Upper crustal structure of the Tamworth Belt,New South Wales: constraints from new gravity data

New gravity data along five profiles across the western side of the southern New England Fold Belt and the adjoining Gunnedah Basin show the Namoi Gravity High over the Tamworth Belt and the Meandarra Gravity Ridge over the Gunnedah Basin. Forward modelling of gravity anomalies, combined with previous geological mapping and a seismic-reflection transect acquired by Geoscience Australia, has led to iterative testing of models of the crustal structure of the southern New England Fold Belt, which indicates that the gravity anomalies can generally be explained using the densities of the presently exposed rock units. The Namoi Gravity High over the Tamworth Belt results from the high density of the rocks of this belt that reflects the mafic volcanic source of the older sedimentary rocks in the Tamworth Belt, the burial metamorphism of the pre-Permian units and the presence of some mafic volcanic units. Modelling shows that the Woolomin Association, present immediately east of the Peel Fault and constituting the most western part of the Tablelands Complex, also has a relatively high density of 2.72 – 2.75 t/m³, and this unit also contributes to the Namoi Gravity High. The Tamworth Belt can be modelled with a configuration where the Tablelands Complex has been thrust over the Tamworth Belt along the Peel Fault that dips steeply to the east. The Tamworth Belt is thrust westward over the Sydney – Gunnedah Basin for 15 – 30 km on the Mooki Fault, which has a shallow dip (～25°) to the east. The Meandarra Gravity Ridge in the Gunnedah Basin was modelled as a high-density volcanic rock unit with a density contrast of 0.25 t/m³ relative to the underlying rocks of the Lachlan Fold Belt. The modelled volcanic rock unit has a steep western margin, a gently tapering eastern margin and a thickness range of 4.5 – 6 km. These volcanic rocks are assumed to be Lower Permian and to be the western extension of the Permian Werrie Basalts that outcrop on the western edge of the Tamworth Belt and which have been argued to have formed in an extensional basin. Blind granitic plutons are inferred to occur near the Peel Fault along the central and the southern profiles.     

The structural evolution of the Northern Hastings Block and southern Nambucca Block,southern New England Orogen,eastern Australia

The Hastings Block is a weakly cleaved and complexly folded and faulted terrain made up of Devonian, Carboniferous and Permian sedimentary and volcanic rocks. The map pattern of bedding suggests a major boundary exists that divides the Hastings Block into northern and southern parts. Bedding north of this boundary defines an upright box-like Parrabel Anticline that plunges gently northwest. Four cleavage/fold populations are recognised namely: E–W-striking, steeply dipping cleavage S₁ that is axial surface to gently to moderately E- or W-plunging; F₁ folds that were re-oriented during the formation of the Parrabel Anticline with less common N–S-trending, steeply dipping cleavage S₂, axial surface to gently to moderately N-plunging F₂ folds; poorly developed NW–SE-striking, steeply dipping cleavage S₃ axial surface to mesoscopic, mainly NW-plunging F₃ folds; and finally_, a weakly developed NE–SW-striking, steeply dipping S₄ cleavage formed axial surface to mainly NE-plunging F₄. The Parrabel Anticline is considered to have formed during the D₃ deformation. The more intense development of S₂ and S₃ on the western margin of the Northern Hastings Block reflects increasing strain related to major shortening of the sequences adjacent to the Tablelands Complex during the Hunter–Bowen Orogeny. The pattern of multiple deformation we have recorded is inconsistent with previous suggestions that the Hastings Block is part of an S-shaped orocline folded about near vertically plunging axes.     

