an outline of the plate tectonics of china china is principally a part of the eurasian plate but the margins of the indian and philippine sea plates are involved in the himalayas and in the coastal range of taiwan respectively within the eurasian plate the cathaysian paleoplate is separated from the angaraian paleoplate by the junggar hegen suture which contains paleozoic ophiolites and rare blueschists the three microplates of the cathaysian paleoplate consist of precambrian cratons and or phanerozoic accretionary fold belts these coalesced precambrian cratons record at least six stages of intense orogeny before cratonization the paleozoic to cenozoic accretionary fold belts of china can be correlated with similar events now found in west pacific andean and atlantic type active continental margins ophiolites occupying many of these tectonic zones provide evidence for the age and igneous history of oceanic crust formed during the paleozoic to cenozoic the presence of blueschist in some of these chinese sutures reveals evidence of large scale subduction and tectonic exhumation during consolidation of the eurasian plate cenozoic collision of the eurasian and indian plates produced deformation and uplift of the himalayas strongly influencing the tectonics of western china in contrast mesozoic tertiary evolution of eastern china is typical basin range geology similar to that of the western united states which included development of deep sedimentary basins along with calc alkaline plutonic and volcanic activity associated with crustal thinning and high heat flow the complicated tectonic evolution of china is greatly illuminated by the presence of ophiolites and blueschists in proterozoic to tertiary convergent boundaries these petrotectonic assemblages provide evidence of an extremely mobile history of plate movement in china

unconformity of red sandstones in north vietnam field evidence for indosinian orogeny in northern indochina we re examine several unconformity sites in northwestern vietnam where the indosinian orogenesis has been defined field observations in the black river song da region near son la demonstrate that red sandtones and conglomerates reportedly of cretaceous age occur unconformably above schistosed epimetamorphic middle triassic sediments a mesozoic unconformity thus really exists in this region though the age of deformation is poorly contrained upper triassic to upper cretaceous in most places however the unconformity is strongly deformed folded triassic limestones are often thrusted onto the cretaceous rocks this implies that tertiary deformations probably due to the india asia collision have been strong in the northern part of the indochina block

tectonothermal evolution of the mayuan assemblage in the cathaysia block implications for neoproterozoic collision related assembly of the south china craton the mayuan assemblage in the cathaysia block southeast china consists of felsic paragneiss pelitic schist greenschist amphibolite marble calcsilicate and quartzite that underwent three episodes of deformation d1 d3 and four episodes of metamorphism m1 m4 in the early neoproterozoic the m1 assemblage consists of mineral inclusions defining an early foliation s1 within porphyroblasts represented by chlorite muscovite biotite plagioclase quartz in pelitic schist and actinolite chlorite epidote albite quartz enclosed in amphibolite m2 coincides with the development of the regional schistosity s2 and represents the formation of the porphyroblasts and growth of matrix minerals resulting in development of prograde metamorphic zones chlorite biotite garnet staurolite and kyanite zones m3 is simultaneous with the third phase of deformation d3 and produced sillimanite bearing mineral assemblages in pelitic schist and hornblende bearing assemblages in amphibo lite the last metamorphic episode m4 gave rise to the retrogressive assemblage chlorite muscovite in pelitic rock and actinolite chlorite epidote in amphibolite the sequence of mineral assemblages and history of metamorphic reactions built from the petrogenetic grid of pelites suggest a near isothermal decompression clockwise p t path for the mayuan pelitic schists using the tweequ software program the garnet biotite thermometer and garnet muscovite biotite plagioclase barometer yield p t conditions for m1 of 5 5 to 6 0 kb and 450 to 500 c and conditions for the garnet staurolite and kyanite zones of m2 of 6 0 to 7 0 kb and 550 to 600 c 6 0 to 7 5 kb and 600 c and 11 0 to 11 5 kb and 600 c the p t conditions of m3 were estimated at 570 to 625 c and 4 0 to 4 5 kb using the muscovite biotite thermometer and hornblende plagioclase geothermo barometer the garnet chlorite thermometer yields temperatures of 300 to 400 c for m4 but the pressures of m4 cannot be quantitatively estimated because of the lack of a suitable geobarometer these p t estimates also define an near isothermal decompression clockwise p t path which is involved in initial crustal thickening followed by rapid exhumation and final cooling and is related to amalgamation of the cathaysia and yangtze blocks to form the south china craton

formation and evolution of the tancheng lujiang wrench fault system a major shear system to the northwest of the pacific ocean abstract in the northwestern peri pacific tectonic belt on the continental margin of east asia there is a series of major faults trending ne nne i e the tancheng lujiang wrench fault system this fault system extends more than 5000 km with a width of 800 1000 km in the continent and a general strike of n30 e on the basis of the results of special research on the major faults and a lot of new information about the fault system the authors discuss early mesozoic triassic jurassic period sinistral transcurrent faulting in the different regions it is suggested that in the eastern continent of east asia the e w trending tectonic pattern of the paleozoic and beginning of the mesozoic appear in the nuclei of the sino korean continent massif and the yangtze continent massif these ancient continent massifs accreted both southwards and northwards which finally led to their collision and suturing to the angura continent massif later this tectonic framework was changed greatly by the tancheng lujiang wrench fault system along which left lateral horizontal displacement of 1000 1500 km took place since the mesozoic the dislocation and deformation of horizontal displacement of the tancheng lujiang fault system produced a series of structures trending ne nne in the continental margin which have greatly transformed the ancient structures of the preceding mesozoic this is an important diktyogenese in the continent of east asia during the horizontal displacement motion of these faults the folds nappes and decollement structures pull apart basins and subductions within the continent occurred in the continent at the same time some large sinistral ductile shear zones of horizontal displacement appeared the depth of the deformed horizon of ductile shear which belongs to simple shear was controlled by the tectonic element and distance away from the continental margin whilst the ductile shear deformation occurred the fault dynamo thermal metamorphism and the fault remelting took place and magma activity appeared within the continent in the mesozoic the fault zones used to be high energy zones and recently became the seismic belts within the continent formation of the tan lu fault system was due to the collision between the southern and northern blocks its large sinistral horizontal displacement in the mesozoic was closely related to the kula plate moving northwards therefore the continent disintegrated by shearing which produced some new terranes the shear edge belt was formed between the continent and ocean the change of relative motion between the continent and pacific ocean plate transformed the tan lu fault system into first extension and then compression clarifying the characteristics of the tan lu fault system is an important key in understanding the evolution of the east asia continent since the mesozoic

