JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH, VOL. 105, NO.

B6, PAGES 13,303-13,338, JUNE 10, 2000

Exhumation of the ultrahigh-pressure continental crust

in east central China:

Cretaceous and Cenozoic unroofing and the Tan-Lu fault

LotharRatschbacher, ',•BradleyR. HackereLauraE. Webb?•

Michael McWilliams,4Trevor Ireland,4ShuwenDong½
Andrew Calvert,• Daniel Chateigner?
and Hans-Rudolf Wenk •

Abstract. The orogenicarchitectureof the world's largestultrahigh-pressure exposure,the

Hong'an-DabieMountainsof the TriassicQinling-Dabieorogenicbelt, is dominatedby Creta-
ceousandCenozoicstructures thatcontributed to itsexhumation from _<30km depth.Cretaceous
magmaticcrustalrecycling(>50% for the entireDabie) andheating(>250øto >700øC)weremost
prominentin Dabie, andexhumation,magmatism,andcoolingwereall controlledby Cretaceous
transtension. Exhumationwas accomplished principallyby an asymmetricCordilleran-typeexten-
sionalcomplexin the northernDabie (NorthernOrthogneiss unit) between140 and 120 Ma, at
ratesas fast as2 mm/yr andaveragehorizontalstretchingratesof up to 6 mm/yr. Cretaceous reac-
tivationoccurredwithin a regionaltranstensional strainfield asa resultof far-fieldcollisionsand
Pacificsubduction. The onsetof crustalextensionwasprecededandpossiblyfacilitatedby a re-
heatingof the Hong'an-Dabiecrust(-140 Ma) coevalwith the onsetof voluminousmagmatismin
easternChina(-145 Ma), whichresultedfrom a changein Pacificsubduction fromhighly oblique
to orthogonal.The Tan-Lu continental-scale fault wasa normalfault zonein the mid-Cretaceous
(-110-90 Ma) andunderwent>5.4 km dip slipand>4 km throwin the Cenozoic.Duringthe In-
dia-Asiacollisionthe Qinling-Dabiebelt actedasthe structuraldiscontinuity betweenthe strike-
slip-dominated escapetectonicssouthof the Qilian-Qinling-Dabiebelt andthe rifting-dominated
tectonismnorthof it. The mostprominentCretaceous andCenozoicstructures of the Hong'an-
Dabie,the Xiaotian-Mozitangandthe Jinzhaifault zones,respectively, reactivatedmajorlitho-
sphericstructuresof the Triassicorogen,i.e., the Huwan detachment zoneandthe suture.

1. Introduction presumedPaleozoicandProterozoic agealongthe northernrim

of theHong'anandTongbaiShan(seeHackeret al. [1996]for a
The Hong'an-DabieShanultrahigh-pressure (UHP) areais reviewand a discussionof stratigraphyandagedata,Figure1).
partof the 2000 km longQinling-Dabie orogenandformedby At its marginsthe orogenis coveredby Late Jurassicand
attempted subductionof theYangtze(or SouthChina)cratonbe- youngervolcanosedimentary strata.The blueschist
throughec-
neaththe Sino-Korean (or North China)cratonin the Triassic logiteunitsconstitute
a prograde metamorphic sequence,
withthe
(Figure1) [e.g.,Hackeret al., 1996;Ameset al., 1996;Rowleyet diamond-and coesite-bearing eclogitesand paragneisses indi-
al., 1997].Theorogencomprises a penetratively
deformed gneis- catingsubduction
of continental crustto >120 km [e.g., Okay,
sic core and is subdividedfrom southto north into the Yangtze
1993; Liou et al., 1996]. Webbet al. [1996], Rowleyand Xue
foreland fold-and-thrustbelt, the blueschist,high-pressuream-
[ 1996],andHackeret al. [1998,thisissue]interpretedtheseunits
phibolite,quartzeclogite,coesiteeclogite,and "NorthernOr- as a subducted slabexhumedby verticalextrusion(tectonicde-
thogneiss"units,theLuzhenguang andFoziling"Groups" in the nudation)and contemporaneous erosionin Triassic-EarlyJuras-
Dabie Shan, and additionallya variety of groupsof provenor sic time.
Cretaceousigneous rocks comprise 47% of the surface
qnstitutfar Geologie,UniversitatWtirzburg,Wtirzburg,Germany. exposureof the Dabie Mountains (digitized from 1:500,000
2Nowat Institutfar Geologie,Technische UniversitatBergakademie geologicalmaps,Figure 1), andalmostthe entirenorthernDabie
Freiberg,Freiberg,Germany.
3Department of Geology,Universityof California,SantaBarbara.
consistsof Cretaceousigneousrocksand orthogneisses (Hacker
4Department of Geologyand Environmental Sciences,Stanford et al. [1998] and section 3.), constitutingthe "Northern
University,Stanford,California. Orthogneissunit" (NOU; Figure 1; Hacker et al. [1995]). The
5Nowat Departmentof Mineralogy,Universityof Geneva,Geneva, Cretaceousigneous signaturediminisheswestward into the
Switzerland.
Hong'an Shan,whereCretaceousigneousrocksare concentrated
6Chinese
Academyof GeologicalSciences, Beijing
7Department
of Geology,University
of California,Berkeley. along the northernboundary(20% of surfaceexposure;Figure
SNowat Laboratoirede Physiquede l'Etat Condens6,Universit6du 1). The ubiquitousCretaceousmagmaticand metamorphicover-
Maine, Le Mans, France. print (also see section3.), i.e., the widespreadoutcropof Creta-
ceousigneousrocksand gneisses,impliesa considerable role of
Copyright2000by theAmericanGeophysical
Union.
Cretaceousunroofing in the exhumationof the Hong'an-Dabie
Papernumber2000JB900040. UHP rocks.In particular,it bearson the potentialpreservationof
0148-0227/00/2000JB900040509.00 the lithosphericstructureof the TriassicUHP orogen.

13,303
 13,304 RATSCHBACHER ET AL.: CRETACEOUS AND CENOZOIC HONG'AN-DABIE SHAN

suture Jinzhai - Fault

+ +

NorthernOrthogneissUnit
NorthernOrthogneiss
Unit

Southern NOU shear

' 4-q ß

•'•ngtz•
ß. ': •co•esiteeclo
9
basemere

amphibolite

• Eocene-Cretaceous
sedimentary
rocks
• Early Cretaceous
volcanic
rocks k 10km
F7-3 125-137
Masyenite
totonalite q- +,
.I-• diorite,
gabbro
• pre-Cretaceous
cratonalcoversequence
• eratonal
basement
• metamorphic
rocks
(northern
foreland).•.....•*•.....:
•"•metamomhicboundaries ,-:..........
ß ecloglte ß coes•te a granullte :..T
'•'.-,.2•".':'
• synform,
ant•form -',,c•' bY•n•tze
•-- Cenozoic
andCretaceous
faultzones •"•'•' -- ase_m_ent
_t_ Triassic Huwan detachment zone
Fangtzefold-thrustbelt "•

Figure 1. Dabie ShanandHong'anareas,drawnfromRegionalGeologicalSurveyofAnhui [ 1987],RegionalGeo-

logicalSurveyof Henan [1989], RegionalGeologicalSurveyof Hubei [1990], Okayet al. [1993], andHackeret al.
[1995, 1996, 1998]. Locationof major faults and units discussedin text are shown.Inset showsthe Triassiccolli-
sionalorogenin centralChina.NOU, NorthernOrthogneiss unit.

The NOU is an asymmetricmagmatic-structural dome that and Pacificsubduction

[e.g., Molnar and Tapponnier,1975].
formed during CretaceousNW-SE subhorizontalextension Peltzeret al. [1985] andZhanget al. [1995] documented
cumu-
(Hacker et al. [1995] and see section4.), overpriminga Trias- lativesinistralslipratesof 7.2 + 2.2 mm/yrfor activefaultingin
sic(?)granulitefaciesbasementsequence[Li et al., 1989, 1993; the Qinling-Dabieorogenand speculatedthat severaltens of
Zhanget al., 1996;Jahn et al., 1999].Althoughapparentlycon- kilometers
of post-Eocene
sinistraldisplacement
occurred
along
centrated in the Dabie Mountains, Cretaceous extension and the northernmarginof the mountainbelt.
magmatismwere widespreadthroughouteasternChina [e.g., The Tan-Lu fault in eastern China is considered to be one of
Davis et al., 1996; Yin and Nie, 1996; Faure et al., 1996] and are the largestcontinental
faultsandhasbeenassigned
key signifi-
traditionallyassociatedwith the Yinshanianorogeny[e.g., Yang cance in several tectonic models of eastern Asia. Yin and Nie
et al., 1986]. The plate tectonicsettingof this distributedand [1993], for example,predictedthat the Tan-Lu accommodated
long-lastingeventhasbeenascribedto Pacificsubduction [e.g., -•500 km of sinistralstrike-slipfaultingin the Triassicduring
Yin and Nie, 1996], althoughmagmatismreached> 1000 km into postulatednorth directed indentationof South China into North
the continentalinteriorand the structuralevolutionencompassed Chinain the Shandong
regionof northeastern
China.Datingmo-
both contractionaland extensionalperiods.A modem geody- tion alongthe Tan-Lu has been difficult, and there are Protero-
namic understanding clearly requiresmore regional,geochro- zoicagesfor ductilelydeformedgneisses andmylonites(2.3-0.5
nologic, and kinematicstudiesof the deformationfield [e.g., Ga, Shandong province[Fletcheret al., 1995]),Cretaceous
ages
Davis et al., 1996]. for fault gouge(90-110 Ma, Shandong province[Chenet al.,
The Cenozoicevolutionof easternAsia has been interpreted 1989]),andlateCenozoicagesfor dextral,transtensional faulting
as the result of the combined effects of the India-Asia collision (activefaulting,Anhuiprovince[Zhanget al., 1995];Shandong
 RATSCHBACHER ET AL.' CRETACEOUS AND CENOZOIC HONG'AN-DABIE SHAN 13,305

province[Lin et al., 1998]). Subsidenceanalysisin the Yitong (Figure 2b; Ma [1986]). On the basis of geomorphologic
graben,northeastern China, documents twofold transtensionalfeatures,historicseismicityin the vicinity of faults traceablein
activityin thePaleoceneandOligocene[Luet al., 2000]. the field, and, in particular, traces of zones of weakly
This papersummarizes new and publishedstructural/geo- consolidated cataclastic
rocksaffectingCretaceous and Cenozoic
chronologic/petrologicdata to addressthe contribution of late rocks,the Cenozoicdeformationis partitionedinto threemajor
Mesozoic and Cenozoic tectonics to the exhumation of the UHP- fault zones:(1) the Jinzhaifault zone (also Jinzhai-Guishan
or
HP complex in the Hong'an-Dabiesectionof the Triassic- Jin-Gui fault in the Chineseliterature),crossingthe northern
JurassicQinling-Dabieorogenandto tie thesereactivations into marginof the Hong'anandDabieMountains(Figures2b-2e);(2)
the geodynamic assembly of easternAsia.In particular,we ad- the Tan-Lu fault zone,terminatingthe Dabie Shanat its eastern
dressthe followingquestions: (1) What are the degree,extent, edge (Figures2b-2d); and (3) a little-studiedfault zone in the
age, and kinematicsof the reactivations of the Qinling-Dabie southernTongbaiand Hong'an Mountains(Figure2e). On the
belt?(2) What is the proportionof Cretaceous plutons(unde- basisof observations from 36 stations,we obtainedregionally
formed rocks) and orthogneisses (deformedrocks), i.e., the consistentstresstrajectories(Figure 2b) and calculateda 134ø +
Cretaceous magmaticcrustalrecyclingof pre-Cretaceous rocks, 34ø trend for '3 for the major Cenozoic deformation(34
in the Hong'an-Dabie section? (3) Whatarethe intrusiondepths stations);this stressfield overprintedan older, also Cenozoic
of theseCretaceous igneousrocks,astheyquantifythe extentof field in which c•3trends070ø __28ø (8 stations;Figure2b and
Cretaceousexhumation? (4) Whatis the agerangeof the igneous Table 1).
rocks, and when have they been deformed?(5) What is the On the basisof piercingpointsidentifiableon the 1'500,000
NorthernOrthogneissunit, and how does it relate to other Chineseprovincemaps[RegionalGeologicalSurveyof Henan
Cretaceous contractional and extensional deformation of the (R.G.S. Henan), 1989] (e.g., offsetsin Cretaceous plutonicand
Yinshanianorogenyin easternChina?(6) What is the age of Late Jurassic-EarlyCretaceousvolcanic rocks, Figure 2c),
movementon the Tan-Lu fault, what are its kinematics,and how cumulativehorizontaldisplacementalongthe Jinzhaifault in the
is it relatedto the deformationand magmatismin the Hong'an- northwestern Dabie does not exceed 5 km. Offset seems to die
Dabie area? out in the easternDabie,whereno largeoffsetsare apparentand
This paperdocuments the Cretaceous andCenozoicoverprint the Jinzhaifault apparentlyterminatesagainsta strandof the
that dominatesthe orogenicarchitecture of the world's largest Tan-Lu fault zone.The fault patternat the easternterminationof
exposureof UHP rocks and showsthat exhumationfrom the Jinzhanfault is complex(Figure2c, D216-D217),indicating
midcrustaldepth occurredbetween 140 and 120 Ma. It either local block rotationsor a variable stressfield. Overall, the
concentrates on the Dabie Shan,showingthat exhumationwas Jinzhaifault is a strike-slipfault with an averageangleof 31ø
accomplishedprincipally by a Cordilleran-typeextensional betweenC•l andthe trendof the fault.
complexwithin a regionaltranstensional strainfield and as a The Tan-Lu fault zone constitutesa set of subparallelfault
resultof far-field collisionsandPacificsubduction.The paperis strandswith a morphologicallywell-expressedsegmentat the
a companion to a synthesis of the Triassicexhumation of the easternedge of the northernand centralDabie (Figures2c and
Hong'an-Dabiearea[Hackeret al., this issue]andincorporates2d). Southof the Yangtze river one Tan-Lu-parallelfault forms
resultsfrom studiesin the Hong'an area [Webbet al., 1999a; the morphologically pronounced boundary of the Lushan
2000]. basementcomplex (Figure 2d). At the easternedge of Dabie,
thick cataclasitemarksthe fault in both crystallinebasementand
2. CenozoicFaulting in the Hong'an-Dabie Tertiary strata.Although the mesoscalefault data are complex
Mountains (Figures2c and2d), the studiedsegments overalldepictan early,
probably Tertiary, transpression (e.g., D78-1) and thereafter
The Qinling-Dabieorogenis sliced by severalWNW evolved from dextral transtension to normal. In contrast to the
trending,
>100kmlongfaults.TheactiveQinlingfaultsystem
is apparentterminationof the Jinzhaifault againstthe Tan-Lu fault
the eastwardextensionof the HaiyuanandKunlunfault systems at mapscale,left-lateral faulting along about NW trending,
(Figure2a) and is interpreted to accommodate the eastward cataclasticfaultswas foundthroughoutthe northeastern
foreland
escape of theYangtzeblockcaused collision of the Dabie Mountains(e.g. D200-D201, Figure2d, Schrnidet
by theIndia-Asia
[Tapponnier andMolnar,1977].Theonsetof sinistral displace- al. [2000]).
mentispoorlyconstrained; it isthought to bePliocene byBellier Overall, the Tan-Lu fault in eastern Dabie is a normal fault
et al. [1991],buttheEocenebasinslinedup alongtheQinling with an averageof 90ø betweencx3 andthefaulttrend.Conjugate
fault systempointto significant early Tertiaryactivity[e.g., mesoscale strike-slip faults at several stations indicate a
Peltzeret al., 1985]. Althoughto a first approximation the componentof NE-SW contractioncoeval with half-graben
existence,sense,andslipratesof theQuaternary strike-slip
faults formationeastof the Dabie. NE trending,mostlynormalfaults
alongthe Qinling-Dabie havebeenestablished [Peltzeret al., recordweak,distributeddeformationacrossmostof the Hong'an
1985;Zhanget al., 1995],muchis unknown abouttheregional andDabieMountains;althoughthis deformation constitutesthe
distributionof Tertiary and Quaternaryfaulting and the relativelyyoungest faulting,no absoluteagecriteriaexist.
associated regional
stress
fields.In thecourse of ourfieldworkon Chinese maps(e.g.,1:200,000; Regional Geological Surveyof
the Mesozoicorogeny,we collectedmicrotectonic data to Anhui(R.G.S.Anhui)[1975])depictthicknesses of upto4.8km,
determinethe extentto which the Triassicorogenicarchitecture uniformly 80-33ø NW dipping, mostly Quaternarycovered,
was reactivatedduringthe Cenozoic.Our studybuildson the Eocene sediments east of Dabie. A minimum extension of 18%
fieldwork and satelliteimage interpretationof Zhang et al. (>5.4 km dip slip alongand>4 km throwacrossthe Tan-Lu)
[1995]. across the Cenozoic foreland basin east of the Dabie is obtained
On the basis of historicalseismicityseveralof the NE and employingthe model of rotating planar normal faults.
WNW trending faults slicing the Hong'an-Dabieare active Calculation
parameters
are(1) a 50ø dip for themorphologically
13,306 RATSCHBACHERET AL.' CRETACEOUSAND CENOZOIC HONG'AN-DABIE SHAN