Mesozoic intracontinental orogeny in the Qinling Mountains,central China

The Qinling Orogenic belt has been well documented that it was formed by multiple steps of convergence and subsequent collision between the North China and South China Blocks during Paleozoic and Late Triassic times. Following the collision in Late Triassic times, the whole range evolved into an intracontinental tectonic process. The geological, geophysical and geochronological data suggest that the intracontinental tectonic evolutionary history of the Qinling Orogenic Belt allow deduce three stages including strike-slip faulting during Early Jurrassic, N-S compressional deformation during Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous and orogenic collapse during Late Cretaceous to Paleogene. The strike-slip faulting and the infills in Early Jurassic along some major boundary faults show flower structures and pull-apart basins, related to the continued compression after Late Triassic collision between the South Qinling Belt and the South China Block along the Mianlue suture. Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous large scale of N-S compression and overthrusting progressed outwards from inner of Qinling Orogen to the North China Block and South China Block, due to the renewed southward intracontinental subduction of the North China Block beneath the Qinling Orogenic Belt and continuously northward subduction of the South China Block, respectively. After the Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous compression and denudation, the Qinling Orogenic Belt evolved into Late Cretaceous to Paleogene orogen collapse and depression, and formed many large fault basins along the major faults.     

Early Permian strike-slip basin formation and felsic volcanism in the Manning Group,southern New England Orogen,eastern Australia

The Manning Group is characterised by rapidly filled strike-slip basins that developed during the early Permian along the Peel--Manning Fault System in the southern New England Orogen. Typically, the Manning Group has been difficult to date owing to the lack of fossiliferous units or igneous rocks. Thus, the timing of transition from an accretionary convergent margin in the late Carboniferous to dominantly strike-slip tectonic regimes that involved development and emplacement of the Great Serpentinite Belt (Weraerai terrane) is not well constrained. One exception are rhyolites of the Ramleh Volcanics that were erupted into the Echo Hills Formation. These developed along the dextral Monkey Creek Fault splay east of the Peel--Manning Fault System. Zircons extracted from the Ramleh Volcanics yield a U–Pb (SHRIMP) age of 295.6?±?4.6?Ma that constrains the minimum age of deposition in this basin to earliest Permian. Whole-rock geochemistry indicates these are peraluminous felsic melts enriched in LREE and incompatible elements with strong depletions in U, Nb, Sr and Ti. These are similar in age and composition to the nearby S-type Bundarra and Hillgrove plutonic supersuites. We suggest that extensive movement along the east-dipping Peel--Manning Fault System was responsible, not only for strike-slip basin development at the surface (Manning Group), but was also the locus for crustal melting that was responsible for generating S-type felsic melts that utilised hanging-wall fault splays as conduits to the surface or to coalesce in the crust as batholiths exclusively to the east of the Peel--Manning Fault System.     

钦-杭接合带之构造特征

华南大陆壳由扬子地块和华夏地块两个主要的地质构造单元组成,其间发育一条板块碰撞拼接带——钦-杭接合带,依据地层组成、构造变形差异,进一步划分为鄣公山构造混杂岩带、绍兴-江山对接带,前者叠加发育在扬子地块南部陆缘江南古岛弧之上,后者代表两地块间消减了的大洋及边缘海混杂体,经历了晋宁-加里东多期碰撞拼贴：晋宁期华夏陆块向扬子陆块俯冲、碰撞、走滑,形成了透镜-网结状韧性剪切系统争三期褶皱变形;加里东运动,华夏陆块再次与扬子陆块碰撞、仰冲,导致华南加里东造山带逆冲推覆在晋宁期造山带之上。至此,两者最终焊接成一体,形成了统一的晚古生代沉积盖层。     

The role of strike-slip faulting in the history of the Hukawng Block and the Jade Mines Uplift,Myanmar

The Hukawng Basin is bounded on its east by splays of the still-active Sagaing Fault. Palinspastically restoring Myanmar's blocks to their positions before the widely-accepted c.400?km dextral strike-slip fault displacement, places the Hukawng Block alongside the Tengchong Block, suggesting they were formerly connected. Additionally the Cretaceous–Paleogene Medial-Myanmar Shear Zone then aligns with the NW-SE Jade Mines Belt. Jadeitite formed there under HP/LT conditions in a Mesozoic subduction zone. It was exhumed at the intersection of the dextral Medial-Myanmar Shear Zone with the subduction-zone at the continental margin of Sundaland. The later Sagaing Fault played no part in that exhumation.     

