Formation of the 1300-km-wide intracontinental orogen and postorogenic magmatic province in Mesozoic south China; a flat-slab subduction model

We propose a flat-slab subduction model for Mesozoic South China based on both new sensitive high-resolution ion microprobe (SHRIMP) U-Pb zircon data and a synthesis of existing structural, geochronological, and sedimentary facies results. This model not only explains the development of a broad (∼13...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Geology (Boulder) 2007-02, Vol.35 (2), p.179-182
Main Authors: Li, Zheng-Xiang, Li Xianhua, Li Xianhua
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
absolute age
Asia
basin range structure
Basins
China
dates
delamination
Far East
faults
flexure
fold and thrust belts
forelands
Geology
geometry
high-resolution methods
igneous rocks
Indosinian Orogeny
intrusions
magmatism
Marine
Mesozoic
nesosilicates
orogenic belts
orogeny
orthosilicates
plate tectonics
Rocks
silicates
slabs
South China Block
southern China
Structural geology
subduction
syntectonic processes
tectonics
thrust faults
U/Pb
zircon
zircon group
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Summary:We propose a flat-slab subduction model for Mesozoic South China based on both new sensitive high-resolution ion microprobe (SHRIMP) U-Pb zircon data and a synthesis of existing structural, geochronological, and sedimentary facies results. This model not only explains the development of a broad (∼1300-km-wide) intracontinental orogen that migrated from the coastal region into the continental interior between ca. 250 Ma and 190 Ma, but can also account for the puzzling chain of events that followed: the formation of a shallow-marine basin in the wake of the migrating foreland fold-and-thrust belt, and the development of one of the world's largest Basin and Range-style magmatic provinces after the orogeny. The South China record may serve as an example of the multiple effects of flat-slab subduction, including migrating orogenesis and foreland flexure, synorogenic sagging behind the active orogen, postdelamination lithospheric rebound, and the development of a Basin and Range-style broad magmatic province.
ISSN:0091-7613
1943-2682
DOI:10.1130/G23193A.1