TECTONIC EVOLUTION OF THE YANGTZE PASSIVE MARGIN AND SONGPAN GARZ? FOLD BELT, CHINA

TECTONIC EVOLUTION OF THE YANGTZE PASSIVE MARGIN AND SONGPAN GARZ? FOLD BELT, CHINA     

DEFORMATIONAL AND METAMORPHIC HISTORY OF THE CENTRAL LONGMEN MOUNTAINS, SICHUAN CHINA

DEFORMATIONAL AND METAMORPHIC HISTORY OF THE CENTRAL LONGMEN MOUNTAINS, SICHUAN CHINA1　ArneDC ,WorleyBA ,WilsonCJL ,etal.Differentialexhumationinresponsetoepisodicthrustingalongtheeasternmar ginoftheTibetanPlateau[J] .Tectonophysics,1997,2 80 :2 39～ 2 56 . 2　ChenSF ,WilsonCJL ,WorleyBA .TectonictransitionfromtheSongpan GarzeFoldBelttotheSichuanBasin,south westernChina[J] .BasinResearch ,1995,7:2 35～ 2 53. 3　ChenSF ,WilsonCJL .Emplaceme…     

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).     

Crustal response to continental collisions between the Tibet, Indian, South China and North China Blocks: geochronological constraints from the Songpan-Garzê Orogenic Belt, western China

We report SHRIMP U–Th–Pb monazite, conventional U–Pb titanite, Sm–Nd garnet and Rb–Sr muscovite and biotite ages for metamorphic rocks from the Danba Domal Metamorphic Terrane in the eastern Songpan‐Garzê Orogenic Belt (eastern Tibet Plateau). These ages are used to determine the timing of polyphase metamorphic events and the subsequent cooling history. The oldest U–Th–Pb monazite and Sm–Nd garnet ages constrain an early Barrovian metamorphism (M1) in the interval c. 204–190 Ma, coincident with extensive Indosinian granitic magmatism throughout the Songpan‐Garzê Orogenic Belt. A second, higher‐grade sillimanite‐grade metamorphic event (M2), recorded only in the northern part of the Danba terrane, was dated at c. 168–158 Ma by a combination of U–Th–Pb monazite and titanite and Sm–Nd garnet ages. It is suggested that M1 was a thermal event that affected the entire orogenic belt while M2 may represent a local thermal perturbation. Rb–Sr muscovite ages range from c. 138–100 Ma, whereas Rb–Sr biotite ages cluster at c. 34–24 Ma. These ages document regional cooling at rates of c. 2–3 °C Myr^?1 following the M1 peak for most of the terrane. However, those parts of the terrane affected by the higher‐temperature M2 event (e.g. the migmatite zone) experienced initially more rapid (c. 8 °C Myr^?1) cooling after peak M2 before joining the regional slow cooling path defined by the rest of the terrane at c. 138 Ma. Regional slow cooling between c. 138 and c. 30 Ma is thought to be the result of post‐tectonic isostatic uplift after extensive crustal thickening caused by collision of the South and North China Blocks. The clustering of biotite Rb–Sr ages marks the onset of rapid uplift across the entire terrane commencing at c. 30–20 Ma. This cooling history is shared with many other regions of the Tibet Plateau, suggesting that uplift of the Tibet Plateau (including the Songpan‐Garzê Orogenic Belt) occurred predominantly in the last c. 30 Myr as a response to the continuing northwards collision of India with Eurasia.     