size distribution analyses for estimating diamond grade and value abstract analysing the size frequency distributions sfds of both micro diamonds and macro diamonds from primary deposits shows that the distributions are continuous across all sizes and that there are two regions of different character with a transition about 1 2 mm using log axes the frequency curve is linear for the smaller sizes allowing slope and intercept parameters to be determined which are less ambiguous than stone counts and ratios of macro to micro populations that are generally reported modelling a diamond population that has undergone removal of a uniform thickness of the outer layer transforms a linear frequency curve into a quadratic form which is also the form of the frequency curve for macro diamonds diamonds grown synthetically also display a linear distribution across a smaller fraction of their size distribution curve

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

palaeomagnetic constraints on the collision and rotation of north and south china the eastern half of china is dominated by the north china block ncb and south china block scb separated by a complex fold system that trends roughly east west interpretation of the geology of this fold belt has led to a variety of estimates of the age of amalgamation of these two blocks1 7 palaeomagnetic results are few and have also been subject to conflicting interpretations8 11 here we present our own palaeomagnetic results for late permian rocks for both the scb and ncb and summarize other relevant palaeomagnetic data by reinterpreting the polarity given in some previous studies we are able to synthesize the results for the widespread emeishan basalts of the scb and to suggest a new model for the collision and relative rotation of the two blocks

understanding mesozoic accretion in southeast asia significance of triassic thermotectonism indosinian orogeny in vietnam results from a zircon u pb study of the metamorphic basement of vietnam reveal that a large part of the continental crust was affected by a short lived episode of ductile deformation and high temperature metamorphism between 258 6 ma and 243 5 ma although coincident with final stages of north south china collision qinling orogenesis the thermotectonism in vietnam was caused by accretion of sibumasu to indochina south china this accretion event indosinian orogeny has regional significance because it contributed to the final stages of north south china collision an aspect not explicitly recognized in qinling orogenic models

a new model for the dynamic evolution of chinese lithosphere continental roots plume tectonics abstract chinese continental lithosphere comprises three tectonic domains 1 eastern china a region characterized by rifting extensional basins and voluminous basaltic volcanism 2 central china a plexus of cratonic terrains with low heat flow 40 50 mw m2 including the tarim erdos and yangtze blocks welded by pre cenozoic orogenic belts and 3 western china a region comprising the qinghai tibet himalaya orogen the relatively thin crust 35 km and lithosphere 70 km of eastern china is believed to reflect mantle upwelling while near normal crust 45 km and thickened lithosphere 200 km in central china suggest a mantle lithosphere root resembling those inferred for the kaapvaal and siberian cratons thickened crust 70 km and lithosphere 150 km in western china reflect the advanced development of an orogen root the lower density and relative buoyancy of central cratonic mantle roots appear to have contributed to the long term tectonic stability of the central chinese lithospheric blocks in contrast gravitational instability produced by thickening of the denser western chinese lithosphere and the resulting subsidence and eventual delamination of orogenic roots are believed to have led to postorogenic extensional collapse although the geological relationships suggest compressional forces caused both mountain building and orogen root development extensional stress resulting from gravitational collapse is believed to have induced lithospheric and crustal thinning with concomitant reduction of topography the term continental roots plume tectonics has been adopted to describe the configuration and dynamic condition of subcontinental lithosphere and upper mantle beneath china accordingly it is proposed that supracrustal tectonic forms represent the surface expressions of and responses to deep continental roots plume tectonics while the prevailing view is that the western orogenic belt is not genetically related to eastern continental rifting such a relationship is inherent to the continental roots plume tectonics model it is further proposed that the formation of orogenic lithosphere roots triggered eastward extrusion of the asthenosphere along the 400 km depth mantle interface and in response to subduction at the eastern margin produces plume like upwelling beneath eastern china we suggest that processes involved in continental roots plume tectonics are directly responsible for the formation and evolution of the eurasian supercontinent

mesozoic overthrust tectonics in south china whether south china was a platform or a para platform after the mid paleozoic deformation or whether the mountains of huanan south china form a mesozoic collision type orogen depends upon whether the ophiolite melange in the yangtze region is precambrian basement or was overthrust onto a foreland thrust belt during the mesozoic this paper presents evidence of tectonic windows under the melange and basement klippes above the melange in the yangtze region

magmatism along the southeast margin of the yangtze block precambrian collision of the yangtze and cathysia blocks of china the time and the environment of formation of igneous rocks along the southern margin of the yangtze continental block in southern anhui province and northeastern jiangxi province china are discussed sm nd dating for samples from two ophiolite suites give ages of about 1 ga late proterozoic granodiorites in the study area have ages of about 0 9 ga and have normal intrusive relations against banxi group metamorphic country rocks trace element abundances and initial nd isotope ratios for ophiolite and proterozoic granodiorites are consistent with formation in an island arc environment in contrast sr and nd isotopes for mesozoic granitoids of the region suggest that they are products of remelting of crustal sources similar to the basement of the yangtze block these relations do not support a recently proposed mesozoic overthrust tectonic model for southeast china but rather favor a late precambrian collision history for the yangtze and cathysia blocks

