Grenville-age orogenesis in the Qaidam-Qilian block: The link between South China and Tarim

The link between the South China and Tarim blocks is a key issue in defining the tectonic framework of China. We report here that rocks from the Paleozoic (Caledonian) ultrahigh-pressure metamorphic (UHPM) belt also record a Grenville-age orogenic event in the Qaidam-Qilian block that lies between t...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Precambrian Research
Main Authors: Song, Shuguang, Su, Li, Li, Xian-hua, Niu, Yaoling, Zhang, Lifei
Other Authors: Song, SG (reprint author), Peking Univ, Sch Earth & Space Sci, MOE Key Lab Orogen Belts & Crustal Evolut, Beijing 100871, Peoples R China., Peking Univ, Sch Earth & Space Sci, MOE Key Lab Orogen Belts & Crustal Evolut, Beijing 100871, Peoples R China., China Univ Geosci, Lab Ctr Sci Res Inst, Beijing 100083, Peoples R China., Chinese Acad Sci, Inst Geol & Geophys, State Key Lab Lithospher Evolut, Beijing 100029, Peoples R China., Lanzhou Univ, Sch Earth Sci, Lanzhou 730000, Peoples R China., Univ Durham, Dept Earth Sci, Durham DH1 3LE, England.
Format: Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: precambrian research 2012
Subjects:
North Qaidam UHPM belt
Grenville-age
Orogeny
Geochronology
South-West China United Continent
PB ZIRCON GEOCHRONOLOGY
UHP METAMORPHIC BELT
NEOPROTEROZOIC TECTONIC EVOLUTION
COESITE-BEARING ECLOGITES
NORTHERN TIBETAN PLATEAU
U-PB
NW CHINA
WESTERN CHINA
CONTINENTAL COLLISION
EAST ANTARCTICA
East Antarctica
Antarc*
Antarctica
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11897/155686
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.precamres.2012.07.007
Description
Summary:The link between the South China and Tarim blocks is a key issue in defining the tectonic framework of China. We report here that rocks from the Paleozoic (Caledonian) ultrahigh-pressure metamorphic (UHPM) belt also record a Grenville-age orogenic event in the Qaidam-Qilian block that lies between the South China and Tarim blocks. This event is marked by the presence of a juvenile Grenville-age continental margin that had been subducted to and exhumed from mantle depths of 100-200 km at the present-day location of northern Tibetan Plateau. The magmatic and metamorphic ages of 900-1000 Ma recorded in the gneisses provide direct evidence for this Grenville-age orogeny that extends northwestward from the Yangtze block, to the Qaidam-Qilian block, and to the Tarim block. This Grenville-age orogen along the North Qaidam UHPM belt (1) represents the link for the once South China-Qaidam-Qilian-Tarim continent, which, we name here as the "South-West China United Continent (SWCUC)", had existed before the India-Asia collision, (2) sets a framework for precise reconstruction of Supercontinent Rodinia, and (3) presents an example of multi-epoch tectonic recycles, represented by the Neoproterozoic Grenvillian orogenesis and the Early Paleozoic Caledonian orogenesis. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000311134000002&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=8e1609b174ce4e31116a60747a720701 Geosciences, Multidisciplinary SCI(E) 40 ARTICLE 9-22 220

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