Parallel Tethyan sutures in mainland Southeast Asia: New insights for Palaeo-Tethys closure and implications for the Indosinian orogeny

Two contrasting parallel tectonic sutures can be recognised through the Yunnan–Thailand region of mainland Southeast Asia; they are sutures of the Devonian–Triassic Palaeo-Tethys Ocean and a Permian back-arc basin. The Changning–Menglian and Inthanon suture zones are regarded as the Palaeo-Tethys Suture Zone. The Jinghong–Nan–Sra Kaeo suture is regarded as a closed back-arc basin. The Sukhothai Zone is no longer treated as a part of the Sibumasu Terrane, but is defined as the core part of the Permian island-arc system developed on the western margin of the Indochina Terrane. Two tectonic events are interpreted from the parallel sutures; a Late Permian collapse of the back-arc basin and a mid-Triassic collision of Sibumasu to the Sukhothai Arc of Indochina (= closure of the Palaeo-Tethys). The Early–early Middle Triassic thermotectonism of Vietnam as linked to the Indosinian orogeny by some authors is incompatible with the suggested timing of Sibumasu collision, but instead it is temporally closer to the back-arc compression of western Indochina.     

Tectonic evolution of the Malay Peninsula

The Malay Peninsula is characterised by three north–south belts, the Western, Central, and Eastern belts based on distinct differences in stratigraphy, structure, magmatism, geophysical signatures and geological evolution. The Western Belt forms part of the Sibumasu Terrane, derived from the NW Australian Gondwana margin in the late Early Permian. The Central and Eastern Belts represent the Sukhothai Arc constructed in the Late Carboniferous–Early Permian on the margin of the Indochina Block (derived from the Gondwana margin in the Early Devonian). This arc was then separated from Indochina by back-arc spreading in the Permian. The Bentong-Raub suture zone forms the boundary between the Sibumasu Terrane (Western Belt) and Sukhothai Arc (Central and Eastern Belts) and preserves remnants of the Devonian–Permian main Palaeo-Tethys ocean basin destroyed by subduction beneath the Indochina Block/Sukhothai Arc, which produced the Permian–Triassic andesitic volcanism and I-Type granitoids observed in the Central and Eastern Belts of the Malay Peninsula. The collision between Sibumasu and the Sukhothai Arc began in Early Triassic times and was completed by the Late Triassic. Triassic cherts, turbidites and conglomerates of the Semanggol “Formation” were deposited in a fore-deep basin constructed on the leading edge of Sibumasu and the uplifted accretionary complex. Collisional crustal thickening, coupled with slab break off and rising hot asthenosphere produced the Main Range Late Triassic-earliest Jurassic S-Type granitoids that intrude the Western Belt and Bentong-Raub suture zone. The Sukhothai back-arc basin opened in the Early Permian and collapsed and closed in the Middle–Late Triassic. Marine sedimentation ceased in the Late Triassic in the Malay Peninsula due to tectonic and isostatic uplift, and Jurassic–Cretaceous continental red beds form a cover sequence. A significant Late Cretaceous tectono-thermal event affected the Peninsula with major faulting, granitoid intrusion and re-setting of palaeomagnetic signatures.     

Gondwana dispersion and Asian accretion: Tectonic and palaeogeographic evolution of eastern Tethys

