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Issue: Vol. 1 No. 2: May–June 2024
Type: Article
Published: 2024-06-27
DOI: 10.11646/mesozoic.1.2.8
Page range: 159-172
Abstract views: 119
PDF downloaded: 62

Newly identified late Early Cretaceous volcanic rocks in the Beixiangshan area, Lower Yangtze River Belt, South China and its implications

School of Earth Sciences, East China University of Technology, Nanchang, Jiangxi 330013, China
State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China
State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China
School of Earth Sciences, East China University of Technology, Nanchang, Jiangxi 330013, China
Institute of Palaeontology, Yunnan Key Laboratory of Earth System Science, Yunnan Key Laboratory for Palaeobiology, MEC International Joint Laboratory for Palaeobiology and Palaeoenvironment, Yunnan University, Kunming, 650500, China
School of Earth Sciences, School of Marine Science and Technology, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, China
State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China
Early Cretaceous Lower Yangtze River Belt Yanshanian magmatism Ningzhen

Abstract

The magmatic events in the Lower Yangtze River Belt could be divided into four stages: 148–133 Ma, 131–127 Ma, 127–121 Ma, and 109–100 Ma. The final episode is represented by the intrusions in the Ningzhen area, however no contemporaneous volcanic rocks have been reported. In this study, we present an integrated analysis of petrology, zircon U-Pb ages, and whole rock major-trace elements for newly identified volcanic rocks in the Beixiangshan area. Zircon U-Pb dating yields an eruption age of 106.3 ± 0.4 Ma, indicating that these rocks likely belong to the lower part of the Pukou Formation. The volcanic rocks exhibit arc-like geochemical features, distinct from those of the intrusions in the Ningzhen area. The volcanic rocks may be formed during a tectonic transition phase from compression to extension, due to the direction changes of plate convergence. The widespread angular unconformity around the volcanic rocks may represent episode C of the Yanshanian tectonic event, based on the dating work on volcanic rocks, its minimum age should be ca. 106 Ma.

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