jurassic intraplate magmatism in southern hunan eastern guangxi 40ar 39ar dating geochemistry sr nd isotopes and implications for the tectonic evolution of se china the mesozoic geology of se china is characterized by intensive and widespread magmatism however the tectonic regime that accounted for the mesozoic magmatism has been an issue with little consensus a comprehensive study of ar 40 ar 39 dating geochemistry and sr nd isotopes has been conducted on basalts from southern hunan and syenite intrusions from eastern guangxi three episodes of jurassic magmatism i e alkaline basalts of c 175 ma in age syenitic intrusions of c 160 ma and high mg basalts of c 150 ma are identified the older c 175 ma alkaline basalts are characterized by low sr i sr 0 7035 0 7040 and high nd epsilon nd t 5 to 6 isotopic compositions and oib like trace element patterns e g nb la 1 in contrast the younger c 150 ma high mg basalts have high sr i sr c 0 7054 and low nd epsilon nd t c 2 isotopic compositions and incompatible trace element patterns of arc affinity the c 160 ma syenitic intrusions display a relatively large range of sr and nd isotopic compositions i sr 0 7032 0 7082 epsilon nd t 5 5 to 4 1 with the qinghu syenites having the lowest i sr highest epsilon nd t and oib type incompatible trace element patterns analogous to the c 175 ma alkaline basalts such a secular variation in rock types and geochemical and isotopic characteristics reveals changes in melt segregation depth and mantle sources which are inferred to have resulted from the post indosinian orogenic lithosphere extension and thinning the c 175 ma alkaline basalts are suggested to have formed by small degrees of decompression melting of the astheno sphere or an enriched lithospheric mantle source accreted by asthenosphere derived melts during the initial extension the c 160 ma syenitic and c 150 ma high mg basaltic rocks mainly originated from the enriched lithospheric mantle that melted owing to a raised geotherm caused by lithosphere thinning this interpretation is at odds with the active continental margin related to the subduction of palaeo pacific plate but consistent with continental rifting and extension for the mesozoic of se china

mesozoic magmatism and granitic dome in the wugongshan massif jiangxi province and their genetical relationship to the tectonic events in southeast china abstract in se china a mesozoic granitic dome coeval to extensional tectonics is exposed in the wugongshan massif its center is occupied by mesozoic granitoids and granitic gneisses and the e w trending late paleozoic mesozoic pingxiang and anfu basins are located along its northern and southern sides respectively in this paper the petrological geochemical major incompatible and rare earth elements and isotopic characteristics of the granitoids and granitic gneisses of this dome allow us to constrain their geodynamic evolution the wugongshan mesozoic k feldspar enriched granitoids consist of six granitic bodies and lie within a paleozoic metamorphic basement the caledonian shanzhuang granodiorite containing some dioritic enclaves occurs in the study area and is a calc alkaline type granodiorite characterised by lower sio2 and composed of andesine biotite quartz hornblende magnetite and sphene the mesozoic granitoids either indosinian plutons or yanshanian bodies show a geochemical affinity of peraluminous s type granite having higher sio2 k2o contents al k na 2ca enriched in rb th and depleted in eu they also exhibit lree enriched patterns and marked negative eu anomalies the yanshanian plutons also contain characteristic minerals such as sillimanite garnet and monazite the wugongshan mesozoic granitoids have higher isr values 0 70981 0 72885 and lower end t 10 6 to 14 7 an average of 12 6 than those of the early paleozoic shanzhuang granodiorite the mesozoic granitoids were likely derived from ancient sedimentary rocks by partial melting the wugongshan mesozoic granitoids contain three petrological zones that is an early cretaceous massive granitic zone in the core zone i a foliated granitic zone zone ii and a triassic granitic gneissic zone in the outer rim zone iii the petrological and geochemical features of massive granitoids zone i are similar to those of foliated granites zone ii and of granitic gneisses zone iii in this mesozoic dome moreover geometric and kinematic features within the ductile parts units 2 and 3 are also similar to those within the brittle part unit 1 of the dome all these features show that the geologic evolution of the wugongshan doming is a continuous process lasting from triassic to early cretaceous time published 40ar 39ar and k ar ages in the wugongshan mesozoic granitic rocks fall into two major age fields corresponding to two geodynamic events of intracontinental deformation and magmatic activity the first tectonothermal event dated at 226 259 ma on the granitic gneisses in the outer rim of dome can be linked to indosinian collision between the south china plate and the north china plate during triassic time the second event took place during the early yanshanian dated at 180 120 ma on the granites of the core of dome and are responsible for final doming of the wugongshan plutons this event may be related to a westward subduction of the paleo pacific oceanic plate under the se china continent during late jurassic early cretaceous time

ocean plate stratigraphy in east and southeast asia abstract ancient accretionary wedges have been recognised by the presence of glaucophane schist radiolarian chert and melange recent techniques for the reconstruction of disrupted fragments of such wedges by means of radiolarian biostratigraphy provide a more comprehensive history of ocean plate subduction and successive accretion of ocean floor materials from the oceanic plate through offscraping and underplating reconstructed ocean floor sequences found in ancient accretionary complexes in japan comprise from oldest to youngest pillow basalt limestone radiolarian chert siliceous shale and shale and sandstone similar lithologies also occur in the melange complexes of the philippines indonesia thailand and other regions this succession is called ocean plate stratigraphy ops and it represents the following sequence of processes birth of the oceanic plate at the oceanic ridge formation of volcanic islands near the ridge covered by calcareous reefs sedimentation of calcilutite on the flanks of the volcanic islands where radiolarian chert is also deposited deposition of radiolarian skeletons on the oceanic plate in a pelagic setting and sedimentary mixing of radiolarian remains and detrital grains to form siliceous shale in a hemipelagic setting and sedimentation of coarse grained sandstone and shale at or near the trench of the convergent margin radiolarian biostratigraphy of detrital sedimentary rocks provides information on the time and duration of ocean plate subduction the ages of detrital sediments becomes younger oceanward as younger packages of ops are scraped off the downgoing plate ops reconstructed from ancient accretionary complexes give us the age of subduction and accretion direction of subduction and ancient tectonic environments and is an important key to understanding the paleoenvironment and history of the paleo oceans now represented only in suture zones and orogenic belts