Paleomagnetism of the Carboniferous Gresford Block,Tamworth Belt,southern New England Orogen: minor counter-clockwise rotation of a primary arc segment

Abstract

Four oroclinal structures have been identified from structural, magnetic and gravity trends across a Carboniferous continental arc, forearc basin [Tamworth Belt (TB)] and conjugate accretionary complex in the southern New England Orogen (SNEO) of eastern Australia. None of the structures has yet been confirmed conclusively by paleomagnetism as oroclinal. Ignimbrites are common within the forearc basin and have been demonstrated to retain primary magnetisations despite prevalent overprinting. They are well exposed across six major tectono-stratigraphic blocks with partly interlinked stratigraphies, making the forearc basin highly prospective to oroclinal testing by comparing pole path segments for individual blocks across curved structures. Paleomagnetic studies have shown no noticeable rotation across the western/southwestern TB (Rocky Creek, Werrie and Rouchel blocks), but documented herein is a minor counter-clockwise rotation of the Gresford Block of the southern TB. This study details paleomagnetic, rock magnetic and magnetic fabric results for 87 sites (969 samples) across the southern Gresford Block. Predominantly thermal, also alternating field and liquid nitrogen, demagnetisations show a widely present low-temperature overprint, attributed to regional late Oligocene weathering, and high-temperature primary and overprint components residing in both mainly magnetite and mainly hematite carriers. Subtle, but systematic, directional differences between magnetite and hematite subcomponents show the latter as the better cleaned, better-defined, preferred results, detailing nine primary poles of middle and late Carboniferous ages and Permian and Permo-Triassic overprints as observed elsewhere in the western/southwestern TB. The primary poles update a poorly defined mid-Carboniferous section of the SNEO pole path and demonstrate counter-clockwise rotation, quantified at about 15° ± 13° from comparison of mid-Carboniferous Martins Creek Ignimbrite Member poles for the Rouchel and Gresford blocks, that may not necessarily have been completed prior to the Hunter–Bowen phase of the Gondwanide Orogeny. This minor counter-clockwise rotation of the Gresford Block accentuates a primary curvature of the southwestern/southern TB and heralds further, more complex, rotations of the Myall Block of the southeastern TB.     

A framework for the palaeozoic geology of the southern part of the New England Geosyncline

The southern part of the New England Geosyncline is divided by the Peel Fault into two major zones, termed the Tablelands Complex to the east and the Tamworth Belt to the west. Because of stratigraphical similarities the Hastings Block is correlated with the Tamworth Belt. Seven major lithostratigraphic associations are recognized in the Tablelands Complex. The Woolomin Association is a deepwater marine chert‐jasper‐basic volcanic‐dominated sequence in which sandstones are rare. The Sandon Association is a turbidite sequence in which minor chert, jasper, and basic volcanics are present. The Coffs Harbour Association is a deepwater marine turbidite sequence and is distinguished from the Sandon Association by the absence of chert, jasper, and basic volcanics. The Nambucca Association is also deepwater marine in nature and is dominated by diamictites deposited by mass movements. The Silverwood Association contains components of a volcanic arc, and the Dummy Creek Association consists of terrestrial to shallow‐water marine sediments deposited in rim synclines associated with the granitic intrusions. The above associations contain sandstones which are predominantly quartz‐poor lithic greywackes and these differ from the Beenleigh Association which contains continental shelf to deepwater marine deposits in which the sandstones are quartz‐rich. Recognition of the associations has been hindered by the intrusion of four granitic suites, metamorphism of the sediments under differing conditions of temperature and pressure, and fragmentation by several large‐scale faults into numerous blocks.     

