longriba fault zone in eastern tibet an important tectonic boundary marking the westernmost edge of the yangtze block global positioning system gps measurements across eastern tibet reveal a sharp velocity gradient zone located about 150 km west of the longmen shan frontal thrust zone where eastward block motion of tibet decreases from 12 mm yr to 3 mm yr over a distance of less than 10 km in order to investigate the tectonic cause for this rapid change in gps velocity together with systematic review on the available geological and geophysical data in easternmost tibet we provide new constraints on the tectonic feature of the longriba fault zone from advanced land observing satellite phased array type l band synthetic aperture radar data we propose that the ne striking longriba fault zone is the key structure responsible for the observed sharp gradient in gps velocities in addition the evidence indicates that the longriba fault zone instead of the longmen shan fault zone marks the westernmost edge of the yangtze crustal block given the irregular western margin of the yangtze block the longriba fault zone represents part of the actual tectonic boundary between the songpan ganzi terrane and the yangtze block the newly identified western edge of the yangtze block implies a paleocontinent ocean boundary at depth this boundary was a potential weak zone and may have been exploited during the formation of the longriba fault zone the results of this paper should advance our understanding of the tectonic relationship between the songpan ganzi terrane and yangtze block and provide additional constraints for studies of the geodynamic response of eastern tibet to the ongoing india eurasia collision

proximal provenance of the western songpan ganzi turbidite complex late triassic eastern tibetan plateau implications for the tectonic amalgamation of china abstract the late triassic songpan ganzi turbidite complex on the eastern tibetan plateau which covers an area of 2 2 10 5 km 2 is one of the largest flysch turbiditic basins on earth it is juxtaposed with major chinese continental blocks across several outstanding tethyan sutures and is critical to elucidating the tectonic amalgamation of china however the provenance of the turbidites remains the subject of intense debate detrital modes and heavy mineral spectra of sandstone samples from three turbidite profiles in the western songpan ganzi complex were determined in an attempt to elucidate their provenance and the type of tectonic setting in which they were deposited upper triassic turbidites in the western songpan ganzi complex have an overwhelming derivation from an orogen source as shown by the average framework compositions of the sandstones q 57 f 21 l 22 qm 52 f 21 lt 27 qp 23 lvm 0 lsm 77 the compositional and textural immaturity of the sandstones suggests limited transport and nearby sources both light and heavy mineral and lithic fractions indicate dominant metamorphic source rocks and subordinate ophiolitic and sedimentary source rocks the occurrence of c type garnet omphacite rutile and si rutile and the high silica content of phengites reveal that the source rocks underwent ultrahigh pressure conditions therefore we advocate that the western songpan ganzi late triassic turbidites were derived from nearby central qiangtang triassic collisional orogen sources rather than distant dabie qinling sources eroded after north china south china collision as previously proposed the analogy of the songpan ganzi turbidites to the bengal indus fans is not favored the central qiangtang metamorphic belt is unlikely to have occurred as an early mesozoic melange underthrust from the jinsa suture and is more likely to have been an in situ triassic ultrahigh pressure orogen our provenance interpretation implies that the paleotethys represented by the present jinsa and kunlun sutures was not yet closed when central qiangtang was being exhumed to supply the sediments of the songpan ganzi basin this challenges the conventional model for sequential amalgamation of china during the phanerozoic

plate tectonic history basin development and petroleum source rock deposition onshore china abstract china comprises a mosaic of distinct continental fragments separated by fold belts these fold belts are suture zones resulting from the accretion of various fragments formerly separated by intervening areas of oceanic crust the major sedimentary basins onshore china can be classified into four groups those in western china are flexural developing as a result of north south compression in contrast those in the east are extensional and related to development of the pacific oceanic margin in central china basins have a more problematic origin those of north central china ordos sichuan are flexural basins controlled by eastward directed thrusting along their western margin in contrast basins further south chuxiong shiwandashan are predominantly extensional and related to major strike slip movements by synthesizing basin stratigraphies across china in tectonostratigraphic terms and in particular comparing the nature and timing of unconformities it is possible to formulate a coherent model for the palaeoreconstruction of china we identify five major tectonostratigraphic breaks which equate with the collision of the following continental fragments tarim north china carboniferous permian south china block permian triassic qiantang late triassic early jurassic lhasa block late jurassic early cretaceous and india early tertiary prior to permian times the southern margin of eurasia ran approximately along the northern border of modern china the late carboniferous collision of tarim north china with eurasia resulted in the development of a flexural basin junggar and deposition of non marine clastics to the south of the suture shallow marine deposition continued in the late permian early triassic the progressive collision from east to west of the south china block with the north china block resulted in a change to fluvial lacutrine sedimentation across the entire north china tarim block open marine carbonate deposition in the north of the south china block passed southward into a deeper marine clastic sequence deposited in a backarc basin further south a subduction zone existed along the southeastern margin of the south china block in western china northward subduction throughout the triassic resulted in the development of the songban ganzi accretionary prism with retroarc thrusting resulting in flexure and the first development of the tarim basin oblique collision of the qiantang block in the late triassic along the east of the south china block resulted in east west directed thrusting which initiated the suchuan and ordos basins continued strike slip deformation along the south western margin of the south china block resulted in the development of basins with a significant extensional component such as chuxiong the collision of the qiantang block with the southern edge of the tarim basin early jurassic resulted in a renewed clastic influx in both the tarim and junggar basins along the eastern pacific margin a compressional arc and retroarc basin in the south passed northwards into an extensional arc system subduction rollback of the extensional arc initiated rifting in the late jurassic in the eren and songliao basins the late jurassic early cretaceous collision of the lhasa block in the west rejuvenated the thrust systems bordering the western basin and resulted in a renewed clastic influx in the southeast the compressional arc phase culminated in widespread thrusting and folding of early cretaceous age in the northeast extension continued with the progressive migration of the rift system southward with time the arrival of the indian block in the early tertiary rejuvenated the bounding thrust belts of all the western basins in the east the change in convergence of the pacific plate to a more westerly direction is marked by extension and widespread rifting along the entire length of eastern china throughout most of china mesozoic and cenozoic deposition occurred in predominantly non marine environments source rocks in such settings comprise principally mudstones deposited in lakes organic rich mudstones these can accumulate in both deep and shallow lakes in order to accumulate substantial volumes the lake must be significant in space and time in china lacustrine orms occur in both rift and flexural basins lacustrine orms deposited under humid climatic conditions are restricted to the period of maximum tectonic subsidence in the flexural basins of western china source rock deposition follows basin initiation by 20 30 ma in the extensional basins of eastern china source rock deposition takes place 5 15 ma after basin initiation by contrast semi arid and arid climate lacustrine orms whilst being best developed during the period of maximum tectonic subsidence occur at all stages in the basin history

granulites in the tongbai area qinling belt china geochemistry petrology single zircon geochronology and implications for the tectonic evolution of eastern asia the tongbai area of the eastern qinling belt in china includes granulite grade metamorphic assemblages qinling complex which were previously regarded as archean to early proterozoic in age and belonging to the southern margin of the north china plate craton our petrological and geochemical data characterize these rocks as two pyroxene granulites and garnet granulites which formed at temperatures of 757 840 c and pressures of about 9 5 kbar and are now found as xenoliths in granodioritic gneisses the protoliths of these rocks were granodiorites and tholeiitic basalt or gabbro the 207pb 206pb ratios derived from evaporation of single zircons yield ages of 470 20 and 470 14 ma respectively for the basic granulites which we interpret to reflect the time of protolith emplacement these are intruded by a 435 14 ma granodioritic gneiss post dating granulite formation a metaquartzite sample contains detrital zircons as old as 2555 8 ma two samples of granitoid gneiss from the tongbai complex s of the qinling granulites have single zircon 207pb 206pb evaporation ages of 776 8 and 746 10 ma respectively and document late proterozoic igneous activity we suggest that the qinling granulites document an important and hitherto unknown phase of early silurian crustal thickening following subduction and continental collision and that both the qinling and tongbai complexes were part of the southern margin of the north china craton prior to this event and record late proterozoic igneous activity