Present-day Asia comprises a heterogeneous collage of continental blocks, derived from the Indian–west Australian margin of eastern Gondwana, and subduction related volcanic arcs assembled by the closure of multiple Tethyan and back-arc ocean basins now represented by suture zones containing ophiolites, accretionary complexes and remnants of ocean island arcs. The Phanerozoic evolution of the region is the result of more than 400 million years of continental dispersion from Gondwana and plate tectonic convergence, collision and accretion. This involved successive dispersion of continental blocks, the northwards translation of these, and their amalgamation and accretion to form present-day Asia. Separation and northwards migration of the various continental terranes/blocks from Gondwana occurred in three phases linked with the successive opening and closure of three intervening Tethyan oceans, the Palaeo-Tethys (Devonian–Triassic), Meso-Tethys (late Early Permian–Late Cretaceous) and Ceno-Tethys (Late Triassic–Late Cretaceous). The first group of continental blocks dispersed from Gondwana in the Devonian, opening the Palaeo-Tethys behind them, and included the North China, Tarim, South China and Indochina blocks (including West Sumatra and West Burma). Remnants of the main Palaeo-Tethys ocean are now preserved within the Longmu Co-Shuanghu, Changning–Menglian, Chiang Mai/Inthanon and Bentong–Raub Suture Zones. During northwards subduction of the Palaeo-Tethys, the Sukhothai Arc was constructed on the margin of South China–Indochina and separated from those terranes by a short-lived back-arc basin now represented by the Jinghong, Nan–Uttaradit and Sra Kaeo Sutures. Concurrently, a second continental sliver or collage of blocks (Cimmerian continent) rifted and separated from northern Gondwana and the Meso-Tethys opened in the late Early Permian between these separating blocks and Gondwana. The eastern Cimmerian continent, including the South Qiangtang block and Sibumasu Terrane (including the Baoshan and Tengchong blocks of Yunnan) collided with the Sukhothai Arc and South China/Indochina in the Triassic, closing the Palaeo-Tethys. A third collage of continental blocks, including the Lhasa block, South West Borneo and East Java–West Sulawesi (now identified as the missing “Banda” and “Argoland” blocks) separated from NW Australia in the Late Triassic–Late Jurassic by opening of the Ceno-Tethys and accreted to SE Sundaland by subduction of the Meso-Tethys in the Cretaceous.     

Tectonic implications of the Nan Suture Zone and its relationship to the Sukhothai Fold Belt, Northern Thailand

The Nan Suture and the Sukhothai Fold Belt reflect the processes associated with the collision between the Shan-Thai and Indochina Terranes in southeast Asia. The Shan-Thai Terrane rifted from Gondwana in the Early Permian. As it drifted north a subduction complex developed along its northern margin. The Nan serpentinitic melange is a thrust slice within the Pha Som Metamorphic Complex and in total this unit is a Late Permian accretionary complex containing offscraped blocks from subducted oceanic crust of Carboniferous and Permian age. The deformational style within the Pha Som Metamorphic Complex supports a west-dipping subduction zone. The Late Permian to Late Triassic fore-arc basin sediments are preserved in the Sukhothai Fold Belt and include a near continuous sedimentary record, at least locally. The whole sequence was folded and complexly thrust in the Late Triassic as a result of the collision. Late syn- to post-kinematic granites place an upper limit of 200 Ma on the time of collision. Post-orogenic sediments prograded across the suture in the Jurassic.     

The Bentong–Raub Suture Zone

It is proposed that the Bentong–Raub Suture Zone represents a segment of the main Devonian to Middle Triassic Palaeo-Tethys ocean, and forms the boundary between the Gondwana-derived Sibumasu and Indochina terranes. Palaeo-Tethyan oceanic ribbon-bedded cherts preserved in the suture zone range in age from Middle Devonian to Middle Permian, and mélange includes chert and limestone clasts that range in age from Lower Carboniferous to Lower Permian. This indicates that the Palaeo-Tethys opened in the Devonian, when Indochina and other Chinese blocks separated from Gondwana, and closed in the Late Triassic (Peninsular Malaysia segment). The suture zone is the result of northwards subduction of the Palaeo-Tethys ocean beneath Indochina in the Late Palaeozoic and the Triassic collision of the Sibumasu terrane with, and the underthrusting of, Indochina. Tectonostratigraphic, palaeobiogeographic and palaeomagnetic data indicate that the Sibumasu Terrane separated from Gondwana in the late Sakmarian, and then drifted rapidly northwards during the Permian–Triassic. During the Permian subduction phase, the East Malaya volcano-plutonic arc, with I-Type granitoids and intermediate to acidic volcanism, was developed on the margin of Indochina. The main structural discontinuity in Peninsular Malaysia occurs between Palaeozoic and Triassic rocks, and orogenic deformation appears to have been initiated in the Upper Permian to Lower Triassic, when Sibumasu began to collide with Indochina. During the Early to Middle Triassic, A-Type subduction and crustal thickening generated the Main Range syn- to post-orogenic granites, which were emplaced in the Late Triassic–Early Jurassic. A foredeep basin developed on the depressed margin of Sibumasu in front of the uplifted accretionary complex in which the Semanggol “Formation” rocks accumulated. The suture zone is covered by a latest Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous, mainly continental, red bed overlap sequence.     