B I

114 ø

Cretaceous
igneous
rocks

Average(•3 Upper Cretaceous -Eocene

local % orientation
sediments

••'• Tertiary
I /•"'"
'?i• 70+28ø
n=8

te Cenozoic

• + o
134+34 31ø
n=34

Summ
ary
plot 17 ø

%-
trajectories
115 ø
116 ø

Figure2. (a) Simplified

mapof lateCenozoic
extensional
andstrike-slip
tectonics
in northandcentral
China,
modified
fromZhanget al. [1995,andreferences
therein].
(b) Thec•3trajectories
of lateCenozoic
strikeslip-
extensional
deformation
aresuperimposed
ona neotectonic
faultmapoftheHong'an-Dabie Mountains;
trajectories
are calculatedbasedon the resultsof local stressorientationdeterminations.
Bars showdata usedfor trajectory
calculation
(a fewdataareoffthesouthern
andnortheastern
marginofFigure2bandarenotshown,
butusedfor
calculation).
Inset,upperleft,suggests
separation
intotwodistinct
stress
fields,based
onconsistent
overprinting
criteriaand neotectonicfeaturesassociated
with the "late Cenozoic"fault sets.Lower hemisphere,
equal-area
stereogram, lowerleft,summarizes principalstress
orientationsattributed
to Cenozoic deformation.
(c)Faultslip
dataandprincipal stress orientations
1-3plottedaround simplifiedgeologicalmapofthenorthern Dabieshowing
activefaultingalongtheeasternmost Jinzhaifaultanda portion of theTan-Lbfaultzone.Stereograms (lower
hemisphere, equal-areastereograms)areasfollows:Faultsaredrawn asgreatcirclesandstriaearedrawnasarrows
pointingin thedirection of displacement
of thehanging wall.Confidence levelof slipsense
determination is ex-
pressedinthearrow headstyle: solid,
certain;
open, reliable;
half,unreliable;withouthead,verypoor.Station 23M
is fromZhanget al. [1995].Double-headed arrows andattached numbers givelocationandamount of offsetof
JurassicandCretaceous lithological
markers(estimatedfromR.G.S.Hubai[1990]).Station D516tis located north
ofthemaparea.(d)AsinFigure 2c,butshowing thesoutheasternsectionoftheTan-Lbfaultzone.(e)AsinFigure
2cbutshowing theTongbai-Hong'an Mountains andactive(solidlines)andpossibly active
faults
(dashedlines). (f)
NW-SEcrosssection (lineA-B in Figure2d) interpreted fromR.G.S.Anhui[1975],ourownfielddata,and
calculationof minimumslip alongthe Tan-Lb.

spectacularTan-Lu master normal fault east of the Dabie, Theapparent eastwarddecrease in theamount of displacement
constrainedby the averagedip of the mesoscalenormalfaults andtheterminationof theJinzhai faultasa distinctmorphologic
measuredin outcrops(e.g., D77-D78) and a shallow(-0.8 km) featuresuggests
thatthestrikeslipistakenupby another faulting
tomographic profileacrossthe Tan-Lb [Oberhansliet al., 1998], modeandthatthekinematics of theTan-Lbfaultchanges at the
and (2) a 15ø averagedip of the Eocenesedimentseastof the intersection
of thetwofaults.NE trending faultsthatparallelthe
Dabie (Figure 20. Tan-Lb,particularly
in theDabieShan(seeFigure2b andZhang
RATSCHBACHER
ET AL.: CRETACEOUS
AND CENOZOICHONG'AN-DABIESHAN 13,307

•l,,,,

(,
13,308 RATSCHBACHER ET AL.' CRETACEOUS AND CENOZOIC HONG'AN-DABIE SHAN
 RATSCHBACHER ET AL.: CRETACEOUS AND CENOZOIC HONG'AN-DABIE SHAN 13,309

Table 1. Location of Stations and Parameters of the Deviatoric Stress Tensor: Cenozoic Stress Field

Site Lithology Latitude Longitude Method n ch c•2 c•3 F R

DI conglomerates
(K) 37ø25.61' 122ø 10.52' P-B-T 13 13 046 10 19077 293 03
D2* volcanics(J?) 37ø 25.58' 122ø 10.5' NDA 15 15 357 24 195 65 090 07 17ø 0.5
D3 Maishanquartzite
(pre-K) 31o39.93' 115ø57.93' P-B-T 20 20 063 65 26424 17106
D32-2' redbeds(K) 31o 24.57' 116ø 21.22' grid 17 16 166 80 273 03 005 09 20ø 0.4
D33 volcanics,
conglomerate 31o 26.4' 116ø 23.23' P-B-T 18 18 064 11 250 79 15701
D34 redbeds(K) 31o23.67' 116ø 19.58' NDA 99 061 08 18874 336 13 14ø 0.6
D77 paragneiss
(pre-K) 30ø49.72' 116ø 39.47' NDA 13 13 219 52 053 37 318 07 15ø 0.8
D78-1 conglomerate
(E) 30o43.77
' 116ø34.78' grid 21 19 25205 16204 031 83 14ø 0.3
D78-2 P-B-T 44 177 83 041 05 310 05
D200tl orthogneiss
(K) 31o47.69' 117ø33.27' P-B-T 25 25 221 16 34260 14028
D201tl orthogneiss
(K)* 31ø28.4' 117ø22.69' NDA 2221 25005 35266 15723 19ø 0.3
D202 redbeds(K) 31o 07.59' 117ø 12.84' NDA 12 11 226 63 027 26 121 08 14ø 0.6
D203TL orthogneiss
(K) 31ø03.43' 116ø56.21' P-B-T 17 17 232 33 058 57 317 08
D205you granitoid
(K) 31o0.79' 116ø57.51' NDA 17 17 21361 02429 11604 23ø 0.9
D207you syenite
(K) 31ø09.44' 117ø00.86' P-B-T 88 078 69 207 14 304 24
D208you* volcanics 31ø 16.25' 117ø00.39' NDA 88 18128 32255 080 18 11ø 0.5
D209 granitoid
(K) 31ø08.46' 117ø00.51' NDA 14 13 23333 047 57 14203 13ø 0.7
D215 volcanics(J?) 31ø 17.25' 116ø 52.33' NDA 11 11 086 15 269 75 176 01 12ø 0.6
D216dex volcanics
(K)* 31ø 17.75' 116ø48.19' NDA 1010 31302 20883 04307 12ø 0.6
D216you* NDA 10 10 006 32 16857 27109 15ø 0.5
D216ia* NDA 76 062 14 243 76 152 00 10ø 0.5
D217-1 volcanics(J?) 31ø 18.49' 116o46.65' NDA 2322 038 18 21972 12800 24ø 0.9
D217-2 NDA 88 102 60 264 29 358 08 19ø 0.5
D221-1 granitoid
(K)* 31ø47.83' 115ø21.22' NDA 2120 05816 20972 32508 15ø 0.4
D221-2' P-T 11 11 006 31 130 43 264 37
D222 Maishanmetamorphics 31ø 48.45' 115ø 15.15' NDA 10 09 233 02 13673 324 17 16ø 0.7
D223you granitoid
(K) 31o47.33' 115ø 14.84' NDA 17 17 059 11 18169 326 17 17ø 0.6
D224 Maishanmetamorphics 31ø 48.17' 115ø 18.05' NDA 22 21 059 70 243 20 15301 24ø 0.9
D229-1 volcanics(K?) 31ø 46.65' 114ø 53.53' P-B-T 18 17 228 10 116 64 322 24
D229-2' NDA 88 348 14 207 72 081 11 12ø 0.5
D248 red beds(K+Ter?) 31ø 02.99' 114ø 44.68' NDA 16 16 028 41 222 48 124 07 16ø 0.7
D257 red beds(K+Ter?) 31ø 58.12' 113ø 36.52' P-B-T 22 22 254 21 098 67 358 04
D259you blueschist-marble
(pre-K) 31o36.59' 113ø57.08' P-B-T 99 073 06 18071 348 18
D281-282b* limestone 29 ø 27.41' 115 ø 52.84' P-B-T 29 27 158 53 002 34 263 19
D286you basement(pre-K) 30ø22.38' 116ø 18.63' NDA 77 220 87 01603 10601 16ø 0.5
D287you basement(pre-K) 30ø37.36' 117ø51.72' P-B-T 99 16178 04006 30909
D516t volcanic
agglomerate(K) 31ø43.14' 116ø30.58' NDA 19 18 23168 036 22 12805 19ø 0.6
D5178y marble(pre-K) 32ø07.46' 114ø00.30' NDA 88 19371 28501 015 19 9ø 0.4
D520 greenschist
(pre-K) 32ø 11.70' 113ø55.80' NDA 21 20 22408 11270 316 19 20ø 0.3
D533ne marble(pre-K) 31ø56.97' 114ø38.55' P-B-T 12 12 242 02 12386 348 03
D534o volcanics(J) 31ø 57.23' 114ø 55.03' NDA 77 033 21 211 69 303 01 13ø 0.5
D534y NDA 11 11 05908 21982 32803 10ø 0.5

For methods
usedto calculatestresstensors,
seeappendix2. P-B-T, pressure-tension
method;NDA, numericdynamicanalysistechnique;
grid,gridsearch
technique.
In themeasurement
column,n, thefirstnumber
is number
of measurements,
andthesecond
number
is number
of
measurements
usedfor calculation.For ch-c•3,azimuth(first number)and plunge(secondnumber)of the principalstressaxesare given.The
stress
ratioR is (c•2-c•3)(ch-c•_3)
-! (whereI is uniaxialconfined
extension
and0 is uniaxialconfined
compression).
Thefluctuation
F givesthe
average
anglebetween
themeasured
slipandtheorientation
of thecalculated
theoretical
shearstress.
J, Jurassic;
K, Cretaceous;
E, Eocene;Ter,
Tertiary.
*Possibly
Tertiary
stress
field;therestofthestations
probably
record
lateCenozoic
faulting.
*Radiometric
datingavailable
(seeTable2).
*Unpublished
K/Arageof-130 Ma,R.G.S.Hubeistaff,personalcommunication.

et al. [1995]), are probablynormalfaultsand suggestthat Dabie and its eastern foreland south of the Jinzhai fault than
NW-SE stretching north of it.
sinistralfaultingis takenup by wholesale
withinDabie,alongthe Tan-Lu,andwithinthe easternDabie The averageNW-SE (134ø) extensiondirectionobtainedfor
the Dabie areais similarto activeNW-SE stretchingimposedby
foreland. Our mesoscalefault data north of the intersectionof the
Jinzhaiand Tan-Lu faults recorda more prominentstrike-slip the India-Asia collision onto Asian crustsouthof and along the
component, whereas purenormalfaultsseemto be confined to major sinistral central Asian strike-slipfaults (Altyn Tagh,
south of the intersection;this change in mesoscalefault Kunlun,and Qinling); it is grosslysimilaralbeitmoreE-W than
kinematicscoincides with a changein the fault character,with a Cenozoicextensionin northernChina(> 140%e.g.,grabensalong
morphologicallywelldefined, singlestrand attheeastern edgeof the northernmargin of the Ordos block; Zhang et al. [1995,
the basement rocks south of the intersection and shorter, more 1998]; Figure 2a). The documentedfaulting emphasizes the
northerlytrending,and morphologically lesswell expresseddifferencebetween strike-slip-dominated tectonicsalong the
strandsnorthof the intersection(Figures2c and2d). Altogether Qilian-Qinling-Dabie belt anddominantriftingnorthof it.
thesefeaturesmay indicatehigherextensionrateswithin the Cenozoic faulting is accompaniedby cataclasisand/or
 13,310 RATSCHBACHER ET AL.: CRETACEOUS AND CENOZOIC HONG'AN-DABIE SHAN

dilational,predominantlycalciteveiningindicativeof low- Geology University of California, Santa Barbara, node