detrital zircon reference for the north china block abstract u pb analyses of 250 single detrital zircons from upper proterozoic to ordovician strata collected from the zhuozi shan in north central china provide a detrital zircon reference for the north china block a major crustal entity in the asian tectonic collage the results which range in age from 1 72 to 2 97 ga shed new light on the age of the crystalline basement in north china much of which is covered by younger sedimentary units in addition this detrital zircon reference can be used to help determine the provenance of clastic sedimentary units and for assessing validity of paleogeographic and regional tectonic models that include the complex history of asian continental amalgamation terrane accretion and subsequent translation that is ongoing today

nd and pb isotope variability in the indus river system implications for sediment provenance and crustal heterogeneity in the western himalaya abstract the indus river system is the only major drainage system in the western himalaya and erodes not only the high himalaya but also topographically high regions within and north of the indus suture zone most notably the karakoram ion microprobe analysis of pb isotopes in detrital k feldspar grains taken from the tributaries of the indus together with bulk nd isotope analysis of those same sediments is here used to identify distinct sediment source regions these span the very radiogenic nanga parbat and associated lesser himalaya the relatively radiogenic intermediate high himalaya the unradiogenic ladakh and kohistan batholiths and intermediate values in the hindu kush karakoram and lhasa block the range of compositions reflects differing degrees of recycling of older continental crust during petrogenesis k feldspars from the ladakh and kohistan batholiths are less radiogenic than the laterally equivalent gangdese granite of tibet interpreted to reflect the preferential recycling of accreted oceanic arc units within the western transhimalaya prior to india asia collision similarly the zanskar high himalaya are less radiogenic than their equivalents in nepal isotope values from pleistocene indus fan sediment are compatible with a dominant source in the karakoram with additional important contributions from the arc batholiths and high himalaya reflecting both the area and modern rates of tectonic uplift within the drainage basin in contrast radiogenic grains are common in the lower reaches of the modern indus river possibly as a result of the damming of the main river channel where it reaches the foreland

observations on the nature and origin of fusain abstract evidence for a wildfire origin of fusain is examined charcoal produced by natural fires and artificial charring resembles fossil fusain both in physical size and shape and in optical reflectance artificially charred leaves and naturally burnt wood are illustrated using the sem reflectance studies on modern charcoals suggest that much semifusinite may be produced by pyrolysis the ecological implications of a wildfire origin of fusain are discussed and it is concluded that fires have been a feature of terrestrial ecosystems from at least the late devonian

paleomagnetic results from the triassic of the yangtze platform two widely separated localities have been sampled from triassic formations of the yangtze platforms the first is from the border area between sichuan and guizhou provinces where the early triassic yelang formation was sampled at 15 sites located on both flanks of an anticline characteristic high temperature components were isolated from nine sites the remainder were severely overprinted by a recent field two polarities are present one directed toward the northeast with shallow positive inclinations and the other to the southwest with almost horizontal inclinations the northeast group passes the fold test at the 95 level the second area of study was from the city of nanjing jiangsu province where 19 sites were drilled from three formations ranging in age from the lower to upper triassic the samples are severely overprinted with a component that is almost vertical and whose origin is unclear however in 23 of the samples a high temperature component was isolated directed to the northeast and positive and to the southwest and negative the fold test is indeterminate the pole positions from the two localities are sichuan

north and south china collision along the eastern and southern north china margins abstract lithofacies distribution and petrography and intracontinental deformation in the north china block ncb and the south china block scb show an active continental margin flanked by the eastern ncb and a passive continental margin was present along the west side of the scb both margins initially trending n ne the tanlu fault possibly initiated as part of the subduction zone during paleozoic time along the eastern margin on the ncb the ncb and the scb were divided along the eastern southern north china margin by the qinling dabie tanlu sulu imjingang yanji zone from southwest to northeast these two continental blocks made contact first in the northeast during late early permian time finally in the southeast at late triassic time and the clockwise collision probably lasted to middle jurassic time the eastern suture the yanji imjingang sulu tanlu zone was dominated by contractional deformation the southern suture the qinling dabie zone was a transpression belt dominated by right lateral strike slip

detrital zircon provenance of the late triassic songpan ganzi complex sedimentary record of collision of the north and south china blocks the majority of the songpan ganzi triassic flysch sequence is believed to have derived from denudation of the dabie and sulu ultrahigh pressure uhp metamorphic belt in eastern china e g nie et al 1994 1 zhou and graham 1996 2 however intense debate still exists on the sources of

a depositional model for the mid westphalian a to late westphalian b coal measures of south wales mid westphalian a to late westphalian b sediments of the south wales coalfield comprise mainly lacustrine raised mire and flood deposits developed in an upper coastal plain environment occasional high sinuosity fine grained channel systems drained the subdued topography of the wales brabant massif to the north and east of the basin low sinuosity channels with lithic coarse grained fills drained a rising source to the south direct marine influence was restricted to a single marine band facies distributions were controlled by 1 local scale 10 2 10 3 m 2 autocyclic sedimentary processes 2 regional scale 10 km 2 synsedimentary fault activity and differential subsidence and 3 basin wide scale 10 2 km 2 response to changes in relative sea level base level changes are recorded by basin wide bivalve horizons up dip or landward extension of marine bands developed in lacustrine mudstones above basin wide coal seams peat accumulation was terminated by a water table rise related to base level rise following flooding re establishment of the clastic supply resulted in the gradual infilling of the basin wide lake to produce coarsening upwards cyclothems or parasequences a eustatic origin for parasequence development is supported by the development of identical facies associations and parasequences in coeval sediments from the pennine and midland valley coalfields

eclogites from central qiangtang northern tibet china and tectonic implications abstract eclogites in central qiangtang northern tibet china are characterized by the garnet omphacite rutile phengite quartz assemblage hornblende plagioclase and sphene occur as retrograde amphibolite facies phases in the eclogites pressure temperature estimates for the primary eclogite assemblage are consistent with minimum pressures of 20 25 kbar at 482 to 625 c the retrograde amphibolite facies assemblage suggests conditions of 10 12 kbar and 460 600 c consequently the eclogites from central qiangtang have undergone unambiguous ultrahigh pressure uhp metamorphism the presence of uhp metamorphic rocks implies a likely deep seated continental subduction along the shuanghu suture within the qiangtang terrain the denudation of these uhp metamorphic rocks correlates well with the main interval that the songpan ganzi turbidites accumulated and could have provided a significant source for these sedimentary rocks