华北克拉通北缘鸡冠山斑岩钼矿床成矿年代及印支期成矿事件

鸡冠山斑岩钼矿床是华北克拉通北缘少为人知的中生代西拉沐伦钼矿带中最大的钼矿床之一。它与鸡冠山次火山杂岩有关,杂岩体受NW向、NE向及NEE向三组断裂控制。锆石SHRIMP U-Pb定年表明,发育钼矿化的矿区内最晚的花岗斑岩侵位于245±2.7Ma。这表明,鸡冠山钼矿化发生在印支期。结合已有资料分析,认为华北克拉通北缘曾在印支期发生重要的岩浆-成矿事件。     

40Ar/39Ar Dating of Xuebaoding Granite in the Songpan-Garzê Orogenic Belt, Southwest China, and its Geological Significance

<正>Thus far,our understanding of the emplacement of Xuebaoding granite and the occurrence and evolution of the Songpan-Garze Orogenic Belt has been complicated by differing age spectra results.Therefore,in this study,the ~(40)Ar/~(39)Ar and sensitive high resolution ion micro-probe(SHRIMP) U-Pb dating methods were both used and the results compared,particularly with respect to dating data for Pankou and Pukouling granites from Xuebaoding,to establish ages that are close to the real emplacements.The results of SHRIMP U-Pb dating for zircon showed a high amount of U,but a very low value for Th/U.The high U amount,coupled with characteristics of inclusions in zircons,indicates that Xuebaoding granites are not suitable for U-Pb dating.Therefore,muscovite in the same granite samples was selected for ~(40)Ar/~(39)Ar dating.The ~(40)Ar/~(39)Ar age spectrum obtained on bulk muscovite from Pukouling granite in the Xuebaoding,gave a plateau age of 200.1±1.2 Ma and an inverse isochron age of 200.6±1.2 Ma.The ~(40)Ar/~(39)Ar age spectrum obtained on bulk muscovite from Pankou granite in the Xuebaoding gave another plateau age of 193.4±1.1 Ma and an inverse isochron age of 193.7±1.1 Ma. The ~(40)Ar/~(36)Ar intercept of 277.0±23.4(2σ) was very close to the air ratio,indicating that no apparent excess argon contamination was present.These age dating spectra indicate that both granites were emplaced at 200.6±1.3 Ma and 193.7±1.1 Ma,respectively.Through comparison of both dating methods and their results,we can conclude that it is feasible that the muscovite in the granite bearing high U could be used for ~(40)Ar/~(39)Ar dating without extra Ar.Based on this evidence,as well as the geological characteristics of the Xuebaoding W-Sn-Be deposit and petrology of granites,it can be concluded that the material origin of the Xuebaoding W-Sn-Be deposit might partially originate from the Xuebaoding granite group emplacement at about 200 Ma.Moreover,compared with other granites and deposits distributed in various positions in the Songpan-Garze Orogenic Belt,the Xuebaoding emplacement ages further show that the main rare metal deposits and granites in peripheral regions occurred earlier than those in the inner Songpan-Garze.Therefore,~(40)Ar/~(39)Ar dating of Xuebaoding granite will lay a solid foundation for studying the occurrence and evolution of granite and rare earth element deposits in the Songpan-Garze Orogenic Belt.     

Opening and closing process of the Paleo-Tethys in Northern Thailand

The Paleo-Tethys formed a large ocean basin that existed between Laurasia and Gondwana during Late Paleozoic to Early Mesozoic times. It opened in the Early Devonian by the rifting of Gondwanaland and closed at around latest Triassic time by the collision of the Cimmerian continent to Laurasia (Metcalfe, 1999). We reconstructed opening and closing process of the Paleo-Tethys in Northern Thailand.     

Chronological Link Between the Abrupt Change of the Loess Grain Size Sequence and the Formation of River Terraces on the Eastern Margin of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau Since the Late Early-Pleistocene

Based on the study of magnetostratigraphy, magnetic susceptibility and grain size of Garzê A section on the southeastern margin of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau since the late early-Pleistocene, the basal age of Garzê loess is located at ~1.16?MaBP and a series of abrupt paleoclimatic changes is detected. The times of abrupt changes are of distinct series features, and the interval between each two adjacent abrupt changes is ~50 kyr or ~100?kyr. The most significant abrupt changes occur at around 1.06, 0.85, 0.6, 0.46, 0.39 and 0.14?MaBP. There is a chronological link between the abrupt changes of paleoclimate and the formation of river terraces and it is almost simultaneous with a strengthening trend of neotectonic activities. Therefore, maybe the climatic transition controll the timing of terrace formation, and the tectonic uplift originate potential energy and has a direct effect on channel incision, both the climatic transition and the tectonic uplift are important. Terraces are the products of the interaction of instable climatic variations and tectonic uplift. Like the loess-paleosol sequences, river terrace sequences are also controlled by the climate-tectonic coupling system and are ruled by climate-tectonic gyration with a ~100?kyr paracycle, which may be the short eccentricity period of the earth.     

