Implications for supercontinent reconstructions of mid-late Neoproterozoic volcanic - Sedimentary rocks from the Cathaysia Block, South China

The tectonic affinity of mid - late Neoprotemzoic magmatism in the South China Block provides a first order constraint on its role in the break-up of Rodinia and the subsequent amalgamation of Gondwana. The Yingyangguan area in the western margin of Cathaysia Block preserves a magmatic and sedimentary record of this period. U-Pb zircon age data indicate magmatism at around 750 Ma, followed by accumulation of a succession of tuff and carbonate rocks at ca. 670-660 Ma. All samples show evidence for ductile deformation and metamorphism. The geochemical characteristics of mid-Neoproterozoic mafic and intermediate rocks suggest crustal assimilation and fractional crystallization play an important role in magma evolution, and they were derived from a source dominated by modified lithospheric mantle sources previously metasomatized by slab-derived fluids. Analyzed samples, as well as contemporaneous mafic rocks in neighboring areas, have high Zr/Y ratios, and plot in the within-plate basalt field at ca. 750 Ma. In addition, zircons with ages between 1200 and 950 Ma and 850-770 Ma mostly fall within the arc-related field on discriminating diagrams based on zircon trace-element compositions, whereas, most ca. 750 Ma and 700-600 Ma zircons plot in the within-plate field. This evolving tectonic record of magmatic activity suggests a transformation from a convergent plate margin setting on the periphery of Rodinia to one involving within plate extension at ca. 750 Ma. Furthermore, the detrital zircons from samples of the Yingyangguan Group present abundant late Mesoproterozoic to early Neoproterozoic (1200-950 Ma) ages. These ages match the record of North India and Indo-Antarctica, and imply a peripheral setting for South China with respect to the supercontinent and most likely adjacent to India from at least 750 Ma. Thus, we suggest that the Yangtze Block accreted to Cathaysia on the northern margin of India in the early Neoproterozoic, and that the active plate boundaries located along the northern and western margins of South China continue to ca. 750 Ma. After this time, the tectonic setting within the South China Block transformed into a stable within-plate siliciclastic depositional environment that continued to receive detritus from East Gondwana until the early Devonian.

Automated summary

The study suggests that the tectonic record of mid-late Neoproterozoic magmatism in the South China Block reveals a transition from a convergent plate margin setting on the periphery of Rodinia to within-plate extension at around 750 Ma. The geochemical characteristics of the rocks indicate crustal assimilation and fractional crystallization played a significant role in magma evolution. Detrital zircons from the samples present ages that suggest a peripheral setting for South China with respect to the supercontinent and most likely adjacent to India starting from at least 750 Ma.