Structural development of the Hastings Block and tectonic implications for the southern New England Orogen

Abstract

The shape and structural development of the box-like Parrabel Dome (PD) within the Hastings Block is poorly understood because it has only been weakly cleaved, complexly folded and extensively faulted in comparison to the adjoining blocks. Better characterising this block will provide important controls on the tectonics of the southern New England Orogen. The structural development of the PD and southern Hastings Block (SHB) provides evidence of the degree of rotation, translation and deformation of the Hastings Block, a key terrane within the southern New England Orogen. A major decollement under the Hastings Block–Nambucca Block was suggested to facilitate south-directed deformation caused by the developing Coffs Harbour Orocline. The orientation of bedding and the stratigraphic facing of some fault blocks within the northern Hastings Block (NHB) are consistent with development of the PD, while other fault blocks indicate significant disruption of the NHB prior to, during and after dome development. A deep-seated fault is suggested by the gravity worm analysis consistent with the boundary zone between the PD, NHB-Yarrowitch Block and the east-dipping and younging sequences in the SHB. The eastern limb of the PD underwent clockwise rotation after formation. Fault blocks have been rotated and translated within a restraining bend as the NHB moved post-PD formation northwest along the interface between the NHB and SHB.

1. KEY POINTS

2. The Hastings Block was translated and rotated into its current position from the southeastern end of the Tamworth Belt.

3. Gravity worm data indicate a boundary between northern and southern Hastings Block.

4. The Hastings and Nambucca blocks have been detached from the basement Gondwana rocks.

5. Fault block analysis within the Parrabel Dome, northern Hastings Block indicates relocation of some blocks by faulting.

     

History of faulting in the Northern Hastings Block,southern New England Orogen

Brittle failure is common in the Devonian to Permian rocks in the Northern Hastings Block (NHB) and is manifested by faults of different orientation and kinematic histories, but the timing of fault movement is not well defined. In this study, faults in the NHB were analysed with the map pattern of cross-cutting faults used to estimate the relative time of movement and relationship to other faults. We defined five episodes of faulting or fault reactivation that affected the NHB. The Yarras Fault System on the southwestern side of the NHB and the Parrabel Fault and related faults on the eastern side of the NHB are the two major fault systems responsible for transporting and rotating the NHB in the late Carboniferous. Faults on the eastern, northeastern and northern part of Parrabel Dome started and stopped moving after emplacement of the Hastings Block and before the intrusion of the Werrikimbe Triassic granitoids. We suggested that the movement on the major bounding faults is related to the accommodation of the NHB to the folding and cleavage development in the adjoining Nambucca Block, and is associated with the earliest part of the Hunter–Bowen Orogeny. Limited dextral movement on the extensions of the Taylors Arm Fault System caused minor displacements in the northeastern part of the NHB during the Late Triassic. Some small faults cut the Triassic granitoids or Triassic Lorne Basin sediments indicating tectonic activity continued post-Triassic.     

The Permian faunas of northern New South Wales and the connection between the Sydney and Bowen basins

Permian sediments are continuous between the Sydney and Bowen Basins west of the Hunter‐Mooki fault system and its probable northern continuation, the Goondiwindi Fault. Both fault systems appear to have influenced sedimentation in Early Permian time. A disconformity between Lower Permian coal measures (dated by plant microfossils) and Upper Permian sandstones and shales (dated by marine macrofossils) is present in the northern extension of the Sydney Basin. This hiatus may be correlated with a similar break in sedimentation in the southeastern part of the Bowen Basin. It is probably related to a Mid‐Permian diastrophism which folded Lower Permian and older sediments east of the Mooki and Peel Faults. Marine connection between the Sydney and Bowen Basins appears to have been interrupted during the event so that the two basins may have been temporarily isolated. The difference in the fossil faunas of the Sydney and Bowen Basins may well reflect this isolation.     

Fold-interference patterns in the Bowen Basin,northeastern Australia

Deformation patterns of Paleozoic and Mesozoic strata in eastern Australia are evidence of a structural and tectonic history that included multiple periods of deformation with variable strain intensities and orientations. Detailed analysis of structural data from the Bowen Basin in northeastern Australia reveals previously undescribed, north–south elongate, Type-1 fold-interference patterns. The Bowen Basin structures have similar orientations to previously described interference patterns of equivalent scale in upper Paleozoic strata of the New England Orogen and Sydney Basin of eastern Australia. The east Australian folds with north–south-trending axes most likely formed during late stages of the Permian–Triassic Hunter–Bowen Orogeny, and they were subsequently refolded around east–west axes during post 30 Ma collision of the Indo-Australian plate with the Eurasian and Pacific plates. The younger, east–west-trending folds have orientations that are well aligned with the present-day horizontal stress field of much of eastern Australia, raising the possibility that they are active structures.     

