Deep geodynamics and metallogenic mechanism of the South China block: New insight from mantle tomography

• Published in: Tectonophysics 2023-12, Vol.869, p.230107, Article 230107
• Main Authors: Li, Shiying, Jiang, Guoming, Zhao, Dapeng, Zhang, Guibin, Lü, Qingtian, Shi, Danian, Chai, Guangbin
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Geodynamics; Magmatism; Mantle flow; Mineralization; South China block; Teleseismic tomography
• ISSN: 0040-1951; 1879-3266
• DOI: 10.1016/j.tecto.2023.230107

The South China block (SCB) is located at the southeastern margin of the Eurasian plate, where intense Mesozoic magmatism and metallogenic belts occurred. The mechanism of mineralization is still unclear and debated. To clarify this issue, we determine a robust 3-D model of P-wave tomography of the upper mantle beneath the SCB by using 77,969 high-quality travel-time data of 934 teleseismic events recorded at 315 permanent and 72 portable stations in the SCB. Our results show that high-velocity (high-V) zones exist in the upper mantle under the Yangtze block and in the mantle transition zone under the eastern segment of the Jiangnan orogen. The former reflects thicker cratonic lithosphere, whereas the latter may reflect the deeply subducted paleo-Pacific plate. Low-velocity (low-V) anomalies are revealed in the upper mantle beneath the Cathaysia block, which are located above the high-V anomaly in the mantle transition zone. These low-V anomalies may reflect hot upwelling flows in the upper mantle, which might be related to the large-scale magmatic activities in the late Mesozoic. Our results suggest that the low-V hot mantle materials beneath the Cathaysia block have risen to the shallow lithosphere along magmatic channels such as fault zones, which eroded the nearby cratonic root of the Yangtze block and the overlying lithosphere and destroyed the lithosphere beneath the eastern SCB. The hot upwelling materials mineralized in the shallow part and so formed many metallogenic belts in the SCB. •The 3-D upper-mantle structure under the South China block (SCB) is studied using teleseismic tomography.•The Yangtze and Cathaysia blocks exhibit higher and lower P-wave velocities, respectively.•Hot mantle upwelling under the Cathaysia block caused lithospheric thinning and rich metallogenic belts in the eastern SCB.