temperature (low-T), upper crustaldeformation.
Takingthe http://www. geol.ucsb.edu/-hacker/suppleData/UHPCret).
The
vertical throw on the Tan-Lu fault and the thicknessof Tertiary
agesrangefrom 130 + 3 to 120.5 + 1.2 Ma. DS25, a common
sediments at the easternedgeof the Dabie as extremevalues, tonaliticorthogneiss,
yieldeda weightedmeanhornblendeageof
Cenozoic denudation of the Dabie Shan amounted to <5 km. 124+ 1 Ma for the high-Tdegassingincrements
comprisingmost
of the39Arreleased.
DS58,a partlymylonitized
gabbro
at the
3. CretaceousPlutons and Orthogneissesin the immediate footwall of the XMF near Mozitang, shows an
Hong'an-Dabie Mountains: Distribution, Age, internallydiscordant,humped-shaped spectrumfor hornblende
Cooling History, and Crystallization Depth and a 120.5 + 1.5 Ma plateauage for biotite; a subsetof
contiguous stepsfrom the hornblende showsa well-fit inverse
3.1. Distribution and Age isochron with an •øAr?6Arintercept
at 846 + 2, indicatingexcess
4øAr,and an age of 120.7+ 1.2 Ma. DS72, the Yuexi tonalite,
The Triassic UHP-HP units of Hong'an-Dabie comprise showshornblende andbiotiteweightedmeanagesof 130_+3 and
white-mica-rich paragneiss,
containing blocksof eclogite,marble 124 + 2 Ma, respectively.DS81, a weakly deformedtonalite
layers, hornblende-rich orthogneiss,and intermediateto acid along the southernmargin of the NOU, yielded a hornblende
meta-igneous rocks [Liou et al., 1996; Hacker et al., 1996]. plateau age of 126.7 + 1.2 Ma. Biotite from a granite near
These rocks are confined to the southern half of Dabie and to Shuihou(DS95), againfrom the southernedgeof the NOU, hasa
Hong'an.The UHP-HP rockscontrastwith a rockassemblage
in plateauage of 126.4 + 1.2 Ma. Publishedhornblendeand biotite
the northernhalf of Dabie and a similar unit in easternTongbai K/At and At/At ages (19 dates) cover 133 to 121 Ma (for
whichso far haspoorlydefinedboundaries (Figure1). We have regionaldistributionseeHacker et al. [1996, 1998] and Hacker
combinedthese rocks into the NOU [Hacker et al., 1995] and and Wang [1995]). Late Proterozoic(-650-800 Ma) sensitive
characterizeit by the following. high-resolution ion microprobe(SHRIMP) zirconcoreandupper
1. Rock assemblage. The NOU containspyroxenite,gabbro, intercept thermal ionisation mass spectrometry(TIMS) ages
diorite,tonalite,trondhjemite,granodiorite,granite,syenite,and indicatemagmacontaminationby Yangtze cratoncrust [Hacker
their deformed equivalents (orthogneisses);intermediate- et al., 1998; Rowley et al., 1997; Ames et al., 1996]. The 245-
composition rockspredominate over mafic and rare ultramafic 220 Ma Sm/Nd ages of the rare basementrocksrecorda relict
rocks [e.g., dahn et al., 1999]. The massivemigmatiticand Triassic metamorphism[Li et al., 1993; Okay et al., 1993] of
magmaticrockslack white mica. They intrudean ultramafic+ probable UHP [Tsai and Liou, 2000]. Jahn et al. [1999],
mafic + carbonatebasementsequencewhich comprises<5% of however,showedthat someof theseagesmay have to be revised
theNOU. Multiple intrusionsequences arecommon. and that the majority of the ultramafic/maficrocks were most
2. Structuralsetting.In Dabiethe plutonicsystemof theNOU probablyemplacedover the sameEarly Cretaceous time period
is delimited along its northern boundary by the Xiaotian- as the more felsic rocks.NegativeeNd(T) values,unradiogenic
Mozitangfault (XMF, Figure 1); its southernboundaryis a less feldsparPb isotopiccompositions, and a tight rangeof moder-
well defined, deformed intrusive zone. There, rocks are ately radiogenicISr valuesof the late Mesozoicigneousrocks
commonlymigmatitic, injected by multiple dike and stock (from ultramaficto granitic)from Dabie suggestthat they are
sequences,
and are overprintedby synmagmaticto postmagmatic most likely derived by remelting of ancient lower continental,
normal shear. Penetrative deformation of the NOU was by probablyYangtzecrust[Chenand Jahn, 1998], or lower crustal
subhorizontal
extensionandwrenching(Hackeret al. [1995] and contaminationof a mantlemelt [Jahnet al., 1999].
section4.). 4. Intrusion-deformation relationship.Orthogneisses, grani-
3. Age. Uncleformed igneousrocksof the NOU havezircon toids, and aplite dikes are widespreadin the NOU, whereas
agesof 129.1 + 2.6 to 125.6 + 0.3 Ma (numberof dates,n=3), migmatitesare relativelyrare despitefrequentassertions to the
and orthogneisses yielded slightlyolder zirconagesof 136.8 + contrary.Becauseof the intensityof gneissification,
in particular
5.1 to 128.2+ 2.2 Ma (n=7, Figure3a; Hackeret al. [1998],Xue along the XMF, it is difficult to unambiguouslydistinguish
et al. [1997], and Zhang and Sun [1990]). Cooling ages are syntectonic from pretectonic intrusions. Figure 3c depicts
Cretaceous aswell. We datedfour plutonsandoneorthogneiss of schematicallythe metamorphism-intrusion-deformation relation-
the NOU suite using the •øAr/3'•Armethodon hornblendeand shipsof theNOU. Plutonsinterpretedassyntectonic showoneor
biotite (Tables2 and 3, Figures3b and 4a; •øAr/3'•Ar data are severalof the following criteria: (1) At outcropscale, crystal-
availablefrom the World Wide Web serverfor the Departmentof plastic structuresat the pluton margin grade into hypersolidus

Figure3. (a) ReliableCretaceous U/Pbzirconand4øAr?9Ar hornblendeagesfromorthogneissesandplutons of theDabie-Hong'an-

Tongbai area.DataarefromHackeretal. [1998],Xueetal. [1997],Amesetal. [1996],ZhangandSun[1990],dahnetal. [1999],and
thisstudy.b) Summary of new4øAr?9Ar agesof theDabieShan.Agesarefromthisstudy(Tables2 and3) andthosesummarized by
Hackeret al. [1998]anddahnet al. [1999].(c) Schematic metamorphism-intrusion-deformation
relationshipof the NorthernOr-
thogneiss unit.(d)Intrusion depthsandisobarcontours of intermediatecalc-alkaline
plutons
andorthogneisses of theDabieShan,cal-
culatedusingthecalibration of Schmid[1992]of the Al-in-homblende geobarometer(Table4 of thisstudyanddataof Ma et al.
[2000])combined withP estimates by Zhanget al. [1996]usingtheamphibole-plagioclasemethod of BlundyandHolland[1990].
FoliationtrajectoriesaredrawnafterdatafromR.G.S.Anhui[1975,1987]andR.G.S.Hubei[1990]andourownobservations. Princi-
palextension direction is fromdatasummarized in Figure6. (e) Cretaceous
thermalevolutionof theDabie-Hong'an-Tongbai area.
Eachmapshows a particular
timesliceandincludes therawU/PbandAr/Ar data,aswellasisotherms thataredrawnto represent
roughly 600øC(between zirconandhornblende), 400øC(between hornblende
andmica),275øC(between micaandK-feldspar cool-
ing),and250øC(between K-feldspar cooling
andK-feldspar reheatingages).
ForK-feldsparsweshowinitialcooling to<275øC witha
normalsymbol, laterreheatingto 200ø-250øCwithsolidcircles, andK-feldsparsbelow200øCat a giventimeslicewithopencircles.
Agesusedarethoseof Figures3aand3b andof Webbet al. [1999a]andZhaiet al. [1998].
 RATSCHBACHER ET AL.' CRETACEOUS AND CENOZOIC HONG'AN-DABIE SHAN 13,311

B N
A

145•0 zircon
orthogneisses - •.• •. • • '3.'•. •,o,•'•V•>V '

140 i:i ircon

granitoids
• -;::?J:::
i;-:(..:::•
:I I0km
fi•
KI50/135 H

:,,.... ..•-• ...... :•:.• K 30It •05t1501•

•2st
'"......
'••!
' ..•'•iW',•i
•::,.::..• •'"'"'?•'•:'
•'"
'"•* '""'•
hornblende
t2o
t •;q'•':--,*o.'-•-•..
--••...½hs•.
ß ß-.-. number
of
data
Cretaceous
•anitoids........ rplagioclase
E•ene sediment• r•ks K: 40•/39• K-felSpar
B: 40Ar/39Ar biotite
M: 40Ar/39Ar K-white mica
C NW SE D
H: 40•/39• hornblende

"•.•-
•x,•
DS
12'•'•.--7
. 6.8 . DS18•'•'• DS34
Northern
Dabie
Extended
Magmatic
C• 0
brittlely
deformed
vo•c•icroc•
'-•• /.• • • •

pre-M•ozoic
•lr'
""•••••";-"•:'•1i•'
'"""'"'
'"'•' 'ø •' ' e' ...• , • ;. -,,',• .•_•4.2 , <.',,•-'
10 km

detachment
XMF
fault
• ' "• :•½
...... . ....--""!,.... ......

. '!'"
..•..•?.,• .,,.,;,.•,. ,.;.... •.., _ 4.8
Maet
•-•-•
'•••••}•":
••'•2J•i•??f
•Zhang
et
al.[1996]
-. :. /

Al-in-hbl (</
/ •/•/
ß
pre-Cre•ceous
ultrama•c
+mafic
+carbonate
b•ementsequ•ce,mi•atite
•20• principal
extension
direction •"%"•
......
granulite,
UHPrelicts
Cretaceous
•anstensional
flow foliation
andfoliation
trajectories

E oextant
K-feldspar
<200øCßK-feldspar
reheated
to200-250øC
Ki2•
"•oo.c ,,, "•--.D_•--" - J -!c!• t. •P-/.'• ,,o
Z: zircon

H: hornblende(Ar/Ar)

M: muscovite(Ar/Ar)
137-130 Ma B: biotite (Ar/Ar)

h: hornblende(K/At)

250øC m: muscovite(K/Ar)

b: biotite(K/Ar)

K: K-feldspar(At/At)

p: plagioclase
(Ar/Ar)

• *
principal
extension
direction
Cretaceoustranstensionalflow
 Cretaceous
plutons,orthogneisses,
andwallrocksof theDabieShan
.................................

i biotite 145- DS161 Luotiangabbro

hornblende
145 145

NO- 140

135-
•. 135.,

'-- 130i DS95

Shuihou
graniteWMPA=
126.4+
!.2
i l30-
•) 125-
hornblende
I i i30
135 DS81Tuanling

..........
•W•A
tonalitc

126.74-1.2
Ma
<. 125
120-
WMA=
122.0-]:1.2
Ma•_ r-- •125 DS25 Qingshan
orthogneiss
WMA 1244-1 Ida
ß, 120•
< 115.
DSI66
Xishui
granitic
gneiss •' 115- 1o le
•'115
IIO-
il0

105
IO5- WMA-117.5:1:1:;
Ma IIO
........ . ..... __+_ .... , ........
cumulative
•
•9Ar .
• ......... + ......... +....... • ___-•
.....
..................
lative'•Ar [ 105 cumulatlvel9Ar
O I 0
0 I
.........
2OO
DS72 Yuexl tonalitc DS41 contactmetamorphosed
Fozlimg
, DS58 MOZltanggabbro 145
145.

140. 140.

• hornblende
(see
isochron
below)
hornblende
135.
135- WMA= 130+3

130.
125.
120-
130- 125.
120.
biotite
TFA-- 124+3 Ma
115. • biotite 115

II0- _J WMPA=
120.5:t:1.2
Mn IIO

105. 105.
cumulative•9Ar cumulative
a9Ar
i • i • -

0 o
o

SouthernTongbaishearzone Plutons in fold-thrust belt

0.002
[hornblende
DS58
Mozitang
gnbbro
MSWD = 2.40 (< 2.41)
Age"120.7+l.2 I•
orthogneiss south of Dabie Shan
D260b
orthogneiss !
• [ 1401
,

150
t'
o.ooli
'""•--- WMA
=130.6
+1.3
Ma ! "'"'" 12o4- i D270a
biotite
WMPA= 142.8+ !.4 Ma

..... ..•, ',.............. '_"'-•

i i ioi b•otite

. '...... },ooli...... TFA = 105 + 3 Ma

•,,o.i,•__•-•V
• ',1; D266b
biotite
TFA=134.8
4-1.3
Ma

0 000- 70
' 950 530 375 280 230 2• 170 150 135 120 I10
60
cumulative cumulative
•9Ar .
....•-..... • • • .... r...... ,- - • --,-
0 0 I

Late Cretaceous
UHP unit amphiboliteandparagneiss
strike-slipshearzone
O.004
1hornblende DSI 13amphibolite
in UHP paragneiss
145
i ................
•'••45.•.•
0;07--..... 90 D253b
biotite
TFA--84Ia08Ma

03b'
••o•
t't • tgne•a•
t't
ii35 DSIO3
b' o '•ss:WMA-
13-
I:l:-9•._J• i 775Ma 1D'56'-I
- c-cr• d-;'•-
'='80
i/ i ~c

0.0021 130
• DS98
125
muscovh
d• =0.7
120

•!15
!10

0.0011
00. •
ß
Ca/K
=2.4
l 770 425 295 225 180
In (I + FJ)/k(Ma)
150 130 ! 15 105 95
105
o
cumulative
0 I

K-feldsparcoolinghistory
120
130
.... DSI0iD7).
NOU-orthognelss.
W•fOingshan DS26(DI6). NOU. granitedike DS71(D46). NOt/Yuexl granite

120 • .,
125

'•l10
r_..r.=f---
120

interpretation:
reheated
at 120-110Ma interpretation:
initialcooling
at I 19Ma,reheated
atc 100Ma 1• intcrproatloninitialcoolingat 109Ma. reheated
at c 95 Ma

lI0•0-..........................................
cumulanv½ 39At released so0 ............. •'.;;iaSi;e
39^• 900 cumtdativc 39At released •

130 r
130
--•)S76(D56),
NOU
Tuanling
granite DS160(DI07),Luotiangranitein UHP-umt

125 120Jr
• D22 I, northernDahe foreland,gramtenearShangcheng

120

IIC
0
interpretation:
initialcooling
at 121Ma,reheated
atc I IOMa
cumulative 39At released
interpretation:
coolingat 117Ma
cumulative
39At
rdeased interpretation:
initial
cooling
at
!28
Ma.
reheated
at
c.
90
Ma
cumulative 39At released

Figure4. (a)New4øAr/39Ar
spectra.
SeeTable2 forsample location
andTable3 foragedataandinterpretations.
Weighted
mean ages
(WMA)andweighted meanplateau
ages(WMPA)werecalculated usingshadedsteps.
TFA,totalfusionage.Uncertainities
arel cv.
"Atm."in theinverseisochron
diagramsisthe36Ar/4øhrof theatmosphere
(1/295.5).
K-feldspars
areinterpreted
semi-quantitatively
afterthemulti-diffusion-domain
concept
[Loveraetal. 1997].MSWD,mean squareweighteddeviation.
(b)Diffusion-domain
analysis
of metamorphic
K-feldspars:
spectra
andquantitative
analyses.
 RATSCHBACHER ET AL.: CRETACEOUS AND CENOZOIC HONG'AN-DABIE SHAN 13,313