Differential exhumation in response to episodic thrusting along the eastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau

Thermochronological data from the Songpan-Ganze˛Fold Belt and Longmen Mountains Thrust-Nappe Belt, on the eastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau in central China, reveal several phases of differential cooling across major listric thrust faults since Early Cretaceous times. Differential cooling, indicated by distinct breaks in age data across discrete compressional structures, was superimposed upon a regional cooling pattern following the Late Triassic Indosinian Orogeny. ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar data from muscovite from the central and southern Longmen Mountains Thrust-Nappe Belt suggest a phase of differential cooling across the Wenchuan-Maouwen Shear Zone during the Early Cretaceous. The zircon fission track data also indicate differential cooling across a zone of brittle re-activation on the eastern margin of the Wenchuan-Maouwen Shear Zone during the mid-Tertiary, between 38 and 10 Ma. Apatite fission track data from the central and southern Longmen Mountains Thrust-Nappe Belt reveal differential cooling across the Yingxiu-Beichuan and Erwangmiao faults during the Miocene. Forward modelling of apatite fission track data from the northern Longmen Mountains Thrust-Nappe Belt suggests relatively slow regional cooling through the Mesozoic and early Tertiary, followed by accelerated cooling during the Miocene, beginning at ca. 20 Ma, to present day.

Regional cooling is attributed to erosion during exhumation of the evolving Longmen Mountains Thrust-Nappe Belt (LMTNB) following the Indosinian Orogeny. Differential cooling across the Wenchuan-Maouwen Shear Zone and the Yingxiu-Beichuan and Erwangmiao faults is attributed to exhumation of the hanging walls of active listric thrust faults. Thermochronological data from the Longmen Mountains Thrust-Nappe Belt reveal a greater amount of differential exhumation across thrust faults from north to south. This observation is in accord with the prevalence of Proterozoic and Sinian basement in the hanging walls of thrust faults in the central and southern Longmen Mountains. The two most recent phases of reactivation occurred following the initial collision of India with Eurasia, suggesting that lateral extrusion of crustal material in response to this collision was focused along discrete structures in the LMTNB.     

Sedimentary Evolution of the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau in Cenozoic and its Response to the Uplift of the Plateau

We have studied the evolution of the tectonic lithofacies paleogeography of Paleocene–Eocene, Oligocene, Miocene, and Pliocene of the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau by compiling data regarding the type, tectonic setting, and lithostratigraphic sequence of 98 remnant basins in the plateau area. Our results can be summarized as follows. (1) The Paleocene to Eocene is characterized by uplift and erosion in the Songpan–Garzê and Gangdisê belts, depression (lakes and pluvial plains) in eastern Tarim, Qaidam, Qiangtang, and Hoh Xil, and the Neo-Tethys Sea in the western and southern Qinghai–Tibet Plateau. (2) The Oligocene is characterized by uplift in the Gangdisê–Himalaya and Karakorum regions (marked by the absence of sedimentation), fluvial transport (originating eastward and flowing westward) in the Brahmaputra region (marked by the deposition of Dazhuka conglomerate), uplift and erosion in western Kunlun and Songpan–Garzê, and depression (lakes) in the Tarim, Qaidam, Qiangtang, and Hoh Xil. The Oligocene is further characterized by depressional littoral and neritic basins in southwestern Tarim, with marine facies deposition ceasing at the end of the Oligocene. (3) For the Miocene, a widespread regional unconformity (ca. 23 Ma) in and adjacent to the plateau indicates comprehensive uplift of the plateau. This period is characterized by depressions (lakes) in the Tarim, Qaidam, Xining–Nanzhou, Qiangtang, and Hoh Xil. Lacustrine facies deposition expanded to peak in and adjacent to the plateau ca. 18–13 Ma, and north–south fault basins formed in southern Tibet ca. 13–10 Ma. All of these features indicate that the plateau uplifted to its peak and began to collapse. (4) Uplift and erosion occurred during the Pliocene in most parts of the plateau, except in the Hoh Xil–Qiangtang, Tarim, and Qaidam.     