Tectonic framework and Phanerozoic evolution of Sundaland

Sundaland comprises a heterogeneous collage of continental blocks derived from the India–Australian margin of eastern Gondwana and assembled by the closure of multiple Tethyan and back-arc ocean basins now represented by suture zones. The continental core of Sundaland comprises a western Sibumasu block and an eastern Indochina–East Malaya block with an island arc terrane, the Sukhothai Island Arc System, comprising the Linchang, Sukhothai and Chanthaburi blocks sandwiched between. This island arc formed on the margin of Indochina–East Malaya, and then separated by back-arc spreading in the Permian. The Jinghong, Nan–Uttaradit and Sra Kaeo Sutures represent this closed back-arc basin. The Palaeo-Tethys is represented to the west by the Changning–Menglian, Chiang Mai/Inthanon and Bentong–Raub Suture Zones. The West Sumatra block, and possibly the West Burma block, rifted and separated from Gondwana, along with Indochina and East Malaya in the Devonian and were accreted to the Sundaland core in the Triassic. West Burma is now considered to be probably Cathaysian in nature and similar to West Sumatra, from which it was separated by opening of the Andaman Sea basin. South West Borneo and/or East Java-West Sulawesi are now tentatively identified as the missing “Argoland” which must have separated from NW Australia in the Jurassic and these were accreted to SE Sundaland in the Cretaceous. Revised palaeogeographic reconstructions illustrating the tectonic and palaeogeographic evolution of Sundaland and adjacent regions are presented.     

Tectonic evolution of the Triassic fold belts of Tibet

The Triassic fold belt of North Tibet is mainly composed, from west to east, of the Bayan Har, Songpan–Garzê, and Yidun (or Litang–Batang) terranes. The Indosinian orogeny results from interactions between the South China, North China and Qiangtang (North Tibet) blocks during the closure of the Palaeotethys. A synthesis of the tectonic and geochronological data available on this belt is presented and a new geodynamic model of its formation is proposed. At the end of the Permian, a synchronous activity along three subduction zones, Kunlun–Anyemaqen to the north, Jinsha to the south and Yushu–Batang to the east, induced the growth of wide accretionary orogens until the end of the Triassic period. The onset of subduction in Tibet is contemporaneous with Indosinian tectonism in Indochina (pre-Norian). However, the main tectonic events that lead to the closure of the Tethysian basin and the subsequent building of the Triassic belts are younger (220–200 Ma).     

The Early Triassic Indosinian orogeny in Vietnam (Truong Son Belt and Kontum Massif); implications for the geodynamic evolution of Indochina

New structural field data at various scale and ⁴⁰Ar–³⁹Ar geochronological results, from the basement rocks in the Truong Son belt and Kontum Massif of Vietnam, confirm that ductile deformation and high-temperature metamorphism were caused by the Early Triassic event of the Indosinian Orogeny in the range of 250–240 Ma. A compilation of isotopic data obtained in other countries along the Sibumasu–Indochina boundary broadly indicates same interval of ages. This tectonothermal event is interpreted as the result of a synchronous oblique collision of Indochina with both Sibumasu and South China, inducing dextral and sinistral shearing along E–W to NW–SE and N–S fault zones, respectively. The collision along Song Ma follows the northwards subduction of Indochina beneath South China and the subsequent development of the Song Da zone which in turn was affected by the Late Triassic Indosinian phase of shortening. Within the Indochina plate, internal collisions occurred coevally in the Early Triassic, as along the Poko suture, at the western border of the Kontum Massif.     

海西至印支期郯庐断裂带的性质--据中国东部石炭纪至三叠纪的岩相古地理特征分析

文中通过对晚石炭世至早三叠世华南和华北地块古地理特征以及地层学证据的分析,认为中国东部的郯庐断裂带自海西期以来经历了两个主要发展阶段：第一阶段是广义的郯庐断裂带发展阶段,在海西期它是扬子地块北东缘呈宽缓弧形展布的边缘裂陷槽(或盆地)的边界;在印支期由于扬子地块与华北地块的碰撞,成为两地块的对接边界,具有逆冲推覆的性质,属广义的特提斯构造域。第二发展阶段从燕山期以来,发展成为一条平移断裂带,属于狭义的环太平洋构造域的平移系统。自晚石炭世至早三叠世的中国南方及华北东南部的岩相古地理资料显示了扬子地块与华北地块的对接始于晚二叠世早期,地块的抬升自南向北、自南东向北西方向呈迁移趋势;印支期的郯庐断裂带是一条北东、北北东展布的缓‘S’形的地块拼贴边界,在现今的郯庐断裂带上表现为残留的由北北西向南南东的斜向逆冲推覆的性质,表现为大别苏鲁造山带的中上部构造层的变形,即张八岭构造带及前陆褶皱冲断带的变形;燕山期以来则为众所周知的狭义的郯庐断裂带即郯庐平移断裂系统的一部分。     