40ar 39ar geochronology of the charnockites and granulites of the kan nack complex kon tum massif vietnam abstract the truong son belt forms the eastern rim of the indochina block in southeast asia the age of the metamorphism mainly along nw se mylonitic shear zones that affects this belt has been formerly determined at about 240 250 ma this age corresponds to the indosinian tectonometamorphic episode the kon tum massif situated to the south of this belt comprises high temperature rocks the kan nack complex including charnockites and granulites the main charnockitic outcrops restricted to the song ba valley establish the intrusive nature of these magmatic rocks within granulite facies material basic charnockitic rocks are mainly quartz enderbites to norites and hornblende pyroxene granulite facies rocks the 40 ar 39 ar age of intrusion cooling of charnockitic magmas is determined from primary magmatic biotites at about 245 ma in the east of the kan nack complex some granulite facies rocks exhibit relicts of primary granulite facies parageneses whereas others show evidence of overprinting by a retrogressive low grade metamorphism ar ar dating confirm this evolution giving ages of 400 ma for primary relict granulite facies phases and 260 270 ma from the most retrogressed samples establishing the youngest limit for the granulite facies metamorphism granulites intruded by charnockites in the song ba valley yield ages of about 250 ma equivalent to the ages of the charnockites and have evidently been completely reset by these high temperature intrusions therefore the kan nack complex of the kon tum massif is not an independent unit with respect to the indosinian orogen but represents the deep crustal part of this belt

origin and tectonic significance of a mesozoic multi layer over thrust system within the yangtze block south china abstract in the yangtze block south china a well developed mesozoic thrust system extends through the xuefeng and wuling mountains in the southeast to the sichuan basin in the northwest the system comprises both thin and thick skinned thrust units separated by a boundary detachment fault the dayin fault to the northwest the thin skinned belt is characterized by either chevron anticlines and box synclines to the northwest or chevron synclines to the southeast the former structural style displays narrow exposures for the cores of anticlines and wider exposures for the cores of synclines thrust detachments occur along silurian fs and lower cambrian fc strata and are dominantly associated with the anticlines to the southeast this style of deformation passes gradually into one characterized by chevron synclines with associated principal detachment faults along silurian fs cambrian fc and lower sinian fz strata there are however numerous secondary back thrusts therefore the thin skinned belt is like the valley and ridge province of the north american applachian mountains the thick skinned belt structurally overlies the thin skinned belt and is characterized by a number of klippen including the xuefeng and wuling nappes it is thus comparable to the blue ridge province of appalachia the structural pattern of this thrust system in south china can be explained by a model involving detachment faulting along various stratigraphic layers at different stages of its evolution the system was developed through a northwest stepwise progression of deformation with the earliest delamination along lower sinian strata fz analyses of balanced geological cross sections yield about 18 1 21 total 88 km shortening for the thin skinned unit and at least this amount of shortening for the thick skinned unit the compressional deformation from southeast to northwest during late jurassic to cretaceous time occurred after the westward progressive collision of the yangtze block with the north china block and suggests that the orogenic event was intracontinental in nature

indosinian nw trending shear zones within the truong son belt vietnam 40ar39ar triassic ages and cretaceous to cenozoic overprints abstract several nw trending ductile and partly mylonitic shear zones cross the truong son belt of central vietnam along the song ma and song ca valleys and north of the kontum block from da nang to aluoi and khe sanh high grade metamorphic rocks of amphibolite facies showing a retrograde evolution and consisting of ortho and paragneisses metavolcanics amphibolites marbles and quartzites are exposed along these structures they display a homogeneous deformation pattern characterized by a generally steeply dipping foliation and a near horizontal to gently plunging mineral stretching lineation indicating a strike slip tectonic regime of deformation along the southernmost fault zone at least various and consistent kinematic indicators including s c structures asymmetric tails of porphyroclasts prove that the strain and metamorphism have been generated by a phase of dominantly non coaxial deformation with a dextral sense of shear 40ar 39ar dating applied on the high grade metamorphic rocks minerals occurring along these zones provide plateau cooling ages closely around 245 ma establishing that this event took place in the lowermost triassic as an early phase of the indosinian orogeny the existence of indosinian movements in vietnam as they have been defined by previous authors during the early century is now accurately confirmed and this is the first insight in the occurrence of ductile strike slip tectonics of indosinian age along nw se fault zones well expressed in central vietnam is a cretaceous thermal and deformational overprint marked by epimetamorphism which took place between 90 and 120 ma as attested by low temperature degassing ages this cretaceous event is not found further north in the song ma zone where younger ages appear as a result of the influence of cenozoic shear movements along the red river fault which displays 20 30 ma ages on the northern flank of song ca in the bu khang phu hoat core complex comparable oligocene lower miocene ages 20 35 ma yielded by biotite and phlogopite reflect a strong overprinting and attest to a rapid uplift of the basement

u pb dating of high temperature metamorphic episodes in the kon tum massif vietnam abstract in vietnam recent studies demonstrated that the kon tum massif was part of the indosinian mountain system together with the truong son belt one sector of the kon tum massif song ba valley is a granulite facies terrain for which ar ar and u pb ages cluster around 245 250 ma in the area of song bien river also metamorphosed under granulite facies conditions ar ar ages of 410 ma are displayed by biotite in this study u pb dating of monazite and zircon has been used to understand the reason for these two groups of ages taking into account the metamorphic mineral assemblages related to granulite facies metamorphism in the two districts for granulites of song ba valley ages of 245 250 ma are confirmed from monazites in the song bien district ages of 465 470 ma displayed by monazites are interpreted to correspond to the metamorphic climax zircons from one of these samples record the age of anatexis that has affected the granulitic rocks the younger age recorded in the song ba valley is considered to reflect high temperature related to charnockitic intrusions emplaced near the end of the indosinian orogeny overprinting the earlier formed granulites and resetting the u pb and ar ar ages for the first time two ht events are dated in the kon tum massif one occurring during the ordovician and the other during the permo triassic