软碰撞、叠覆造山和多旋回缝合作用

软碰撞是指陆块间,主要是微陆块间的弱碰撞。软碰撞后,陆块间尚未焊合,处于"联而不合"的状态。在新的构造阶段,这些陆块间又可再一次挤压和地壳缩短,发生大陆壳的消减造山作用,使一个大陆的大陆壳叠覆在另一个大陆的大陆壳之上,这就是陆一陆叠覆造山作用。东亚诸陆块在古生代软碰撞后,曾长期处于"联而不合"的状态,只有再经过华为西、印支、燕山多旋回的陆-陆叠覆和走滑-挤压造山作用之后,它们才在动力学上最终焊合为一体,即经历了多旋回的缝合作用才合为一体。     

哀牢山古特提斯洋盆闭合和印支造山开启的时限:来自中-上三叠统碎屑锆石U-Pb年代学和Hf同位素约束

由于哀牢山古特提斯洋盆精确闭合时间一直存在争议,从而制约了我们对该区古特提斯洋演化及印支造山运动过程的完整认识。碎屑岩作为造山作用在地壳浅表响应的产物,保存了其物源区深部岩浆作用的重要信息,可有效地约束洋盆演化和造山过程的精细时空格架。本文选择对哀牢山构造带及其东侧地区中-上三叠统碎屑锆石年代学和Hf同位素开展了系统的研究,结果显示:构造带内部三叠统样品除了缺少240~325 Ma年龄群外,与东侧地区同时代碎屑岩样品相似,均具有480~560 Ma和900~1200 Ma两个主要年龄群,对应的εHf(t)值分别为?16.75~+17.00和?15.39~+19.20;而两地区上三叠统样品具有基本相同的年龄频谱特征,均显示250~330 Ma、480~580 Ma和920~1240 Ma三个主要年龄群,对应的εHf(t)值分别为?10.67~+12.15、?10.06~+9.57和?12.25~+15.62。综合本次研究结果与前人数据,表明哀牢山构造带内中-上三叠统及其东侧地区三叠系碎屑物质主要来源于构造带内的岩浆岩,有少量老地层再循环的贡献。进一步的源区分析指出,哀牢山古特提斯洋在早三叠世已闭合。此外,基于哀牢山构造带及两侧地区普遍缺失下三叠统地层和大量发育早-中三叠世碰撞有关的岩浆岩的特征,显示我国哀牢山地区与越北地区印支造山运动在二叠纪末-早三叠世同时开启,中-晚三叠世,哀牢山构造带进入碰撞后伸展阶段。     

A natural long‐term annealing experiment for the zircon fission track system in the Songpan‐Garzê flysch,China

Application of the zircon fission track (FT) method to derive reliable cooling histories requires that rocks have undergone temperatures sufficient to reach full resetting prior to cooling. Zircons commonly show significant variation in accumulated radiation damage and therefore FT annealing behaviour. Twenty‐eight samples of mainly anchizonal to lowermost greenschist facies Triassic sandstones from the Songpan‐Garzê flysch, China, were evaluated for their FT annealing status. Literature data suggest a heating period in the range of 100 myr duration. Our results define a temperature range for partial FT annealing of 270–350°C (based on illite crystallinity data), higher than the proposed range for radiation‐damaged zircons. We suggest that the long residence at high temperature has led to annealing of relevant parts of radiation damage along with FT annealing, so that even for long durations of FT annealing, full resetting requires temperatures in the range of greenschist facies conditions typical for zero‐damage zircons.     

