Neoproterozoic Arc‐Related Mafic Intrusions along the Northern Margin of South China: Implications for the Accretion of Rodinia
Year: 2002
Type: article
Abstract: South China has been considered as part of the Rodinian supercontinent during Neoproterozoic time, although its paleogeographic position within this supercontinent is still a matter of debate. The Wangjiangshan and Bijigou complexes along the northern margin of South China are among the largest mafic intrusions in China. New SHRIMP zircon U‐Pb results indicate that these two intrusions have crystallization ages of 820 Ma and 780 Ma, respectively. Enrichment of large ion lithophile and light rare earth elements and depletion of high field‐strength elements in these intrusions suggest derivation from an active arc along a continental margin. This interpretation of these intrusions as part of a continental arc assemblage is in contrast with the previous view that they were products of a Neoproterozoic mantle plume that initiated the breakup of Rodinia. The presence of a Neoproterozoic magmatic arc suggests that Rodinian oceanic lithosphere was subducted beneath the (present) northern margin of South China and therefore that South China flanked the Rodinian ocean.
Source: The Journal of Geology
DOI: 10.1086/341762
Institution: University of Hong Kong
Language: English
Subfield: Geophysics
Field: Earth and Planetary Sciences
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2065297279