formation and tectonic evolution of southeastern china and taiwan isotopic and geochemical constraints abstract the southern part of china consists of the proterozoic yangtze craton and the phanerozoic south china foldbelts including the himalayan foldbelt of taiwan models for continental growth have been many and controversial isotopic and geochemical data from mesozoic and younger granitoids and sediments are used here to place constraints on the tectonic evolution of southeastern china and to evaluate whether the young phanerozoic foldbelts are representative of old rejuvenated landmass whether they characterize crustal accretion through successive subduction processes hence suggesting a net growth of continental mass or whether they represent some intermediate situation available sm nd isotopic data for phanerozoic granitoids and metasediments from the south china foldbelts and taiwan invariably show proterozoic model ages t dm ranging from 1 to 2 5 ga with a mean of 1 54 0 30 1 ga all rocks have negative nd t values 2 to 15 suggesting variable but important contributions of old continental materials to the sources of the phanerozoic rocks obviously they do not represent wholesale growth of continental mass the granitoids of the south china foldbelts have multiple origins as viewed from their chemical and isotopic characteristics secular geochemical variation has been established for inland granitoids of proterozoic to mesozoic age their high i sr values 0 710 0 737 suggest that most granitoids are essentially anatectic products of ancient continental crust this is compatible with remelting via microcontinental collision or terrane accretion repeated intracrustal reprocessing by partial fusion and differentiation has undoutedly contributed to important mineralization mesozoic granitoids excluding a type alkaline granites in the coastal region and taiwan show relatively low i sr 0 705 0 710 and high nd values implying that greater amounts of mantle components have been added to ancient continental material in the generation of these rocks this means that mesozoic magmatism in the coastal region resulted from subduction of a paleo pacific plate kula beneath the asian continent the overall geochemical evidence seems to be consistent with a model of serial collisions between microcontinental blocks for the bulk of the south china foldbelts the latest arc continent collision began about 4 ma ago in eastern taiwan

abrupt changes in north american climate during early holocene times recent studies of the greenland ice cores have offered many insights into holocene climatic dynamics at decadal to century timescales1 2 3 despite the abundance of continental records of holocene climate few have sufficient chronological control and sampling resolution to compare with the greenland findings4 butannually laminated sediments varves from lakes can provide high resolution continental palaeoclimate data with secure chronologies here we present analyses of varved sediments from deep lake in minnesota usa trends in the stable oxygen isotope composition of the sedimentary carbonate indicate a pronounced climate cooling from 8 9 to 8 3 kyr before present probably characterized by increased outbreaks of polar air decreased precipitation temperatures and a higher fraction of the annual precipitation falling as snow the abrupt onset of this climate reversal over several decades was probably caused by a reorganization of atmospheric circulation and cooling of the arctic airmass in summer that resulted from the final collapse of the laurentide ice near hudson bay and the discharge of icebergs from the quebec and keewatin centres into the tyrell sea the timing and duration of this climate reversal suggest that it is distinct from the prominent widespread cold snap that occurred 8 200 years ago in greenland and other regions1 5 6 no shifts in the oxygen isotope composition of sediment carbonate occurred at 8 2 kyr before present at deep lake but varve thickness increased dramatically probably as a result of increased deposition of aeolian dust taken together our data suggest that two separate regional scale climate reversals occurred between 9 000 and 8 000 years ago and that they were driven by different mechanisms

cretaceous and tertiary paleomagnetic results from southeast china and their tectonic implications abstract we report cretaceous and tertiary paleomagnetic data from fujian guangxi and guangdong provinces in south china in guangxi province we sampled early cretaceous redbeds of the xinlong formation at eight localities separated by up to 100 km the high temperature component obtained by thermal demagnetization is of dual polarity and passes the fold test and implies 18 8 counterclockwise rotation and insignificant poleward displacement with respect to cratonic localities in sichuan province a tertiary basin lying in a southeast trending fault zone is also rotated counterclockwise by 40 8 both results can be explained very well by a simple block rotation model for the cenozoic tectonic evolution of western guangxi province that is driven by left lateral shear on southeast trending faults the timing and sense of shear are the same as for india asia collision models involving the extrusion of indochina along the red river fault zone which lies several hundred kilometers to the southwest but the magnitude of fault displacement in guangxi is much less in the coastal provinces of fujian and guangdong we find late cretaceous directions that are rotated clockwise with respect to sichuan province combined with similar clockwise rotations found by two other studies of coeval rocks from the same region the mean rotation for the coastal provinces is 12 8 this could indicate a coherent block rotation of the region driven by extrusion tectonics however the limited number of sampling localities also allows the possibility that the directions reflect local rotations due to dextral shearing driven by circum pacific tectonics

triassic paleomagnetic data from south china and their bearing on the tectonic evolution of the western circum pacific region abstract we report early and middle triassic paleomagnetic data from the south chinese provinces of fujian and guangxi the characteristic magnetization of the rocks in each case is concluded to be a primary remanence that passes the fold test the triassic pole from western guangxi and four other triassic and late permian poles from three provinces that lie on undisputed parts of the yangtze craton are well clustered this suggests that guangxi except the southeast part was also a part of the yangtze craton at least since the triassic and probably since the late permian with respect to the yangtze craton between the early triassic and the late cretaceous fujian may have been rotated 121 9 counterclockwise and displaced 22 9 north or rotated 59 9 clockwise and displaced 3 9 south depending on the hemisphere in which the magnetization was acquired based on consistency with other paleomagnetic results and in accordance with the geologic data from the area the former interpretation is preferred a remarkable coincidence of mesozoic poles for south china and south korea is observed which if true implies that the south china block except for the displaced terranes in the coastal provinces and korea may have been part of the same continental landmass from the triassic onwards this is consistent with some geologic observations suggesting affinities between the two places it also implies that the major fault zones in north china e g the tan lu fault are unrelated to major fault zones in southeast china e g the changle nanao fault with the former probably associated with the suturing of north and south china and the latter influenced by proto pacific plate motion