The Characteristics of the Indosinian Pacific-Type Ancient Continental Margin in the Qinghai-Xizang (Tibet)-Sichuan-Yunnan Region1

Abstract The Qinghai- Xizang (Tibet) Plateau and the “Sanjiang” area², where are extensively developed the Tethys-type marine Triassic sequences with Indosinian tectonic disturbance and magmatism, provide an important region for the study of the tectonic evolution and the Indosinian movement of China as well as for the study of the boundary between Gondwana and Laurasia and the characteristics of the time-space distribution of the Tethys oceanic crust within the territory of China. Over a long period of time in the past, quite a number of scholars made substantial studies and discussions from various viewpoints on the geotectonic and regional geological evolution of this region. Based on some new data obtained recently and the field observations by the author, and by using the plate tectonic theory, the author considers that there developed a Pacific-type (active type) ancient continental margin bordering the Palaeo-Tethys ocean (or North Tethys ocean) in the south in Late Permian to Triassic times in the region of south-central Qinghai, northeastern Xizang (Tibet), western and southwestern Sichuan, and western Yunnan. Its characteristics basically represent the Indosinian tectonic evolution of this region.     

Tectonics of the Longmen Shan and Adjacent Regions,Central China

The Longmen Shan region includes, from west to east, the northeastern part of the Tibetan Plateau, the Sichuan Basin, and the eastern part of the eastern Sichuan fold-and-thrust belt. In the northeast, it merges with the Micang Shan, a part of the Qinling Mountains. The Longmen Shan region can be divided into two major tectonic elements: (1) an autochthon/parautochthon, which underlies the easternmost part of the Tibetan Plateau, the Sichuan Basin, and the eastern Sichuan fold-and-thrust belt; and (2) a complex allochthon, which underlies the eastern part of the Tibetan Plateau. The allochthon was emplaced toward the southeast during Late Triassic time, and it and the western part of the autochthon/parautochthon were modified by Cenozoic deformation.

The autochthon/parautochthon was formed from the western part of the Yangtze platform and consists of a Proterozoic basement covered by a thin, incomplete succession of Late Proterozoic to Middle Triassic shallow-marine and nonmarine sedimentary rocks interrupted by Permian extension and basic magmatism in the southwest. The platform is bounded by continental margins that formed in Silurian time to the west and in Late Proterozoic time to the north. Within the southwestern part of the platform is the narrow N-trending Kungdian high, a paleogeographic unit that was positive during part of Paleozoic time and whose crest is characterized by nonmarine Upper Triassic rocks unconformably overlying Proterozoic basement.

In the western part of the Longmen Shan region, the allochthon is composed mainly of a very thick succession of strongly folded Middle and Upper Triassic Songpan Ganzi flysch. Along the eastern side and at the base of the allochthon, pre-Upper Triassic rocks crop out, forming the only exposures of the western margin of the Yangtze platform. Here, Upper Proterozoic to Ordovician, mainly shallow-marine rocks unconformably overlie Yangtze-type Proterozic basement rocks, but in Silurian time a thick section of fine-grained clastic and carbonate rocks were deposited, marking the initial subsidence of the western Yangtze platform and formation of a continental margin. Similar deep-water rocks were deposited throughout Devonian to Middle Triassic time, when Songpan Ganzi flysch deposition began. Permian conglomerate and basic volcanic rocks in the southeastern part of the allochthon indicate a second period of extension along the continental margin. Evidence suggests that the deep-water region along and west of the Yangtze continental margin was underlain mostly by thin continental crust, but its westernmost part may have contained areas underlain by oceanic crust. In the northern part of the Longmen Shan allochthon, thick Devonian to Upper Triassic shallow-water deposits of the Xue Shan platform are flanked by deep-marine rocks and the platform is interpreted to be a fragment of the Qinling continental margin transported westward during early Mesozoic transpressive tectonism.