华南板块南缘早中生代的逆冲推覆构造及其相关的动力学背景

作为理解华南构造演化的关键地区,在华南板块南缘的云开地体和越北的Song Chay地体发育了早中生代的向北东逆冲推覆的韧性变形.在云开地体,经历角闪岩相和绿片岩相变质的矿物指示了产状平缓的面理上发育明显的北东-南西向矿物拉伸线理.沿着这些矿物拉伸线理,具有上部指向北东的剪切变形.同位素年代学的定年结果指示了变形事件发生...     

华南印支期碰撞造山--十万大山盆地构造和沉积学证据

十万大山盆地是云开造山带前陆地区的一个窄长的晚二叠世—中三叠世沉积盆地,位于扬子与华夏陆块拼接位置的西南端。十万大山盆地晚二叠世—中三叠世沉积由巨厚的磨拉石建造组成,并构成多个向上变粗和向上变细的构造-地层层序。云开造山带及前陆冲断带上泥盆统至下二叠统中发育了大量的印支期形成的薄皮褶皱和冲断构造。这些指示扬子和华夏陆块在印支期发生了强烈陆内碰撞与会聚及前陆盆地的沉积作用。P2 /P1 之间的不整合面是伸展构造向挤压构造转换的转换面,为华南印支期碰撞挤压造山或活化造山的序幕。T3 /T2 之间不整合面是挤压构造向伸展构造转换的转换面,是印支期活化挤压造山结束的界面,标志着晚二叠世开始的碰撞造山作用的结束。华南内部晚二叠世—中三叠世构造运动性质及转换与当时华南南缘存在的古特提斯洋的闭合及印支板块与华南陆块的碰撞作用有关。     

越南东北部早中生代构造事件的年代学约束

越南东北部-海南岛-粤西南构造带整体上呈NW-SE走向展布于华南板块的南缘,是理解华南构造演化的关键地区.作为印支运动代表性地区的越南东北部地区Song Chay构造带上,下古生界浅变质沉积岩、上古生界至早-中三叠世未变质的沉积盖层中都发育向北东逆冲推覆,韧性变形域表现为NE-SW向的矿物拉伸线理和上部指NE的剪切变形,而脆性变形域则记录了大量NE极性的褶皱和冲断构造.两广交界的云开地体和海南岛地区存在着相同样式的构造变形.关于这期变形的时间,本文通过对野外地层以及所出露不同时期岩体变形特征的综合研究,并结合高质量的锆石U-Pb年代学数据,在越南的东北部厘定为237 ～ 228Ma.这期广泛分布于华南板块南缘构造事件的动力学机制同Day Nui Con Voi(大象山)微陆块与华南板块在早中生代的构造拼合事件相关.本文认为华南板块在早三叠世开始沿着越南东北部的Song Chay缝合带俯冲拼合于Day Nui Con Voi微陆块之下,因此在早-中三叠世时期,在作为俯冲盘的华南板块南缘发育一系列的褶皱和逆冲推覆构造,晚三叠世印支造山作用结束.因此,华南板块南缘的越南东北部-海南岛-粤西南构造带被一同卷入早-中三叠世同印支板块的碰撞造山体系之中.     