environmental signal propagation in sedimentary systems across timescales abstract earth surface processes operate across erosionally dominated landscapes and deliver sediment to depositional systems that can be preserved over a range of timescales the geomorphic and stratigraphic products of this source to sink sediment transfer record signals of external environmental forcings as well as internal or autogenic dynamics of the sedimentary system here we evaluate environmental signal propagation across sediment routing systems with emphasis on sediment supply qs as the carrier of up system forcings we review experimental numerical and natural examples of source to sink sediment routing and signal propagation during three timescales 1 historic which includes measurement and monitoring of events and processes of landscape change and deposition during decades to centuries 2 centuries to several millions of years referred to as intermediate timescale and 3 deep time we discuss issues related to autogenic dynamics of sediment transport transient storage and release that can introduce noise lags and or completely mask signals of external environmental forcings we provide a set of conceptual and practical tools for evaluating sediment supply within a source to sink context which can inform interpretations of signals from the sedimentary record these tools include stratigraphic and sediment routing system characterization sediment budgets geochronology detrital mineral analysis e g thermochronology comparative analog approaches and modeling techniques to measure calculate or estimate the magnitude and frequency of external forcings compared to the characteristic response time of the sediment routing systems

exhumation of the dabie shan ultra high pressure rocks and accumulation of the songpan ganzi flysch sequence central china the presence of coesite and diamond bearing ultra high pressure uhp metamorphic rocks in the dabie and sulu regions central china suggests that a 100 km thick crustal section 4 x 106 km6 in volume has been denuded this volume is comparable to that represented by the 10 15 km thick middle to upper triassic flysch rocks in the songpan ganzi region regional geology and radiometric dates are compatible with an interpretation that the majority of these sedimentary rocks were derived from denudation of the orogenic belt between north and south china blocks following their latest paleozoic to triassic collision this correlation implies a high denudation rate of 4 mm yr that may have been in part promoted by tropical precipitation and extreme topographic relief for as long as 25 m y

u pb dating on single detrital zircon grains from the triassic songpan ganze flysch central china provenance and tectonic correlations the songpan ganze flysch belt central china covers a huge triangular area of more than 200 000 km and is bounded by the continental blocks of south china north china and the tibetan plateau detrital zircons extracted from three flysch samples collected in the central part of the belt were analyzed grain by grain using the u pb method two samples of middle triassic sandstones collected at different locations in the belt provide identical results which suggests similar source regions the detrital zircons yield a wide range of ages and indicate their principal derivation from mid proterozoic 1 8 2 0 ga source rocks with minor contribution from late archean ca 2 5 2 6 ga material the discordance and pb loss patterns from low u zircons indicate disturbances during a subsequent event which may be of caledonian age as suggested by concordant zircon grains at ca 420 and 450 ma one sample collected within the palang shan pass zone provides concordant zircon grains at around 230 ma 231 1 ma and 233 1 ma these triassic ages are synchronous to flysch deposition and suggest intense geological activity calc alkaline volcanism at that time in the area close to the basin the data support an origin of the clastic material mainly from a northeastern landmass corresponding to the southern margin of the sino korean craton to a lesser degree inputs from the yangtze craton and possibly from the northern margin of the basin kunlun arc are also detected the age spectrum from the upper triassic sandstone is significantly different and shows predominance of sinian ca 760 ma grains probably derived from the yangtze craton this change in the source region is interpreted as reflecting the tectonic evolution of this area and in particular as being linked to the late triassic collision between south china and north china in the middle triassic while subduction of the songpan sea northward beneath the north china plate was still taking place continental subduction of south china in the dabie region was responsible for uplift of the overriding plate i e the sino korean craton which supplied large volumes of sediments during the late triassic clockwise rotation of the south china block uplifted the indo sinian part of the qinling belt and closed the basin as the accretionary wedge was thickening along the southern margin of north china detritus derived from this source region were unable to reach the flysch basin the age spectrum presented by detrital zircons indicates

controls on hydrocarbon accumulation by facies and fluid potential in large scale lacustrine petroliferous basins in compressional settings a case study of the mesozoic ordos basin china abstract large scale lacustrine basins in compressional settings are an important type of petroliferous basin and the study of the characteristics of hydrocarbon accumulation in such basins is of great significance this synthesis paper takes the mesozoic ordos basin central china as a case study to establish lateral and vertical hydrocarbon accumulation patterns in this basin type and highlights how facies and fluid potential control hydrocarbon accumulation in such basins based on systematic analyses of the mesozoic source rocks sedimentary facies migration and accumulation patterns and characteristics of the oil reservoirs the hydrocarbon accumulation characteristics in the mesozoic ordos basin are discussed the analysis indicates that sedimentary facies controlled the characteristics and distribution of hydrocarbon source rocks and reservoirs while diagenetic facies controlled the quality and distribution of the reservoirs excess pressure and fluid potential controlled hydrocarbon migration directions and paths whereas facies and potential controlled the locations of oil accumulations and traps it is concluded that source rocks controlled oil bearing regions sedimentary facies controlled oil bearing plays and fluid potential controlled the locations of accumulations for shallow intervals because fluid migration is mainly controlled by buoyancy paleotopographic highs played an important role in controlling hydrocarbon accumulations for deep layers chang 7 to chang 10 members since buoyancy is less than the capillary pressure excess pressure caused by the undercompaction of mudstone and hydrocarbon generation at depth provides the driving force for lateral and vertical migration of oil and becomes the main migration force the reservoir accumulation characteristics differ laterally between regions of the basin at the periphery of the basin reservoir units are stacked in a step wise manner whereas at the center of the basin multiple reservoir intervals are vertically stacked in the form of multistorey accumulations vertically layers with different burial depths have different accumulation characteristics the paleotopography controlled hydrocarbon accumulation in shallow intervals instead excess pressure fluid potential and paleotopography controlled accumulation in deep intervals this understanding could be used to inform prospecting in other large scale lacustrine petroliferous basins in compressional settings such as the eocene green river basin in the u s a and the middle triassic gunnedah basin in australia

was late triassic tanggula granitoid central tibet western china a product of melting of underthrust songpan ganzi flysch sediments geochronological laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry la icp ms mineral chemistry major and trace element and sr nd hf isotopic data are presented for the tanggula granitoid the largest granitic pluton in the northern tibetan plateau the tanggula pluton yields a late triassic emplacement age 228 223 ma and is magnesian mg 29 10 49 81 high k calc alkaline k2o na2o 0 76 3 51 mostly 1 and strongly peraluminous molar al2o3 cao na2o k2o a cnk 1 06 1 42 mostly 1 1 high initial 87sr 86sr ratios 0 716849 to 0 730577 and low nd t 10 95 to 9 60 and hf t values 16 to 5 1 along with an abundance of aluminosilicate minerals e g biotite enrichments in light rare earth and large ion lithophile elements negative eu anomalies and depletion in high field strength elements suggest that the tanggula granitoid is an s type granite derived mainly from the anatexis of metasedimentary source rocks geochemical fingerprinting using sr nd hf isotopes and detrital zircon u pb age spectra shows that triassic flysch sediments from the songpan ganzi paleo tethyan ocean to the north of the pluton are the most likely source of the tanggula granitic magmas the tanggula granitoid could thus have been formed by the partial melting of the flysch sediments from the songpan ganzi complex as they were underthrust beneath the qiangtang terrane along the jinsha subduction zone during the late triassic

detrital zircon u pb ages of paleogene deposits in the southwestern sichuan foreland basin china constraints on basin mountain evolution along the southeastern margin of the tibetan plateau