In the Longmen Shan region, the allochthon, carrying the western part of the Yangtze continental margin and Songpan Ganzi flysch, was emplaced to the southeast above rocks of the Yangtze platform autochthon. The eastern margin of the allochthon in the northern Longmen Shan is unconformably overlapped by both Lower and Middle Jurassic strata that are continuous with rocks of the autochthon. Folded rocks of the allochthon are unconformably overlapped by Lower and Middle Jurassic rocks in rare outcrops in the northern part of the region. They also are extensively intruded by a poorly dated, generally undeformed belt, of plutons whose ages (mostly K/Ar ages) range from Late Triassic to early Cenozoic, but most of the reliable ages are early Mesozoic. All evidence indicates that the major deformation within the allochthon is Late Triassic/Early Jurassic in age (Indosinian). The eastern front of the allochthon trends southwest across the present mountain front, so it lies along the mountain front in the northeast, but is located well to the west of the present mountain front on the south.

The Late Triassic deformation is characterized by upright to overturned folded and refolded Triassic flysch, with generally NW-trending axial traces in the western part of the region. Folds and thrust faults curve to the north when traced to the east, so that along the eastern front of the allochthon structures trend northeast, involve pre-Triassic rocks, and parallel the eastern boundary of the allochthon. The curvature of structural trends is interpreted as forming part of a left-lateral transpressive boundary developed during emplacement of the allochthon. Regionally, the Longmen Shan lies along a NE-trending transpressive margin of the Yangtze platform within a broad zone of generally N-S shortening. North of the Longmen Shan region, northward subduction led to collision of the South and North China continental fragments along the Qinling Mountains, but northwest of the Longmen Shan region, subduction led to shortening within the Songpan Ganzi flysch basin, forming a detached fold-and-thrust belt. South of the Longmen Shan region, the flysch basin is bounded by the Shaluli Shan/Chola Shan arc—an originally Sfacing arc that reversed polarity in Late Triassic time, leading to shortening along the southern margin of the Songpan Ganzi flysch belt. Shortening within the flysch belt was oblique to the Yangtze continental margin such that the allochthon in the Longmen Shan region was emplaced within a left-lateral transpressive environment. Possible clockwise rotation of the Yangtze platform (part of the South China continental fragment) also may have contributed to left-lateral transpression with SE-directed shortening. During left-lateral transpression, the Xue Shan platform was displaced southwestward from the Qinling orogen and incorporated into the Longmen Shan allochthon. Westward movement of the platform caused complex refolding in the northern part of the Longmen Shan region.

Emplacement of the allochthon flexurally loaded the western part of the Yangtze platform autochthon, forming a Late Triassic foredeep. Foredeep deposition, often involving thick conglomerate units derived from the west, continued from Middle Jurassic into Cretaceous time, although evidence for deformation of this age in the allochthon is generally lacking.

Folding in the eastern Sichuan fold-and-thrust belt along the eastern side of the Sichuan Basin can be dated as Late Jurassic or Early Cretaceous in age, but only in areas 100 km east of the westernmost folds. Folding and thrusting was related to convergent activity far to the east along the eastern margin of South China. The westernmost folds trend southwest and merge to the south with folds and locally form refolded folds that involve Upper Cretaceous and lower Cenozoic rocks. The boundary between Cenozoic and late Mesozoic folding on the eastern and southern margins of the Sichuan Basin remains poorly determined.

The present mountainous eastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau in the Longmen Shan region is a consequence of Cenozoic deformation. It rises within 100 km from 500–600 m in the Sichuan Basin to peaks in the west reaching 5500 m and 7500 m in the north and south, respectively. West of these high peaks is the eastern part of the Tibetan Plateau, an area of low relief at an elevations of about 4000 m.

