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Detrital zircon evidence for the linkage of the South China block with Gondwanaland in early Palaeozoic time

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 July 2012

LIANG DUAN ,
QING-REN MENG ,
GUO-LI WU ,
SHOU-XIAN MA  and
LIN LI
LIANG DUAN*
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory of Lithospheric Evolution, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China State Key Laboratory of Continental Dynamics, Department of Geology, Northwest University, Xi'an 710069, China
QING-REN MENG
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory of Lithospheric Evolution, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China
GUO-LI WU
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory of Lithospheric Evolution, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China
SHOU-XIAN MA
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory of Lithospheric Evolution, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China
LIN LI
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory of Lithospheric Evolution, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China
*
†Author for correspondence: duanliang1985@gmail.com
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Abstract

LA-ICP-MS U–Pb dating of Lower Devonian detrital zircon samples from three representative sections in the South China block yields dominant Grenvillian and Pan-African populations, similar to the age distribution of early Palaeozoic samples from Gondwana, the Tethyan Himalaya and West Australia, in particular. Hf isotopic compositions indicate the contributions of juvenile crust at 1.6 Ga and 2.5 Ga, and bear a resemblance to their counterparts from SE Australia and West Antarctica, revealing the mixed origin of the Pan-African and Grenvillian grains from juvenile magmas and melting of pre-existing crustal rocks. These results suggest that the South China block should be considered an integral part of East Gondwana in early Palaeozoic time, rather than a discrete continental block in the Palaeo-Pacific or a fragment of Laurentia.

Keywords

South China blockLower DevonianU–Pb ageHf isotopesdetrital zirconsGondwana
Type
Rapid Communication
Information
Geological Magazine , Volume 149 , Issue 6 , November 2012 , pp. 1124 - 1131
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012

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