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Discovery of a Sphaeroschwagerina fusuline fauna from the Raggyorcaka Lake area, northern Tibet: implications for the origin of the Qiangtang Metamorphic Belt

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 November 2015

YI-CHUN ZHANG ,
SHU-ZHONG SHEN ,
QING-GUO ZHAI ,
YU-JIE ZHANG  and
DONG-XUN YUAN
YI-CHUN ZHANG*
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China
SHU-ZHONG SHEN
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China
QING-GUO ZHAI
Affiliation:
Institute of Geology, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, Beijing 100037, China
YU-JIE ZHANG
Affiliation:
Chengdu Center, China Geological Survey, Chengdu 610081, China
DONG-XUN YUAN
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China Department of Earth Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210008, China
*
†Author for correspondence: yczhang@nigpas.ac.cn
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Abstract

The Qiangtang Metamorphic Belt (QMB) was considered to have either formed in situ by amalgmation of the North and South Qiangtang blocks or been underthrust from the Jinsha suture and exhumed in the interior of a single ‘Qiangtang Block’. A new Sphaeroschwagerina fusuline fauna discovered in the Raggyorcaka Lake area supports the interpretation that the North and South Qiangtang blocks were separated by a wide ocean during Asselian (Early Permian) time, indicating that the QMB was formed by the suturing of the Palaeotethys Ocean along the Longmu Co-Shuanghu suture.

Keywords

Qiangtang Metamorphic BeltTibetPalaeotethys OceanLongmu Co-Shuanghu suturefusulinesEarly Permian
Type
Rapid Communication
Information
Geological Magazine , Volume 153 , Issue 3 , May 2016 , pp. 537 - 543
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2015 

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