The origin and pre-Cenozoic evolution of the Tibetan Plateau

Different hypotheses have been proposed for the origin and pre-Cenozoic evolution of the Tibetan Plateau as a result of several collision events between a series of Gondwana-derived terranes (e.g., Qiangtang, Lhasa and India) and Asian continent since the early Paleozoic. This paper reviews and reevaluates these hypotheses in light of new data from Tibet including (1) the distribution of major tectonic boundaries and suture zones, (2) basement rocks and their sedimentary covers, (3) magmatic suites, and (4) detrital zircon constraints from Paleozoic metasedimentary rocks. The Western Qiangtang, Amdo, and Tethyan Himalaya terranes have the Indian Gondwana origin, whereas the Lhasa Terrane shows an Australian Gondwana affinity. The Cambrian magmatic record in the Lhasa Terrane resulted from the subduction of the proto-Tethyan Ocean lithosphere beneath the Australian Gondwana. The newly identified late Devonian granitoids in the southern margin of the Lhasa Terrane may represent an extensional magmatic event associated with its rifting, which ultimately resulted in the opening of the Songdo Tethyan Ocean. The Lhasa−northern Australia collision at ~ 263 Ma was likely responsible for the initiation of a southward-dipping subduction of the Bangong-Nujiang Tethyan Oceanic lithosphere. The Yarlung-Zangbo Tethyan Ocean opened as a back-arc basin in the late Triassic, leading to the separation of the Lhasa Terrane from northern Australia. The subsequent northward subduction of the Yarlung-Zangbo Tethyan Ocean lithosphere beneath the Lhasa Terrane may have been triggered by the Qiangtang–Lhasa collision in the earliest Cretaceous. The mafic dike swarms (ca. 284 Ma) in the Western Qiangtang originated from the Panjal plume activity that resulted in continental rifting and its separation from the northern Indian continent. The subsequent collision of the Western Qiangtang with the Eastern Qiangtang in the middle Triassic was followed by slab breakoff that led to the exhumation of the Qiangtang metamorphic rocks. This collision may have caused the northward subduction initiation of the Bangong-Nujiang Ocean lithosphere beneath the Western Qiangtang. Collision-related coeval igneous rocks occurring on both sides of the suture zone and the within-plate basalt affinity of associated mafic lithologies suggest slab breakoff-induced magmatism in a continent−continent collision zone. This zone may be the site of net continental crust growth, as exemplified by the Tibetan Plateau.     

Correlation of Triassic stratigraphy between the Simao and Lampang-Phrae Basins: implications for the tectonopaleogeography of Southeast Asia

Based on our extensive fieldwork in southwestern Yunnan and northern Thailand, followed by detailed stratigraphic and paleontological studies, we propose that the Triassic Simao Basin in Yunnan can be correlated with the Triassic Lampang–Phrae Basin in Thailand. Strata equivalent to those in the southern Lancangjiang sub-basin have not been identified in northern Thailand. We consider that during the Triassic the Simao and the Lampang–Phrae Basins belonged to the same tectonopaleogeographic unit. The orogenic belt to the east of this unit includes the Nan–Uttaradit and Ailaoshan sutures. The ‘Shan–Thai Block’ in northern Thailand, can be divided from east to west into the Sukhothai, the Inthanon, and the Shan terranes. According to tectonopaleogeographic correlation, our results support the idea that the Sukhothai Terrane, including the Lampang–Phrae Basin, belongs to the Cathaysian domain and not to Gondwana domain, and that the geosuture corresponding to the Changning–Menglian Suture in Yunnan must lie to the west of the Sukhothai Terrane in Thailand.     

Constraints of U-Pb zircon dating on the evolution of the Nan-Uttaradit suture zone in northern Thailand

Nan-Uttaradit suture zone in northern Thailand is a narrow N-S trending and discontinuous ophiolite belt along the Nan River (Barr and MacDonald, 1987). It was interpreted as the Paleo-Tethys oceanic remnants that separate Shan-Thai (Sibumasu) terrane and Indo-china terrane (Bunopas, 1981; Hada, 1999), and rein-terpreted as the boundary of Sukhothai (or Simao) terrane and the Indochina terrane that representing a segment of the back-arc basin (Barr and MacDonald, 1991; Ueno and Hisada, 2001; Metcalfe, 2006; Ferrari et al., 2008; Sone and Metcalfe, 2008). This zone is dominated by Carboniferous to Permian Pha Som Metamorphic Complex (Hess and Koch, 1975). The Pha Som Metamorphic Complex consists of several tectonostratigraphic slices of volcanic rocks, schists, meta-greywacke, serpentinite and bedded chert. And it is in fault contact with Pak Pat volcanic rocks. Both of Pha Som Metamorphic Complex and Pak Pat volcanic rocks are covered by the Upper Triassic and the Juras-sic red sandstones with angular unconformity. Previ-ous studies mainly focused on the amalgamation epi-sodes of the Sukhothai terrane and Indochina terrane. The Late Carboniferous to Early Permian age of the opening of the basin was proposed by some authors (Singharajwarapan and Berry, 2000; Metcalfe, 2006; Ferrari et al., 2008) on the basis of the regional strati-graphy, different dating of cherts, and schists from the Pha Som Metamorphic Complex.     