Late Palaeozoic arc flank and fore‐arc basin sequence of the New England fold belt in the stanage bay region,central Queensland

Devonian and Carboniferous (Yarrol terrane) rocks, Early Permian strata, and Permian‐(?)Triassic plutons outcrop in the Stanage Bay region of the northern New England Fold Belt. The Early‐(?)Middle Devonian Mt Holly Formation consists mainly of coarse volcaniclastic rocks of intermediate‐silicic provenance, and mafic, intermediate and silicic volcanics. Limestone is abundant in the Duke Island, along with a significant component of quartz sandstone on Hunter Island. Most Carboniferous rocks can be placed in two units, the late Tournaisian‐Namurian Campwyn Volcanics, composed of coarse volcaniclastic sedimentary rocks, silicic ash flow tuff and widespread oolitic limestone, and the conformably overlying Neerkol Formation dominated by volcaniclastic sandstone and siltstone with uncommon pebble conglomerate and scattered silicic ash fall tuff. Strata of uncertain stratigraphic affinity are mapped as ‘undifferentiated Carboniferous’. The Early Permian Youlambie Conglomerate unconformably overlies Carboniferous rocks. It consists of mudstone, sandstone and conglomerate, the last containing clasts of Carboniferous sedimentary rocks, diverse volcanics and rare granitic rocks. Intrusive bodies include the altered and variably strained Tynemouth Diorite of possible Devonian age, and a quartz monzonite mass of likely Late Permian or Triassic age.

The rocks of the Yarrol terrane accumulated in shallow (Mt Holly, Campwyn) and deeper (Neerkol) marine conditions proximal to an active magmatic arc which was probably of continental margin type. The Youlambie Conglomerate was deposited unconformably above the Yarrol terrane in a rift basin. Late Permian regional deformation, which involved east‐west horizontal shortening achieved by folding, cleavage formation and east‐over‐west thrusting, increases in intensity towards the east.     

Polyphase structural evolution of the southwestern Argentine Precordillera

The western and southwestern parts of the Argentine Precordillera display complex geometries which are not consistent with those of a typical high-level fold-and-thrust belt. They are the result of a polyphase structural evolution which spans the Early Paleozoic to Late Tertiary period. After an Early Paleozoic folding and shearing event under a greenschist facies metamorphism, uplift, erosion, and deposition of Late Carboniferous to Early Permian clastics were accompanied by extensional faulting. This was followed by a Permian folding and faulting event which led to a partial inversion of the Late Carboniferous-Early Permian graben fill. Permian to Triassic crustal extension was combined with block faulting and the deposition of a thick volcanic sequence. The subsequent Late Tertiary crustal shortening partly reactivated older fault lines. Excluding folds, a few thrusts, and reverse faults, the crustal shortening within the older blocks was accommodated by a dominant sinistral strike-slip faulting under a W-E compressive regime. Above a major décollement, the entire sequence of faulted and folded blocks was carried from west to east towards its present position. The regional situation indicates that this southern part of the orogen was transferred further to the east with respect to the central thin-skinned parts. The movements are interpreted to be related to an important thrust fault which obliquely cuts through the fold-and-thrust belt.     

