intraplate extension prior to continental extrusion along the ailao shan red river shear zone left lateral movement of the ailao shan red river shear zone lends support to the hypothesis of continental extrusion resulting from the collision of india with asia our new observations from northwestern yunnan china and northwestern vietnam on different sides of the shear zone demonstrate that the sinistral offset was 600 km according to correlations of permian triassic flood basalt successions and late paleogene highly potassic mafic magmas we conclude that the shear was propagating on the south china continental margin and does not correspond to a suture between south china and indochina furthermore the highly potassic magmas were emplaced from ca 40 to 30 ma before the shear movement which was caused by the late oligocene to early miocene ca 27 22 ma extrusion activity this suggests that a late eocene to early oligocene intraplate extension possibly induced by delamination of thickened continental lithosphere took place in northwestern yunnan or eastern tibet as a response to the india asia collision this extension and sea floor spreading of the south china sea that began ca 30 ma could have accounted for the initiation of the ailao shan red river shear zone

fabric transitions in the saxony granulite terrain abstract quartz fabric transitions reported from the saxony granulite terrain and from the nearby ore mountains are interesting because of the changes in the pattern types and the variation in the opening angles of the fabric skeletons a short summary is presented of salient features in research documented in the east german literature between 1961 and 1978 the changes in fabric skeleton with decreasing metamorphic grade are proposed as mainly consequent to the deactivation of prism c glide systems as temperature decreases fabrics indicative of the appearance of the c burgers vector might be diagnostic for deformation in regimes of comparatively high temperatures or low strainrates or for deformation under conditions such that there is a relatively high kinetically effective hydroxyl content in the quartz structure

thermally softened continental extensional zones arcs and rifts as precursors to thickened orogenic belts abstract intra continental deformation of soft zones during continental collision requires weak continental lithosphere which is able to be shortened across considerable width during later convergence this enables significant thickening with formation of an orogenic root we have examined models with a history of lithospheric thinning by pure shear during an earlier phase of intra continental extension with associated heating geologically this situation is appropriate to intra continental rifts and back arc basins if thinning of elevated thermal structure is decoupled from the thinning of lithology then a weak soft lower crust and sub arc rift mantle result this weak structure has a favoured rheology for subsequent convergent thickening while the lithosphere is still hot these regions are associated with formation of granulites and metamorphic assemblages typical of high temperature low pressure ht lp if convergence starts while the heat input is still active then the failed rifts and arcs are shut off by lateral wedging of the hard lower crust and upper mantle of shoulder regions into the softened arc rift domain such sites are ideal for the formation and for the exhumation of metamorphic core complexes subsequent thickening during convergence leads to ht eclogites when the previous arc rift was hot and to medium t eclogites for a thickened standard geotherm these p t paths are counterclockwise and their shapes are strongly dependent on the amount of previous thinning and type of initial geotherm if the compression starts long after cessation of the extensional event and associated thermal anomaly then the geotherm of the extended area relaxes and the whole region hardens in this case no homogeneous thickening occurs and deep continental roots cannot form

evidence for tibetan plateau uplift before 14 myr ago from a new minimum age for east west extension important changes in south asian climate occurred in the late miocene epoch 8 myr ago 1 2 and these have been attributed by some researchers to uplift of the tibetan plateau at about the same time3 5 unfortunately this link has been difficult to test because the timing of plateau uplift remains poorly constrained by independent evidence one way to determine the minimum age of uplift is to establish the initiation age of the north striking normal fault systems in southern tibet that are widely regarded6 10 as being related to gravitational collapse of the tibetan plateau here we report an40ar 39ar age of 14 myr for hydrothermal mica from an extensional fracture belonging to such a fault system in north central nepal this age implies that east west extension began before 14 myr ago in at least some parts of the tibetan plateau suggesting that the plateau attained its high mean elevation well before late miocene time

direct measurement of strain rates in ductile shear zones a new method based on syntectonic dikes received 17 january 2008 revised 31 august 2008 accepted 29 october 2008 published 23 january 2009 1 we describe a new method to estimate directly ductile strain rates at an outcrop scale from the deformation of dikes emplaced within a shear zone the method is tested in a well constrained shear zone the ailao shan red river shear zone for which global strain rates can be calculated from published fault rates the strain rate was determined by measuring independently the shear strain g recorded by the dikes and the age t of dikes emplacement the shear strain was quantified by three different methods that take into account either the stretching of the dikes or their angle variations during deformation or both of them the values of minimum shear strains range between 0 2 and 9 7 for the less to the most deformed dikes respectively the ages of dike emplacement were obtained by th pb sensitive high resolution ion microprobe shrimp dating of monazites we obtained three groups of ages the younger age is 22 55 0 25 ma the intermediate age is 26 81 0 66 ma and the oldest ages are 29 89 0 46 ma and 29 93 0 38 ma the geochronological data are in agreement with the structural data the most deformed dikes being the oldest the minimum strain rates deduced from these measurements are 3 to 4 10 14 s 1 which is consistent with previous estimates of geological strain rates in ductile shear zones

structural evolution of the day nui con voi metamorphic complex implications on the development of the red river shear zone northern vietnam the day nui con voi dncv metamorphic complex in north vietnam is the southernmost high grade metamorphic zone along the nw se trending red river shear zone rrsz in indochina the rrsz was considered as a classical large scale continental strike slip fault that had played a significant role in the continental extrusion of southeast asia since the collision of india and eurasia earlier ideas determined the rrsz as a steep shear zone that penetrated the entire lithosphere both metamorphism and structures within rocks along the dncv metamorphic complex have been previously thought to be formed syn tectonically by left lateral shearing of the rrsz during the oligocene miocene continental escape tectonics however our meso and microstructural re examination of this region shows that these metamorphic rocks were formed during earlier tectonic episodes unrelated to strike slip shearing high angle to near orthogonal overprinting fabrics indicated that this region recorded three episodes of ductile deformation followed by brittle faulting events with different intensity spanning from the triassic to the tertiary d1 is preserved as nw se striking upright folds under garnet grade regional metamorphism during the triassic indosinian orogeny as south china block amalgamated with the indochina block the large scale horizontal d2 folds with a dominant top to n nw bottom to s sw sense of shear and sub horizontal fold axial planes suggest that the dncv metamorphic complex remained at midcrustal depths since the indosinian orogeny the youngest ductile deformation event d3 refolded d2 recumbent folds into a dome and uplifted the dncv as lower temperature fabrics s3 indicated steep mylonite zones with left lateral kinematic indicators and brittle faulting were developed on both limbs of the dome along the steep song hong and song chay faults during left lateral movement of the rrsz our new spatial temporal and kinematic correlations of metamorphic fabrics within the dncv metamorphic complex support the suggestion that the rrsz developed after regional metamorphism and remained purely a crustal fault the complicated deformation history recorded within the dncv metamorphic complex provides an alternative interpretation and suggests that crustal scale strike slip faults such as the rrsz need not root from the mantle