Cenozoic deformation can be demonstrated in the autochthon of the southern Longmen Shan, where the stratigraphic sequence is without an angular unconformity from Paleozoic to Eocene or Oligocene time. During Cenozoic deformation, the western part of the Yangtze platform (part of the autochthon for Late Triassic deformation) was deformed into a N- to NE-trending foldandthrust belt. In its eastern part the fold-thrust belt is detached near the base of the platform succession and affects rocks within and along the western and southern margin of the Sichuan Basin, but to the west and south the detachment is within Proterozoic basement rocks. The westernmost structures of the fold-thrust belt form a belt of exposed basement massifs. During the middle and later part of the Cenozoic deformation, strike-slip faulting became important; the fold-thrust belt became partly right-lateral transpressive in the central and northeastern Longmen Shan. The southern part of the fold-thrust belt has a more complex evolution. Early Nto NE-trending folds and thrust faults are deformed by NW-trending basementinvolved folds and thrust faults that intersect with the NE-trending right-lateral strike-slip faults. Youngest structures in this southern area are dominated by left-lateral transpression related to movement on the Xianshuihe fault system.

The extent of Cenozoic deformation within the area underlain by the early Mesozoic allochthon remains unknown, because of the absence of rocks of the appropriate age to date Cenozoic deformation. Klippen of the allochthon were emplaced above the Cenozoic fold-andthrust belt in the central part of the eastern Longmen Shan, indicating that the allochthon was at least partly reactivated during Cenozoic time. Only in the Min Shan in the northern part of the allochthon is Cenozoic deformation demonstrated along two active zones of E-W shortening and associated left-slip. These structures trend obliquely across early Mesozoic structures and are probably related to shortening transferred from a major zone of active left-slip faulting that trends through the western Qinling Mountains. Active deformation is along the left-slip transpressive NW-trending Xianshuihe fault zone in the south, right-slip transpression along several major NE-trending faults in the central and northeastern Longmen Shan, and E-W shortening with minor left-slip movement along the Min Jiang and Huya fault zones in the north.

Our estimates of Cenozoic shortening along the eastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau appear to be inadequate to account for the thick crust and high elevation of the plateau. We suggest here that the thick crust and high elevation is caused by lateral flow of the middle and lower crust eastward from the central part of the plateau and only minor crustal shortening in the upper crust. Upper crustal structure is largely controlled in the Longmen Shan region by older crustal anisotropics; thus shortening and eastward movement of upper crustal material is characterized by irregular deformation localized along older structural boundaries.     

青藏高原东缘地壳上地幔结构及其动力学意义

本文综述了我们在青藏高原东缘实施的垂直切过龙门山断裂带宽频带地震探测的研究成果,揭示了研究区复杂的地壳上地幔结构,结果表明松潘-甘孜地块与四川盆地西缘莫霍面深度为58 km与40 km±,在龙门山断裂带下方存在约15 km的莫霍面错断; 松潘-甘孜与龙门山断裂带域地壳纵横波速度比Vp/Vs比值远大于173,预示着粘性下地壳流或基性/超基性物质的存在。探讨了研究区强烈的盆山之间以及深部不同层圈之间的相互作用,推断四川盆地对青藏高原东缘软流圈驱动的物质东向逃逸阻挡作用可能深达整个上地幔。     

滇西南昌宁—孟连带和澜沧江带古特提斯多岛洋构造演化

昌宁—孟连带位于保山—耿马和思茅一临沧地块之间,保存有多种缝合带记录和罕见的泥盆纪至中三叠世连续洋盆沉积序列,代表古特提斯多岛洋主支部位,临沧地块很可能是一个亲冈瓦纳的外来地体,晚二叠世前增生到思茅地块西缘。因此,澜沧江带和昌宁—孟连带晚二叠世前属于同一个洋盆,向南与泰国北部难河—程逸缝合带连接。古特提斯的最后封闭发生于晚印支期,以后又遭受新特提斯阶段喜马拉雅期构造运动的强烈影响。     

Tectonic Framework and Deep Structure of South China and Their Constraint to Oil‐Gas Field Distribution