Structure and metamorphism of the Calliope Volcanic Assemblage: Implications for middle to Late Devonian orogeny in the northern New England Fold Belt

The Late Silurian to Middle Devonian Calliope Volcanic Assemblage in the Rockhampton region is deformed into a set of northwest‐trending gently plunging folds with steep axial plane cleavage. Folds become tighter and cleavage intensifies towards the bounding Yarrol Fault to the east. These folds and associated cleavage also deformed Carboniferous and Permian rocks, and the age of this deformation is Middle to Late Permian (Hunter‐Bowen Orogeny). In the Stanage Bay area, both the Calliope Volcanic Assemblage and younger strata generally have one cleavage, although here it strikes north to northeast. This cleavage is also considered to be of Hunter‐Bowen age. Metamorphic grade in the Calliope Volcanic Assemblage ranges from prehnite‐pumpellyite to greenschist facies, with higher grades in the more strongly cleaved rocks. In the Rockhampton region the Calliope Volcanic Assemblage is part of a west‐vergent fold and thrust belt, the Yarrol Fault representing a major thrust within this system.

A Late Devonian unconformity followed minor folding of the Calliope Volcanic Assemblage, but no cleavage was formed. The unconformity does not represent a collision between an exotic island arc and continental Australia as previously suggested.     

Episodic Late Palaeozoic to Cenozoic denudation of the southeastern highlands of Australia: Evidence from the Bogong High Plains,Victoria

The Bogong High Plains of eastern Victoria occur as plateau remnants in a highly dissected region of the Australian Alps. Results from apatite fission track analyses indicate that the Bogong region experienced multiple episodes of rapid low‐temperature cooling, most of which can be tentatively linked to a tectonic cause. Early episodes of cooling occurred during the Middle to Late Devonian (ca 400–370 Ma) and Late Carboniferous to Early Permian (ca 310–290 Ma), presumably during different stages of deformation associated with the development of the Lachlan Fold Belt and glacial erosion. Rapid cooling occurred during the Late Permian to Early Triassic (ca 260–240 Ma), presumably in response to the Hunter‐Bowen orogenic event along the eastern Australian continental margin. Since the Triassic, two major episodes of fault reactivation have further displaced fission track ages between sample groups on different structural blocks. The first episode occurred during the middle Cretaceous at ca 110–90 Ma, probably in response to initial extension and denudation along the eastern Australian passive margin prior to breakup. Subsequently during the Early to mid‐Tertiary at ca 65–45 Ma, large‐scale fault reactivation occurred along the Kiewa Fault, possibly in response to changes in intraplate stresses which occurred during the middle Tertiary.     

Deep structure,genesis, and seismic activation of the Bureya orogen,Russian Far East

The Bureya orogen is a special object among the geodynamic factors determining the high seismicity of the Lower Amur region. Its location and deep structure are studied on the basis of comprehensive geophysical and tectonic data. This orogen is a low-density lithospheric domain expressed by an intensive negative gravity anomaly and Moho sunken down to 40 km depth. Within the limits of this lithospheric structure, contemporary uplifting takes place to form a meridional dome peaking at more than 2000 m altitude. The position of the orogen in the regional structure gives us grounds to think that the Bureya orogen formed in the Paleogene, at the finishing stage of tectonic block movement along the Pacific margin represented by the NE-trending strike-slip faults of the Tang Lu Fault Zone. Compression was concentrated at the triple junction between the Central Asian, Mongolian–Okhotian, and Sikhote Alin tectonic belts. The meridional orientation of the Bureya orogen is associated with the parallel elongated Cenozoic depressions in the region. The united morphotectonic system may have formed resulting from lithospheric folding under horizontal shortening in the Paleocene–Eocene. The wavelength of the Lower Amurian fold system is 250 km, which is consistent with the theoretical estimates and examples of lithospheric folds in other regions. The contemporary activation of the Bureya orogen began in the Miocene, under the effect of the Amurian Plate front moving in the northeastern direction. As a result of shortening, the meridional cluster of weak (M ≥ 2.0) earthquakes formed along the western boundary of the orogenic dome. The most intensive deformations caused another type of seismicity associated with the activation-related uplift of the mentioned orogen. As a result, the so-called Bureya seismic zone formed above the apex of the dome, and it is here that the strongest regional earthquakes (M ≥ 4.5) occur.     