direct dating of left lateral deformation along the red river shear zone china and vietnam 1 exposures of high grade midcrustal rocks within the red river shear zone rrsz which separates the indochina and south china blocks exhibit clear evidence of left lateral ductile deformation assuming that the south china sea represents a pull apart basin formed at the southeastern termination of the rrsz it has been argued that seafloor magnetic anomalies constrain the timing of sinistral slip accommodated by the rrsz between 32 and 17 ma at a rate of 4 cm yr while 40ar 39ar thermochronometry indicates that left lateral slip occurred along the rrsz between 25 and 17 ma the timing of earlier high temperature deformation has not been directly constrained in situ th pb ion microprobe dating of monazite inclusions in garnets allows direct assessment of the timing of amphibolite grade metamorphism and synchronous left lateral shearing results from northern segments of the rrsz in yunnan china indicate that synkinematic garnet growth occurred between 34 and 21 ma and are the first to document late oligocene metamorphism and left lateral shearing data from the southern rrsz within vietnam are complicated by tertiary overprinting of rocks that experienced amphibolite facies metamorphism during the indosinian orogeny 220 ma the period during which sinistral deformation is now constrained to have occurred along the rrsz i e 34 17 ma is essentially coincident with spreading of the south china seafloor 32 17 ma this temporal and kinematic link between left lateral shearing along the rrsz and opening of the south china sea supports the view that indochina was extruded from asia as a block along lithospheric scale strike slip faults

thermochronological evidence for the movement of the ailao shan red river shear zone a perspective from vietnam in order to explore the timing of strike slip movement along the ailao shan red river shear zone an 40ar 39ar thermochronological study of the day nui con voi metamorphic massif in northern vietnam was undertaken the massif exposed in the southeastern segment of the ailao shan red river shear zone reveals a rapid cooling in the early miocene 25 21 ma after a very slow cooling ca 34 25 ma the slow cooling period most likely resulted from a geothermal perturbation in the lithosphere owing to the late paleogene 40 30 ma extension in eastern tibet and western yunnan china the rapid cooling consistent with evidence of a wider rapid cooling span from 27 to 17 ma compiled from the entire ailao shan red river shear zone constrains the duration of left lateral shearing which eventually offset indochina from south china by about 600 km the time constraints we have established reinforce the argument that the onset of the ailao shan red river shear zone postdates the opening of the south china sea that began ca 30 ma this result highlights the necessity for reevaluating the cenozoic tectonic models of southeast asia

the nature of the ailao shan red river asrr shear zone constraints from structural microstructural and fabric analyses of metamorphic rocks from the diancang shan ailao shan and day nui con voi massifs abstract the structural geology timing of shearing and tectonic implications of the asrr shear zone one of the most striking lineaments in southeast asia have been the topics of extensive studies over the past few decades the xuelong shan xls diancang shan dcs ailao shan als and day nui con voi dncv metamorphic massifs along the shear zone have preserved important information on its structural and tectonic evolution our field structural analysis detailed microstructural and fabric analysis as well as the quartz sillimanite and garnet fabric studies of the sheared rocks from the massifs demonstrate the dominant roles of three deformation episodes during cenozoic tectonic evolution in the shear zone among the contrasting structural and microstructural associations in the shear zone d2 structures which were formed at the brittle to ductile transition during large scale left lateral shearing in the second deformation episode predominate over the structural styles of the other two deformation episodes discrete micro shear zones with intensive grain size reduction compose the characteristic structural style of d2 deformation in addition several types of folds early shearing folds f 2 1 and late shearing folds f 2 2 were formed in the sheared rocks including discrete to distributed mylonitic foliation stretching lineation and shear fabrics e g mica fish domino structures as well as sigma and delta fabrics a sequence of microstructures from syn kinematic magmatic flow high temperature solid state deformation to brittle ductile shearing is well preserved in the syn kinematic leucocratic intrusions deformation structures from the first episode d1 are characterized by f1 folds and distributed foliations s1 in rocks due to pure shearing at high temperatures they are preserved in weakly sheared d2 rocks along the eastern margin of the als belt or in certain low strain tectonic enclaves within the shear zone furthermore semi brittle deformation structures such as hot striae and discrete retrogression zones are attributed to normal slip shearing in the third deformation episode d3 which was probably locally active along the eastern flank of the dcs range for example there are four quartz c axis fabric patterns in the mylonitic rocks including type a point maxima type b y point maxima with crossed girdles superimposition type c quadrant maxima as well as type d point and quadrant maxima combination they are consistent with microscopic observations of microstructures of high temperature pure shearing low temperature simple shearing and their superimposition integrated microstructural analysis and fabric thermometer studies provide information on both high temperature up to 750 c and dominant low temperature 300 600 c deformations of quartz grains in different rock types sillimanite and garnet fabrics especially the latter were primarily formed at the peak metamorphism during high temperature pure shearing the above structural microstructural and fabric associations were generated in the tectonic framework of the indian eurasian collision the low temperature microstructures and fabrics are attributed to left lateral shearing along the asrr shear zone from 27 to 21 ma during the southeastward extrusion of the indochina block which postdated high temperature deformation at the peak metamorphism during the collision

oceanic methane layers the hydrocarbon seep bubble deposition hypothesis bubble plumes from hydrocarbon seeps drive upwelling flows in the water column that can disappear if the bubbles dissolve this may lead to formation of a layer enriched in gases and substances transported by the bubbles a process we term bubble deposition a review of observed dissolved methane layers in the north sea showed their existence in an area of active seeping pockmarks at a height of 20 30 m above the sea bed well below the thermocline to test the bubble deposition hypothesis rising seep bubbles were simulated numerically the model predicted a dissolution depth consistent with the observed methane layer for 2700 m radius bubbles the model also predicted that bubbles smaller than 3400 m dissolved subsurface decreasing to 2000 m for a 10 cm s 1 upwelling flow we speculate that this layer may be attractive to marine organisms although north sea seeps are not oily this mechanism also applies to oily bubbles from hydrocarbon seeps or a leaking undersea gas oil pipeline thus bubble deposition can create a subsurface oil layer which rises far slower than either the bubble stream or droplets entrained in the stream