•e• (u)auan
. e4
(u•) aua!•

(t•lAI)
o• lu•uddt•
_

• o•/, •o I o,/, •o I
 13,314 RATSCHBACHER ET A.L.: CRETACEOUS AND CENOZOIC HONG'AN-DABIE SHAN

Table 2. SampleDescriptionsandLocations
Sample Stop Rock N Latitude E Longitude
DS10 D7 orthogneiss westof Qingshan,NOU 31027.85' 115054.70'
DS25 D16 greygneiss,NOU 31018.03' 115056.09'
DS26 D16 graniticlayer in NOU 31ø18.03' 115ø56.09'
D32 D32 detritalK-feldsparUpperCretaceous K2x(XiafuqiaoFormation)redbed 31ø21.53' 116ø22.17'
DS41 D28 contactmetamorphosed Foziling 31ø47.85' 115ø14.75
DS58 D37 hornblende biotitegabbronearMozitang,NOU 31o14.34' 116020.39'
DS71 D46 granitewith weak foliationnearYuexi, NOU 31ø04.48' 116ø30.04'
DS72 D47 biotite hornblendetonalitenearYuexi, NOU 30ø55.18' 116ø22.11'
DS76 D56 weaklyfoliatedgranitoidnearTuanling,NOU 30048.37' 116ø04.47'
DS81 D57 weaklydeformedhbl-biotonalitenearTuanling,NOU 30049.23' 116004.42'
DS95 D71 biotitegranitealongYuexi-Shuihoutransect, NOU 30ø42.47' 116ø23.26'
DS98 D71 UHP paragneiss alongYuexi-Shuihoutransect 30ø42.47' 116ø23.26'
DS 101 D74 qtz-bio-kspvein in UHP paragneiss westof Qianshan 30ø40.04' 116ø29.13'
DS 103 D74 biotitesegregation in UHP paragneiss westof Qianshan 30040.04' 116ø29.13'
DS106 D75 bio-ksp-qtzsegregation in UHP gneissNW of Shima 30ø32.48' 116ø17.01'
DS113 D75 amphibolitein paragneiss NW of Shima,UHP unit 30ø32.48' 116ø17.01'
DS120 D76 bio-ksp-qtz-sph-ep vein in UHP gneiss 30029.33' 116ø18.14'
DS123 D79 graniticorthogneiss southofQueyeling,I-IPunit 30ø24.18' 116ø07.16'
DS148 D92 orthogneiss in UHP unit 30053.98' 115ø45.15'
DS160 D107 kspgranitenearLuotian,UHP-HP unit 30ø47.21' 115037.55'
DS161 D109 gabbronearLuotian,UHP-HP unit 30046.75' 115025.45'
DS166 Dl13 graniticgneiss,HP unit 30ø23.40' 115ø11.01'
DS167 D114 latebrittlelydeformedgraniticdike,HP unit 30ø26.01' 115ø11.48'
D201b D201 graniticorthogneiss alongTan-Lu,eastemforeland 31ø28.42' 117ø22.69'
D220a D220 detritalK-feldsparPaleocene E 1h (HongqiaoFormation)redbeds 31ø28.38' 116034.75'
D221 D221 granitenearShangcheng, northernforeland 31047.78' 115021.52'
D266b D266 metadiorite,southernforeland 30ø13.13' 114054.33'
D270a D270 alkalicpluton,southernforeland 29ø59.91' 114050.25'
NOU, NorthernOrthogneiss unit;UHP, ultrahighpressure;
HP, highpressure;
hbl, hornblende;
bio, biotite;qtz, quartz;ksp,K-feld-
spar;sph,sphene;ep, epidote.

fabrics within its core. Gneissic tectonites, mylonites, and
ultramylonitesare absent in the core; there is, however, a
geometricconcordance betweenthe structuresin the marginal
orthogneiss andthosein the orientedcoreintrusion.(2) Foliation
is defined by shape preferredorientationof plagioclase,K-
feldspar, biotite clots, and hornblende(if present). Quartz
aggregatesare weakly elongate,and deformationbands and
unduloseextinctionare rare despitetheir locallystrongpreferred
orientation.Isohedral triple junctions and plane boundaries
suggesthigh-T deformation.(3) Automorphicperthiticortho-
clase is surroundedby a fine-grainedmatrix of xenomorphic
quartz and albite/orthoclaseand sometimescracksand strain
shadows are filled with the matrix material. Those associations
havebeendescribedas crystalmush[Hibbard, 1987' Bouchezet
al. 1992]. Theseobservations suggestthat the fabric of at least
some plutonsat the core of the NOU were formed before
completesolidification.
Cretaceousplutonsand Cretaceousmetamorphism do occur
outsidethe NOU, e.g., withinthe UHP andHP unitsbothin the
DabieandHong'anMountainsandwithintheforeland[e.g.,Eide
et al., 1994; Hacker et al., 1996, this issue;Hacker and Wang,
1995].Zirconsof undeformed granitesgaveagesof 130 + 3 Ma
(UHP unit; Hacker et al. [1998]) and 132 + 10 Ma (eastern
Tongbai;Ameset al. [1996]). We dateda graniticgneissandone
gabbrofrom within the Dabie HP amphibolite unit usingthe
4"Ar?9Armethodon hornblende andbiotite(Figures3b and4a
and Tables2 and 3). Gabbroicxenolithsin a catazonalgranite
(DS161) yieldedweightedmeanagesof 122 +_1.2 Ma and 117.5
+_1.1 Ma for hornblendeandbiotite,respectively.Biotitefrom a
graniticgneiss(DS166) from the southernmarginof Dabiegave
a 120.4 _ 1.2 plateauage. Biotite from a granitein the central
Hong'an yielded 128.3 + 0.3 Ma [Eide et al., 1994]. Two sam-
plesfrom paragneisses of the UHP unit gavebiotiteand musco-
vite agesindicatingCretaceous cooling,as did a hornblendeage
from a HP amphibolite(Tables2 and 3 and Figures3b and 4a).
The phengitespectrumfrom DS98 includesa plateauage of
129.4+ 1.3 Ma, boundedby 1ow-Tstepsdecreasing toward122
Ma and high-T stepsthat point toward-145 Ma. We interpret
this spectrumto be compatiblewith the otherdata:initial closure
at > 145 Ma, long-termAr lossat 129 Ma, andshort-termreheat-
ing at -122 Ma. DS103 comprisesa biotitefrom a segregation
vein closeto the Tan-Lu fault at the easternage of the Dabie
Shan;it yielded a weightedmean age of 131 + 2 Ma. DS113
hornblendeyieldeda crankshaft-shaped spectrumsuggesting ex-
cessAr. An isotopecorrelationdiagramsuggests mixing among
three components:an old, higher Ca/K componentwith an ap-
parent age of-280 Ma; a young, lower Ca/K componentof
-108.5 Ma; and atmosphere.We proposethat the 108.5+ 5.5 Ma
age reflectsreheatingof pre-Cretaceous hornblende in this HP
amphibolite.
A belt of Cretaceousmagmaticrocksstraddlesthe northern
margin of both the Dabie and Hong'an Shan [Hacker et al.,
1996; Webbet al., 1999a]. Randomlyorientedmuscovitefrom a
contactmetamorphicgneiss(Foziling Group)yieldedan Ar loss
(?) profile from -150 to 120 Ma (DS41, Tables 2 and 3 and
Figure 4a). In addition,plutonsdot the forelandfold-thrustbelt
southand eastof the Dabie Shan[Hackeret al., 1996]. We dated
biotitefrom two plutonsfrom the fold-thrustbelt southof Dabie
(Tables2 and 3 andFigure4a). The spectraare discordant, with
weightedmeanagesof 142.8 + 2 and 134.8 + 1.3 Ma (D266b
and D270a). These forelandcoolingagesare thus similarto or
olderthanthe oldestzirconagesfromtheNOU.
 RATSCHBACHER ET AL.' CRETACEOUS AND CENOZOIC HONG'AN-DABIE SHAN 13,315

Table3. Summary
of4øAr/39Ar
Data
K-Feldspar
Sample Mineral J Weight GrainSize Interpretation
mg gm

DS10 ksp 0.003635 5.9 400 initial coolingpriorto 125Ma; reheatingandcoolingat 115+ 10 Ma
DS26 ksp 0.003683 9.7 400 initial coolingat 119 + 1 Ma; reheatingand coolingat 100 + 10 Ma
DS71 ksp 0.004614 7.2 400 initial coolingat 109 +_1 Ma; reheatingandcoolingat 95 + 10 Ma
DS76 ksp 0.003648 8.9 400 initial coolingat 120.6 + 1.2 Ma; reheatingandcoolingat 110 + 10 Ma
DS101* initial coolingpriorto 175 Ma; reheatingandcoolingat 140 + 10 and90 + 10 Ma
DS106* nitial coolingpriorto 170 Ma; reheatingandcoolingat 90 + 20 Ma
DS 120* initial coolingpriorto 190 Ma; reheatingandcoolingat 90 + 10 Ma
DS123' initial coolingat -205 Ma; reheatingat 150 + 10 Ma andcoolingat 90 +_10 Ma
DS148 ksp 0.003622 9.5 400 intial coolingpriorto 150 Ma; reheatingandcoolingat 110 + 10 Ma
DS 160 ksp 0.004468 7.1 400 coolingat 116 Ma
DS 167 ksp 0.003583 10.1 400 coolingfrom 130 + 5 Ma to 115 + 5 Ma
D201b ksp 0.004586 10.9 400 coolingfrom 119 + I Ma to 116 + 1 Ma
D221 ksp 0.004589 5.0 400 intial coolingfrom 128 + 1 Ma; reheatingandcoolingat 90 + 10 Ma
D244b* initial coolingpriorto 175 Ma; reheatingandcoolingat 150 + 20 and 120 + 10 Ma
D247a* initial coolingpriorto 150 Ma; reheatingandcoolingat 135 + 15 and95 _+10 Ma
D249c* initial coolingprior to 170 Ma, reheating•l.l......
lU J V

D256A? ksp 0.004591 4.8 400 initial coolingpriorto 90 Ma; reheatingandcoolingat 75 + 10 Ma

D260C? ksp 0.004572 7.7 400 initial coolingprior to 120 Ma; reheatingandcooling80 + 10 Ma
Mica and Hornblende

Sample Mineral J WeightGrainSizeTotalFusion IsochronMSWD 4øAft36ArWeighted

Mean Steps 39Ar
mg gm Age, Ma Age, Ma Age, Ma Used Used

DS25 hbl 0.003408 5.9 250 125.7 + 1.2 122.5 + 2.2 12 397 + 256 124 + 1:1: 7-10/! 1 85
DS41 mus 0.004143 1 200 130.7 + 2.4
DS58 hbl 0.004482 15 350 132.7 + 1.3 120.7 + 1.2:[: 2.4 846 + 21 na 7-12/18 57
bio 0.004603 1.0 150 120.0 + 1.2 120.4 + 1.2 1.0 323 + 25 120.5 + 1.2•:õ 4-16/17 8O
DS72 bio 0.004615 2.0 250 123.9 + 1.2 na na na 124 + 2•:õ 1-7/7 100
hbl 0.004506 38 400 129.6 + 1.3 na na na 130 + 3•: 1-11/11 100
DS81 hbl 0.003415 9.5 250 127.6 + 1.2 126.7 + 1.2 2.0 300 + 22 126.7 + 1.2:1:õ 6-10/10 81
DS95 bio 0.004603 2.3 350 125.7 + 1.2 126.3 + 1.2 3.4 310+15 126.4 + 1.2•:õ 5-11/12 82
DS98 mus 0.004596 2.1 175 130.0 + 1.3
DS103 bio 0.004606 1.7 250 130.3 + 1.3 na na na 131 + 2$ 2-15/17 95
DS113 hbl 0.003725 37 400 194.7 + 1.9 --100 + 10 na na na na na

DS161 hbl 0.004537 42 400 123.2 +_1.2 na na na 122 + 2•: 11-22/22 81

bio 0.004607 2.5 350 117.0+ 1.1 117.7 + 1.1 2.6 292.3 +0.8 117.5 + 1.1•: 3-17/17 98
DS166 bio 0.003676 3.6 200 120.9 +_1.2 120.4 + 1.2 1.3 284 + 40 120.4 + 1.2•:õ 8-20/22 68
D253b bio 0.004004 2.5 400 84.1 + 0.8 na na na na
D256c-1 ? wr 0.004572 5.5 na 79.6 + 0.8:• 76.3 + 0.8 1.0 799 + 27 na 5-12/19 45
D256c-27 wr 0.004582 14.3 na 78.4 + 0.8:• 74.9 + 0.8 1.6 1155 + 38 na 7-16/23 35
D260b2 mus 0.004000 2.4 300 130.1 + 1.3 na na na 130.6 _+1.3:!:õ 7-19/21 84
bio 0.003993 4.1 300 !02.1 +_1.0 na na na 104.5 _+1.0:1:õ 3-14/17 79
D260c'• bio 0.004569 1.8 400 68.9 + 0.7 na na na 75 +_5•:õ 2-12/14 62
D266b bio 0.004022 4.1 200 134.8 + 1.3•: na na na 137.5 + 5 3-13/13 97
D270a bio 0.004027 2.0 400 142.2 + 1.4 141.5 + 1.9 2.3 703 + 361 142.8 + 2:1:õ 11-13/13 53

J is theirradiationparameter;
MSWD is themeansquareweighteddeviation[Wendtand Carl, 1991], whichexpresses
thegoodness
of fit of
theisochron
[Roddick,
1978];isochron
andweighted
mean
plateau
ages
arebased
ontemperature
steps
andfraction
(inpercent)
of39Atlisted
in the lasttwo columns.Abbreviationsare as follows:hbl, hornblende;
bio, biotite;mus,K-white mica;wr, wholerock pseudotachylite;
na,
notanalysed.
Complete
tabulated
4ømr/39Ar
dataareavailable
fromtheDepartment
ofGeological
Sciences,
University
of California,
Santa
Barbara,at http://www.geo1.ucsb.edu/- hackefts
uppleData/UHPCret.
*Reportedby Hacker et al. [thisissue].
?Reported by Webbet al. [1999a].
•"1oss"profilefrom -150 to 120 Ma.
II"1oss"
profilefrom -140 to 120 Ma.
{}Weightedmeanplateauage,ratherthanweightedmeanage.
:•Preferredage.

3.2. CoolingHistory cal cooling histories. Only three K-feldspar samplesyielded

spectrasuitablefor full diffusion-domainanalysis(Tables2 and
We derivedregionalcoolingpatternsby contouring closure 3 and Figure 4b). DS148, an orthogneisswithin the UHP unit,
temperatures of variousminerals(Figure3e). In Figure 5a we thoughprobablyaffectedby excess4øArin the intermediate tem-
relatethe coolingpatternto the structuralgeometry. Datingof peraturesteps,was fit by historieswith coolingto near-surface
severalmineralsfromthe sameoutcrop(Figure5b) and4øAr?9Ar conditionsfrom pre-Cretaceousagesat 140 + 10 Ma, followed
multi-diffusion-domain modelingin K-feldspar(Figure4; Lovera by reheatingat 110 + 5 Ma. DS167, a late, brittlely deformed
et al., [1997];seeappendix1 for analyticaldetails)providedlo- graniticdike within the HP unit in the southernDabie, also did
13,316 RATSCHBACHER
ET AL.: CRETACEOUS
AND CENOZOICHONG'AN-DABIESHAN

A B
N S
DS58(37) XMF

o?•700
••2ø1•
• ] 1001///

II _ •25-120Ma .....

