far away from the dispersed Kazakh terranes were [[South China Craton|South China]], [[North China Craton|North China]], and [[Tarim Block|Tarim]], but how these continental blocks were positioned relative to Gondwana is not known.<ref>{{Harvnb|Popov|Cocks|2017|loc=Late Ordovician Global Geography, pp. 325–327}}</ref>


==Tectonic evolution==
It is believed that present-day Kazakhstania is chiefly a mélange of early [[Paleozoic]] [[volcanic]] [[island arc]]s and some small continental [[terrane]]s. These were joined together during the [[Ordovician]] to form what was at the time an isolated continent of its own. During the [[Carboniferous]] and [[Permian]], [[Siberia (continent)|Siberia]] collided with Kazakhstania to form the [[Altai Mountains]], later [[Baltica]] collided in the [[Ural orogeny]], creating the basis for most of present-day [[Eurasia]].
In the Early Palaeozoic the Kazakh [[terrane]]s were widely distributed north or northeast of the [[Mangyshlak Peninsula|Mangyshlak]], [[Karakum Desert|Karakum]], [[Karakoram|Karakorum]] and [[Tarim Basin#Geology|Tarim]] terranes.<ref>{{Harvnb|Torsvik|Cocks|2009|pp=8–9}}</ref>
The location, origin, and faunal affinities of these terranes has, however, been the subject of two competing hypotheses: one described these terranes as an enormous [[island arc]] called the Kipchak arc, the other as a series of more or less parallel belts. Faunal analyses indicate that some of the terranes probably originated in Gondwana rather than Baltica or Siberia.<ref>{{Harvnb|Popov|Cocks|2006|p=247}}</ref>
A 2006 analysis of [[brachiopod]]s indicated that the [[Chu-Ili Mountains]] must have formed an independent, Peri-Gondwanan terrane in the Late Ordovician located not far from the North and South China [[craton]]s.<ref>{{Harvnb|Popov|Cocks|2006|p=254}}</ref>


More recent studies suggest that in the Late Ordovician the Kazakh terranes formed an archipelago composed of clusters of island arcs and microcontinents centered on the Equator. Key units in this assemblage were the Boshchekul (in north Kazakhstan), Chingiz-Tarbagatai (east Kazakhstan), and Chu-Ilu (south Kazakhstan) terranes. The Atashu-Zhamshi microcontinent was located in the southwestern margin of the archipelago. A few terranes probably merged as early as the Middle Ordovician but Kazakhstania is very unlikely to have formed a single continent before the end of the period.<ref>{{Harvnb|Popov|Cocks|2017|loc=Abstract}}; For a map of the Kazakh terranes see {{Harvnb|Popov|Cocks|2006|loc=Fig. 1, p. 248}}; For a Late Ordovician reconstruction see {{Harvnb|Percival|Popov|Zhan|Ghobadi Pour|2011|loc=Fig. 1, p. 414}}</ref>
Kazakhstania is mainly flat: only in the east near [[Karaganda]] are there mountains and these only rise to 1,565 metres (5,130 feet) in the [[Tarbagatay Range]]. Although most of Kazakhstania is arid and practically no water flows from the region to the oceans, there is extensive grazing of [[cattle]], [[sheep]] and [[Bactrian camel|camels]] on the grasslands which cover most of the region today. Kazakhstania was too dry for extensive [[glaciation]] during the [[Quaternary]]. Kazakhstania contains as much as a quarter of the world's proven [[uranium]] reserves and is also one of the world's major source of [[lead]], [[zinc]], and [[antimony]] ores. On the southern boundary in the [[Turan Depression]] are large deposits of [[natural gas]] formed as a result of its collision with the [[Indian plate]].

During the [[Carboniferous]] and [[Permian]], Siberia collided with Kazakhstania to form the [[Altai Mountains]], later [[Baltica]] collided in the [[Ural orogeny]], creating the basis for most of present-day [[Eurasia]].

==Commercial importance==
Kazakhstania is mainly flat: only in the east near [[Karaganda]] are there mountains, and these only rise to 1,565 metres (5,130 feet) in the [[Tarbagatai Mountains|Tarbagatay Range]]. Although most of Kazakhstania is arid and practically no water flows from the region to the oceans, there is extensive grazing of [[cattle]], [[sheep]] and [[Bactrian camel|camels]] on the grasslands which cover most of the region today. Kazakhstania was too dry for extensive [[glaciation]] during the [[Quaternary]]. Kazakhstania contains as much as a quarter of the world's proven [[uranium]] reserves and is also one of the world's major source of [[lead]], [[zinc]], and [[antimony]] ores. On the southern boundary in the [[Turan Depression]] are large deposits of [[natural gas]].