age and origin of magmatism along the cenozoic red river shear belt china to decipher the geodynamic significance of cenozoic magmatism along the red river shear belt geochemical analyses u pb and rb sr dating and pb sr nd isotope tracing were undertaken zircon monazite titanite and a ti u oxide from foliated granitoid intrusions in the shear belt gneisses yield u pb emplacement ages of 33 1 0 2 2 31 9 0 3 25 8 0 2 and 24 7 0 2 ma and an age of 35 0 0 3 ma was obtained for the roughly 100 km long adjacent jinping phan si pang alkali granite together with our previous data the new ages suggest that magmatism and left lateral strike slip movements occurred coevally during latest eocene oligocene times from 33 to 22 ma the rb sr dating of muscovite and biotite from the northernmost gneisses indicates that cooling to 500 c occurred at 52 6 1 1 ma pre dating the onset of magmatism whereas further cooling to 300 c took place at 28 9 0 6 this shows that unroofing in the north took place almost 9 million years earlier than in the central gneiss segments of the shear zone geochemical data substantiate two types of magmas 1 amphibole bearing intrusions of alkaline trend which are derived from sources with isr 0 7065 0 7089 and i nd 3 7 to 6 6 2 leucogranitic layers and bodies having isr 0 7084 0 7354 and i nd 3 3 to 13 4 the former type of intrusion is found in both the gneisses and the adjacent unmetamorphosed cover rocks whereas leucogranites are restricted to the shear belt gneisses source signatures of the alkaline intrusions lie adjacent to the those of oib plotting at the lower end of the mantle array contamination of these melts by continental material seems to be very limited on the other hand the leucogranitic layers are essentially crustal derived but none of the them has country rock isotope signatures requiring melting of crust different from the actually exposed gneisses magma sources similar to those of ocean island basalt indicate magmatism to involve melting of light rare earth element and large ion lithophile element enriched mantle domains most likely present in the lithosphere underneath the region since lithospheric thickening or subduction can be ruled out to produce both types of magmas the presence of an important thermal anomaly is required which is coevally active with left lateral strike slip shear adiabatic decompression and melting within the rising anomaly is the most plausible mechanism to produce the mantle magmas which successively migrate through the crust to induce anatectic melting at 20 15 km crustal depth alkaline magmas largely dominate the volume of magmatism along the belt being continuously present in the shear zone for millions of years such lubrication potentially explains how very large amounts of displacement can be absorbed in surprisingly narrow shear zones such as the red river belt possibly also playing a role for where and when zones of plate scale lateral extrusion develop

intraplate tectonics in asia a precise age for large scale miocene movement along the ailao shan red river shear zone china tertiary left lateral movement along the 1000 km long ailao shan red river shear zone appears to have played an important role in absorbing post collisional northward penetration of india into asia crustal strike slip shear along this zone caused the formation of a gneiss belt metamorphosed to amphibolite grade including anatectic melting both metamorphism and melting were induced by ductile deformation yielding the possibility to date the major tectonometamorphic event that shaped the ailao shan red river belt 17 u pb isotope analyses were performed on small size fractions of zircon monazite and xenotime extracted from two different leucogranitic layers the two samples are located about 50 km apart in the central segment of ailao shan in structurally well controlled settings where the melts crystallized within the strongly foliated gneisses during late stages of deformation all mineral u pb analyses had to be corrected for excess or deficit amounts of radiogenic 206 pb originating from initial 230 th disequilibrium in the 238 u decay series in monazite such disequilibrium 206 pb reaches 20 of total radiogenic 206 pb the corrected u pb ages of monazite and xenotime lie between 22 1 and 23 9 ma whereas zircon yields significantly discordant u pb ages between 30 5 and 33 9 ma pointing to precambrian material in the magma source region inherited components could also be detected in monazite the set of u pb data shows that monazite and xenotime formed simultaneously in both localities substantiating an early miocene age of 23 0 0 2ma for late kinematic crystallization of anatectic melts in the metamorphic belt of the ailao shan red river shear zone

an early miocene transition in deformation regime within the red river fault zone yunnan and its significance for indo asian tectonics recent work has tended to support the view that lateral extrusion of indochina along the red river fault zone was a significant factor in accommodating the convergence of india with asia to better understand the nature and timing of this feature 40ar 39 ar age spectrum analyses were undertaken on minerals from the ailao shan red river metamorphic belt in southern yunnan china interpreted using diffusion domain theory these results yield thermal histories in the temperature range 550 150 c discontinuities in cooling rates observed from these results suggest a transition in deformation style in the shear zone during the early miocene at least in the vicinity of our samples left lateral strike slip ductile deformation appears to have ceased by about 20 ma the mylonitic gneisses in the shear zone were subsequently obliquely unroofed probably due to a component of normal faulting along the eastern edge of the shear zone causing a brief locally 100 c m y cooling episode this transition may have resulted from a component of northeast southwest extension attributable to greater clockwise rotation of indochina relative to south china after 20 ma than that consistent with pure strike slip along the fault k ar ages on clay minerals from gouge within the normal faults bounding the ailao shan and diancang shan yield a range of ages between 20 and 185 ma but show a significant clustering at 20 25 ma these results suggest that early miocene movement on a precursor to the range front normal fault in the ailao shan caused oblique unroofing of the shear zone this early miocene event corresponds in time with a transition from low to very high denudation rates throughout the himalaya and southern tibet this coincidence may reflect that once left lateral strike slip motion on the red river fault zone slowed or was terminated accommodation of much of the continued northward convergence of india occurred on the main central thrust resulting in rapid uplift in the tethyan himalaya and gangdese belt