300
t0 1015•0 2[510• 3•5
120
116
Ma 1560
dO'd5 o,.. ,io ' ' ' .... ,io....
XMF SouthernBoundaryof NOU Tan-Lu •-26(16) [_
Present-day
cross-sectional
distance
(km) : CentralNOH

••:• 60
,'+'
2••'
Age(Ma)
0

•• Reheating
13•0
I•00
( .... •
135

•'•t• • y / O7•--20kmBoundary
NOU
Southern

D 6 /
• 100-75
Ma
synkinematicages
////37
50//"
[--,l reheatingages 30O

Age(Ma)

DS161-163
o•'7002
(109-1
-- 16kin
.0
....unit
0)UHP
1•.... lI0
SE

44!•
•4
50O
D247aK-feldspar
4O0
averagecoolingcurve

300

0
200 •
I
80 90 100 •-l•10 120
faultgougealongtheTan-Lu -•
130 140 transtension,
150Age(Ma)
'•---•lastsm•stral XMF
i faultingTongbai gneissfficat•onNOU
Age(Ma)
i10 120 130

Figure 5. (a)Relationship
ofcooling
agestothestructural
geometry
alongaN-Sprofileacross
theDabieShande-
rivedfromFigure 3e.(b)Localcooling
andreheatingof samples
arrangedalonga N-Sprofile
across
theDabie
Shan.Data(seeTable3, thisstudy,
andzirconagesfromHackeretal.[1998])
arefromseveral
minerals
fromthe
same
ornearby
outcrops.
(c)Summary
ofreheating
ages
mostly
based
on4øAr/39Ar
diffusion-domain
modeling
inK-
feldspar,
see
Table
3 and
Figure
4fordata.
(d)Histogram
ofreheating
ages
(see
Figure
5candTable
3,including
Cretaceous
ages
frompre-Cretaceous
UHP-HProcks)
compared
withsynkinematic
ages
(U/Pb
zircon
ages
ofthe
NOUgneisses;
ages
from
pseudotachylites
andlow-Tshear/fault
zones).
Forinterpretation
ofagerange
see
text.
 RATSCHBACHER ET AL.: CRETACEOUS AND CENOZOIC HONG'AN-DABIE SHAN 13,317

notyielda simplespectrum,
butwasfit by monotonic
cooling cooling of its roof was precededby reheatingof a UHP-HP
from 130 + 5 Ma to 115 + 5 Ma. The fit to the spectrumfor paragneiss.Assumingthat a regionalincreasein thermalgradient
DS201,a graniticorthogneissfromthe eastern Dabieforeland, is crucialfor the initiation of large-scalecrustalextensionin the
appearsto bepoor,buttherangeof agesis small,120to 115Ma, Dabie (see section4.) and that crustalextensionfocusedmagma-
implyingcoolingat thistime.Thoremaining eightK-feldsparstism within the NOU, the time of reheatingin the UHP unitspro-
weremodeled (Figure4a andTable3). Theycanbe vides an estimate of the onset of Cretaceous deformation. Hacker
qualitatively
brokenintotwo groups:samples depictingan initialcoolingfol- et al. 's [this issue]diffusion-domainmodelingof five K-feldspar
lowedby reheatingandsamples for whichthe spectraare com- samplesfrom the UHP-HP unit (see summaryin Table 3) sug-
patiblewithmonotonic
cooling. gestsan upperboundof 140 + 10 Ma. (2) The UHP/HP unitsand
Fromthe zirconthroughK-feldspardatawe derivethe fol- the NOU were reheatedat 120-110 Ma; no deformationhas spe-
lowingcoolinghistory:(1) Plutonism beganin thecentralnorth- cifically beentied to this time frame (Figure 5d). (3) At 90-100
ern Dabie at 137-134 Ma as indicatedby zirconages;it contin- Ma, reheatingwas localized in the easternand westernDabie,
ued in roughlythe samearea through125-127 Ma. The particularlyalongthe Tan-Lu andprobablyalsoalongthe Shang-
40Ar/39Ar agesdefinea thermaldomearound these
zircon ages. Ma fault. This time corresponds to a majorfaultingepisodealong
At this time the northernand southernmarginsof the Dabie- the Tan-Lu (90-110 Ma, mean 98 Ma, datingon fault gougeil-
Hong'anareawereattemperatures <250øC,andthiswasthelast lite, Shandongprovince[Chen et al., 1989]). (4) The southern
time that the UHP rockswere at temperatures >300øC(Figure Tongbai showsinitial coolingprior to 90 and 120 Ma, followed
3e).(2) Thepost-125 Ma timeslicesof Figure3e showsubse- by an event at 75-84 Ma (Table 3 and Webbet al. [1999a]). The
quentdecayof thethermaldome,withnomajorchanges through latter event was probably deformation related, as pseudo-
•-115 Ma, at which time final coolingfrom the 140-125 Ma tachylitesoccuralong a NW trendingfault zone.
thermaleventwasrecordedby K-feldspars
(Figure3a andTable
3). (3) Theisotherms
trendat highangleto theprincipal
exten- 3.3. Crystallization Depths
sion direction of Cretaceouscrustalextension(see section4.);
thusmagmatism and coolingwere controlled by deformation Intrusion depthsof 16 intermediate calcalkaline
plutonsand
(Figure3e).(4) TheXMF imposed themajorcontroloncooling, orthogneisses
of theDabieShanwerecalculated usingthecali-
but the zone of normal shear at the southernboundaryof the brations
of Hollisteret al. [1987]andSchmidt[1992]of theA1-
NOU (seesection 4.1.)andtheTan-Lualsoaffected cooling.The in-hornblende(Al-in-hbl)geobarometer (Table 4). Figure3d
structuraleffectvanishedafter 120 Ma (Figure5a). The cooling shows
theregional
distribution
of ourdataandthose
ofMa etal.
along the XMF startedlate (<128 Ma), and was rapid [2000],alsoderivedusingSchmidt's[1992]calibration,
and
(>50øC/Ma)and particularly pronounced at 120 Ma (DS58). pressure
(P) contours
obtained
usinga krigingtechnique;
sepa-
Coolingin the centralNOU startedearly(•-135Ma), wasslow ratecontourscombinethesedatawith P estimates
by Zhanget al.
(-•30øC/Ma),and lasteda longtime (>25 Ma); it was earliest [1996]usingtheamphibole-plagioclase method of Blundyand
alongthe southern borderof the NOU (Figure5b). (5) Low-T Holland[1990].Because of the limitedavailabilityof suitable
thermochronometers,particularlyK-feldspars,
indicateregional rocksandthe regionallyunevensampling, onlytrendscanbe
reheatingto <300øCthroughout the Hong'an-Dabie(Figures5c specified:
(1) Pressures
decrease toward thecenter andthenorth-
and d). Reheatingcan be brokeninto severalevents:(1) The eastern
marginof theNOU. (2) The rocksof theNOU wereex-
UHP-HP unitsof the Hong'an-Dabiewere reheatedat 130-150 humedfrom an averagedepthof 18 km (5.1 kbar,assuming a
Ma; thiseventpeakedwithintheNOU asthe 140-125Ma ther- rockdensityof 2800kg/m3 andusingtheAl-in-hbldataonly).
mal event.Figure5b (lowermost
plot:UHP unit)showsfor the Assuming thattheNOU rocksreached -5 kmdepth(-200øC)at
southeastern
Dabie that intrusionof a Cretaceousgranite and •-115Ma, theywereexhumed by anaverage of-l.0 mm/yrsince

Table 4. Hornblende
Barometry
of Cretaceous
Orthogneisses
andGranitoids
DS Analyses
A1Atomspfu P* P•' i/ePresence Rock
12 15 2.05 ñ 0.04 6.8 6.8 i partialmelt
18 20 1.76ñ 0.04 5.4 5.2 maficblock
20 21 1.68 ñ 0.04 5.0 4.7 i dioritic gneiss
25 28 1.58ñ 0.03 4.5 4.2 i genericgreygneiss
30 14 1.73 ñ 0.03 5.2 5.0 i foliatedtonalite
31 21 1.88ñ 0.02 5.9 5.8 i Yanzihetonalite
34 11 1.97ñ 0.06 6.4 6.3 partialmelt
56 14 1.49 ñ 0.06 4.1 3.7 Mozitangaugengneiss
58 19 1.76ñ 0.05 5.4 5.2 Mozitangtonalite
64 9 1.50 ñ 0.04 4.1 3.7 tonalite
67 13 1.51 ñ 0.05 4.2 3.8 gneiss
72 9 1.76 ñ 0.07 5.4 5.2 Yuexi granite
81 20 1.79 ñ 0.03 5.5 5.3 i tonalite
161 16 1.52 ñ 0.02 4.3 3.9 i Luotiantonalite
166 14 2.44 ñ 0.02 8.6 9.0 e tonalite
167 16 2.22 ñ 0.06 7.6 7.8 e graniticdike

DS,samplename;Analyses,
numberof analyses;AI Atoms
pfu,AI atoms
performula unit.All samples
contain
K-feldspar,
plagioclase,
quartz,
biotite,sphene,
andmagnetite.
Herei, ilmenite
present;e, igneous
epidotepresent.
*Pressure(P) in kbarafterSchmidt[1992].
•'Pressure
(P) in kbarafterHollisteret al. [1987].
 13,318 RATSCHBACHER ET AL.: CRETACEOUS AND CENOZOIC HONG'AN-DABIE SHAN

peak intrusionactivity at 133 Ma. (3) The orientationof the iso- asymmetricboudinageand strain shadows,rotatedremnantsof
bars(Figure3d) corresponds fracturedminerals, and shearedminerals [e.g., Simpsonand
well to that of the isotherms,espe-
cially to thoseof the 130-125Ma frame(Figure3e), andthe iso- Schmid, 1983]. Deformationpath and flow temperatureinter-
barstrendsubparallel to the XMF. (4) Cretaceous pretations of quartz crystallographicpreferred orientations
plutonsin the
UHP/HP units were intrudedup to 15 km deeperthan in the (textures)are based on comparisonswith texturesfrom other
NOU. Maximum Cretaceous exhumation is -30 km. As the bulk deformationzoneswherethe path and the temperature havebeen
of the UHP units in which the plutonsintrudedhad cooledto established by independent criteria[e.g.,Schmidand Casey,1986;
<300øC at 170 Ma (after the Triassicexhumation;Hacker et alo BlumenJkldet al., 1986] and with textures derived from
[thisissue]),a subduction-type geothermal gradientof-10øC/km polycrystal-plasticity modelsand experimental data [e.g., Wenket
musthave prevailedafter the UHP orogenesis. (5) The trendof al., 1989; Tullis et al., 1973; Dell'Angelo and Tullis, 1989].
the isobarsis at highangleto the principalextensiondirectionof Appendix2 summarizesour approachto fault slip analysisand
Cretaceouscrustal extension. Exhumation,magmatism,and definitionof stresstensorgroupsin the brittle crustand reviews
cooling(seealsosections3.1. and3.2.) werethuscontrolledby the appliedcalculationtechniques.
Cretaceous deformation. Figure 6 plots stretchingtrajectoriesof regionalductile flow
and extension(c•3) trajectoriesfor the two mostpenetrativere-
3.4. Cooling of the Dabie Shan from Detrital Grains gionalfaultingevents,togetherwith summaryplotsof principal
in the Northern Foreland Basin stressorientations(c•1>c•2>c•3)calculatedfrom homogeneous,
single-outcrop fault striaesets(Table 5). The "relativechronol-
The extensional Hehuaibasinalongthenorthernmarginof the
ogy matrix" [Angelier,1994] diagramat the centerof Figure 6
Hong'an-Dabie contains up to 5 km of Cretaceous andup to 3
summarizes the numberof subsets for whichgeologicoverprint-
km of Eocenesedimentary rocks[Han et al., 1989]. At its
ing criteriaconstraina relativeage sequence andthusdocuments
southern margintheserockscomprise nonmetamorphic alluvial
a deformationhistory in terms of superposed regionalstress
fanandfluvialdeposits withpartlywell-rounded pebblesof> 1 m
maximumdiameter.DetritalK-feldspars fromtwo localities(D32 fields. The upper right triangle of the matrix containsall field-
and D220, Cretaceous and Eocene,respectively;Figure2c; 10 determined chronologies consistent with the classification
and30 km northof thepresent XMF outcrop), bothcomprising adopted,whereasthe lower left triangleis the domainof incom-
poorlysortedconglomerates with moderately rounded marble, patibility.For example,in 11 casesthe field data showthat ho-
gneiss, andgranitepebbles, weredatedby the4øAr/39Ar method mogeneoussubsets,representingthe regionallyconsistentstress
[Hackeret al., thisissue]. Thesource terrane wasdominated by orientationsof event2, are relativelyyoungerthanhomogeneous
rocks that cooled to <200øC between 123 and 119 Ma. These subsetscollectedin the sameoutcropsand representing the re-
agesare only slightlyolderthanthe initial K-feldsparcooling gionally consistentstressorientationsof event 1; thereare, how-
agesfromtheNOU (-118 Ma, Table3) andoverlapwith rapid ever, three inconsistentobservationsin this case.
coolingalongthe XMF (-121 Ma, Figure5b, first plot). The Cretaceousstructuresare dominantlynormaland strike-slip
agessuggestthat major exhumationalongthe XMF wasover at shearzonesand faults; by far the higheststrainwas accommo-
-120 Ma, as otherwisewe wouldexpectyoungerdetritalgrains; datedduringthe ductile flow event. The major crust-shaping
althoughwe dateda large numberof detritalgrains,the latter eventwas the formationof the magmatic-metamorphic-structural
statementneedscorroboration by additionaldating.Boththe nar- domeof the NOU undergeneralNW-SE subhorizontal extension
row agerangeof the detritalgrainsandthe coevalrapidcooling and subverticaland subordinateNE-SW contraction,with acti-
alongthe XMF imply a causallink betweenexhumation of the vationof the XMF detachment fault. The characteristic
regional
NOU andmotionalongthe XMF and,morespecifically,suggest featureis a generalclockwisechangein the orientationof the
thatrapidcoolingis relatedto heatadvectionby normalfaulting subhorizontalstrain/stressaxes;that is, extensionchangedfrom
alongthe XMF and not merelyto conductivecoolingof the early NW-SE to intermediateN-S to late, subordinately deve-
NOU. loped, NE-SW (Figure 6). Below, our descriptionfollows the
major structuralsubdivisions.