signatures of mountain building detrital zircon u pb ages from northeastern tibet although detrital zircon has proven to be a powerful tool for determining provenance past work has focused primarily on delimiting regional source terranes here we explore the limits of spatial resolution and stratigraphic sensitivity of detrital zircon in ascertaining provenance and we demonstrate its ability to detect source changes for terranes separated by only a few tens of kilometers for such an analysis to succeed for a given mountain discrete intrarange source terranes must have unique u pb zircon age signatures and sediments eroded from the range must have well defi ned depositional ages here we use 1400 single grain u pb zircon ages from northeastern tibet to identify and analyze an area that satisfi es these conditions this analysis shows that the edges of intermontane basins are stratigraphically sensitive to discrete punctuated changes in local source terranes by tracking eroding rock units chronologically through the stratigraphic record this sensitivity permits the detection of the differential rock uplift and progressive erosion that began ca 8 ma in the laji shan a 10 25 km wide range in northeastern tibet with a unique u pb age signature

mesozoic source rocks and petroleum systems of the northeastern qaidam basin northwest china the qaidam basin is a continental petroliferous basin located in northwest china its northern sector is an important hydrocarbon province where one of the earliest oil discoveries in china was made although mesozoic source rocks are understood to be important parts of qaidam petroleum systems the identification and distribution of mesozoic source rocks in the subsurface are poorly understood middle jurassic coal measures and associated shales have long been considered to be the primary mesozoic source rocks for the northeastern qaidam basin without any support from subsurface geochemical and geological data however new data have been gathered from earlier mesozoic sediments that were penetrated by the lengke 1 well a deep scientific well with a total depth of 5200 m 17 060 ft the well was drilled on the lenghu structural belt in 1997 and documented other effective source rocks geochemical analyses indicate that lower jurassic mudstones are good to excellent source rocks for the commercial oil wells in the lenghu area the upper middle jurassic shales are very good source rocks for the commercial oil wells in the yuka area two source rock intervals in the northeastern qaidam basin allow for two petroleum systems to be distinguished the lower jurassic lower jurassic tertiary and middle jurassic upper jurassic the lower jurassic lower jurassic tertiary petroleum system with a geographical extent of 15 000 km2 5800 mi2 and a cumulative amount of source rocks between 200 and 700 m 650 and 2300 ft represents a favorable target for future exploration the middle jurassic upper jurassic petroleum system however may have a lower exploration potential because of a smaller area 1500 km2 580 mi2 and a thinner cumulative amount of source rocks 100 200 m 330 650 ft

insights into the early tibetan plateau from u th he thermochronology the central songpan ganzi belt located on the eastern margin of the tibetan plateau has a similar high elevation and low relief to parts of central tibet thermochronological studies from the central tibetan plateau reveal a history of slow exhumation rates 1 since 45ma however the exhumation history of the central songpan ganzi belt is unknown to address this we conducted an apatite and zircon u th he thermochronology study of bedrock samples collected across the central songpan ganzi belt and into central parts of the tibetan plateau zircon u th he ages range from 54 2 7 5 to 146 5 10 0ma and the majority of apatite u th he ages fall between 74 7 19 0 and 35 7 9 4ma thermal history models of these data show rapid cooling in the late mesozoic and much slower cooling diagnostic of low rates of erosion throughout most of the cenozoic the late mesozoic rapid cooling is consistent with the existence of significant topography and relief at least in some parts of the songpan ganzi belt at that time we find no evidence for a regional miocene acceleration in erosion although three samples from the headwaters of the salween and mekong rivers gave younger ahe ages between 15 and 16ma that reflect an acceleration in river incision supplementary material laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry zircon u pb data from central and eastern tibet are available at www geolsoc org uk sup18647

triassic continental subduction in central tibet and mediterranean style closure of the paleo tethys ocean the qiangtang metamorphic belt qmb in central tibet is one of the largest and most recently documented high pressure hp to near ultrahigh pressure near uhp belts on earth lu hf ages of eclogite and blueschist facies rocks within the qmb are 244 223 ma indistinguishable from the age of uhp metamorphism in the qinling dabie orogen results of a u pb detrital zircon study suggest that protoliths of the qmb include upper paleozoic qiangtang continental margin strata and sandstones that were derived from a paleozoic arc terrane that developed within the paleo tethys ocean to the north we attribute qmb hp metamorphism to continental collision between the qiangtang terrane and a paleo tethys arc terrane this collision and the coeval south china north china collision may have slowed convergence between laurasia and gondwana derived terranes and initiated mediterranean style rollback and backarc basin development within much of the remnant paleo tethys ocean realm

p t conditions in the south wales coalfield evidence from coexisting hydrocarbon and aqueous fluid inclusions siderite nodules in the carboniferous coal measures of south wales contain cavities which are often infilled with quartz carbonates sulphides and hydrocarbons the quartz contains a mixture of hydrocarbon and aqueous fluid inclusions the aqueous fluid inclusions consist of a dilute brine 3 wt nacl equivalent and have homogenization temperatures in the range 97 212 oc mean 143 oc the hydrocarbon fluid inclusions are dominated by methane with a small component of higher order hydrocarbons their homogenization temperatures are in the range 35 78 c mean 54 c it is assumed that the two fluids were trapped simultaneously during growth of the quartz and thus a p t estimate of entrapment can be obtained by graphical intersection of the hydrocarbon isochores and the aqueous fluid bubble point homogenization temperatures assuming hydrocarbon saturation this method gives temperatures between 130 and 160 oc and pressures between 40 and 55 mpa the timing of mineralization is uncertain but it is suggested that it took place during burial and low grade metamorphism of the subsiding sedimentary basin i e in the upper carboniferous the hydrothermal fluids were probably derived from evolved meteoric or connate waters expelled during subsidence and sediment compaction

formation of the jinchuan ultramafic intrusion and the world s third largest ni cu sulfide deposit associated with the 825 ma south china mantle plume we report here shrimp u pb geochronological geochemical and nd isotopic data for the jinchuan ultramafic intrusion gansu province china which hosts the world s third largest magmatic ni cu sulfide deposits u pb baddeleyite analyses yield an age of 812 26 ma for the ultramafic intrusion this age is indistinguishable within analytical uncertainties from the u pb zircon ages of 827 8 ma and 828 3 ma for the sulfide bearing ultramafic rocks and the dolerite dykes that cut the ultramafic intrusion respectively these u pb dating results show beyond doubt that the jinchuan ultramafic intrusion and associated ni cu sulfide deposit were formed at 825 ma rather than 1500 ma as has been widely believed the ultramafic rocks exhibit large negative nd t values 8 9 to 12 0 that decrease with increasing la sm suggesting that their parental magmas were derived from a long term enriched lithospheric mantle and experienced crustal contamination mineralogical petrological and geochemical data all indicate that the jinchuan intrusion was generated by melting of the enriched lithospheric mantle heated by an anomalously hot plume the u pb ages of 825 ma for igneous baddeleyites and zircons and 900 880 ma for inherited zircons in the jinchuan mafic ultramafic rocks are comparable with those in the qaidam block and qilian belt the western extension of the qinling belt that was likely derived from northern yangtze craton the jinchuan ni cu sulfide bearing intrusion along with coeval regional plume related mafic dykes and tholeiites and mafic ultramafic complexes with associated v ti and ni cu pge mineralization is interpreted to be genetically related to the 825 ma south china mantle plume