palaeozoic and mesozoic tectonic evolution and palaeogeography of east asian crustal fragments the korean peninsula in context east and southeast asia comprises a complex assembly of allochthonous continental lithospheric crustal fragments terranes together with volcanic arcs and other terranes of oceanic and accretionary complex origins located at the zone of convergence between the eurasian indoaustralian and pacific plates the former wide separation of asian terranes is indicated by contrasting faunas and floras developed on adjacent terranes due to their prior geographic separation different palaeoclimates and biogeographic isolation the boundaries between asian terranes are marked by major geological discontinuities suture zones that represent former ocean basins that once separated them in some cases the ocean basins have been completely destroyed and terrane boundaries are marked by major fault zones in other cases remnants of the ocean basins and of subduction accretion complexes remain and provide valuable information on the tectonic history of the terranes the oceans that once separated them and timings of amalgamation and accretion the various allochthonous crustal fragments of east asia have been brought into close juxtaposition by geological convergent plate tectonic processes the gondwana derived east asia crustal fragments successively rifted and separated from the margin of eastern gondwana as three elongate continental slivers in the devonian early permian and late triassic late jurassic as these three continental slivers separated from gondwana three successive ocean basins the palaeo tethys meso tethys and cenotethys opened between these and gondwana asian terranes progressively sutured to one another during the palaeozoic to cenozoic south china and indochina probably amalgamated in the early carboniferous but alternative scenarios with collision in the permo triassic have been suggested the tarim terrane accreted to eurasia in the early permian the sibumasu and qiangtang terranes collided and sutured with simao indochina east malaya in the early middle triassic and the west sumatra terrane was transported westwards to a position outboard of sibumasu during this collisional process the permo triassic also saw the progressive collision between south and north china with possible extension of this collision being recognised in the korean peninsula culminating in the late triassic north china did not finally weld to asia until the late jurassic the lhasa and west burma terranes accreted to eurasia in the late jurassic early cretaceous and proto east and southeast asia had formed palaeogeographic reconstructions illustrating the evolution and assembly of asian crustal fragments during the phanerozoic are presented d 2005 international association for gondwana research published by elsevier b v all rights reserved

onset timing of left lateral movement along the ailao shan red river shear zone 40ar 39ar dating constraint from the nam dinh area northeastern vietnam left lateral motion along the ailao shan red river asrr shear zone has been widely advocated to be the result of the collision between the indian and eurasian plates and to account for sea floor spreading in the south china sea our new 40 ar 39 ar data on the south easternmost outcrop of the day nui con voi metamorphic massif northern vietnam suggest that the exhumation of metamorphic massif by shearing along the asrr zone began 027 ma and lasted until 022 ma a perfect correlation between location and cooling path for the samples along the shear zone suggests that the transtensional deformation may have propagated northwestward at a rate of 0 6c m y 1 such a good correlation also indicates that the onset of the leftlateral movement of the shear zone may have occurred later than 027 5 ma this conclusion is consistent with our previous interpretation that collision induced southeastward extrusion of indochina along the asrr shear zone postdates the opening of the south china sea and that extrusion tectonics in se china may not be responsible for the opening of the south china sea 2000 elsevier science ltd all rights reserved

duration of strike slip movements in large shear zones the red river belt china abstract sixty four size fractions of zircon monazite xenotime and titanite were dated by the u pb method to temporally and spatially constrain left lateral movements in the red river shear zone between the depths of 15 and 20 km the shearing led to the formation of the high grade metamorphic gneisses that form the bulk of the 4200 m high diancang shan and 3100 m high ailao shan mountain ranges the omnipresence of melt layers and pockets in these gneisses shows that temperatures associated with tectonometamorphism lie at and above the solidus of continental crust and deformation patterns are very homogeneous over the entire length of the belt north of the gneisses subvolcanic bodies intrude unmetamorphosed cover rocks in particular eocene red beds along the projected trend of the red river shear zone for a leucogranitic layer in the diancang shan gneisses an age of 24 2 0 2 ma 2 is obtained for monazite and 22 4 0 2 ma is obtained for xenotime whereas zircon formed through two growth stages at 24 23 ma these ages record solidification of the anatectic melts over a period of at least 1 8 0 4 ma during which left lateral shear was continuously active in the ailao shan gneisses zircon and titanite ages are 26 3 0 3 and 26 1 0 2 ma for two monzonitic bodies and 24 1 0 2 and 22 4 0 2 ma for two pegmatitic layers that occur within the monzonitic intrusions these results show that zircon monazite titanite and probably also xenotime are closed systems for u and pb under melting conditions 650 c therefore the ages date mineral formation in the melt rather than cooling below certain closure temperatures a significantly older age of 35 0 0 1 ma is obtained for a monzonitic subvolcanic intrusion north of the diancang shan gneisses because these intrusions follow the trend of the shear zone they most likely represent the surface expression of early activity along that zone indicating that strike slip movement had already occurred in latest eocene time the total set of u pb ages shows that magmatic and metamorphic activity occurred from 35 to 20 ma strengthening the idea that the red river shear zone absorbed most of the intraplate movements required to compensate the opening of the south china sea between 32 and 16 ma the existence of monzonitic syenitic intrusions along the red river zone implies that melting affected source rocks other than the diancang shan and ailao shan gneiss protoliths potential sources to produce such rocks lie in the deep crust possibly including melts from the mantle consequently the red river shear zone must be a deep rooted structure along which melts migrated to the surface moreover the contemporaneity of shear motion and magma generation suggests that melting occurred in direct relation to strike slip activity

thermotectonic events from eparly proterozoic to miocene in the indochina craton implication of k ar ages in vietnam abstract synkinematic mineral separates from high grade metamorphic rocks which were collected from the day nui con voi red river shear zone and the pre mesozoic metamorphic belt south of it the da nang khe sanh shear zone and the kontum massif in vietnam were dated by k ar method twenty four analyses of hornblende bioitite and muscovite are clustered into four different groups early proterozoic ca 1700 2000 ma early triassic ca 240 258 ma early cretaceous 115 116 ma and late oligocene early miocene 24 29 ma the k ar age data in general indicate cooling ages of ductile deformations and metamorphisms in vietnam suggesting an overprinting of thermotectonic events in indochina from early proterozoic to tertiary which are generally consistent with tectono stratigraphic episodes in the region the data demonstrate that the indosinian orogeny in vietnam has occurred during earliest triassic times and paleozoic orogeny caledonian and or hercynian was not inferred by these k ar age data

granulite microfabrics and deformation mechanisms in southern madagascar optical microstructures and crystallographic preferred orientations were studied in naturally deformed granulite to high amphibolite facies quartzo feldspathic rocks in southern madagascar the microstructures of coarse grained granulite suggest that feldspar and quartz accommodated deformation by both dislocation and diffusion creep in the absence of melt the extreme ductility of feldspar in dynamically recrystallized granulite is explained by activity of dislocation creep in conjunction with stress controlled intracrystalline diffusion in the studied rocks the considerable volume of quartz is not interconnected even at high strain the lack of its interconnectivity in coarse grained granulites and in amphibolite facies granoblastic platy quartz rocks is explained by an extreme stability of the load bearing framework structure at high temperatures in dynamically recrystallized granulite the feldspar viscosity decreases so that quartz becomes enveloped by a weak feldspar matrix which inhibits its coalescence and interconnectivity we predict an important decrease in strength of quartzo feldspathic granulites due to activity of diffusional creep and convergence of viscosity of recrystallized feldspar and quartz