Structural Characteristics and Formation Mechanism in the Micangshan Foreland,South China

Lying at the junction of the Dabashan, Longmenshan and Qinling mountains, the Micangshan Orogenic Belt coupled with a basin is a duplex structure and back-thrust triangular belt with little horizontal displacement, small thrust faults and continuous sedimentary cover. On the basis of 3D seismic data, and through sedimentary and structural research, the Micangshan foreland can be divided into five subbelts, which from north to south are: basement thrust, frontal thrust, foreland depression-back-thrust triangle, foreland fold belt or anticline belt, and the Tongjiang Depression. Along the direction of strike from west to east, the arcuate structural belt of Micangshan can be divided into west, middle and east segments. During the collision between the Qinling and Yangtze plates, the Micangshan Orogenic Belt was subjected to the interaction of three rigid terranes: Bikou, Foping, and Fenghuangshan (a.k.a. Ziyang) terranes. The collision processes of rigid terranes controlled the structural development of the Micangshan foreland, which are: (a) the former collision between the Micangshan-Hannan and Bikou terranes forming the earlier rudiments of the structure; and (b) the later collision forming the main body of the structural belt. The formation processes of the Micangshan Orogenic Belt can be divided into four stages: (1) in the early stage of the Indosinian movement, the Micangshan-Hannan Rigid Terrane was jointed to the Qinling Plate by the clockwise subduction of the Yangtze Plate toward the Qinling Plate; (2) since the late Triassic, the earlier rudiments of the Tongnanba and Jiulongshan anticlines and corresponding syncline were formed by compression from different directions of the Bikou, Foping and Micangshan-Hannan terranes; (3) in the early stage of the Himalayan movement, the Micangshan-Hannan Terrane formed the Micangshan Nappe torwards the foreland basin and the compression stresses were mainly concentrated along both its flanks, whereas the Micangshan-Hannan Terrane wedged into the Qinling Orogenic Belt with force; (4) in the late stage of the Himalayan movement, the main collision of the Qinling Plate made the old basement rocks of the terrane uplift quickly, to form the Micangshan Orogenic Belt. The Micangshan foreland arcuate structure was formed due to the non-homogeneity of terrane movement.     

The record of the Late Palaeozoic active margin of the Palaeotethys in NE Iran: Constraints on the Cimmerian orogeny

The Cimmerian orogen resulted from the collision and accretion of several Perigondwanan blocks to the southern margin of Eurasia between the Late Triassic and Early Jurassic, following the closure of the Palaeotethys ocean. Remnants of this orogen discontinuously crop out in N (Alborz range) and NE Iran (Mashhad–Fariman area) below the syn- to post-collisional clastic successions of the Shemshak Group (Upper Triassic–Middle Jurassic) and the Kashaf Rud Formation (Bajocian). In NE Iran rock associations exposed in the Binalood Mountains, Fariman and Darreh Anjir areas include mafic–ultramafic intrusive rocks, basalts, silicoclastic turbidites and minor limestones, which have been interpreted in the past as ophiolitic remnants of the Palaeotethys ocean. Original stratigraphic, structural, geochemical and geochronological data, described in this paper, suggest a different interpretation. The volcano-sedimentary units of Fariman and Darreh Anjir complexes where deposited during Permian in a subsiding basin were siliciclastic turbidites, derived from the erosion of a magmatic arc and its basement, interfinger with carbonates and basaltic lava flows with both transitional and calc-alkaline affinity. The coexistence of magmatic rocks with different geochemical signature and the sedimentary evolution of the basin can be related to a supra-subduction setting, possibly represented by a fault-controlled intra-arc basin. The Fariman and the Darreh Anjir complexes are thus interpreted as remnants of a magmatic arc and related basins developed at the southern Eurasia margin, on top of the north-directed Palaeotethys subduction zone long before the collision of Iran with Eurasia. They were later involved in the Cimmerian collision during the Triassic. New radiometric ages obtained on I-type post-collisional granitoids postdating the collision-related deformational structures suggest that the suture zone closed before mid-Norian times. Deformation propagated later northward into the Turan domain involving the Triassic successions of the Aghdarband region.     