geochemical characteristics of the triassic tethys turbidites in northwestern sichuan china implications for provenance and interpretation of the tectonic setting the triassic tethys graywacke slate turbidites in the northwestern sichuan china have been analysed for major and trace elements and petrographically studied compared to phanerozoic turbidites the turbidites in this study are quartz intermediate average 55 in composition and are characterized geochemically by their moderate fe2o 3 mgo 9 28 2 84 tio2 0 72 0 17 contents and al2o3 sio2 0 25 0 10 ratios moderate abundances of ferromagnesian trace elements co 15 8 ppm cr 113 72 ppm ni 14 9 ppm sc 12 4 ppm etc and moderate contents of incompatible elements such as th 11 3 ppm u 3 0 7 ppm zr 170 64 ppm hf 4 1 ppm and total rees 159 33 ppm in general the slates show systematically higher fe2o 3 mgo sc co and eueu but lower sollasc and thsc than the associated graywackes suggesting that various provenance components may separate into different grain size fractions during sedimentary sorting processes that is the more mafic materials tended to incorporate into the sedimentary record for the clay size fraction framework modes and geochemical data indicate that the turbidites were mainly derived from a recycled orogenic provenance characterized chiefly by sedimentary metasedimentary rocks and granite gneisses similar to the upper continental crust but with a variable admixture of continental island arc volcanic components flysch deposition took place in a back arc basin situated between an active continental margin the kunlun qinling fold belt and a continental island arc the yidun island arc weathering conditions in the source area significantly influenced the composition and distribution of elements in the sediments with the elapse of time during sedimentation the degree of chemical weathering in the provenance became intense while the tectonic activity decreased gradually

triassic turbidites in the west qinling mountains nw china part of the collisional songpan ganzi basin or an active forearc basin abstract lower to middle triassic clastic rocks in the west qinling mountains along ne margin of the qinghai tibet plateau are generally regarded as part of the songpan ganzi flysch basin however relatively little attention has been paid to the age and provenance of these units new petrological and geochemical results demonstrate that these sediments accumulated along an active continental margin and are dominated by feldspathic litharenite and lithic arkose with low mineral and compositional maturity they were derived primarily from a continental arc source dominated by intermediate to felsic igneous rocks with a minor contribution from older metamorphosed and sedimentary sources turbidite samples yielded two primary detrital zircon u pb age populations of ca 273 ma and ca 435 ma which is different from the early triassic ca 252 ma and middle silurian ca 427 ma age populations that dominate the songpan ganzi basin these data together with paleocurrent results indicate that the south qilian belt was the primary source origin because this belt contains both early paleozoic andean type igneous and magmatic rocks and has a basement of precambrian metamorphosed rocks regionally an andean type arc traverses the south qilian belts and extends into the west qinling mountains and kunlun orogen which formed by north directed subduction of the paleo tethyan ocean during the early to middle triassic voluminous detritus that originated from the qilian and kunlun orogens as they were uplifted and eroded was transported to the south and deposited in the forearc area in front of the a nimaqen mianlue suture

long wave seismic anisotropy of heterogeneous reservoirs summary borehole logs often show considerable variation over small lengths consistent with fine layering of the formation elastic upscaling allows layering on a fine length scale to be replaced by thicker homogeneous equivalent transversely isotropic layers thus creating a model with far fewer layers in this paper the evect of inclusions of finite lateral extent on elastic upscaling is examined for inclusions with a small thickness to width ratio backus averaging gives a good approximation to the long wavelength elastic properties of the medium however for larger thickness to width ratios the anisotropy of the medium can be significantly reduced for inclusions that are long in comparison to their width azimuthal anisotropy may result if the inclusions show a preferential orientation this could result from the presence of flow during deposition the azimuthal anisotropy increases with increasing thickness to width ratio of the inclusions and vanishes when this ratio is zero for larger thickness to width ratios the magnitude of the azimuthal anisotropy may be of similar magnitude to that commonly seen in sedimentary basins azimuthal anisotropy is usually attributed to the presence of aligned fractures within the formation the present results suggest a further source of azimuthal anisotropy that may be significant

mechanisms of coal metamorphism case studies from paleozoic coalfields controls on coal metamorphism can be complex in this paper we examine four paleozoic coalfields the western kentucky portion of the illinois basin the pennsylvania anthracite fields the south wales coalfield and the bowen basin an increase in temperature with depth of burial is certainly a factor in coal metamorphism in many coalfields however including the coalfields reviewed here it has become apparent that such a simple mechanism does not explain the coal rank patterns observed the flow of hydrothermal fluids through the coals has been proposed as a cause of coal metamorphism evidence includes inverted rank gradients elevated cfl as an indicator of brine fluids isotopic evidence for hydrothermal fluids and vein and cleat mineral assemblages in any case multiple hypotheses must often be evaluated in the examination of any coalfield since the simple paradigm of coal rank increases with a simple increase in temperature with increasing depth does not fit the evidence observed in many cases

tectonic affinity of the west qinling terrane central china north china or yangtze 1 our ignorance about the tectonic affinity of the western qinling songpan ganzi tectonic region which is strategically located between the northeastern corner of the tibetan plateau the northwestern corner of the yangtze block and the southwestern corner of the north china block limits our understanding of the tectonic evolution of east asia basaltic volcanic rocks in the duofutun area within the west qinling terrane in qinghai province china the northernmost part of the songpan ganzi region contain coeval magmatic zircons that constrain the eruption age of the host basalts to 14 ma more significantly the basalts have entrained zircon xenocrysts from the deep crust that record the presence of unexposed neoarchean 2 7 2 5 ga basement u pb and hf isotope data from the xenocrysts reveal that this basement has undergone a complex evolution that includes the addition of new mantle derived material at 2 7 2 4 and 1 1 0 8 ga and crustal reworking events at 1 8 and 1 4 ga phanerozoic thermal events at 320 300 230 and 160 ma have also modified reworked the basement using these data we interpret at least the western part of the west qinling orogenic terrane as a microcontinental block that originally separated from the north china block closed with the northern yangtze block during the meso neoproterozoic and then redocked with the southern part of the north china block in the phanerozoic i e early paleozoic the west qinling terrane was then affected by the northward subduction and collision of the yangtze block in the paleozoic and early mesozoic and underwent lithospheric extension in jurassic time

tectonics of the qinling central china tectonostratigraphy geochronology and deformation history abstract the qinling orogen preserves a record of late mid proterozoic to cenozoic tectonism in central china high pressure metamorphism and ophiolite emplacement songshugou ophiolite assembled the yangtze craton including the lower qinling unit into rodinia during the 1 0 ga grenvillian orogeny the lower qinling unit then rifted from the yangtze craton at 0 7 ga subsequent intra oceanic arc formation at 470 490 ma was followed by accretion of the lower qinling unit first to the intra oceanic arc and then to the sino korea craton subduction then imprinted a 400 ma andean type magmatic arc onto all units north of the northern liuling unit oblique subduction created silurian devonian wnw trending sinistral transpressive wrench zones e g lo nan shang dan and late permian early triassic subduction reactivated them in dextral transpression lo nan shang xiang shang dan and subducted the northern edge of the yangtze craton exhumation of the cratonal edge formed the wudang metamorphic core complex during dominantly pure shear crustal extension at 230 235 ma post collisional south directed shortening continued through the early jurassic cretaceous reactivation of the qinling orogen started with nw se sinistral transtension coeval with large scale early cretaceous crustal extension and sinistral transtension in the northern dabie shan it presumably resulted from the combined effects of the siberia mongolia sino korean and lhasa west burma qiangtang indochina collisions and pacific subduction regional dextral wrenching was active within a ne sw extensional regime between 60 and 100 ma an early cretaceous andean type continental magmatic arc with widespread early cretaceous magmatism and back arc extension was overprinted by shortening related to the collision of yangtze indochina block with the west philippines block strike slip and normal faults associated with eocene half graben basins record paleogene nne ssw contraction and wnw ese extension the neogene is characterized by normal faults and nne trending sub horizontal extension pleistocene quaternary nw se extension and ne sw contraction comprises sinistral strike slip faults and is part of the nw se extension imposed across eastern asia by the india asia collision