the red river fault zone in the yinggehai basin south china sea abstract the red river fault a major strike slip fault of onshore southeast asia is suggested to be closely related to the formation of the south china sea and uplift of the tibetan plateau yet published documentation of the offshore segment of the red river fault is sparse high resolution seismic reflection and borehole data obtained by the petroleum industry along the northwestern margin of the south china sea permit mapping of the offshore segment of the red river fault in the yinggehai basin as well as demonstration of the timing of its shear movement and slip reversal two boundary faults and two basin center faults are mapped three successive deformation phases for the offshore red river fault zone include sinistral movement from 30 to16 ma slip reversal between 16 and 5 5 ma and dextral movement with low rates after 5 5 ma although no robust piecing points were observed for the sinistral movement period the horizontal displacement of dextral movement is estimated to be tens of kilometers this study supports a two stage model for the evolution of the india asia collisional orogen before the middle miocene sinistral movement of the red river fault likely was linked to spreading of the south china sea consistent with the concept of continental extrusion after the middle miocene distributed shortening better explains a low rate of dextral accommodation of the red river fault in response to the continuing india asia collision

paleomagnetic study of middle cretaceous rocks from yunlong western yunnan china evidence of southward displacement of indochina middle cretaceous red sandstones and siltstones were collected at 20 sites for paleomagnetic study from the nanxin formation around yunlong 25 8 n 99 4 e western part of yunnan province china after stepwise thermal demagnetization high temperature component magnetization with unblocking temperature of about 675 c is isolated a positive fold test at the 99 confidence limit shows that the high temperature component magnetization is primary for the middle cretaceous nanxin formation a tilt corrected formation mean direction is d 40 2 i 49 9 with 95 3 9 corresponding to a paleopole at 54 6 n 171 8 e with a95 4 4 comparison with previously reported cretaceous paleomagnetic directions indicates that the yunlong area has been subjected to southward displacement by 11 9 7 5 corresponding to 1300 800 km with respect to the stable yangtze craton since cretaceous time as well as clockwise rotation through 36 3 13 6 this study elucidates that indochina was squeezed out of the asian continent due to collision of india accompanied with clockwise rotation

a tectonic model for the tertiary evolution of strike slip faults and rift basins in se asia abstract models for the tertiary evolution of se asia fall into two main types a pure escape tectonics model with no proto south china sea and subduction of proto south china sea oceanic crust beneath borneo a related problem is which if any of the main strike slip faults mae ping three pagodas and aliao shan red river asrr cross sundaland to the nw borneo margin to facilitate continental extrusion recent results investigating strike slip faults rift basins and metamorphic core complexes are reviewed and a revised tectonic model for se asia proposed key points of the new model include 1 the asrr shear zone was mainly active in the eocene oligocene in order to link with extension in the south china sea the asrr was less active during the miocene tens of kilometres of sinistral displacement with minor amounts of south china sea spreading centre extension transferred to the asrr shear zone 2 at least three important regions of metamorphic core complex development affected indochina from the oligocene miocene mogok gneiss belt doi inthanon and doi suthep around the asrr shear zone hence paleogene crustal thickening buoyancy driven crustal collapse and lower crustal flow are important elements of the tertiary evolution of indochina 3 subduction of a proto south china sea oceanic crust during the eocene early miocene is necessary to explain the geological evolution of nw borneo and must be built into any model for the region 4 the eocene oligocene collision of ne india with burma activated extrusion tectonics along the three pagodas mae ping ranong and klong marui faults and right lateral motion along the sumatran subduction zone 5 the only strike slip fault link to the nw borneo margin occurred along the trend of the asrr fault system which passes along strike into a right lateral transform system including the baram line

deformation and recrystallization mechanisms in naturally deformed sillimanites abstract prismatic sillimanite al 2 sio 5 with a length between 0 3 and 2 5 mm was obtained from a garnet migmatite the sillimanite naturally deformed at a temperature of 750 c and a confining pressure of 6 kbar has been studied using optical and transmission electron microscopy techniques optical and universal stage measurements reveal undulatory extinction sharp deformation induced subgrain boundaries subparallel to 001 and 010 and minor recrystallization transmission electron microscopy shows free dislocations dislocation loops 110 planar defects and tiltwalls parallel to 001 dislocations have burgers vectors of 001 and 100 all isolated c dislocations are dissociated the dominant slip system is 100 001 with subordinate 001 100 the microstructure of sillimanite indicates that recrystallization has occurred by a rotation mechanism around 010 where single crystals become polycrystals by the progressive development of numerous internal high angle boundaries the latter have been interpreted as originating from low angle 001 tilt and 010 twistwalls rotation recrystallization was followed by grain boundary migration

p t t paths and post metamorphic exhumation of the day nui con voi shear zone in vietnam abstract the day nui con voi belt in vietnam is the southeasternmost part of the red river shear zone in asia it is a narrow high grade metamorphic core complex consisting of garnet sillimanite biotite gneisses mylonite bands amphibolite layers and migmatites geothermobarometric study of the complex revealed that the peak metamorphism took place under amphibolite facies conditions of 690 60 30 c and 0 65 0 15 gpa and the subsequent mylonitization occurred under greenschist facies conditions of 480 c and under 0 3 gpa fifteen synkinematic hornblende and biotite separates from gneisses amphibolites and mylonites were dated with the k ar method hornblende separates from the day nui con voi give k ar ages of 26 4 28 5 ma and the biotite separates do give 24 5 24 7 ma combination of thermobarometric and geochronological data yields the cooling history of 500 c at 28 ma and 300 c at 24 ma with a cooling rate of 70 110 c ma 1 and 23 km post metamorphic exhumation of the core complex the first 16 km exhumation from the peak of metamorphism at probably 31 ma to 28 ma was triggered by the left lateral strike slip displacement of the red river shear zone

plastic deformation of silicate garnets ii deformation microstructures in natural samples abstract we have used transmission electron microscopy to characterize the deformation microstructures in natural garnets from several localities eclogites from sesia lanzo alps eclogites and garnet amphibolite from braganca portugal garnet pyroxenite from lherz france and eclogites from yakutia pipe siberia two characteristic microstructures have been identified the first found in eclogites from the alps consists of microplasticity associated with microcracking that suggests brittle behavior the remaining samples show a microstructure characteristic of dislocation creep with recovery sub grain boundaries the transition between these deformation regimes occurs at 600 c i e at the boundary between group c and group b eclogites the deformation microstructures suggest that the dislocations experience strong lattice friction below 600 c whereas at high temperature diffusion assists dislocation glide and climb recovery we observed the following glide systems in the whole temperature range 1 2 111 110 1 2 111 112 1 2 111 123 100 010 and 100 011 no correlation could be established between the dislocation microstructure and the hydrous component or the chemistry of the garnets among the pyralspites comparison of the natural deformation microstructures and those generated in high pressure experiments voegele et al 1998 part i validates the extrapolation of experimental data to nature