extensional tectonics within a subduction type orogen the case study of the wugongshan dome jiangxi province southeastern china abstract in southeastern china the wugongshan massif consists of metamorphic rocks and granites generally considered as basement rocks formed during an early paleozoic orogeny our structural and radiometric reappraisal of this massif shows that it results from a mesozoic doming in the metamorphic rocks the foliation defines an e w elliptical shape and bears a n s stretching lineation the axial zone of the dome is occupied by oriented plutons the outer part of the dome consists of devonian quartzite carboniferous permian limestone and triassic jurassic sandstone ductile deformation observed in the permian carbonates and older units develops contrasting kinematics the northern and southern flanks present top to the north and top to the south motions respectively the same divergent pattern of motion is recorded from brittle structures up to the jurassic sandstone the late cretaceous red beds are undeformed in the axial zone coaxial flow indicated by symmetric pressure shadows and quartz fabrics predominates along the n and s flanks of the dome post folial recumbent folds are symmetrically overturned to the n and s respectively but at the two extremities of the dome the fold axes are parallel to the stretching lineation 40 ar 39 ar ages of biotite and muscovite from mylonite and granite suggest a late triassic age for the ductile deformation and an early cretaceous age for the final doming the wugongshan dome is similar to a metamorphic core complex formed in an extensional tectonic regime a model which emphasizes plutonism is discussed from permian to early cretaceous southeastern china was a subduction type orogen the crust of which was thickened by accretion of mantle derived magmas the emplacement of a large amount of mesozoic granitoids in southeastern china promoted thermal softening and gravitational instability that allowed the crust to extend the formation of the wugongshan dome and other metamorphic core complexes appears to be a the direct consequence of plutonic activity and crust rheology

relict proterozoic basement in the nanling mountains se china and its tectonothermal overprinting 1 the basement beneath the caledonian belt in se china has been overprinted by indosinian and yanshanian events and is poorly known in situ u pb and hf isotope analysis of zircons from granites and surrounding rocks in the nanling mountains area of the fold belt reveal that the lanhe felsic gneiss is an outcrop of mesoproterozoic basement probably with a partly late archean protolith this is consistent with nd model ages of granites in this region and exposures of cathaysia basement in the coastal area of se china in the nanling mountains this basement was reactivated to generate granitoid rocks during the caledonian indosinian and yanshanian tectonothermal events the caledonian overprint is documented in extensive exposures of the zhuguang migmatites 425 470 ma and by previous u pb zircon dating of adjacent granites the jiangnan granite may be of similar age but strongly reworked the indosinian overprint resulted in the formation of granites such as the luxi and xiazhuang bodies 233 246 ma in the guidong complex the yanshanian overprint produced the most widely distributed granites circa 160 ma such as the jiufeng and fogang bodies and parts of the guidong complex hf isotope data show that all of the phanerozoic magmatic rocks were derived from the mesoproterozoic basement and minor archean components without obvious contributions from juvenile sources the presence of zircons with archean age 2 5 2 7 ga in both the lanhe gneiss and devonian sediments indicates that the badu and mayuan groups may not be the oldest basement of the cathaysia block some archean basement circa 2 5 2 7 ga may still be exposed but unrecognized in this region and cathaysia may include archean microcontinental fragments

structural signatures and 40ar 39ar geochronology of the indosinian xuefengshan tectonic belt south china block abstract to advance our understanding of the kinematics of the xuefengshan tectonic belt xfstb and the mesozoic tectonics of the south china block scb this paper presents new data and interpretations from our structural studies and thermochronological dating the xfstb is characterized by greenschist facies metamorphism and development of s and s l tectonic fabrics an asymmetric positive flower structural pattern is composed of nw wnw and se ese dipping cleavages faults and shear zones kinematic indicators indicate a dominant top to wnw thrusting with a sinistral strike slip component on the ese dipping shear zones and top to ese back thrusting on the wnw dipping shear zones the quartz c axis orientations of mylonitic rocks exhibit monoclinic point maximum asymmetry indicative of a sinistral shear sense under the a basal gliding condition the timing of the major deformation event has been constrained to the middle triassic to early jurassic 244 195 ma on the basis of 40ar 39ar geochronology and other geological observations the structural characteristics of the xfstb are probably related to an indosinian oblique convergent zone in combination with tectonic wedging and associated back thrusting all above a low angle se dipping basal detachment oblique northwestward and upward movement along the basal detachment was partitioned into the nw wnw directed thrusting se ese directed back thrusting and subsidiary strike slip movement along the ne and nne trending faults and shear zones the xfstb may represent part of a huge structural fan between the yangtze and cathaysian blocks and can be interpreted as a product of the indosinian intracontinental collision involving a weak zone

compression to extension switch during the middle triassic orogeny of eastern china the case study of the jiulingshan massif in the southern foreland of the dabieshan abstract the jiulingshan massif is an e w trending anticlinorium in the south china block scb that forms the southern foreland of the qinling dabie orogen the jiulingshan consists of middle proterozoic ca 1 ga 800 ma metamorphic and plutonic rocks unconformably overlain by sinian to triassic rocks in these cover rocks two episodes of deformation of pre late triassic age are recognized namely a n s compressional phase characterized by south verging thrusts upright folds and vertical cleavage followed by an extensional phase characterized by layer parallel slip collapse folds and extensional allochthons of proterozoic slate on top of carboniferous to middle triassic carbonates the extensional tectonics appears to be a mechanical consequence of the compressional tectonics on a regional scale the jiulingshan massif forms one of the domed crustal scale shear zones of the scb that accommodated the continuing convergence that immediately followed the qinling dabie collision

the geodynamic evolution of the eastern eurasian margin in mesozoic times abstract the cenozoic features of eurasia such as marginal seas and intracontinental deformation are unraveled using available paleomagnetic and field data the late cretaceous shape of eurasia is then reconstructed from the examples of sw japan and south russian far east the major features of the mesozoic eurasian margin suture zones marked by ophiolites or high pressure metamorphic rocks olistostromes characterized by the lithology of the olistoliths calc alkaline magmatism and strike slip faults are outlined correlations of the ophiolitic belts and the olistostromes along the eastern eurasian margin from borneo to siberia allow the definition of four microcontinents the west philippines south japan and the anuy and okhotsk sea microblocks from south to north the mesozoic structure of the eurasian margin is due to three processes 1 1 oceanic subduction and the accretion of subduction complexes 2 2 the collision of these microcontinents with eurasia between the late jurassic and the late cretaceous and 3 3 the reactivation of the ophiolitic sutures by left lateral wrench faulting