lead isotope variability of fine grained river sediments in tibetan plateau water catchments implications for geochemical provinces and crustal evolution abstract the crustal structure of the tibetan plateau records the dynamic processes of several terranes that underwent disaggregation aggregation and amalgamation the dynamic evolution of continental crusts is best understood from these three processes however the detailed geochemical province division of the tibetan plateau and the palaeo tectonic affinity or evolution of terranes remains unclear in this paper the acid insoluble fraction of fine grained river sediments from catchments in the whole tibetan plateau was measured for lead isotopes and trace elements this study aims to reveal lead isotopic characteristics to delineate different lead isotope geochemical provinces and to trace and uncover the tectonic affinities of various terranes in the tibetan plateau results show that by weak acid chemical treatment the characteristics of the pb isotopes of fine grained river sediments can be utilized to represent and discriminate geochemical provinces the characteristics of pb isotopes enable the identification of different geochemical provinces and the palaeo affinity of various tectonic units constrained by tectonic evolution the tibetan plateau tectonic units can be divided into the following five pb isotope geochemical provinces 1 qilian terrane 2 northern tibetan plateau geochemical province including eastern kunlun qaidam songpan ganzi and eastern qiangtang terrane 3 northern lhasa terrane 4 southern lhasa terrane and 5 himalaya terrane in relation to the controversy concerning the palaeo affinity of the qilian and songpan ganzi terranes the pb isotopic compositions of fine grained river sediments suggest that they were much more likely separated from the yangtze craton than from the north china craton the characteristics of pb isotopes and trace elements of the eastern kunlun qaidam and eastern qiangtang terrane show some similarities with the songpan ganzi terrane which indicate that they also possibly originated from the disaggregation of the yangtze craton the various partial melting and contamination of the old himalaya continental crust from radiogenic pb isotopes and tethys mantle materials with low radiogenic pb isotopes caused different pb isotopes and trace elemental associations in the southern and northern lhasa terranes these factors also led to the evolution of the two different geochemical provinces

geologic framework and tectonic evolution of the qinling orogen central china abstract the geologic framework of the qinling orogen was built up through interplay of three blocks the north china block including the north qinling the south qinling and the south china block separated by the shangdan and mianlue sutures the shangdan suture resulted from middle paleozoic collision of the north china block and the south qinling the mianlue suture resulted from late triassic collision of the south qinling and the south china block present upper crust of the qinling is structured dominantly by thrust fold systems the north qinling displays thick skinned deformation with crystalline basement involved whilst the south qinling is characterized by thin skinned thrusts and folds detached above the lower sinian two types of precambrian basement crystalline and transitional are defined according to lithology and metamorphic grade and different in age stratigraphic and sedimentary architecture is characterized by distinct zonation the qinling orogen experienced a prolonged continental divergence and convergence between blocks during the period from late neoproterozoic to early paleozoic times the south qinling was the northern margin of the south china block and the north qinling was the southern margin of the north china block separated by a proto tethyan qinling ocean the north qinling evolved into an active margin when the proto tethyan qinling ocean subducted northward during ordovician time collision of the south and north qinling took place in middle paleozoic along the shangdan suture synchronous with the collision rifting occurred at the southern rim of the south qinling and was followed by the opening of the paleo tethyan qinling ocean during the late paleozoic resulting in the splitting of the south china block from the south qinling collision of the south qinling and the south china block came about in the late triassic along the mianlue suture the late triassic collisional orogeny caused extensive fold and thrust deformation and granitoid intrusions throughout the qinling and led to final amalgamation of the north and south china blocks

high selenium in the carboniferous coal measures of northumberland north east england the carboniferous lower and middle coal measures coals of the northumberland coalfield are anomalously rich in selenium se content up to 62 ppm compared to the averages for the common uk and worldwide coals as well as posing an environmental toxicity threat se is now regarded as an important resource for alloys photovoltaic products and nanotechnologies and high se coals in north east england offer an opportunity to assess the se means of occurrence origins transport mechanisms and enrichment in coals at least two generations of pyrite host high se in the sampled coal seams microbial formed disseminated pyrite both cubic and framboidal in habit and later cleat filling pyrite identified by petrographic observations laser ablation methods and sulphur isotope compositions there is a notable se enrichment of up to 250 ppm in later formed cleat filling pyrite trace element enrichment may have been sourced and influenced by seawater distribution during diagenesis and localised dykes and deformation may have acted as an enrichment mechanism for sampled seams in the region the high se coals in northumberland may provide a potential e tech element source and should be considered and carefully managed as coal mining and production are reduced in the area the study also highlights the nature of se enrichment in pyritic coals affected by cleat formation and multiple episodes of mineralisation important as critical element demand continues to increase worldwide

triassic granitoids in the eastern songpan ganzi fold belt sw china magmatic response to geodynamics of the deep lithosphere the songpan ganzi fold belt sgfb sw china was developed from a passive continental margin into an orogenic belt with the consumption of the paleo tethys during the evolution of the sgfb numerous late triassic granitic plutons formed and exhibited a progressive development from adakite i type granite high ba sr granite a type granite and monzonite representative late triassic plutons were studied to unravel the bewildering evolution of the eastern sgfb the menggu pluton 224 3 ma consists of granites with high alkali k2o na2o 7 85 10 4 wt and adakitic characteristics sr y 19 38 the endt values 2 77 to 5 03 initial 87sr 86sr ratios 0 7050 0 7063 and low nb ta ratios 8 10 are indicative of an origin by partial melting of amphibolitic lower crust rocks from the niuxingou pluton 215 3 ma are richer in k than na k2o na2o 1 1 1 5 and contain high sr 1006 1662 ppm and ba 1277 2009 ppm typical of shoshonite and high ba sr granite they have less enriched endt values 0 08 to 2 04 and less radiogenic 87sr 86sri ratios 0 7047 0 7048 and formed from a mixed melt derived from upwelling asthenosphere and the overlying metasomatised lithospheric mantle the taiyanghe pluton 205 3 ma consists of monzonites with high al2o3 20 wt but low mgo 0 94 1 39 wt the rocks are richer in na than k k2o na2o 0 7 contain high large ion lithophile element lile 681 834 ppm sr and 2142 9453 ppm ba and display strongly fractionated ree patterns la yb n 35 63 these features together with their enriched nd sr isotopic compositions endt 4 78 to 6 50 87sr 86sri 0 7074 0 7090 suggest that the monzonite probably formed from low degrees of partial melting of metasomatised lithospheric mantle although a continuous compressional regime during the mid and late triassic has been invoked for the sgfb the generation of crustally derived adakitic and shoshonitic plutons reflect thickening in response to an arc continental collision accompanied by fracturing of the lithosphere and an extensional regime in the deep lithosphere in the late triassic the 205 ma taiyanghe pluton was emplaced simultaneously with a rapid uplift of the lithosphere when surface deposits changed from deep water turbidite to tidal flat sediments it was therefore generated during decompression probably related to the rapid removal of the overthickened lithospheric mantle the triassic magmatism in the eastern sgfb is therefore important for probing geodynamic processes in the deep lithosphere