discussion on the role of the red river shear zone yunnan and vietnam in the continental extrusion of se asia journal vol 163 2006 1025 1036 p h leloup p tapponnier r lacassin write in his recent paper searle 2006 acknowledges that the 1000 km long ailao shan red river shear zone is a large miocene left lateral shear zone but speculates that left lateral slip started after 21 ma and claims that the total finite offset remains unknown from this he concludes that continental extrusion was only a relatively minor tectonic factor during the india asia collision as long argued by other workers e g england houseman 1986 cobbold davy 1988 dewey et al 1989 houseman england 1993 we summarize below the field and geochronological evidence that makes us maintain a viewpoint in better accordance with facts timing of left lateral shear along the ailao shan red river shear zone the ailao shan red river shear zone is composed mostly of high grade metamorphic rocks and deformed granitoids with ubiquitous evidence for left lateral shear parallel to the belt e g tapponnier et al 1986 1990 leloup et al 1993 1995 2001 the crystallization of the granitoids has been dated between 22 and 35 ma fig 1d f for example by scharer et al 1990 1994 and zhang scharer 1999 leading those workers to propose that left lateral shear started at least c 35 ma ago in contrast searle 2006 claims that all the deformed granitoids found within the shear zone predate left lateral shear and that their crystallization ages should thus be interpreted to provide an upper limit for the onset of deformation rather than a lower limit thus suggesting a maximum age of 21 ma for this deformation a clear understanding of the p t history and in situ deformation history of the intrusions as well as of their relationships with surrounding paragneisses is fundamental for interpreting correctly the geochronological

prism and basal plane parallel subgrain boundaries in quartz a microstructural geothermobarometer empirical data on quartz subgrain patterns from various metamorphic rocks show that at least up to 10 kbar in the stability field of low quartz prismatic subgrain boundaries are dominant whereas basal subgrain boundaries are not developed in the high quartz stability field both prismatic and basal subgrain boundaries occur and form typical rectangular chessboard patterns the likely reason behind the different occurrence of these subgrain patterns is that in high quartz prismatic glide becomes as easy as or probably even easier than basal glide the two types of subgrain patterns can be clearly distinguished by optical microscopy consequently the occurrence of chessboard subgrain patterns in quartz represents a practicable geothermobarometer the possibilities of its application are far reaching and include the specification of deformation conditions at high grade metamorphism the recognition of syntectonic intrusions and the distinction between pluton emplacement at lower and at higher crustal levels

fluid enhanced low temperature plasticity of calcite marble microstructures and mechanisms postmetamorphic carbonate fault rocks from the damara orogen namibia show the following features 1 obvious contrasts between centimeter scale grains in the clasts and nanometer to micrometer scale grains in the matrix and between macroscopic cataclastic and microscopic mylonitic microstructures 2 coexistence of tangled dislocations and organized dislocation walls 3 occurrence of subgrains along margins of clasts and their transition into dynamically recrystallized grains in the matrix and 4 new grains in grain sizes of a few nanometers to 3 m in diameter the coexistence of brittle and ductile microstructures is attributed to comprehensive intragranular twinning and kinking fracturing and subsequent dislocation remobilization or reorganization and recrystallization fracturing is triggered by dislocation pileups due to dynamic loading twinning and kinking it also generates free dislocations and tangled dislocations fractures provide fluid paths increase fluid rock interfaces and enhance the possibility of fluid rock interaction fracturing is subsequently accommodated by low temperature plasticity that is attributed to hydrolytic weakening i e fluid enhanced recovery and dynamic recrystallization due to the infiltration of fluids into the deforming grains during hydrolytic weakening remobilized free dislocations and tangled dislocations climb toward incoherent boundary like fractures the dislocations are reorganized into dislocation walls that commonly constitute parts of subgrains developing into new grains we conclude that 1 fluids may increase the rate of dislocation glide and dislocation climb and may also enhance the recovery of strain hardened rocks to accommodate fracturing processes in calcite marbles at low temperatures and 2 calcite marble may have low temperature plasticity and may undergo crystal plastic deformation due to hydrolytic weakening at shallow crustal levels

geological development of the central and south vietnamese margin implications for the establishment of the south china sea indochinese escape tectonics and cenozoic volcanism abstract the vietnamese margin forms a key region to the understanding of escape tectonics and the development of the south china sea scs the existing geological reconstructions of the region are restricted to studies of single basins are based on limited amounts of geophysical data or analysis of onshore geological features these models are critically assessed on the basis of interpretation of the most comprehensive 2 d digital seismic database published to date within the area combined with a thorough analysis of existing literature and a new model is presented the vietnamese margin is underlain by a series of paleogene rift basins established through southeastward extrusion of indochina the east vietnam boundary fault evbf forms the almost 1000 km long seaward continuation of the left lateral ailao shan red river shear zone asrrsz toward the southern half of the phu khanh basin the evbf breaks up into discrete segments and splays into the se directed tua hoa fault zone paleogene faults splayed from the evbf and the mae ping shear zone and accommodated the coeval motion of these two major left lateral structural lineaments during the late oligocene basin inversions offshore occurred contemporaneously with initial right lateral inversion along the mae ping shear zone and the onset of major uplift of the metamorphic core complexes along the asrrsz it is suggested that a dramatic change of the regional stress pattern occurred in response to the northward movement of india and the effective coupling of the west burma block and india the later resulting in broadening of the indenting continental mass after the mid oligocene left lateral movements across the offshore evbf decreased and eventually ceased later onshore sinistral movements were accommodated by internal shortening and local clockwise block rotations within the shan thai terrain renewed rifting offshore south vietnam resulted from the jump of the scs spreading axis and subsequent neogene southwestward propagation of continental break up the neogene opening of the scs is viewed as a consequence of a slab pull associated with subduction of the proto scs underneath borneo as offshore neogene escape tectonism had virtually ceased during this phase of rifting right lateral transtension is inferred along n to nw oriented fault zones in the phu khanh and the nam con son basins rifting and by inference seafloor spreading continued until the end of middle miocene time although at significantly reduced rates during the final 5 10 ma termination of seafloor spreading is marked by a distinct latest middle miocene unconformity in the nam con son and the southern phu khanh basins neogene volcanism resulted in the build up of several magmatic structures across the central and south vietnamese margin and induced reactivation of older faults in the phu khanh basin the offshore magmatism heralded widespread volcanism onshore southern indochina associated with a latest neogene uplift and denudation event the uplift led to significantly increased siliciclastic accumulation rates offshore which repressed widespread carbonate deposition

