Origin of the Kunlun Mountains by arc‐arc and arc‐continent collisions

Abstract The Kunlun Mountains were formed by early Mesozoic arc‐arc and arc‐continent collisions. The Middle Kunlun Are was the outer volcanic arc of the Paleozoic Asiatic continent, and the arc‐related magmatic activities from the Proterozoic to Mesozoic are recorded by numerous volcanic and plutonic rocks of the area. Several back‐arc basins and relic arcs exist north of the arc and the north Kunlun arc is one of these. The Kudi mélange of Kunlun was formed in a south‐dipping subduction zone when the basin between the north and middle Kunlun arcs was consumed by the process of back‐arc basin collapse, and the ophiolite mélange marked the suture zone where the two arcs collided. The Mazar mélange was formed in the north‐dipping subduction zone under the middle Kunlun arc, and the mélange marks the main Paleotethys suture where the Qogir‐Karamilan rocks of the Qangtang block (a fragment of Gondwanaland) is sutured on to Laurentia. The geology of Kunlun emphasizes the importance of arc‐arc and arc‐continent collisions in mountain‐building processes.