deep borehole evidence for a southward extension of the early namurian deposits near němcicky s moravia czech republic implication for rapid coalification

slowing extrusion tectonics lowered estimate of post early miocene slip rate for the altyn tagh fault abstract determination of long term slip rate for the altyn tagh fault is essential for testing whether asian tectonics is dominated by lateral extrusion or distributed crustal shortening previous slip history studies focused on either quaternary slip rate measurements or pre early miocene total offset estimates and do not allow a clear distinction between rates based on the two the magmatic and metamorphic history revealed by shrimp zircon dating of clasts from miocene conglomerate in the xorkol basin north of the altyn tagh fault strikingly matches that of basement in the southern qilian shan and northern qaidam regions south of the fault this match requires that the post early miocene long term slip rate along the altyn tagh fault cannot exceed 10 mm year supporting the hypothesis of distributed crustal thickening for post early miocene times this low long term slip rate and recently documented large pre early miocene cumulative offset across the fault support a two stage evolution wherein asian tectonics was dominated by lateral extrusion before the end of early miocene and since then has been dominated by distributed crustal thickening and rapid plateau uplift

petrogenesis and tectonic setting of the early mesozoic xitian granitic pluton in the middle qin hang belt south china constraints from zircon u pb ages and bulk rock trace element and sr nd pb isotopic compositions abstract the xitian pluton in southeast hunan province is one of the early mesozoic indosinian granitic plutons in the south china block it is composed of biotite adamellite with k feldspar megacrysts biotite adamellite and biotite granite that have u pb zircon ages of 229 9 1 4 ma 223 6 1 3 ma and 224 0 1 4 ma respectively the indosinian granitoids in the xitian pluton belong to s type granites with highly radiogenic initial 87sr 86sr ratios 0 71397 0 71910 negative end t values ranging from 10 1 to 9 4 and old nd model ages 1858 1764 ma they are enriched in radiogenic pb isotopes with 206pb 204pb t ranging from 18 130 to 18 903 207pb 204pb t from 15 652 to 15 722 and 208pb 204pb t from 38 436 to 39 037 respectively these features indicate that the granitoidswithin the xitian pluton were formed from magmas generated by remelting of metapelite and metapsammite of the paleoproterozoic metamorphic basement at temperatures of ca 800 c with low oxygen fugacity the sr nd isotopic compositions of the rocks from xitian pluton indicate that the granitic magmas were mixed with less than 10 mantle derived magmas we suggest that the xitian pluton was emplaced in an extensional tectonic setting related to release of compressional stresses within the thickened crust during the early mesozoic

outward growth of the tibetan plateau during the cenozoic a review abstract the surface uplift history of the tibetan plateau tp offers a key testing ground for evaluating models of collisional tectonics and holds important implications for processes ranging from global cooling to the onset of the asian monsoon various models have been proposed to reveal the surface uplift history of the tp but controversies remain we evaluate these models using data from sedimentology and stratigraphy structural geology magmatism exhumation and paleoaltimetry studies structural analyses indicate that thrust belts which spread from the central tp outward toward its surrounding margins accommodated most of the india asia convergence and facilitated crustal shortening and thickening in the central tp eocene adakitic rocks located in the qiangtang and the lhasa blocks likely were generated by partial melting of an eclogitic source paleogene 50 30 ma potassic rocks only occur in the qiangtang block whereas late oligocene late miocene 26 8 ma potassic rocks occur both in the qiangtang and lhasa blocks low temperature thermochronologic ages in the central tp are older than 40 35 ma whereas those in the margins are younger than 20 ma mostly late miocene and pliocene pleistocene in age independent paleoaltimetry estimates suggest that the lhasa and qiangtang terranes attained their current elevations during the eocene most likely due to the initial collision between india and lhasa whereas the hoh xil basin area to the north and himalayas to the south were still low even below sea level in the latter case we argue for an inside out growth pattern for the tibetan plateau the tp grew southward and northward from a nucleus of high topography and is likely to continue expanding along the mazar tagh fault to the northwest the kuantai shan hei shan longshou shan to the northeast the longquan shan to the east and the shillong plateau to the south if the northward force of india would not diminished

carboniferous and triassic eclogites in the western dabie mountains east central china evidence for protracted convergence of the north and south china blocks shrimp u pb dating and laser ablation icp ms trace element analyses of zircon from four eclogite samples from the north western dabie mountains central china provide evidence for two eclogite facies metamorphic events three samples from the huwan shear zone yield indistinguishable late carboniferous metamorphic ages of 312 5 307 4 and 311 17 ma with a mean age of 309 3 ma one sample from the hong an group 1 km south of the shear zone yields a late triassic age of 232 10 ma similar to the age of ultra high pressure uhp metamorphism in the east qinling dabie orogenic belt ree and other trace element compositions of the zircon from two of the huwan samples indicate metamorphic zircon growth in the presence of garnet but not plagioclase namely in the eclogite facies an interpretation supported by the presence of garnet omphacite and phengite inclusions zircon also grew during later retrogression zircon cores from the huwan shear zone have ordovician to devonian 440 350 ma ages flat to steep heavy ree patterns negative eu anomalies and in some cases plagioclase inclusions indicative of derivation from north china block igneous and low pressure metamorphic source rocks cores from hong an group zircon are neoproterozoic 780 610 ma consistent with derivation from the south china block in the western dabie mountains the first stage of the collision between the north and south china blocks took place in the carboniferous along a suture north of the huwan shear zone the major triassic continent continent collision occurred along a suture at the southern boundary of the shear zone the first collision produced local eclogite facies metamorphism in the huwan shear zone the second produced widespread eclogite facies metamorphism throughout the dabie mountains sulu terrane and a lower grade overprint in the shear zone

detrital zircon geochronology of the northeastern tibetan plateau u pb geochronologic analyses have been conducted on 413 detrital zircon grains collected from 16 samples in the altun shan nan shan and qilian shan the samples come primarily from quartz arenites and metaturbidites of middle to late proterozoic age and from feldspathic and volcanic clast rich sandstones of early paleozoic age zircon grains in proterozoic strata resting on tarim basement yielded mainly 2 0 1 9 ga ages whereas proterozoic strata of the qaidam and qilian terranes yielded mainly ca 930 820 ma and ca 1 9 1 1 ga ages the younger grains were apparently shed from local igneous rocks whereas the grains older than 1 1 ga were shed from an undetermined continental source grains in the lower paleozoic strata are mainly ca 500 430 ma and were shed from nearby plutonic and possibly volcanic rocks that formed in a magmatic arc setting our detrital zircon ages are consistent with a model first proposed by e r sobel and n arnaud in which early paleozoic magmatism occurred within a single northeast facing magmatic arc that was constructed across an assemblage of middle to late proterozoic accretionary complexes remnants of magmatic arcs and shallow marine strata this arc system was accreted to the tarim and sino korean cratons during silurian devonian time the resulting suture has been reactivated as tertiary thrust faults that currently define the structural and topographic margin of the tibetan plateau our data also provide two new estimates for the offset along the eastern altyn tagh fault a belt of middle proterozoic shallow marine strata is offset by 400 km whereas a belt of 490 480 ma magmatic arc rocks is offset by 370 km these values are generally similar to the 350 400 km offset reported in most previous studies

