Revised Chronostratigraphic Framework of the Metamorphic Strata in the Jiangnan Orogenic Belt,South China and its Tectonic Implications

In a re‐study of regional geology by the China Geological Survey (CGS), the key problem is in the stratigraphical division and correlation. According to the new isotopic dating of the Meso‐ and Neoproterozoic in China, there have been great changes in the strata correlation and tectonic explanation. The authors obtained four zircon sensitive high resolution ion micro‐probe (SHRIMP) U‐Pb datings from the bentonite of the Lengjiaxi Group (822±10 Ma, 823±12 Ma and 834±11 Ma) and Banxi Group (802.6±7.6 Ma) in north Hunan Province, which is considered to be the middle part of the Jiangnan Orogenic Belt. On the basis of the zircon dating mentioned above, the end of the Wuling orogen is first limited in the period from 822 Ma to 802 Ma in one continued outcrop (Lucheng section) in Linxiang city, Hunan Province. Combining a series of new zircon U‐Pb datings in the Yangtze and Cathaysia blocks, several Neoproterozoic volcanic events and distribution of the metamorphic rocks in the Jiangnan Orogenic Belt have been distinguished. In the context of the global geodynamics, it is useful to set up a practical and high precision chronological framework and basic and unified late Precambrian section in South China.