tectonics of south china key to understanding west pacific geology abstract south china is not a post caledonian platform but a composite of orogenic belts this late proterozoic mesozoic orogen is a collage of three continental fragments the three blocks are yangzi huanan and dongnanya and they are separated by the banxi nanpanjiang formerly xianggangzhe and gunanhai suture zones yangzi was separated from gondwanaland during late precambrian when an open ocean called banxi was present between the two continents tectonic processes at an active margin during sinian and early paleozoic time led to the genesis of an accretionary wedge complex the banxi melange and the huanan flysch nappes on the northern margin of huanan which was then the northern margin of the gondwana continent reorganization of plates during the devonian suspended subduction at the huanan active margin huanan was uplifted and unconformably overlain by transgressive deposits of devonian and or carboniferous age a remnant ocean the nanpanjiang sea still existed between yangzi and huanan and deep water sedimentation continued both at the southern margin of yangzi and at the northwestern margin of huanan the latter again became an active margin during late paleozoic when permian and triassic flysch sediments were deposited in foredeeps ahead of advancing nappes huanan and yangzi collided during the triassic and resulted in the deformation of the passive margin of the latter to form the yangzi deformed belt huanan was separated from a more southerly continent dongnanya in the devonian by seafloor spreading which created a late paleozoic and early mesozoic ocean gunanhai ocean a continuously deposited sequence ranging in age from devonian to triassic was laid down on the southern passive margin of huanan on the other side of the ocean the dongnanya permian strata include glacial marine deposits of gondwanaland affinity dongnanya became separated from gondwanaland during the late permian when it marched northward to be reunited with huanan the huanan passive margin sequence was deformed by folding and overthrusting after the late mesozoic collision of huanan and dongnanya scattered outcrops of the suture melange resulting from this collision occur at a few localities in coastal fujian dongnanya in our model was the mesozoic continent of southeast asia peripheral to mainland asia this may or may not have been the eastern continuation of the microcontinent sibumasu siam thailand burma malaysia sumatra the collision of dongnanya and asia gave rise not only to the gunanhai melange of coastal fujian but also to the ophiolite melanges parts of which are present in taiwan tailuko the philippines and western malaysia

first shrimp u pb zircon dating of granulites from the kontum massif vietnam and tectonothermal implications abstract the kontum massif in central vietnam represents the largest continuous exposure of crystalline basement of the indochina craton the central kontum massif is chiefly made of orthopyroxene granulites enderbite charnockite and associated rocks of the kannack complex mineral assemblages and geothermobarometric studies have shown that the kannack complex has severely metamorphosed under granulite facies corresponding to p t conditions of 800 850 c and 8 1 kbars twenty three shrimp ii u pb analyses of eighteen zircon grains separated from a granulite sample of the kannack complex yield ca 254 ma and one analysis gives ca 1400 ma concordant age for a zoned zircon core this result shows that granulites of the kannack complex in the kontum massif have formed from a high grade granulite facies tectonothermal event of indosinian age triassic the cooling history and subsequent exhumation of the kannack complex during indosinian times ranged from 850 c at ca 254 ma to 300 c at 242 ma with an average cooling rate of 45 c ma

emplacement of the longmen shan thrust nappe belt along the eastern margin of the tibetan plateau abstract the topographic descent from the eastern margin of the tibetan plateau to the sichuan basin passes through the longmen shan thrust nappe belt which is sub divided by six nw dipping major listric thrusts with accompanying duplexes and imbricate fans into five large scale nappes each nappe has its own stratigraphic and deformational features in the inner longmen shan longmen mountains allochthonous nappe units have incorporated both mesoproterozoic basement and sinian neoproterozoic to triassic cover sequences as thick skinned horses whereas in the frontal longmen shan sinian cretaceous cover sediments have been stripped from the basement as thin skinned fold and thrust sheets including the extensively distributed klippen structures pre thrusting extension during devonian to middle late triassic times resulted in syn depositional normal faults structural inversion of these faults initiated the peng xian guan xian basement complex jiuding shan and tangwangzhai nappes during the early episode of the indosinian orogeny norian to rhaetian this was followed by episodic thrusting during latest triassic to early cretaceous times to develop the guan xian an xian and southeastern marginal nappes that have incorporated sediments from the neighbouring foreland basin into the frontal part of the thrust nappe belt during a late miocene reactivation of the pre existing thrusts differential thrusting occurred across the thrust nappe belt

pre eocene synmetamorphic structure in the mindoro romblon palawan area west philippines and implications for the history of southeast asia the structure of the pre eocene rocks considered as the basement of the philippines has been investigated in the mindoro lubang romblon tablas sibuyan and north palawan areas in the former two areas the same pre eocene succession of units is recognized from top to bottom 1 a pre eocene olistostrome 2 an ophiolitic nappe 3 a schistose sequence pelites sandstones basic schists and marbles and 4 a gneissic unit the nature of the contact between the olistostrome and the underlying units is unclear but the ophiolite and the schistose sequence form two thrust sheets of oceanic origin thrust upon the gneissic unit that is considered a part of a continental basement called the west philippines block small scale structures show that the early deformation stage is characterized by a submeridian 0 n40 e lineation formed in greenschist to amphibolite facies conditions during the thrusting kinematic analysis show that the thrusting was from north to south in north palawan metamorphic rocks with similar microtectonic and kinematic characteristics are found they are overlain by a late jurassic olistostrome which is correlated with the olistostromes found in calamian north mindoro carabao and buruanga peninsula north panay the microstructural features and the presence of the olistostrome suggest that the north palawan mindoro tablas romblon sibuyan and carabao islands belong to the same north palawan block of hamilton 1979 which is a continental fragment rifted from asia in cenozoic times it is assumed that the western panay and zamboanga areas which are characterized by mesozoic ophiolites and metamorphic rocks also belong to the north palawan block all these islands experienced to some extent the same mesozoic geohistory the south verging thrusting is interpreted as the result of an oblique collision of the west philippines block with asia the contemporaneous left lateral strike slip faulting and the calc alkaline magmatism widespread along the chinese margin are also included in the geodynamic model