a review of the timing of coalification in the light of coal seam erosion clastic dykes and coal clasts abstract coal seam erosion clastic dykes penetrating coal seams and studies of coal clasts occurring in late paleozoic basins are used to demonstrate that coalification to the rank of subbituminous and bituminous coal occurred rapidly at shallow depth in some parts of the variscan orogen implying a precondition of high paleotemperatures for the coal basins the origin of clastic dykes particularly in the bolsovian westphalian c deposits of the plze and kladno rakovnik continental basins czech republic is shown to be a relevant factor in determining the timing of coalification pesek j 1978 erosion and clastic dikes in coal seams of the central bohemian basins and their significance for determination of plant substance coalification folia musei rerum naturalium bohemiae occidentalis geologica 12 1 34 is of the opinion that the 50 100 cm deep fractures filled with superposed clastics originated in fully ranked high volatile bituminous coal exposed during a hiatus between the early westphalian c early bolsovian and late westphalian d late asturian these dykes have either irregular shape or form conic bodies with sharp boundaries their filling does not show any signs of postsedimentary deformation coal clasts occurring in clastic sediments either close to or far above the roof of coal seams are a few millimetres up to several centimetres in size being subangular or angular however there also exist clasts of which one side is angular to subangular whereas the opposite side is markedly sharp in some basins coal clasts are embedded in units of the same age they are mostly of somewhat lower rank by 0 01 0 03 than the nearest coal seam whereas gayer r a pesek j s korova i valterova p 1996 coal clasts in the upper westphalian sequence of the south wales coal basin implication for the timing of maturation and fracture permeability in gayer r harris j eds coalbed methane and coal geology geological society special publication 109 pp 103 130 presumed in the south wales foreland basin a burial level of about 1 km with an elevated geothermal gradient 60 c km enhanced by hot fluids along thrusts resulting in rapid coalification to the bituminous coal rank no deep burial of organic matter could have occurred in the intramontane basins of the bohemian massif coalification of the late paleozoic seams must have proceeded at a very high rate the only logical reason leading to such rapid coalification of biomass could have been high value of geothermal gradient at least in the basins of the bohemian massif

palaeodrainage evolution of the large rivers of east asia and himalayan tibet tectonics understanding the tectonics that gave rise to the formation of tibet is critical to our understanding of crustal deformation processes the unusual geomorphology of the drainage basins of east asia s major rivers has been proposed to be the result of either 1 distortion and attenuation of antecedent drainages as india indents into asia which can therefore be used as passive strain markers of horizontal shear or 2 due to fragmentation by river captures and flow reversals of an originally continental scale drainage in which the major east asian rivers once flowed into the palaeo red river if the latter hypothesis is correct then it has been proposed that dating the drainage fragmentation constrains the timing of uplift of tibet a number of sedimentary provenance studies have been undertaken in order to determine whether the palaeo red river was once a river of continental proportions into which the upper reaches of the yangtze salween mekong irrawaddy and yarlung drained we have assessed the evidence that the yarlung originally flowed into the palaeo red river and then sequentially into the irrawaddy and brahmaputra connecting to the latter first via the lohit and then the siang for this river system we have integrated our new data from the paleogene recent irrawaddy drainage basin detrital zircon u pb with hf and fission track rutile u pb mica ar ar bulk rock sr nd and petrography with previously published data to produce a palaeodrainage model that is consistent with all datasets in our model the yarlung never flowed into the irrawaddy drainage during the paleogene the yarlung suture zone was an internally drained basin and from neogene times onwards the yarlung drained into the brahmaputra in the bengal basin the central myanmar basin through which the irrawaddy river flows today received predominantly locally derived detritus until the middle eocene the irrawaddy initiated as a through going river draining the mogok metamorphic belt and bomi chayu granites to the north sometime in the late eocene to early oligocene and the river was dominated by a stable mmb dominated drainage throughout the neogene to present day existing evidence does not support any connection between the yarlung and the red river in the past but there is a paucity of suitable palaeo red river deposits with which to make a robust comparison we argue that this limitation also precludes a robust assessment of a palaeo connection between the yangtze salween mekong and the red river it is difficult to unequivocally interpret the recorded provenance changes as the result of specific drainage reorganisations we highlight the palaeo red river deposits of the hanoi basin as a potential location for future research focus in view of the near complete cenozoic record of palaeo red river deposits at this location a majority of previous studies consider that if a major continental scale drainage ever existed at all it fragmented early in the cenozoic such a viewpoint would agree with the growing body of evidence from palaeoaltitude studies that large parts of se tibet were uplifted by this period this then leads towards the intriguing question as to the mechanisms which caused the major period of river incision in the miocene in this region

structural and geochronological constraints on the mesozoic cenozoic tectonic evolution of the longmen shan thrust belt eastern tibetan plateau 1 the longmen shan thrust belt in the eastern margin of the tibetan plateau underwent deformation of d1 associated with the late triassic collision between the north and south china blocks followed by deformation of d2 and d3 related to the eastward growth of the tibetan plateau the d1 is marked by moderately tight folds f1 spaced cleavage s1 mineral lineation l1 multistage reactivated faults and top to the south thrusting this deformation initiated before 237 ma and ended at 208 ma the 193 159 ma d2 deformation is top to the southeast directed and normal ductile in nature and was associated with the formation of half graben basins the mesozoic deformation of the longmen shan belt was related to the subduction of the paleo tethys oceanic lithosphere followed by the south china block underneath the songpan ganze terrane the d1 was produced in the pro side of the overriding songpan ganze plate most probably driven by slab corner flow above the retreating south china block the d2 and extensional songpan ganze turbidite basin were produced by roll back and migration of the overriding plate above the retreating subduction zone this model for the deformation from d1 to d2 is similar to a mediterranean style model the d3 is characterized by se ward thrusting with stepwise migration of rapid denudation and dextral strike slip faulting during the late cretaceous to present therefore the longmen shan thrust belt involved mesozoic compressional and extensional events that were overprinted by the late cretaceous to cenozoic compressional event

influence of a tectonically active mountain belt on its foreland basin evidence from detrital zircon dating of bedrocks and sediments from the eastern tibetan plateau and sichuan basin sw china abstract the tectonically active eastern tibetan plateau tp impacts the populous sichuan basin in the form of dust and exhumed detrital materials to better understand a detailed transport process of detrital material from the eastern tp to the sichuan basin eight samples were collected from the upper reaches of the min river in the eastern tp to the sichuan basin for zircon u pb chronological and grain size analysis the results are compared with those of previously studies zircon grains are comparatively coarse in three bedrock samples one fluvial sand sample and one dust sample but are distinctly fine in three lacustrine samples intriguingly the zircon grain size parameters from the fluvial sand and dust samples are similar to each other consistent with previous studies of this area the analysis of our u pb zircon ages indicates five major age populations at 180 350 ma 350 550 ma 700 1000 ma 1600 2000 ma and 2200 2600 ma which broadly correspond to five known granitoid magmatic events within the yangtze block the min river links lacustrine sediments from lixian fluvial sands from wenchuan leshan yibin and from the dadu river and the dayi conglomerate implying the dayi conglomerate was transported by fluvial rather than glacial processes the denuded detrital material mainly generated by seismic events in the eastern tp was transported by water flow into the western sichuan basin where two thick sedimentary depocenters developed and the relatively fine grains were then transported by wind to the northern sichuan basin thus the thick sediments in the western sichuan basin mainly transported by the min river probably exerted a major influence on dust deposition in the northern sichuan basin in contrast the jialing and dadu rivers made a minor contribution