4. CretaceousReactivationof the Hong'an-Dabie 4. 1. Xiaotian-Mozitang Fault Zone

Belt: Structural Geometry and Deformation
Kinematics
The Hong'an-Dabiebelt showsCretaceous reactivation,with
penetrativefabricsrestrictedto the NOU and discretefault/shear
zones elsewherewithin the orogen. Regionally, structuresand
relatedkinematicsoutline consecutive,mostlycontinuousevents,
which are interpretedas a regionally consistentsequenceof
ductile to brittle deformation events active during regional
coolingor, more rarely, heating.Our geometric,kinematic,and
dynamicdataare summarized in Figures6-13 and Table 5 and
are basedon fieldwork and reevaluationof existinggeological
maps. Penetrative,crystal-plasticstructuresand their regional
tracingenableusto analyzetheorientation of strainassociated
with
the formationof the major structuralfeatures.Informationon the
noncoaxialcomponentof the strainhistorywas obtainedfrom
shearcriteriain the XZ plane of finite strain(X>__F>_Z,
principal
axes): schistosit•-cisaillement(S-C) and shear band fabrics,
The XMF separatesthe NOU from the northernforeland,
comprisingthe Luzhenguang, Foziling, and Meishanformations
[Hackeret al., 1996],andJurassic andCretaceous igneous rocks.
It beginsin the westernmost Dabieasa wide,NW trendingzone
of sinistraltranspression,gradeseastwardinto a generally30ø-
50ø-dipping,west trending sinistral transtensional zone, and
accommodates mostly sinistralstrike-slipshear in its eastern,
WNW trendingsegment(Figure7). In the eastit is coveredby
Eocene sedimentsor, locally, interactswith NE striking,
retrogradechlorite + epidote + quartz + albite tectonites,
mylonites,thin chlorite-richultramylonites,and brittle-ductile
faults,olderthanthe cataclasitesof the CenozoicTan-Lu(Figure
8). This complexstrike-slipdeformationwas activeduringthe
Cretaceouscooling(Figures7b and 8, D203, D205, D207 and
D209); however,no well-defined,CretaceousTan-Lu existshere.
We studiedthreesectionsacrossthe XMF (Figures7 and8);
they showthe followingcommonfeatures:(1) The detachment
 13,319
RATSCHBACHER
ETAL.: CRETACEOUS
ANDCENOZOIC
HONG'AN-DABIE
SHAN
 13,320 RATSCHBACHER
ET AL.: CRETACEOUS
AND CENOZOICHONG'AN-DABIESHAN

A D228NW D228XMF
Sc
•.•;.•_•,.D227
•• •,/x/•• t D228YO•
f'• '{ • • • • • • ' • Xiaotian-Mozitan
f -s,•[ ß• • • [• • detachment
fault-
:• • •• • westem
segment

D•••• •o•a•, oti½•tatio•

[ _•• 5• •-•local
nonco•ial
ductile
flow
N ,oa, ati,½ '".

zzo• 3• 40' +

•D

S•s•,
sc • ossz . D9nf•

YDI0
DI2

D39-1
• D39-2 D40• D42

Xiaotian-Mozitan
detachment
fault-
central and easternsegment
Ds66
(D41 Ds63
(1341)

•' '-... ß ß le-d

. -_•. . ;_ • ,..• •_t•', D24-25 Ds36
(D25) D 3(•D251

-:'"
'.....
'-',-.-,•' ' 31'
40' V • I•.l;•/ •'•?2•
'
ß
..:•..,'•
•%-::-.•}i•(
.......
ß.....,• "•
'•'% ...-
"•:•::':•'::'
......
::
• "'........
"o,- o o •
••Ccnozo,c
•' foreland
-•
basin D212
•• ", •• ; oo c• Cretaceous
magmatic
rocks

o'':*'••
• 'F Pre
Mesozmc
bas :'•'
' • ?'---•"..i•
:•;"'•'•"
• +Noghem•.hogneissUn
,••/•g• (

Figure7.Cretaceous
structural
data
from
theXiaotian-Mozitang
detachment
fault
(northern
Dabie).
Sf,foliation;
str,stretching
linea-
tion;
B,foldaxis;
sb,shear
band;
sc,schistosit6-cisaillement
fabric;
sz,shear
zone;
s,sigma
clast;
d,delta
clast;
X,Y,and Z,principal
axes
offinite
strain;
ab,asymmetric
boudinage;
1and2,firstandsecond
deformation
fabric
element;
tg,tension
gash orfracture;
ss,
bedding;
qtz,quartz.
Alldiagrams
arelower
hemisphere,
equal-area
diagrams.
U-stage
data
show
single
c axes
anddistribution
con-
toured
withKamb's
method;
x-raytexture
goniometer
c anda axesdata(caxesorientations
areorientation
distribution
function
de-
rived)
arecontoured
inmultiples
ofrandomdistribution.
Double
arrows
withsome
plots
givethesense-of-shear
(hanging
walldis-
placement)
interpretation.
Fault
striae
data
areasinFigure
2c(see
Figure
2 caption);
arrows
aroundtheplots
givecalculated
local
ori-
entationof subhorizontal
principalcontraction
andextension.
RATSCHBACHERET AL.' CRETACEOUSAND CENOZOICHONG'AN-DABIE SHAN 13,321
 13,322 RATSCHBACHER ET AL.: CRETACEOUS AND CENOZOIC HONG'AN-DABIE SHAN

Hangingwall: FozilingGroup,stationD541
D54
!old•/ D54
!mid D541
young

t
•a•xvents
! e
geologic
overprinting
relationships
- D541

Hangingwall:Foziling
Group,stations
D26,27
• D2627ns •'• D2627sin D26det
•
ev-' ,•_..-----•w• event
2 •3-L•-•-•

Footwall:Qingshan
orthogneiss
(-125 Ma), stations
D6, 7
D6-D7 D7-1 •x D7-2

Foo•all: Mozitan-metagabbro
(128 Ma), stations
D37, 38
D37-38 Ds60(D38) D37-det D37NS

younger

Figure9. Typeexamplesfor theobservedCretaceous

kinematic
historyfromlocations
immediately
aboveand
below theXiaotian-Mozitang
detachmentfault(XMF,northern
Dabie),illustrating,
asanexample,theoverprinting
relationships
observed
onsixdifferent
faults
instation
D541.Forlocation
ofstations
seeFigure
7.

separatesa hangingwall of Early Cretaceousvolcanicrocks symmetric textureskeletons;

DS36,DS63,andDS66,Figure7b).
lackingductiledeformationandmetamorphism or pre-Mesozoic E-W to SW-NE extensionfollowed,clearlyassociated with NW-
basement from a footwall of Cretaceousorthogneisses.(2) SE to N-S shortening by conjugatestrike-slip,localthrust,and
During cooling,brittle deformationmigratedinto the footwall, reversefaults (event I of Figure 6); the sinistralset strikes
causing retrograde shear/fault zones anastomosingaround subparallelto the CenozoicTan-Lu fault zone (e.g., stations
lozenge-shaped boudins.Epidote,hematite,andchloritecoatings D203oldandD205old,Figure7b). A setof late,weaklyductile
on faultsand their growthbehindstepstestifyto extensivefluid to uncleformed syeniteplutons(see,e.g., the finger-likestock,
activity during coolingof the footwall intrusionsand tie high- Figure 8 center),and a generallyNE trendingdike swarmof
level faulting and deep-level flow temporally. (3) The syenitic and more mafic dikes, intruded sinistral transtensive
detachmentcomprisesa zone of chloritizedbreccia, locally faultsrelatedto this stressfield (e.g., D44, D204, and D212-
involvingpseudotachylite (e.g., stationD214). (4) Figure9 plots
D214, Figures 7b and 8). Top-to-NW to top-to-northshear
type examplesfor the observedkinematichistoryfrom locationsaccompanied the major,30ø-45ø-dipping detachment faultsof the
immediatelyabove and below the XMF and illustrates,as an XMF (events2 and 3 of Figure6 and field datain Figure7).
example,the overprintingrelationships Dextraltranstensive
observedon six different to dextralstrike-slipfaultingreactivatedthe
faults at station D541. The history started with top-to-NW,XMF in a latestage(event4 of Figure6).
amphibolite-gradenoncoaxial flow (dominant prismatic <a> Usingthe 30ø dip of the majorductileXMF shearzoneanda
glidein quartz,e.g.,DS60, Figure9, andductileflow eventof -20 km differentialexhumationbetweenthe footwallortho-
Figure 6). Greenschist-grade.flow had a significantcoaxial gneisses (e.g., D37, Mozitanggabbro,crystallization depthat
component(dominantbasal <a> slip in quartz and mostly 19.6 km, Table 4) and the nonmetamorphic hangingwall
 13,323
RATSCHBACHER
ETAL.:CRETACEOUS
ANDCENOZOIC
HONG'AN-DABIE
SHAN
13,324
RATSCHBACHER
ETAL.:CRETACEOUS
ANDCENOZOIC
HONG'AN-DABIE
SHAN

g [ i

Southern
Dabie
Shan
D• D8,82-,
•, • D8,82-2
•

D286old
X•

'
+"• D83-84-2
• •
••• • • / • • non-coaxial
/ • v x x x• • / v x x
:/ •[•5 • • • • •ductileflow

•• I •a •• • •. morientat,
on(early)
• '• /• "•
•• • • • • • morientation
(late)
DI18-1
• rotation
sense
of stress field

older
fault set
younger

Figure
11.Cretaceous
structural
data
from
thecentral
andsouthern
Dabie
Shan,
comprising
theTriassic
UHPand
HP units.SeeFigure7.
 13,325
RATSCHBACHER
ETA[,.'CRETACEOUS
ANDCENOZOIC
HONG'AN-DABIE
SHAN
 13,326

D256
Hong'an- TongbaiShan
113030' 114ø

,+ +

• I •%...J" ductil• 31ø40'

• I• qtz,sc
x D259a D259b
? Cretaceous
dome ax•s

D260•:.. N x v•oD260a z'• •:v10}D260a

114 ø 30'

115 ø

Cretaceous
magmatic
rocks
• Cretaceous
-Tertiary
sedimentary
and
volcamc
rocks
Figure13.Cretaceous
structural
datafromtheHong'an andTongbai
ShanwiththeUHPandHP unitsof the
Hong'anShaninthelowercenter
ofthefigure.SeeFigure
7.

volcanics,
wecalculate
---40
km(heave
35km)normal
displace-
kinematics
of high-grade
deformation
wasin general
top-to-
mentalongthe XMF. This translates
into ---80km sinistral (W)NW,although
duringcooling
towardloweramphibolite
obliqueslip,assuming
thatthe---30
ø pitchof thestretching
facies
a coaxial
component wasexpressed byadditional
top-to-
lineation
onthemylonitic
foliation
traces
thedisplacement
vector SEshear bands
(e.g.,Figure
8, stations
withintheNOU).In the
during
ductilesimple
shear
flowandthatalltheexhumation
was coreof the NOU dome,staticannealing dueto late-stage
accommodated
withinthisstructural
geometry;
brittle-ductile
to intrusionsveiledearlierdeformationstructures.
brittle
deformation
was,however,
mostly
normal
(Figure
9). Syenite
dikesarecommon, particularly
in theeastern
Dabie.
Intrusion
followedNE trending,sinistral,
strongly
transtensional
4.2.NorthernOrthogneiss
Unit shear/faultzones,and the dikesthemselvesreflectsinistraltrans-
tensiveshear;theseshearzonesparallelthetraceof theTan-Lu
Thecoreofthecomplex shows insitumelting(cpx+ hbl+ (Figure8, D43-D48).Quench fabrics
showthatthecountry rock
gat:=>qtz+ ksp+ plag+ melt)inrarebasement
gabbro,thelocal wasrelativelycoolduringdikeintrusion.
A qtzc axistexturein
formation ofmigmatites(withcpx+ hblrestites),
andmultiplethesheared syenitedikeof station
D44 (DS69)shows dominant
intrusionsequences.
U/Pbzircon dating[Xueetal.,1997;
Hacker prismandrhomb<a>slipindicative of uppergreenschist-grade
et al., 1998]provedthattheintrusion sequence observed
at flow [e.g.,Schrnidand Casey,1986].Deformation continued
several
localities
(D43-D47,
eastern
NOU,Figure
8),(1)gabbro,with hornblende+ epidote+ chlorite-coated
ductile-brittle
and
(2)differentiated
plagioclase-rich
gabbro,(3)potassium
feldsparbrittlefaults(event 1 of Figure6) with the samesinistral-
+ hornblende
granodiorite,
(4) aplitedikesandpotassium-transtensivekinematics.Thedikeswereoverprintedby N(W)-
feldspar
granite
stocks
anddikes,wasnotvalidregionally:
A S(E)extension (events2 and3, Figure6).
partly
mylonitized
gabbro
andanundeformed granodiorite
have North to NE trendingdextralshearzoneswere encountered
sofarprovided
theyoungest
agesfromtheNOU,anda tonalitic throughout
the northeasternDabie(e.g., D16-D23and D99-
orthogneiss
providedtheoldest
age.Locallyupto 60%of the D 102,Figure8); togetherwithconjugate
sinistral
shears
and<a>
central
complexismadeupofpotassiumfeldspar
granite
dikes; foldstheymanifestsignificant
NE-SWshorteningaccompanying
smalldikesoftenintrudedparallel
tothefoliation. NW-SEextension. Thisis in accordwith constrictional strain,
Variationin foliationattitudein the centerof theNOU is qualitativelyevaluatedfrom linearmineralfabricsin a numberof
mostlythe resultof batholith
intrusion
(Figure3d). The outcrops,
implying
bothNE-SWandverticalshortening
during
 RATSCHBACHER ET AL.: CRETACEOUS AND CENOZOIC HONG'AN-DABIE SHAN 13,327

Table 5. Location of Stations and Parameters of the Deviatoric Stress Tensor: Cretaceous Stress Field