unusual transition in quartzite dislocation creep regimes and crystal slip systems in the aureole of the eureka valley joshua flat beer creek pluton california a case for anhydrous conditions created by decarbonation reactions abstract microstructures and quartz c axis fabrics were analyzed in five quartzite samples collected across the eastern aureole of the eureka valley joshua flat beer creek composite pluton temperatures of deformation are estimated to be 740 50 c based on a modified c axis opening angle thermometer of kruhl j metamorph geol 16 1998 142 in quartzite layers located closest 140 m to the pluton wall rock contact flattened detrital grains are plastically deformed and partially recrystallized the dominant recrystallization process is subgrain rotation dislocation creep regime 2 of hirth and tullis j struct geol 14 1992 145 although grain boundary migration dislocation creep regime 3 is also evident complete recrystallization occurs in quartzite layers located at a distance of 240 m from the contact and coincides with recrystallization taking place dominantly through grain boundary migration regime 3 within the quartzites strain is calculated to be lowest in the layers closest to the pluton margin based on the aspect ratios of flattened detrital grains the c axis fabrics indicate that a slip operated within the quartzites closest to the pluton wall rock contact and that with distance from the contact the operative slip systems gradually switch to prism c slip the spatial inversion in microstructures and slip systems apparent high temperature deformation and recrystallization further from the pluton contact and apparent low temperature deformation and recrystallization closer to the pluton contact coincides with a change in minor phase mineral content of quartzite samples and also in composition of the surrounding rock units marble and calc silicate assemblages dominate close to the pluton wall rock contact whereas mixed quartzite and pelite assemblages are dominant further from the contact we suggest that a thick marble unit located between the pluton and the quartzite layers acted as a barrier to fluids emanating from the pluton decarbonation reactions in marble layers interbedded with the inner aureole quartzites and calc silicate assemblages in the inner aureole quartzites may have produced high x co 2 water absent fluids during deformation the presence of high x co 2 fluid is inferred from the prograde assemblage of quartz calcite and not wollastonite diopside k feldspar in the inner aureole quartzites we suggest that it was these dry conditions that suppressed prism c slip and regime 3 recrystallization in the inner aureole and resulted in a slip and regime 2 recrystallization which would normally be associated with lower deformation temperatures in contrast the prograde assemblage in the pelite dominated outer part of the aureole is biotite k feldspar these wet pelitic assemblages indicate fluids dominated by water in the outer part of the aureole and promoted prism c slip and regime 3 recrystallization because other variables could also have caused the spatial inversion of c axis fabrics and recrystallization mechanisms we briefly review those variables known to cause a transition in slip systems and dislocation creep regimes in quartz our conclusions are based on a small number of samples and therefore the unusual development of crystal fabrics and microstructures in the aureole to the ejb pluton suggests that further study is needed on the effect of fluid composition on crystal slip system activity and recrystallization mechanisms in naturally deformed rocks

tectonic framework and phanerozoic evolution of sundaland abstract sundaland comprises a heterogeneous collage of continental blocks derived from the india australian margin of eastern gondwana and assembled by the closure of multiple tethyan and back arc ocean basins now represented by suture zones the continental core of sundaland comprises a western sibumasu block and an eastern indochina east malaya block with an island arc terrane the sukhothai island arc system comprising the linchang sukhothai and chanthaburi blocks sandwiched between this island arc formed on the margin of indochina east malaya and then separated by back arc spreading in the permian the jinghong nan uttaradit and sra kaeo sutures represent this closed back arc basin the palaeo tethys is represented to the west by the changning menglian chiang mai inthanon and bentong raub suture zones the west sumatra block and possibly the west burma block rifted and separated from gondwana along with indochina and east malaya in the devonian and were accreted to the sundaland core in the triassic west burma is now considered to be probably cathaysian in nature and similar to west sumatra from which it was separated by opening of the andaman sea basin south west borneo and or east java west sulawesi are now tentatively identified as the missing argoland which must have separated from nw australia in the jurassic and these were accreted to se sundaland in the cretaceous revised palaeogeographic reconstructions illustrating the tectonic and palaeogeographic evolution of sundaland and adjacent regions are presented

high temperature metamorphism in a major strike slip shear zone the ailao shan red river people s republic of china abstract petrographic and thermobarometric analysis provides constraints on thept path of the mylonitic gneisses of the left lateral ailao shan red river shear zone which has accommodated the lateral extrusion of indochina during the tertiary two different paragenesis p1 and p2 are coeval with this deformation and correspond respectively to the amphibolite and greenschist facies microprobe analysis reveals that p1 garnets bear a chemical zonation from core to rim this zonation indicates a temperature increase during garnet growth conditions of formation of garnet rims p1b which are estimated using biotite garnet and plagioclase garnet thermobarometers are close to the granitic solidus 710 70 c and4 5 1 5 kbar p2 conditions are estimated to be approximately 500 c and

crystal preferred orientations of garnet comparison between numerical simulations and electron back scattered diffraction ebsd measurements in naturally deformed eclogites observations of dislocations sub grains and elongated crystal shapes support plastic deformation of garnet in laboratory experiments and naturally deformed eclogites to evaluate the crystal preferred orientations cpo of garnet formed in axial shortening pure shear and simple shear we performed numerical simulations of cpo development during plastic flow using the visco plastic self consistent model as input for the models we use the slip systems determined by transmission electron microscopy using experimentally deformed specimens although in garnet 66 slip systems are available slip on the k111l 110 system provides over 86 of the total strain in the simulations characteristic cpo distributions are produced for the three deformation paths with the cpo being strongest for axial shortening and weakest for simple shear compared with low symmetry minerals the pole figure densities of garnet which has cubic symmetry are weak k100l axes tend to align with the shortening direction in all three deformation modes the simulations are compared with cpo of naturally deformed garnet from nine eclogite samples from the alps norway and mali which contain 20 40 garnet all samples show weak garnet cpo only two samples have a cpo pattern similar to the simulations for simple shear no samples are similar to simulations for axial strain or pure shear the presence of other weaker minerals such as omphacite and quartz with volume fractions higher than garnet probably prevented garnet from becoming highly strained and developing characteristic cpos in these eclogites higher volume fractions of garnet and higher temperature conditions may however allow the development of garnet cpo in the mantle transition zone particularly within subducted oceanic material morb q 2004 published by elsevier ltd

