Eclogite facies cataclasite is recognized at Yangkou in the Chinese Su-Lu ultrahigh-P metamorphic belt. The cataclasite dykes (5À15 cm wide) are bounded by mylonite/ultramylonite zones, cutting through unfoliated metagabbro and/or eclogite. The cataclasite veins (generally 2-4 cm wide) are free of mylonite boundary zones, cutting through the foliation of the high-P host rock. The dykes and veins are dominated by eclogite fragments consisting of debris of omphacite, garnet, quartz, phengite and kyanite, in a matrix of variable amounts of a schist rich in quartz, phengite and kyanite. Garnet clasts in the fragments are welded and overgrown by more Ca-rich garnet containing mineral inclusions different from those in the garnet cores. The micropoikilitic texture of garnet is typical of eclogitic pseudotachylytes. Crack-sealing K-feldspar veinlets in the cataclasite dykes also imply frictional or shock-induced melting of K-mica. The modal abundances in the cataclasite and the schist imply that the dykes formed by flow of the omphacite and garnet-dominated cataclasites into the fractures during seismic faulting, while the lower density minerals (quartz, phengite and kyanite) were largely left in the ultramylonite boundary zones. The dykes have the same composition as their host rocks, except for slightly lower Si and large ion lithophile elements and higher Mg, Ca, Cr, Co and Ni. Chromite, probably spurted from the nearby ultramafic rock, is found as rare particles in the cataclasite fragments. This indicates that material exchange occurred by mechanical mixing between the dykes and the ultramafic rock during seismic faulting. The Cr-rich eclogite minerals grown on the chromite are evidence for coseismic high-P crystallization. Short-lived crystal growth is implied by the fine grain sizes of the eclogite minerals and very limited element diffusion between the garnet clasts and their overgrowths. The fact that the host rocks are more hydrated implies that the dyke formation was not related to fluid infiltration. It appears, therefore, that stress was the key factor inducing the high-P phase transformation in the dykes. Both stress and temperature were only transiently high in the dykes, which have been metastable since they were formed.

Newly discovered ophiolitic metabasalts in the Taoxinghu area of central Qiangtang on the Qinhai-Tibet Plateau, here described for the first time, have important implications for reconstructions of the tectonic history of the Paleo-Tethys Ocean. Most of the metabasalts belong to the tholeiitic basalt series and most have undergone greenschist-facies metamorphism. The distribution of rare earth elements and trace elements shows that the rocks are typical of sub-continental margin arc-basin lavas, similar to the environment of formation of the present-day Okinawa lava, suggesting that the Taoxinghu metabasalts represent the upper portions of a supra-subduction zone (SSZ)-type ophiolite that formed in a continental back-arc basin tectonic environment. The Taoxinghu metabasalts are mainly sourced from a depleted spinel mantle-source region, with a spinel lherzolite content equivalent to partial melting of 6 %-25 %. In addition, lava compositions were likely affected by melting of sediments during subduction, while the influence of aqueous fluids was minor. Combining with the existing knowledge on the ophiolites of Longmuco-Shuanghu-Lancang suture zone (LSLSZ), an evolutionary model is proposed. The LSLSZ Paleo-Tethys Ocean basin may have started to form during the Cambrian or earlier, and subducted in the early Carboniferous. As subduction proceeded, a continental back-arc basin was developed, the site of generation of most of the Taoxinghu metabasalts. The LSLSZ Paleo-Tethys Ocean finally closed in the Triassic.

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An environmental radioactivity survey by Airborne Gamma-ray Spectrometry (AGS) on a large scale was undertaken in Zhuhai Zone (ZZ) and Shenzhen Zone (SZ), which include major cities in southern China, covering areas of 3800 km 2 and 4660 km 2 , respectively. The estimated dose rates by AGS have been compared with observed results by ionization chamber and portable dosemeter. Maps of the terrestrial dose rate at 1m above ground level have been calculated based on the data of AGS. The mean dose rates are 84.37 + 51.69 and 82.10 + 32.98 nGy/h in ZZ and SZ, and the maximum rates are 343.11 and 368.36 nGy/h, respectively. Dose rates in some places are above 180 nGy/h; the areas covered where 149 km 2 in ZZ and 43 km 2 in SZ. The dominant geological conditions that evidently contribute to the radioactive anomalies are outcrops of Middle and Late Jurassic and Cretaceous biotitic-granite. The growth of industrialization and urbanization has dramatically altered radiation background. Stone mining results in the increase of radiation levels with maximum dose rates approaching 368.36 nGy/h in an open pit. The investigation results provide valuable background data and give a good example for mapping nationwide natural radiation terrestrial dose rates in China by AGS.