Sedimentary record of the collision of theNorth and South China cratons: New insights from theWestern Hubei Trough

Abstract

Collision of the South and North China cratons was an important event in eastern Asia and contributed to the formation of the Central Orogenic Belt in China. While the timing of collision has been documented to the west (at the West Qinling Belt) and east (at the Dabie Mountains), little is known regarding the timing of collision in the middle sector of the collision zone. We present field, sedimentological, mineralogical, and geochemical data from the Late Permian Dalong Formation and Early Triassic Daye Formation (lower part) in the Western Hubei Trough which is located in the northern South China Craton. Based on sedimentary facies, SEM, and XRD data, we suggest that the Dalong Formation, which is mainly composed of chert and carbonaceous mudstone, was deposited in a deep shelf, and the lower part of the Daye Formation, which is mainly composed of mudstone and carbonate rocks, was deposited in a shallow shelf. Geochemical data imply that the source of the mudstone in these formations was the Qinling active continental margin of the North China Craton. These data support a scenario that the South and North China cratons may have collided by the end of the Late Wuchiapingian of Late Permian time at the southern margin of the East Qinling Belt. The collision event may have led to the formation of the Western Hubei Trough.

Nature and origin of the volcanic ash beds near the Permian–Triassic boundary in South China: new data and their geological implications

“…Biostratigraphy indicates a time range of late Wuchiapingian (late Permian) to Induan (Early Triassic), that is, c. 255-250 Ma (Gradstein et al 2012), for the deposition of the Dalong Formation and the lower part of the Daye Formation (Fig. 4) (Zhang et al 2009;Feng & Algeo, 2014;Zheng et al 2019). Three PTB volcanic ash beds (beds 1 to 3) were studied (Figs 1, 3).…”

“…The late Permian -Early Triassic succession of the study area (afterZhang et al 2009;Zheng et al 2019). The ages of the succession are fromGradstein et al (2012).…”

Provenance of the Permian–Triassic boundary volcanic ash beds in South China

“…waageni Zone (Figure 2b) (Feng & Algeo, 2014;Lyu et al, 2019;Zhang et al, 2009;Zheng et al, 2019;Zheng, Mou, Zhou, et al, 2020).…”

“…With separation by SCBs, the north and south branches of East Palaeo-Tethys Ocean are the Mianlue Ocean and the stricto sensu East Palaeo-Tethys Ocean, respectively (Zhao et al, 2018). The Mianlue Ocean between the North and South China blocks experienced the northward subduction and a scissors-like closure from the Late Permian in the east to the Middle Triassic in the west, which developed the Central China Orogenic System (Dong & Santosh, 2016;Liu et al, 2015b;Zhao et al, 2018;Zhao, Dong, & Huang, 2020;Zheng et al, 2019;.…”

Age and origin of a Guadalupian tuff in the E'Xi rift basin in South China: Evidence for the Emeishan continental hotspot track?

“…The study area is located in the northern SCB, and during the middle–late Permian was in the centre of the E'Xi rift basin (Figure 1b; Zheng et al, 2019). The E'Xi rift basin contains mostly Permian strata, which unconformably overlie Devonian or Carboniferous strata (Zhuo et al, 2009).…”