TECTONICS OF THE DABIE OROGENIC BELT, CENTRAL CHINA

Tectonically the Dabie orogenic belt consists mainly of the Dabieshan Yanshanian uplifted zone and the Beihuaiyang Variscan-Indosinian folding zone. In the north boundary adjoining the North China Block, there are an Early Palaeozoic ophiolitic mixtite belt and the Hefei Mesozoic-Cenozoic faulted basin which overlaps on the suture belt. In the south of Dabie orogen, there is a secondary tectonic unit called Foreland thrust-faulted structural zone which was mainly formed by the intracontinental subductions during Mesozoic era. The study shows that the Dabie Block is a part of mid-late Proterozoic palaeo-island arc at the north margin of Yangtze Block. During Caledonian period, as a submerged uplift at the northen continental margin of Yangtze Block, the Dabie Block collided with the early Palaeozoic palaeo-island arc at the south margin of North China Block, resulting in the convergence of the North and South China Blocks and the disappearance of oceanic crust. Since then,large-scale intracontinental subductions were followed. Dabie Orogenic Belt is the product of overlapping of Yangtze Block, Dabie Block and North China Block under the mechanism of intracontinental subduction. Indosinian period is the period of chief deformation and high pressure dynamic metamorphism for Dabie Block, and Yanshan period is the main orogenic period in which the remelting of crust caused by basement shearing resulted in large scale thermometamorphism. The present tectonic framework of the orogen was finally formed by the rapid uplifting of the Dabieshan mountains and gliding southwards, which result in the developing of thrust belt on south side and the extensional tectonic movement on north side.     

扬子地块北缘晚古生代-早中生代裂谷系统的分布及成因分析

晚二叠世长兴期-早三叠世印度期,在扬子地块的西北缘发育了一系列北西向展布的深水盆地区。根据成因分析证实,它们为伸展背景下形成的裂谷系统或者裂谷盆地群。平面上各裂谷盆地彼此近于平行,与北侧的南秦岭造山带在走向上呈正交和大角度斜交的排列,自西向东依次为开江-梁平裂谷、城口-鄂西裂谷和荆门-当阳裂谷。其中的开江-梁平裂谷东西两侧发现了巨大的天然气田而引起石油勘探家和地质学家的关注。本文对于这些控制油气资源储备的裂谷体系的分布和形成机制进行研究后,认为它们形成于南秦岭洋闭合时的碰撞作用,是南秦岭造山带和扬子地块拼合时同生的巨型"碰撞裂谷系统"。     

TECTONICS OF THE DABIE OROGENIC BELT, CENTRAL CHINA

Tectonically the Dabie orogenic belt consists mainly of the Dabieshan Yanshanian uplifted zone and the Beihuaiyang Variscan-Indosinian folding zone. In the north boundary adjoining the North China Block, there are an Early Palaeozoic ophiolitic mixtite belt and the Hefei Mesozoic-Cenozoic faulted basin which overlaps on the suture belt. In the south of Dabie orogen, there is a secondary tectonic unit called Foreland thrust-faulted structural zone which was mainly formed by the intracontinental subductions during Mesozoic era. The study shows that the Dabie Block is a part of mid-late Proterozoic palaeo-island arc at the north margin of Yangtze Block. During Caledonian period, as a submerged uplift at the northen continental margin of Yangtze Block, the Dabie Block collided with the early Palaeozoic palaeo-island arc at the south margin of North China Block, resulting in the convergence of the North and South China Blocks and the disappearance of oceanic crust. Since then,large-scale intracontinental subductions were followed. Dabie Orogenic Belt is the product of overlapping of Yangtze Block, Dabie Block and North China Block under the mechanism of intracontinental subduction. Indosinian period is the period of chief deformation and high pressure dynamic metamorphism for Dabie Block, and Yanshan period is the main orogenic period in which the remelting of crust caused by basement shearing resulted in large scale thermometamorphism. The present tectonic framework of the orogen was finally formed by the rapid uplifting of the Dabieshan mountains and gliding southwards, which result in the developing of thrust belt on south side and the extensional tectonic movement on north side.