Indosinian tectonics in Vietnam

In Vietnam, the Triassic Indosinian collision affected coevally the Truong Son belt and the Kontum Massif,which were not independent tectonic units, but parts of the same Gondwana-derived Indochina continental block. This thermotectonic event took place synchronously throughout Vietnam, during the Lower Triassic 250–240-Ma time interval, as demonstrated by numerous geochronological data, combining Ar–Ar and U–Pb dating methods. Structural and kinematic investigations, in the Indosinian metamorphic rocks, reveal that the collisional process resulted from a consistent northwest-striking convergence of Indochina with respect to the adjacent blocks. It is suggested that this motion was taken up by a pair of opposite subduction zones: to the north, beneath South China, and to the west, beneath western Indochina, along the Song Ma and Po Ko sutures, respectively. Tectonic markers, calc-alkaline subduction-related volcanism and granitic intrusions and the generation of high-pressure rocks that have been recently discovered support this geodynamic setting, at least along Po Ko. Along the northwest-trending Song Ma zone, the obliquity of the convergence during subduction and subsequent collision resulted in the development, within the Truong Son Belt, of a set of subparallel dextral mylonitic shear zones, under amphibolite-facies metamorphism. The intermediate segments remained weakly metamorphic or even almost devoid of metamorphism. Along Po Ko, the convergence was near-orthogonal, with a left-lateral strike-slip component; the ongoing continental subduction resulted in the reworking of the Kontum granulitic basement and the development of Indosinian HP granulitic conditions; the subsequent extension-related exhumation operated approximately in the same northwestwards direction. This Indosinian evolution, applied on a continental crust that had been probably affected, as in South China, by a Caledonian-related event, as judged by the general unconformity of the Lower Devonian sediments, the widespread occurrence of magmatic crystallisation ages of ca 450 Ma (Ordovician-Silurian), and by the approximately similar age of the primary granulitic episode in the Kontum Massif. The similarities of the Devonian facies over central, northern Vietnam and South China imply a land connection, possibly as a consequence of a Caledonian collision along Song Ma, but this does not preclude a further oceanic opening and a closure during the Indosinian.     

Was the Indosinian orogeny a Triassic mountain building or a thermotectonic reactivation event?

The underlying cause of Indosinian thermotectonism remains unclear, in part because the term has also been adopted to explain Triassic orogenesis across southern China. This paper puts forward the case that use of the term Indosinian should be confined to Vietnam where deformation is linked to continental accretion as opposed to southern China where Triassic igneous activity, metamorphism and deformation are linked to the development of an active plate margin through north-directed subduction of the Pacific oceanic plate. A review of the regional palaeogeography, as well as palaeontological and thermochronological data, highlights the lack of evidence to support the Indosinian as a major mountain building event. There is no definitive evidence for Triassic collision between the Indochina and South China blocks. Preference is given to a plate tectonic model that explains the Indosinian as a reactivation event driven by accretion of Sibumasu block to Indochina.     

Structure of the Sibumasu–Indochina collision,central Thailand: A section through the Khao Khwang Fold and thrust belt

Mainland SE Asia is composed of a number of continental fragments and volcanic arcs, separated by oceanic suture zones, which were accreted to the growing Asian continent during the Triassic Indosinian orogeny. The evolution of this orogeny has always been quite controversial. Indeed, the effects of this orogeny in Thailand have often been interpreted without considering the detailed tectonic evolution of the portion of the Indochina Block’s margin formed by Khao Khwang Platform area of the Saraburi Group, in central Thailand. This area is unusual because: (1) an extensive area representing a thin-skinned fold and thrust belt is well-exposed due to quarrying; and, (2) the fold and thrust belt displays a series of E–W and WNW–ESE striking thrusts and associated folds that are not easily explained in the context of the traditional interpretation where the terranes have been accreted broadly along N–S striking collisional zones. Detailed structural observations in numerous quarries around Highway 21 in a 13 km long dip-direction traverse have revealed that overall the thrust belt is composed of several large thrusts with an approximately northwards transport direction. In the southern part of the area, south-verging structures are present. Although the dominant structural trend is northwards-verging, interference structures, and late strike-slip faults indicate there is more than one phase of structural development present.