Site Lithology LatitudeS- Longitude-• Method n • •2 • F R

D5 shale,volcanics 31o32.5' 115o56.35' P-B-T 77 15 29 32 60 064 05
D6 orthogneiss
(K) NDA 14 14 315 79 097 08 188 07 7ø 0.5
D7-1 orthogneiss
(K)* P-B-T 99 180 01 273 69 093 21
D7-2 P-B-T 20 20 084 60 240 27 332 04
D9nf granitoid(K) NDA 88 335 56 221 15 125 21
D9ew NDA 99 084 20 340 34 199 49 11 o 0.4
D10 orthogneiss
(K) NDA 10 10 091 83 280 07 190 01 17 ø 0.5
Dll-1 volcanics P-B-T 44 27921 13565 018 12
Dll-2 P-B-T 11 11 109 16 33667 23903
D12-1 orthogneiss
(K) grid 15 13 346 70 250 02 159 20 17ø 0.6
D12-2 NDA 7 7 021 65 282 04 191 24 10 ø 0.5
D 13-1 granitoid(K) grid 14 11 051 80 234 10 144 00 10ø 0.5
D13-2 grid 13 13 051 85 158 01 248 05 5ø 0.2
D26det shale, limestone 3 lø22.66 ' 116ø11.83' NDA 13 13 349 66 099 09 193 22 18 ø 0.4
D26-27sin NDA 26 25 250 01 343 72 159 18 28 ø 0.5
D26-27ns P-B-T 16 16 331 06 062 12 197 73
D28fr shale,limestone(pre-K)* grid 10 10 136 00 226 58 046 32 14ø 0.1
D28@ grid 88 11182 308 08 217 02 19ø 0.2
D28fll grid 14 11 000 55 245 16 146 30 10ø 0.6
D28f12 grid 12 12 022 19 284 22 149 60 15ø 0.1
D33ns volcanics,conglomerate 31ø26.4' 116o23.23' NDA 18 17 136 04 251 80 045 09 18 ø 0.5
D37-det orthogneiss(K)* 31o14.57' 116o20.65' grid 22 19 247 30 039 57 150 13 10ø 0.6
D37NS NDA 11 10 106 47 344 26 237 31 18 ø 0.7
D39-1 volcanics 3 lø13.73 ' 116o25.07 ' NDA 87 151 63 057 02 326 27 18 ø 0.5
D39-2 NDA 14 14 026 72 151 11 244 14 17 ø 0.2
D40 orthogneiss
(K) 31o10.07 ' 116ø30.13 ' P-B-T 10 10 267 40 049 43 157 17
D42 volcanics P-B-T 9 9 243 64 045 25 137 03
D43-47 orthogneiss(K)* 31o07.8 ' 116o31.52 ' P-B-T 21 21 017 08 274 59 110 30
D44 syenite(K) 31 ø06.05' 116ø31.2' NDA 15 15 036 66 191 22 285 09 12 ø 0.6
D48 granitoid(K) P-B-T 6 6 194 56 078 16 339 28
D51-54 orthogneiss P-B-T 9 7 070 35 252 55 130 20
D56-60 orthogneiss(K)* 30o47 ' 116ø05 ' P-B-T 32 32 186 19 052 64 284 17
D58-60 orthogneiss(K) P-B-T 10 10 181 76 05608 321 31
D61 orthogneiss(K) 30ø49.14 ' 116o04.25 ' P-B-T 9 9 189 31 351 50 108 21
D62-69 orthogneisses (K) 30o49 ' 116o14.25 ' NDA 36 32 202 72 056 16 323 10 21 o 0.4
D71-1 granitoid(K)* 30o42.78 ' 116o23.43 ' NDA 24 24 082 72 276 17 184 04 19 ø 0.5
D71-2 P-B-T 17 17 037 01 304 65 123 25
D72-1 granitoid(K) 30ø41.1 ' 116o26.42 ' NDA 12 12 114 84 238 03 328 05 10 ø 0.4
D72-2 P-B-T 14 14 082 06 182 60 346 29
D76 paragneiss
(K-reheat)* 30o29.55 ' 116o18.25 ' P-B-T 8 8 167 16 356 74 261 02
D77-1 paragneiss 30o49.72 ' 116o39.47 ' grid 23 18 020 60 200 30 290 00 19ø 0.7
D77-2 P-B-T 18 18 285 09 166 72 020 15
D79-80 ortho/paragneiss
(K-reheat)* 30o24' 116o07' P-B-T 15 15 324 07 191 79 057 07
D83-84-1 orthogneiss
(K-reheat)* 30ø21' 116o00.47' NDA 16 15 323 65 193 16 098 18 21 ø 0.5
D83-84-2 P-B-T 8 8 171 78 299 07 030 12
D85-1 paragneiss 30o27.65 ' 116o14.98 ' P-B-T 12 12 330 17 198 65 059 19
D85-2 P-B-T 11 11 085 05 190 60 358 30
D91-92 granitoid(K)* 30o53.45 ' 115o45.45 ' P-B-T 16 16 319 52 187 28 094 07
D98 ortho+paragneiss 30o45.88 ' 115o39.82 ' P-B-T 7 7 352 68 167 21 259 06
D105 orthogneiss(pre-K) 30o49.52 ' !15ø38.12 ' P-B-T 19 19 019 63 200 27 109 01
D108-111-1 orthogneiss(K)* 30o47 ' 115o28 ' NDA 25 23 320 70 064 05 156 19 15 ø 0.4
D108-111-2 grid 26 26 246 75 017 10 109 11 12ø 0.4
Dl16-1 granitoid(K) 30ø36.13 ' 115ø26.68 ' NDA 14 14 177 63 045 19 308 18 7ø 0.4
Dl16-2 P-B-T 14 14 110 14 334 71 190 16
Dl17-1 phyllite,shale 30ø17.17 ' 115o31.25 ' NDA 18 18 205 71 014 19 105 03 17 ø 0.9
Dl17-2 NDA 11 11 075 31 289 54 175 16 17 ø 0.7
Dl18-1 granitoid(K) 30ø14.13 ' 115o26.6 ' grid 13 10 002 10 098 75 269 15 16ø 0.2
Dl18-2 grid 16 15 23070 061 20 33003 13ø 0.6
D119 para+orthogneiss 30o10.83 ' 115o30.87 ' NDA 77 203 06 303 59 110 30 9ø 0.6
D121-1 limestone(Pe) 30ø01.18 ' 115o21.75 ' NDA 13 13 229 15 322 10 083 72 17 ø 0.3
D121-2 NDA 25 25 064 45 236 45 330 04 14 ø 0.7
D121-3 P-B-T 14 14 253 26 057 63 158 05
D121-4 NDA 9 9 221 23 288 67 029 05 16 ø 0.6
D122-1 serpentinite 30ø21.48' 115o30.02 ' grid 19 16 085 20 192 39 334 44 23ø 0.2
D122-2 grid 43 35 028 70 158 13 251 15 22ø 0.6
D122-3 NDA 11 11 180 78 048 05 316 09 14 ø 0.5
D200old orthogneiss(K) 31o47.69 ' 117o33.27 ' NDA 21 20 092 13 315 72 184 12 17 ø 0.5
D200you red beds(K) NDA 13 13 093 71 268 19 358 02 17ø 0.4
13,328 RATSCHBACHER ET AL.: CRETACEOUS AND CENOZOIC HONG'AN-DABIE SHAN

Table 5. (continued)

Site Lithology LatitudeS- LongitudeS-Method n (5• 02 03 F R

D201you orthogneiss
(K)* 31028.4' 117022.69' NDA 10 10 118 19 346 63 215 19 24ø 0.4
D201ys volcanics NDA 13 12 149 12 347 77 240 04 21ø 0.6
D203old orthogneiss
(K) 31003.43' 116ø56.21' NDA 13 12 007 47 182 43 274 02 16ø 0.9
D204-1 orthogneiss
(K) 31004.4' 116055.86' NDA 22 21 228 03 212 80 319 10 09ø 0.5
D204-2 NDA 17 16 292 10 123 79 022 02 10 ø 0.5
D205old granitoid(K) 31ø0.79' 116ø57.51' NDA 14 14 325 25 109 59 227 16 18ø 0.6
D207old syenite(K) 31009.44' 117000.86' NDA 14 14 277 32 071 55 179 12 14ø 0.6
D208o2 volcanics 31016.25 ' 117000.39 ' NDA 66 097 36 259 52 001 08 11 ø 0.4
D208old P-B-T 12 12 229 62 121 10 027 20
D209dex granitoid(K) 31008.46' 117ø00.51
' NDA 66 267 41 087 49 177 00 17ø 0.6
D209old NDA 8 8 352 00 261 85 082 05 16 ø 0.8
D213 orthogneiss(K) 31008.67' 116045.9' P-B-T 77 22003 116 79 322 10
D214 subvolcanics 31009.53 ' 116046.25 ' NDA 13 12 277 60 092 30 183 02 18 ø 0.7
D223old granitoid(K) 31047.33' 115014.84' NDA 11 11 11830 283 59 024 07 19ø 0.6
D225 basement(K) 31027.52' 115016.38' grid 98 312 16 066 54 212 31 5ø 0.3
D226 granitoid(K) 31ø28.01' 115018.90' NDA 1009 25839 09949 357 11 21ø 0.5
D228XMF para/orthogneiss
(pre-K)* 31ø2919' 115019' NDA 16 15 222 24 047 66 313 02 21ø 0.6
D228YOU NDA 76 243 85 091 04 001 02 09 ø 0.6
D228NW NDA 77 122 20 228 38 011 46 17 ø 0.7
D230 orthogneiss
(pre-K) 31ø43.15' 114052.95' P-B-T 77 251 28 060 61 175 13
D246-7-1 para/orthogneiss
(K-reheat)* 30ø49.16' 115001.66' NDA 12 12 217 37 054 52 313 08 19ø 0.5
D246-7-2 NDA 12 12 029 84 287 01 197 06 22 ø 0.9
D256 granitoid(K)* 31056.62' 113038.56' NDA 17 17 075 14 324 55 173 31 15ø 0.4
D259 blueschist-marble
(pre-K) 31036.59' 113057.08' P-B-T 55 336 27 178 62 066 11
D264oll limestone(T) 30010.47' 114ø58.18' NDA 13 13 253 12 093 77 344 04 15ø 0.3
D264o12 NDA 18 18 299 05 181 79 030 10 24 ø 0.5
D264you P-B-T 14 14 197 05 019 85 280 01
D266old granitoid(K)*- marble 30ø13.13' 114054.33' P-B-T 15 15 252 27 033 56 154 19
D266you P-B-T 25 25 165 41 332 48 069 06 29 ø 0.8
D268-69o2 volcanoclastics 30000.4 ' 114043.08 ' NDA 50 47 191 01 053 89 281 01 23 ø 0.5
D268-69o3 P-B-T 25 25 037 00 129 75 300 15
D268-69you NDA 29 29 064 16 228 73 333 04 19ø 0.4
D270ol granitoid(K)* - marble 29ø59.91' 114050.25' NDA 19 18 196 09 053 79 287 06 20 ø 0.8
D270o3 P-B-T 66 097 28 226 50 344 21
D270y NDA 10 10 165 41 332 48 069 06 18ø 0.6
D271-1 granitoid(K)-marble 30004.86' 114ø56.11' NDA 24 24 034 14 149 59 297 27 18ø 0.5
D271-2 NDA 14 13 068 11 174 53 330 34 25 ø 0.6
D271-3 NDA 9 9 103 74 226 09 318 13 17 ø 0.4
D272-1 limestone(T) 29ø53.61' 115010.63' P-B-T 10 10 002 01 238 88 089 02
D272-2 P-B-T 37 36 236 02 332 76 142 14
D272-3 NDA 22 21 269 27 140 51 013 26 17 ø 0.4
D273-1 limestone(S) 29043.5' 115ø19.15' P-B-T 88 207 05 307 61 115 28
D273-2 P-B-T 55 267 07 046 81 195 08
D277-280 basement(pre-K) 29ø31.21' 116ø03.01' NDA 23 23 020 70 198 20 288 01 19ø 0.6
D281-282a basement-limestone 29ø27.41 ' 115o52.84 ' P-B-T 16 16 224 67 051 23 142 02
D283-2 limestone 30ø06.91 ' 116o02.99 ' P-B-T 10 10 079 44 249 45 342 04
D283-3 P-B-T 28 28 310 20 169 65 053 11
D284-2 limestone 30ø11.71' 116o06.39 ' NDA 29 27 111 78 269 11 004 04 20 ø 0.6
D285you limestone(Pe) 30o15.66' 115o23.34' NDA 27 26 249 04 348 69 157 20 19ø 0.3
D286old basement(pre-K) 30o22.38' 116018.63' NDA 19 17 115 56 238 21 339 26 19ø 0.7
D516tl volcanics(K1) 31ø43.140' 116o30.58' NDA 12 12 159 38 338 52 068 00 19ø 0.8
D516tlrot P-B-T 12 12 216 71 333 09 065 18
D533ns basement(pre-K) 31ø56.971" 114038.55
' P-B-T 99 01004 27068 08722
D541old Foziling
(pre-K) 31ø23.514
' 116009.66' NDA 55 20525 02065 11201 14ø 0.4
D541middle NDA 22 22 25577 083 13 34502 12ø 0.2
D541young NDA 1515 13585 31305 04300 16ø 0.6
SeeTable 1 for explanation.
Pe, Permian;S, Sinian.
* Radiometricdatingavailable.
?NoGlobalPositioning
System
(GPS)location
dataavailable
forblanksites;
seeFigures
7-8and10-13forlocations.
 RATSCHBACHER ET AL.: CRETACEOUS AND CENOZOIC HONG'AN-DABIE SHAN 13,329'

subhorizontalNW-SE extension.At one locality, boudinaged 4.5. Northern Dabie Foreland

amphibolitelayersin a felsicgneissrecord-70% elongation
alongthe stretchinglineation. Deformation
ofthepre-Cretaceous
basement
complexesnorth
Mafic dikes have not been studiedin detail. They seemto be of theXMF wascomplex andheterogeneous.
Similar,albeit
relatedto latestages history,arenotductilely simpler
in thedeformation structures
occur
inCretaceous
volcanic
rocks
(Figure
8).
deformed,and probably intrudedlarge-scaletensiongashesof Variablyoriented,thoughgenerallyN-S, contraction
was
the ductile-brittleto brittle deformation(events3 and4 of Figure associated
withtwo(?)
stages
of folding
and,characteristically,
6; D212-D214, Figure7). with strongfold-axis-parallel
approximately
E-W extension.
Contractionand extensiondirectionsseemto have rotated
4.3. Southern Boundary of the Northern OrthogneissUnit
clockwise,with early NW-SE contraction associated with
asymmetric
foldsandlaterNE-SW contraction
relatedto flexural
NOU plutonsintrudedthe UHP unit and showsynmagmatic folding (Figure
8,D28).Duringthisstage
(ductile
floweventand
to postmagmaticdeformationwithin distributed,generallyNE event1ofFigure6),dextral
faultzones(D5,Figure8) conjugate
trendingshearzones(Figure 10). The regionalconfinementand totheXMFdeveloped. N-SandNE-SWextension, soprominent
en-6chelonseparationof the shearzonesindicatesthat they are along
theXMF(events 3 and4,Figure6),issparsely
recorded
in
local boundaries, in contrast to the well-defined northern theforeland.
EarlyCretaceous
(K1) volcanics
(station
D516,
boundaryof the NOU, the XMF. Locally, sills parallel the Figure8) withinthe Hehuaibasinnorthof the Dabiewere
foliation andare extremelysheared.Overall, shearwasnormalor deformed
twicebeforethe Tertiaryoverprint:
EarlyE-W
sinistraltranstensive.As along the XMF, the strain/stress
field extension
was followedby NW tilting and revivedE-W
shows clockwise rotation in time. extension.