tectonics of se china new insights from the lushan massif jiangxi province in south china the lushan massif forms a topographic high of the south china block south of the qinling dabie belt the lushan massif consists of two main lithotectonic units separated by a major tectonic contact a neoproterozoic upper sinian paleozoic unit comprising primarily unmetamorphosed sandstones overlies a paleoproterozoic unit mainly composed of low pressure high temperature gneisses and micaschists both units are cut by cretaceous granitic intrusions three primary tectono metamorphic and magmatic events are recognized the eastern part of the lushan massif is cut by a nne ssw trending ductile normal fault d3 deformation coeval to the emplacement of a 100 110 ma leucogranite dated by 40ar 39ar laserprobe on biotite and muscovite d2 deformation is responsible for the formation of a decakilometer scale ne sw trending upright anticline characterized by ne sw stretching and nw se shortening the age of this folding event is defined by a 127 1 2 ma u pb titanite date obtained for a syntectonic granodiorite and 40ar 39ar ages of 133 ma for amphibole this cretaceous age also corresponds to the 40ar 39ar ages of 126 ma found on syntectonic muscovites at the base of the sinian unit an older deformation event d1 characterized by a top to the nw extensional decollement of the sinian paleozoic series above proterozoic metamorphic rocks is related to the triassic tectonics of the dabieshan lastly in the lower part of sinian rocks the occurrence of kyanite cataclased during d1 documents an older poorly preserved late paleozoic early mesozoic tectonometamorphic event dx related to a blind thrust in the continental crust of the south china block in the southern foreland of the dabieshan

mirror image thrusting in the south china orogenic belt tectonic evidence from western fujian southeastern china abstract the mesozoic orogenic belt in south china is readily divided into two fold and thrust belts and a central multiply deformed zone of ductile deformation dominated by folds with steeply dipping axial planes southeast directed thrusting in the eastern belt and northwest directed thrusting in the western belt resulted in a mirror image of one another during the mesozoic the eastern fold and thrust belt can be further divided into three domains that overlap one another and exhibit a southeast verging wedge like geometry and kinematics deviatoric stress has been calculated from quartz dislocation density at 91 5 mpa 74 5 mpa and 73 8 mpa decreasing toward the southeast upper devonian and lower carboniferous sandstones have been used to constrain bed length for cross section balancing to estimate crustal shortening from three typical areas these indicate 45 41 6 and 37 3 shortening and suggest that 110 km of contraction has been achieved as a result of thrusting this orogen correlates with the ogcheon belt in south korea to the northeast to the southwest it appears to correlate with a thrust belt in western guangdong this southeast verging thrusting may be at least partially controlled by cathaysia to the east

age and origin of the tanghu granite southeast china results from u pb single zircon and nd isotopes u pb single zircon and sm nd whole rock isotopic data for the tanghu granite of the zhuguangshan batholith suggest that a basement either composed of or derived from middle proterozoic to late archean rocks underlies southeast china the granite contains two kinds of inherited zircon components whole anhedral zircons and small cores within younger magmatic zircons the u pb data for a single analysis of four magmatic zircons yielded a concordant age of 433 2 ma whereas single zircons yielded two linear arrays with lower intercepts of 435 1 and 434 14 ma and upper intercepts of 1415 3 and 2516 6 ma respectively xenocrystic zircons of archean age had not previously been recognized in any rocks from southeast china two whole rock samples from the granite yielded nd values of 7 1 and 8 3 at 434 ma and nd model ages of 1750 ma relative to a depleted mantle we conclude from this isotope data that the tanghu granite crystallized at 434 1 6 ma weighted average and was derived from a source of unknown age but had an average crustal residence age of 1750 ma and was partially composed of a mixture of continental crustal material of at least two ages 1400 and 2500 ma

tectonic and stratigraphic evolution of the mongolian people s republic and its influence on hydrocarbon geology and potential abstract the stratigraphy of mongolia can be divided into five megasequences each characterized by a common tectonic and stratigraphic history the earliest megasequence 1 precambrian silurian records the amalgamation of precambrian early palaeozoic passive and active margin terranes and the resulting growth of a caledonian fold belt in western mongolia megasequence 2 devonian permian appears to be the most complex with a variety of active margin collisions in southern and eastern mongolia and the continued deformation of the caledonian fold belt in the west a substantial fold belt underpinned by a variety of granitic plutons existed across mongolia by the triassic there was widespread erosion and limited deposition in small foreland and intermontane basins megasequence 3 triassic early jurassic megasequence 4 mid jurassic cretaceous records extension across the partially eroded fold belt with deposition confined to a series of alluvial and lacustrine rift basins these basins later experienced transpression inversion and erosion followed by onlap and overstep giving more widespread sedimentation from large post rift alluvial systems during the late cretaceous and tertiary megasequence 5 megasequences 1 3 are usually extensively folded megasequences 4 and 5 have been involved in transpressive inversion and mongolia is an area of present day compressive and transpressive tectonics erosion and general uplift the late jurassic early cretaceous sequences megasequence 4 are the most prospective for finding extractable hydrocarbons oil has been successfully produced from megasequence 4 alluvial and lacustrine rift sequences with rich oil prone lacustrine mudrocks which can form both source and seal facies interbedded sandstones siltstones and mudstones form various combinations of reservoirs and seals a large number of hydrocarbon trap types are yet to be tested past drilling has been concentrated around surface seeps and on simple structures that can be mapped at the surface with usually only shallow tests