The Sulu UHP Terrane: A Review of the Petrology and Structural Geology

Abstract

Petrological and isotopic evidence suggests that the protolith of the Sulu ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) terrane was Precambrian continental crust consisting of granite, granodiorite, gabbro, mar ble, and basic dikes, with local granulite-facies assemblages. Around 220 Ma this unit of continental rocks was buried to depths up of ~120 km within the mantle. Structures formed during exhumation suggest highly mobile behavior of acidic rocks, even under conditions of very low water activity. Petrological studies show that the Sulu terrane underwent isothermal decompression, which implies relatively rapid exhumation, and suggests that the role of melting during exhumation may have been underestimated. The later stages of exhumation are associated with NW-SE-directed tectonic trans port and the formation of at least one major normal detachment.

Extreme oxygen isotope signature of meteoric water in magmatic zircon from metagranite in the Sulu orogen, China: Implications for Neoproterozoic rift magmatism

“…Precambrian rocks in the Jiaodong terrane are predominated by granitic gneiss and associated eclogite (Wang et al, 1995;Ames et al, 1996;Jahn et al, 1996;Wallis et al, 1999;Yang et al, 2003Yang et al, , 2005Xu et al, 2006;Tang et al, 2008), with small amounts of metasedimentary rocks including marble and quartzite (Shandong, 1991;Wang and An, 1996;Rumble et al, 2000;Chu et al, 2003Chu et al, , 2005. Peridotite bodies sporadically crop out as small enclaves within the granitic gneiss (Ye and Xu, 1992;Hiramatsu et al, 1995;Yang et al, 2003Yang et al, , 2005Zhao et al, 2007).…”

“…The two terranes directly contact with each other along the NE-trending WulianYantai fault that marks the suture zone between SCB and NCB (Zheng et al, 2005a;Tang et al, 2006;Zhou et al, 2008a). The non-UHP Jiaobei terrane is traditionally regarded as the southeastern edge of NCB, and its Precambrian basement rocks are mainly composed of Neoarchean TTG gneiss and Paleoproterozoic metasedimentary sequences (Fenzishan/Jinshan Group) with $1.9 Ga amphibolite-to granulite-facies metamorphism (Lu, 1998;Wallis et al, 1999;Zhai et al, 2000;Faure et al, 2003;Wan et al, 2006;Tang et al, 2007;Zhou et al, 2008b). In contrast, the UHP Jiaodong terrane that constitutes the southeastern part and another half of the Sulu orogen is generally regarded as the eastward extension of the Dabie orogen, and geotectonically belongs to the northern margin of SCB (Zheng et al, , 2005aTang et al, 2008).…”

Fluids in deeply subducted continental crust: Petrology, mineral chemistry and fluid inclusion of UHP metamorphic veins from the Sulu orogen, eastern China

“…The Dabie-Sulu orogen between the North China and the Yangtze Plates contain abundant coesite-bearing UHP metamorphic rocks (e.g., Xu et al, 1992;Liou et al, 1995;You et al, 1996;Cong and Wang, 1996;Wallis et al, 1999). The present study focuses on the Donghai area in southern Sulu (Fig.…”

Zircon U–Pb constraints on the origin of UHP meta-supracrustal rocks in the Southern Sulu orogen, eastern China

“…The Dabie-Sulu orogen was formed by collision and subduction between the Yangtze and North China cratons (e.g., Xu et al, 1992;Liou et al, 1995;Cong and Wang, 1996;You et al, 1996;Wallis et al, 1999). The present study focuses on the Donghai area in southern Sulu (Fig.…”