==See also==
==See also==
*[[List of Platforms, Shields and Cratons]]
*{{annotated link|List of shields and cratons}}

==References==
===Notes===
{{Reflist}}

===Sources===
{{Refbegin}}
* {{Cite book
| last1 = Percival | first1 = I. G.
| last2 = Popov | first2 = L. E.
| last3 = Zhan | first3 = R. B.
| last4 = Ghobadi Pour | first4 = M.
| chapter = Patterns of origination and dispersal of Middle to Late Ordovician brachiopods: examples from South China, East Gondwana, and Kazakh terranes
| title = Ordovician of the World
| editor1-last = Gutiérrez-Marco | editor1-first = J. C.
| editor2-last = Rábano | editor2-first = I.
| editor3-last = García-Bellido | editor3-first = D.
| year = 2011 | series = Cuadernos del Museo Geominero | publisher = Instituto Geológico y Minero de Espana | location = Madrid | volume = 14 | pages = 413–419
| chapter-url = https://www.researchgate.net/publication/242655038 | access-date = 27 December 2017
| isbn = 9788478408573 }}<!-- {{Harvnb|Percival|Popov|Zhan|Ghobadi Pour|2011}} -->
* {{Cite journal
| last1 = Popov | first1 = L. E.
| last2 = Cocks | first2 = L. R. M.
| title = Late Ordovician brachiopods from the Dulankara Formation of the Chu-Ili Range, Kazakhstan: their systematics, palaeoecology and palaeobiogeography
| year = 2006 | journal = Palaeontology | volume = 49 | issue = 2 | pages = 247–283
| doi = 10.1111/j.1475-4983.2006.00544.x | bibcode = 2006Palgy..49..247P
| s2cid = 129492176
| doi-access = free }}<!-- {{Harvnb|Popov|Cocks|2006}} -->
* {{Cite journal
| last1 = Popov | first1 = L. E.
| last2 = Cocks | first2 = R. M.
| title = Late Ordovician palaeogeography and the positions of the Kazakh terranes through analysis of their brachiopod faunas
| year = 2017 | journal = Acta Geologica Polonica | volume = 67 | issue = 3 | pages = 323–380
| url = https://www.degruyter.com/downloadpdf/j/agp.2017.67.issue-3/agp-2017-0020/agp-2017-0020.pdf | access-date = 27 December 2017
| doi = 10.1515/agp-2017-0020 | doi-access = free }}<!-- {{Harvnb|Popov|Cocks|2017}} -->
* {{Cite journal
| last1 = Torsvik | first1 = T. H.
| last2 = Cocks | first2 = L. R. M.
| title = The Lower Palaeozoic palaeogeographical evolution of the northeastern and eastern peri-Gondwanan margin from Turkey to New Zealand
| year = 2009 | journal = Geological Society, London, Special Publications | volume = 325 | issue = 1 | pages = 3–21
| url = https://www.researchgate.net/publication/249552716 | access-date = 27 December 2017
| doi = 10.1144/SP325.2 | s2cid = 128490493
}}<!-- {{Harvnb|Torsvik|Cocks|2009}} -->
{{Refend}}


==External links==
==External links==
*[http://www.es.ucsc.edu/~paleomag/tectonics/chmap.html Map of the Kazakhstan Block and surrounding areas]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070303180738/http://www.es.ucsc.edu/~paleomag/tectonics/chmap.html Map of the Kazakhstan Block and surrounding areas]
*[http://www.jpg.co.uk/ab_jul_03_4.htm Ordovician-Permian paleogeography of Central Eurasia]
*[http://www.jpg.co.uk/ab_jul_03_4.htm Ordovician-Permian paleogeography of Central Eurasia]


{{Continents of the world}}
{{Continents of the world}}

[[Category:Geology of Kazakhstan]]
[[Category:Geology of Kazakhstan]]
[[Category:Historical continents]]
[[Category:Historical continents]]
[[Category:Paleozoic]]
[[Category:Paleozoic Asia]]
[[Category:Carboniferous geology]]
[[Category:Permian geology]]
[[Category:Geography of Kazakhstan]]
[[Category:Geography of Kazakhstan]]
[[Category:Geography of Xinjiang]]
[[Category:Geography of Xinjiang]]
[[Category:Natural history of Asia]]
[[Category:Natural history of Asia]]
[[Category:Russian loanwords]]

