A discussion on the age of Aqiang volcanic rocks from Yutian County, Xinjiang

As an independent geological tectonic unit, the Aqiang volcanic rocks play an important role in the geological evolution of the West Kunlun Mountains. In order to study the ages of the Aqiang volcanic rocks, the authors collected five samples from different parts of the Aqiang volcanic rocks. The zircon U-Pb age was obtained by LA-MC-ICP-MS. Two of the samples failed to get effective zircon U-Pb ages, whereas four zircon U-Pb ages were obtained from the other three samples:485Ma, 461Ma, 432Ma, and 145Ma, suggesting that the belt experienced Caledonian, Variscan activities, such as Yanshanian movement. This result is of great significance for the study of the geological evolution history of West Kunlun Mountains.