the age of the potassic alkaline igneous rocks along the ailao shan red river shear zone implications for the onset age of left lateral shearing abstract the potassic alkaline igneous rocks along the ailao shan red river asrr shear zone range in composition from ultramafic to felsic and are characterized by similar trace element patterns and radiogenic isotope ratios their distribution and in some cases their structure and outcrop outline suggest a genetic relationship to the asrr shear zone zircons separated from 12 potassic alkaline bodies along the asrr zone have been dated by an in situ u pb method to temporally constrain the left lateral movements along the shear zone the ages of the alkaline bodies range from 34 0 to 36 3 ma these new zircon ages together with previous data suggest that the onset age of the left lateral movements along the asrr shear zone began at or slightly before 36 ma and that the movements lasted from 36 to 17 ma when uncertainties are taken into account the duration of motion on the asrr shear zone coincides with the opening of the south china sea implying a genetic relationship between these two events

orientation related deformation mechanisms of naturally deformed amphibole in amphibolite mylonites from the diancang shan sw yunnan china abstract sheared amphibolite rocks from diancang shan high grade metamorphic complex along the ailao shan red river shear zone southwestern yunnan china show typical mylonitic microstructures the mylonites are characterized by porphyroclastic microstructures and the ultramylonites are highly lineated with alternating amphibole and quartzofeldspathic domains microstructural analysis and p t estimation suggest that the amphibole grains in the mylonitic rocks are deformed and dynamically recrystallized at amphibolite facies in the mylonitic amphibolites there are two types of amphibole porphyroclasts i e type i hard and type ii soft porphyroclasts they have their 001 crystallographic orientations subnormal and sub parallel to the stretching lineation of the rocks respectively the two types of porphyroclasts show distinct deformation microstructures and sub microstructures formed by various deformation mechanisms which contribute in different ways to the generation of the fine grained matrix shape preferred orientation analysis misorientation analysis of the two types of porphyroclasts and new fine grains around them further prove the generation of the fine grains in matrix from the type ii porphyroclasts the type i hard porphyroclasts are deformed mainly by mechanical rotation work hardening and intragranular microfracturing in contrast the deformation of the type ii soft porphyroclasts is mainly attributed to crystalline plasticity i e twinning dislocation creep and dynamic recrystallization during the deformation of the type ii porphyroclasts the 100 001 slip system plays a dominant role during deformation and grain size reduction of amphibole twinning along the active 100 slip system in combination with dislocation creep gliding and climbing governs the nucleation of subgrains and formation of dynamically recrystallized fine grains a process here named twinning nucleation recrystallization

role of the red river shear zone yunnan and vietnam in the continental extrusion of se asia the 1000 km long nw se striking left lateral ailao shan red river shear zone runs from the southeastern corner of tibet to the gulf of tonkin and the south china sea it has been used as the prime example of a lithospheric scale strike slip fault that has accommodated between 500 and 1000 km of southeastwards extrusion of indo china away from the indian plate indentor central to the model of continental extrusion is that such faults cut through the entire lithosphere that shear heating resulted in high grade metamorphism and local anatexis and that the ages of sheared granites along the fault also date the timing of strike slip shearing however structural data from the red river shear zone clearly show that vertical strike slip faulting post dated metamorphism and granite emplacement most granites along the shear zone are mantle related granodiorites or within plate alkali granites formed prior to shearing along the red river shear zone left lateral kinematic indicators are ubiquitous within the red river mylonites but they are always lower temperature fabrics formed after peak sillimanite metamorphism and after granite crystallization it is suggested that left lateral strike slip shearing along the red river shear zone started after 21 ma not at 35 ma as previously thought and the fault was purely a crustal structure none of the geological features used to propose the 500 1000 km offsets are robust and the total finite offset remains unknown

genesis of the batinah melange above the semail ophiolite oman abstract the batinah melange which overlies the late cretaceous semail ophiolite in the northern oman mountains comprises mostly sedimentary rocks of deep water facies alkalic lavas and intrusives all of continental margin affinities together with smaller volumes of semail ophiolitic and metamorphic rocks four intergradational textural types of melange can be recognized sheet melange has large 1 km intact sheets either with little intervening matrix or set in other melange types and with an organised sheet orientation fabric slab melange is finer textured 100 m and more disrupted block melange has smaller m blocks with some matrix and a weak to random block fabric clast melange is matrix supported rudite with a weak depositional clast fabric structural relationships particularly the absence of tectonic fabrics the decreasing strength of fragment fabrics with increasing fragmentation and the abundance of brittle fragmentation suggest that these melange types formed by either gravity driven sedimentary processes or superficial sliding or thrusting of individual rock slabs in the slab melange long sequences can be pieced together passing up from upper triassic mafic sub marine extrusives and sediments into radiolarian cherts hemipelagic and redeposited limestones and terminating in non calcareous radiolarities with mn deposits of early cretaceous age mafic sills are numerous these sequences can be matched with sub ophiolite rocks now exposed in fault corridors through the semail these sequences become progressively disrupted upwards in the corridors and can be traced continuously into overlying melange which then thins away from the corridors we argue that during late cretaceous emplacement over the arabian margin active fault corridors split the semail slab and acted as conduits up which sub ophiolite rocks were supplied to the ophiolite surface there the rocks were redisributed by superficial processes

comment on onset timing of left lateral movement along the ailao shan red river shear zone 40ar 39ar dating constraint from the nam dinh area northeastern vietnam by wang et al 2000 journal of asian earth sciences 18 281 292

structure and shearing conditions in the day nui con voi massif implications for the evolution of the red river shear zone in northern vietnam 1 the day nui con voi massif bears a record of the red river shear zone rrsz activity in north vietnam it forms a large scale antiformal core complex type structure bounded by the song hong and song chay faults the kinematics of both faults are identical and reflect transtensional shear initiated under upper amphibolite facies conditions and propagated into greenschist facies microfabric analysis establishes that both extensional and strike slip shearing initiated between 700 and 500 c the rrsz evolved from a single subvertical fault which due to strike perpendicular extension underwent progressive dilation the created space was intruded by already metamorphosed and deformed ductile middle crust in the form of a gneissic dome both strike slip and extensional shearing were accommodated in the limbs of the antiform while its core was uplifted from midcrustal level bearing only a minor record of sinistral shear