Post‐Late Paleozoic Collisional Framework of Southern Great Altai

Abstract We outline the post‐Late Paleozoic (latest Permian to Cenozoic) collisional framework of the southern Great Altai (Central Asia) produced by the convergence between the Tuva‐Mongolia and Junggar continental terranes (microplates). 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: (1) mosaic terranes made up of large weakly deformed Paleozoic blocks separated by younger shear zones; (2) contractional deformation systems involving structures formed in post‐Late Paleozoic time, parallel faults oriented along collisional deformation systems, and relict lenses of Paleozoic orogenic complexes; and (3) isolated zones of dynamic metamorphism composed mostly of collisional tectonites different in composition and alteration grade.