Relic UHP Structures in Dabie-Sulu Region, China: Structural Expression and Geodynamic Significance

INTRODUCTIONIn recent years a num ber of detailed m ineralogical- petro-logical studies have been carried out on the UHP and HPmetamorphic belts in the Dabie- Sulu region,central China(see review papers by Jahn,1999;Ernst and L iou,1999;Wallis et al.,1999;Hacker et al.,1996 ;L iou et al.,1996 ;Cong et al.,1994) . Various tectonic evolution models for theUHP belt in the Dabie- Sulu region have been constructed(e.g.,Webb etal.,1999;Hacker et al.,1996 ;Cong et al.,1994) .However,as …

Relic UHP Structures in Dabie-Sulu Region, China:Structural Expression and Geodynamic Significance

The present day observed tectonic framework of ultrahigh pressure (UHP) metamorphic belt in the Dabie Sulu region was dominantly formed by an extensional process at 200-170 Ma, under amphibolite facies conditions, following the Triassic collision between the Sino Korean and Yangtze cratons. UHP relic structures, including massive eclogites with a weak foliation, UHP shear zones and A type folds, that are preserved in less retrograde metamorphism and deformation overprinted eclogite lenses can be recognized using the tectonic analysis. Examples are drawn from the Chengmagang area and Hejiawan area, Hubei; Bixiling area, Anhui, and Donghai area, northern Jiangsu. A speculative kinematic model is proposed for the collision between the cratons based on the UHP relic structures studied, in combination with the data of petrography, geochronology and P T path of UHP metamorphic rocks in the studied region which were reported in literature. It is stressed that only the early UHP relic structures, particularly, regionally consistent foliation and stretching lineations, record and reflect the formation of the UHP metamorphic rocks, and the relative dynamic and kinematic process related to the Triassic NNE directed oblique collision between the Sino Korean and Yangtze cratons.