South China could be divided into one stable craton, the Yangtze Craton (YzC), and several orogenic belts in the surrounding region, that is the Triassic Qinling-Dabie Orogenic Belt (QDOB) in the north, the Songpan-Garzê Orogenic Belt (SGOB) in the northwest, the Mesozoic-Cenozoic Three-river Orogenic Belt (TOB) in the west, the Youjiang Orogenic Belt (YOB) in the southwest, the Middle Paleozoic Huanan Orogenic Belt (HOB) in the southeast, and the Mesozoic-Cenozoic Maritime Orogenic Belt (MOB) along the coast. Seismic tomographic images reveal that the Moho depth is deeper than 40 km and the lithosphere is about 210 km thick beneath the YzC. The SGOB is characterized by thick crust (>40 km) and thin lithosphere (<150 km). The HOB, YOB and MOB have a thin crust (<40 km) and thin lithosphere (<150 km). Terrestrial heat flow survey revealed a distribution pattern with a low heat flow region in the eastern YzC and western HOB and two high heat flow regions in the TOB and MOB respectively. Such a “high-low-high” heat flow distribution pattern could have resulted from Cenozoic asthenosphere upwelling. All oil-gas fields are concentrated in the central part of the YzC. Remnant oil pools have been discovered along the southern margin of the YzC and its adjacent orogenic belts. From a viewpoint of geological and geophysical structure, regions in South China with thick lithosphere and low heat flow value, as well as weak deformation, might be the ideal region for further petroleum exploration.     

The Cimmerian Orogeny in northern Iran: tectono-stratigraphic evidence from the foreland

From the Permian onwards, the Gondwana-derived Iran Plate drifted northward to collide with Eurasia in the Late Triassic, thereby closing the Palaeotethys. This Eo-Cimmerian Orogeny formed the Cimmeride fold-and-thrust belt. The Upper Triassic–Middle Jurassic Shemshak Group of northern Iran is commonly regarded as the Cimmerian foreland molasse. However, our tectono-stratigraphic analysis of the Shemshak Group resulted in a revised and precisely dated model for the Triassic–Jurassic geodynamic evolution of the Iran Plate: initial Cimmerian collision started in the Carnian with subsequent Late Triassic synorogenic peripheral foreland deposition (flysch, lower Shemshak Group). Subduction shifted south in the Norian (onset of Neotethys subduction below Iran) and slab break-off around the Triassic–Jurassic boundary caused rapid uplift of the Cimmerides followed by Liassic post-orogenic molasse (middle Shemshak Group). During the Toarcian–Aalenian (upper Shemshak Group), Neotethys back-arc rifting formed a deep-marine basin, which developed into the oceanic South Caspian Basin during the Late Bajocian–Late Jurassic.     

Zircon U-Pb-Hf constraints from Gongga Shan granites on young crustal melting in eastern Tibet

The Gongga Shan batholith is a complex granitoid batholith on the eastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau with a long history of magmatism spanning from the Triassic to the Pliocene. Late Miocene-Pliocene units are the youngest exposed crustal melts within the entire Asian plate of the Tibetan Plateau.Here, we present in-situ zircon Hf isotope constraints on their magmatic source, to aid the understanding of how these young melts were formed and how they were exhumed to the surface. Hf isotope signatures of Eocene to Pliocene zircon rims(ε_Hf(t)=-4 to +4), interpreted to have grown during localised crustal melting, are indicative of melting of a Neoproterozoic source region, equivalent to the nearby exposed Kangding Complex. Therefore, we suggest that Neoproterozoic crust underlies this region of the Songpan-Ganze terrane, and sourced the intrusive granites that form the Gongga Shan batholith. Localised young melting of Neoproterozoic lower or middle crust requires localised melt-fertile lithologies. We suggest that such melts may be equivalent to seismic and magnetotelluric low-velocity and high-conductivity zones or "bright spots" imaged across much of the Tibetan Plateau. The lack of widespread exposed melts this age is due either to the lack of melt-fertile rocks in the middle crust, the very low erosion level of the Tibetan plateau, or to a lack of mechanism for exhuming such melts. For Gongga Shan, where some melting is younger than nearby thermochronological ages of low temperature cooling, the exact process and timing of exhumation remains enigmatic, but their location away from the Xianshuihe fault precludes the fault acting as a conduit for the young melts. We suggest that underthrusting of dry granulites of the lower Indian crust(Archaean shield) this far northeast is a plausible mechanism to explain the uplift and exhumation of the eastern Tibetan Plateau.