{{paleo-geo-stub}}

[[fr:Kazakhstania]]
[[it:Kazakhstania]]
[[kk:Казахстания]]
[[ja:カザフスタニア]]
[[nn:Kasakhstania]]
[[pl:Kazachstania]]
[[ru:Казахстания]]
[[tr:Kazakistanya]]
[[vi:Kazakhstania]]
[[zh:哈薩克大陸]]

Latest revision as of 17:54, 7 November 2024

Kazakhstania (Kazakh: Qazaqstaniya), the Kazakh terranes, or the Kazakhstan Block, is a geological region in Central Asia which consists of the area roughly centered on Lake Balkhash, north and east of the Aral Sea, south of the Siberian craton and west of the Altai Mountains. The Junggar basin in Xinjiang, China, is also part of Kazakhstania, though sometimes referred to as the Junggar Block. Because the Kazakh terranes merged during the Late Ordovician as part of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt they are also referred to as the Kazakh Orogen. These terranes are located in what is today Kazakhstan, north-eastern Uzbekistan, northern Kyrgyzstan and south-western China.[1] Today Kazakhstania is surrounded by three large, former continents: to the north-east the Gornostaev Shear Zone separates it from Siberia with which it collided during the Carboniferous; to the north-west is Baltica which lay adjacent to the Kazakh Tourgai terrane but far away from Kazakhstania; to the south and east was Gondwana stretching from the South Pole to the Equator. Not far away from the dispersed Kazakh terranes were South China, North China, and Tarim, but how these continental blocks were positioned relative to Gondwana is not known.[2]

Tectonic evolution

[edit]

In the Early Palaeozoic the Kazakh terranes were widely distributed north or northeast of the Mangyshlak, Karakum, Karakorum and Tarim terranes.[3] The location, origin, and faunal affinities of these terranes has, however, been the subject of two competing hypotheses: one described these terranes as an enormous island arc called the Kipchak arc, the other as a series of more or less parallel belts. Faunal analyses indicate that some of the terranes probably originated in Gondwana rather than Baltica or Siberia.[4] A 2006 analysis of brachiopods indicated that the Chu-Ili Mountains must have formed an independent, Peri-Gondwanan terrane in the Late Ordovician located not far from the North and South China cratons.[5]

More recent studies suggest that in the Late Ordovician the Kazakh terranes formed an archipelago composed of clusters of island arcs and microcontinents centered on the Equator. Key units in this assemblage were the Boshchekul (in north Kazakhstan), Chingiz-Tarbagatai (east Kazakhstan), and Chu-Ilu (south Kazakhstan) terranes. The Atashu-Zhamshi microcontinent was located in the southwestern margin of the archipelago. A few terranes probably merged as early as the Middle Ordovician but Kazakhstania is very unlikely to have formed a single continent before the end of the period.[6]

During the Carboniferous and Permian, Siberia collided with Kazakhstania to form the Altai Mountains, later Baltica collided in the Ural orogeny, creating the basis for most of present-day Eurasia.

Commercial importance

[edit]

Kazakhstania is mainly flat: only in the east near Karaganda are there mountains, and these only rise to 1,565 metres (5,130 feet) in the Tarbagatay Range. Although most of Kazakhstania is arid and practically no water flows from the region to the oceans, there is extensive grazing of cattle, sheep and camels on the grasslands which cover most of the region today. Kazakhstania was too dry for extensive glaciation during the Quaternary. Kazakhstania contains as much as a quarter of the world's proven uranium reserves and is also one of the world's major source of lead, zinc, and antimony ores. On the southern boundary in the Turan Depression are large deposits of natural gas.

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ Popov & Cocks 2017, Introduction, pp. 323, 325
  2. ^ Popov & Cocks 2017, Late Ordovician Global Geography, pp. 325–327
  3. ^ Torsvik & Cocks 2009, pp. 8–9
  4. ^ Popov & Cocks 2006, p. 247
  5. ^ Popov & Cocks 2006, p. 254
  6. ^ Popov & Cocks 2017, Abstract; For a map of the Kazakh terranes see Popov & Cocks 2006, Fig. 1, p. 248; For a Late Ordovician reconstruction see Percival et al. 2011, Fig. 1, p. 414

Sources

[edit]
[edit]