Along the easternYuexi-Shuihoutransect(D70-D72, Figure

10), structuresin the UHP paragneiss recordearly, Triassictop- 4.6. Southern and Eastern Dabie Foreland
to-NW shear[Hacker et al., this issue]and discrete,Cretaceous
The largestsetof our datastemsfrom granodiorites andtheir
normal shearand faulting, locally with cataclasticbreccia.The
sedimentary wall rocks(Figure12). Deformationoccurredduring
Tuanling profile (D56-D60, D62-D69, and D88-D98) shows
high- and1ow-Tcoolingdatedat 143-136Ma (Table 3). Tremo-
three zonesof synmagmatic,high-T mylonitizationdistributing
lite fibers on mesoscopicfault planesin Early Triassicmar-
deformationover a wide zone.No ultramylonitesare developed,
ble/limestonetie faultingto late-stagefluid activityin the skarns
but brecciation occurred during brittle-ductile deformation.
Ninety percent of the rocks are plutons and dike rocks; aroundthe plutons.Early N(E)-S(W) shortening causedsinistral
migmatites are absent. This section probably representsa slip on NE trending and dextral slipon NW trending map-scale
relatively deep crustallevel (intrusiondepth of the Tuanling faults.Later,the slip sensereversed, andfoldingoccurred, with
tonalite---20 km) with a high volume of intrusive rocks fold-axis-parallel extensionleadingto boudinage(e.g., D121,
accommodating crustalextension.Quartzrecordshigh-T textures Figure12). The Lushancomplexis an upliftof Yangtzebase-
and complexkinematics;the samplesare all dominatedby prism mentsoutheast of theDabie.Assuming thatdeformedlatepotas-
<a> slip. The kinematicsvary from pure shearin coarse-grained sium feldspargraniteveins in the Lushanare Cretaceous, as
gneiss(DS78 andDS80) to distinctlynoncoaxialin fine-grained, elsewhere in the Dabieandthe southemforeland,low-T mylo-
narrow, high-strain shear zones and shear bands (DS82a has nitesandbrittlefaultsthererecordsubhorizontal approximately
relict, large grainsshowingrecovery;DS82b,c are dynamically E-W extension. Quartz + chlorite+ epidote, low-grade transten-
recrystallizedsmall grains,and the shearband texturein DS82c sive shear and fault zones, bounding the complex to the east,are
may recorda contributionof prism<c> glide). The westernmost subparallel to theTan-Lu.We collected a largedatasetonCreta-
transect(D90-D92) comprisestranspressivesinistralshear (in ceousfaultingin the foreland(S)E of the Dabie Shan;a few of
contrastto the usualtensionalcharacter),locallyoverprintingan thesedataare shownin Figure 12, and stressdirectionsof sta-
early,relictUHP fabricin amphibolitexenolithsandmigmatites, tionscloseto the Dabieare summarized in Figure6 ("eastern
with a premigmatizationfoliation (potassiumfeldspargranite foreland fold-thrust belt"see Schmid et al. [2000]for a complete
leucosome).Shear criteria include en-6chelonquartz veins, evaluation).Structuresdemonstratean overall clockwiserotation
indicatingdeformationlate in the history,and asymmetric north- of the subhorizontal compression and extensiondirections,and
vergentfolds. The deformationat the westerntip of the studied the deformation history is thus similarto the Dabie;however,the
foreland has a clearer record of contraction.
area (D105) shows north trending dextral and NE trending
sinistral shear zones comprisinggenerally coaxial NW-SE
extension, reminiscent of structural geometries in the 4.7. Hong'an - SouthernTongbai Shan
northeastern NOU.
Only reconnaissancedata on Cretaceousdeformation are
4.4. UHP-HP Units: Central and Southern Dabie Shan availablein Hong'an and Tongbai(Figure 13). In northeastern
Hong'an, chloritizedbiotiteorthogneiss, lackingwhite mica, and
Cretaceousmesoscalefaulting was widespread(Figure 11); deformedpegmatitecontrastwith the UHP rocksof the Triassic
the timing of this faulting is basedon outcropswhere faults Huwan detachmentzone [I4'ebbet al., 1999a, 2000]; structures
overprintCretaceous plutonsor mineralfabricswith Cretaceous are subvertical,and displacementwas sinistraltranstensive.In
coolingages(e.g., DS163, stationD110). The faultingexhibits the easternTongbai Shan is a broad dextral shearbelt of or-
the clockwise stressfield rotation typical for the Cretaceous thogneiss,paragneiss,mylonite, and local ultramyloniteof un-
event(Figure6). N-S extensionwasaccompanied by significant knownwidth and along-strikelength[}Vebbet al., 2000]. To the
E-W contraction at several stations. The shear zones where low-T west and south, these tectonitesmay be associatedwith sedi-
plastic deformationaccompaniedCretaceouscooling indicate mentarybasins(K2, accordingto R.G.S. of Hubei, [1990]), here
subhorizontalextension,locally with a noncoaxialtop-to-SE speculativelyinterpretedasfault-relatedfrom the map-scalefault
shearcomponent (Figure11). pattern (Figure 13). The northernarea comprisesvoluminous
 13,330 RATSCHBACHER ET AL.: CRETACEOUS AND CENOZOIC HONG'AN-DABIE SHAN

plutonsand a gneiss-granitedike association reminiscent of the chloriteslickenlines,and local brecciation.From the hyper-
NOU (Figure 13), which contrasts with the UHP rocksof the solidusto the brittle-ductile stage,the senseof displacementwas
Hong'anShanto the eastandthe Paleozoicbasement unitsnorth transtensive. Togetherwith the last occurrence of a structurally
of the Triassicsuture[Hackeret al., this issue;Zhai et al., 1998]. controlledcoolingpatternin the Dabie(-120 Ma), the pulseof
This belt seemsto endabruptlyin the eastalongfault/shear zones NOU-deriveddetritalgrainsin the foreland(123-119 Ma), and
with unknownkinematics.We speculatethat theseare transten- the regionalinitial K-feldsparcoolingat-118 Ma, this rapid
sional,with UHP rocksof the westernHong'an in the hanging cooling is taken to establish-120 Ma as the lower boundfor
wall and Cretaceous rocks in the footwall. Shear belt muscovite sinistral transtensional deformation.
andbiotiteagesof 131 and 105 Ma [Webbet al., 1999a],respec- During 140-120Ma the XMF wasprincipallya transtensional
tively, andzirconandhornblendeagesof 132 and 130 Ma [Ames fault, and althoughbasedonly on reconnaissance data, sinistral
et al., 1996; Zhai et al., 1998], respectively,from a Cretaceous transtensional faultingprobablyoccurredall alongthe northern
granite and a thermal aureole, demonstratethat magmatism, Hong'an and Tongbai Shan. We cannotdemonstratethat the
cooling,and deformationin the Tongbaiwere coevalwith those Tan-Lu and the Shang-Mafaultswere activeat this time, as no
in the NOU of the Dabie Shan. high-grade
mylonites
of theappropriate
strikewerefoundalong
At leastlocally, the shearbelt was reactivated.Severalrocks, theirCenozoic
traces.If thesetwofaultswereactive,theywould
deformed at the brittle-ductile transition, gave unexpectedly havebeennormalfaults,probablywith an earlysinistralanda
young4øAr/39Ar ages(Figure4a and Table 3). A pseudotachylite late dextral componentimposedby the deformationfields
from a ductilelyundeformed, but stronglyfaulted(sinistral,chlo- documented
elsewhere in Dabie.The southern
boundary of the
ritized faults with millimeter-thickpseudotachylite), probably NOU is interpreted as a transtensional
boundarysubparallelto
Cretaceousgranite,D256c, was run in separatesplitsand sug- the XMF comprisingseveralen-6chelon, nearlynormalshear
gestsfaultingat-75 Ma. The individualstepagesof D260c, bi- segments. Speculatively,
we assignthe dextralmotionalongthe
otite from a segregationvein in a ductilemyloniteof the dextral southernTongbaito thistimeperiod,forminga conjugate shear
shearbelt, alsoscatteraround75 Ma, probablydatinglate-stage zone to the XMF. Togetherwith the deformation alongthe
faulting.D253b biotite,from the faultedwesternedgeof the northernHong'anand Tongbai,theseshearzonesemphasize
Dawu dome(Figure 13), yieldeda disturbedspectrum for which NW-SE stretchalongtheaxisof theQinling-Dabie orogenin the
we adoptthe total fusionage of 84 Ma. The two thermalevents Early Cretaceous.Clearly, most of the crustal extensionwas
are bestrecordedby potassiumfeldspar,which indicatesinitial accommodated duringthe 140-120Ma period.
coolingprior to 90 Ma and reheatingand coolingat -75 Ma; Next we arguethatdeformationmigratedfrom SW to NE and
thesethermaleventsare accompanied by the two stagesof de- thattheXMF controlled theexhumation geometry.Suppose that
formation(dextralshearand sinistralfaulting;seealsoTable 3 a rollinghinge-isostatic reboundmodel(Figure14b,e.g., Wer-
and Webbetal. [ 1999a]). nickeandAxen[ 1988])applies,in whichtheNOU is exhumed as
a distinctly
asymmetric extensional
structure. Footwallrocks(the
NOU) flow SW alonga subhorizontal detachment andundergo a
5. Tectonic Model and Exhumation subverticalsimpleshear(hanging walltowardtheNW) alonga
ramp, the XMF. The fault flattensagain where the footwall
Figure 14a summarizes
the provenandsuspected
structures
of passes outfromunderthehangingwall,imposing shearof oppo-
the ductile event and events 1-3 of the ductile to brittle sitesense.Thisconceptual modelhasthefollowingimplications
deformationandtheir averagestrain/stress orientations.
In detail, for theNOU: (1) Foliations dipmoderately to steeplyalongthe
the incrementalprincipalstrain/stress axes rotated(Figure 6). XMF andflattenintotheNOU. We constructed foliationtrajec-
However, we discusstheseeventstogether,as our dating does toriesalongthreeNNW trending profilesin areasrelativelyunaf-
not allow more distinct age resolution.The rotationprobably fectedby late-stage plutons;
theyshowa convexupwardshape
occurredin a progressivedeformationfield, as they are derived (Figure14c).(2) If injection,
crystallization,
andcooling of plu-
from a regionallyconsistentsequenceof ductileto brittle defor- tonsarerelatedto extension,theoldestplutons shouldcrystallize
mationeventsactiveduringregionalcooling. shortlyafterinitiation
of deformation
atrelatively greatdepth(as
The syntectonicto posttectonicnature of the NOU ortho- heathasnotyet beenadvected upstrongly) andshould occupy
gneisses testifiesthat gneissification
wasactivefrom 137 to after portionsof the extensionalterranefarthestaway from the
128 Ma. The occurrenceof discreteshear zones, localizing breakaway fault.Abovewe arguedfor a relativelyearlyonsetof
deformation,impliesthat deformationcontinuedthereafterand deformation; oursparsegeobarometry dataindicatethatthe old-
mightlocallyhavebeenactiveearlier.We arguedin section3.2. estintrusions generallyweredeepest (Figure14d),anda plotof
that the reheatingof the UHP unitsat 150-130Ma might have ageversusdistancefromthe XMF (Figure14e)confirmsthatthe
thermallyweakenedthe Dabie crustto facilitatecrustalextension plutons roughlyareoldertowardthesouth(Figure14e).(3) Late
locally;thuswe tentativelyadopt140 Ma asthe upperboundfor plutonsshouldhavecrystallized relativelyshallowlyandcloseto
the onsetof large-scaledeformation.The ductilelyundeformed the ramp,as the fastestadvectionof heatoccursthereand rocks
plutonsformingthe backboneof the NOU are as youngas 125 farthersouthwouldhavecooled.Figure14dsuggests thatthe
Ma, demonstrating that deformationthere was completeat that youngestintrusionsreachedrelativelyhigh crustallevels,and
time. The Mozitang gabbro,which intrudedat 129 Ma and Figure14c indicates that intrusiondepthsgenerallyfollowthe
cooledrapidlyat 121 Ma from 500ø to 300øC,mayplacea lower foliationtrajectories whichweregrosslysubparallel to the iso-
bound on deformationalong the XMF. The gabbro depicts therms.(4) Assuming thatshearalongtheXMF controlled intru-
deformationduringcoolingfrom the melt stageto near-surface siondepthandthattheplutons crystallized
at approximately the
conditions.It is heterogeneously deformedand showsnearly sametemperature, the age versusintrusiondepthrelationship
undeformed portions,magmaticallyalignedhornblende, gneissic shouldgivean order-of-magnitude approximationof thetectonic
habit, mylonites with grainsizereductionof hornblendeand exhumation rate.Figure14d indicates thattheremayhavebeen
plagioclase,chlorite-rich ultramylonites,faults planes with variablerates;the higherratesat-126 Ma probablyled to the
 RATSCHBACHER
ET AL.' CRETACEOUS
AND CENOZOICHONG'AN-DABIE
SHAN 13,331

B conceptual
model
structural
geometry
and
---140- 120 Ma
• I
kinematics
transects
(see
(c))
XMF

• '• ..• •westem cereale•tem

30 60
........
•...... • • ..•:.•:'
.•½•:" • .:•;- 0 ..... NOU

Shang
Ma ................
••
/
late and shallow
early and deep
NW injection SE
Tan-Lu

foliation,intrusiondepth, foliation
trajectories
isotherms
-•sia'lii•'afi6n
at
125
Ma
present
situation
• •.tt•"••w};•a•,"•ct -crystalhzatton
at 134Ma

•w x• •-'"• .......ssw
depthvs age
D 126 128 130 132 134 136 138

Age (Ma)

•' ] Present-day
cross-sectional
distance
(km)

125.6 Ma
16
i ",, 2.2mm/abetween
",,125.6and128.2Ma
',, (vertical)
1•6Ma
O O western
18: ,,

transectsß central 19-

24.7 km .½. eastern ':•,l
...............
m___
0,06 mm/a between
128.2 amd 134.4 Ma
(vertical)

E F
agevs distance sinistral reactivation

age-- 126 + 0.13 distance

'• southern
Tongbaistructuralgeometryand
< N 85 - 75 Ma kinematics, • 110 - 90 Ma
134
[]
125 and 134 Ma 1

(subhorizontal) • extension

contraction
distance from the XMF
x\
N 4, 10
XMF

Tan-Lu

Figure14. (a) Provenandsuspected

structures
andtheirkinematics
of theductileeventandevents1 to 3 of the
ductile-to-brittle
deformation
(--140-120
Ma,seetext),andtheiraverage
strain/stress
orientations
(seeFigure
6),
summarized
fromourstructural
data(Figures7-13).NOU,NorthernOrthogneiss
unit.Numbers
1-3(older
to
younger)
relate
tothestrain/stress
fieldrotation
deducedfromthestructural
data.(b)Rolling
hinge-isostatic
re-
bound
model(adopted
fromWernickeandAxen[1988])forstructural
geometryandexhumation of theNorthern
Orthogneiss
unit(NOU)along
theXiaotian-Mozitang
detachmentfault(XMF)asa distinctly
asymmetric
exten-
sional
structure.
Isotherm
plot(lowermost
diagram)
illustrates
changein crystallization
depthsin timedueto
advectionofheat
toshallower
crustal
levels
byshearalong theXMF.Seetextfordiscussion.
(c)Foliation
trajecto-
riesandintrusion
depthofNorthern
Orthogneiss
unitigneousrocks
alongthree
approximately
NNWtrending pro-
filesfromareas
relatively
unaffected
bylate-stage
plutons (data
fromdifferent
profiles
areshadeddifferently
and
marked west,central,
andeast;intrusion
depthdataarefromTable4, andthetwocrystallization
ages arefrom
Hacker
etal. [1998]).
(d)Crystallization
ages ofNorthern
Orthogneiss
unitigneous
rocks
versus
theirintrusion
depths
(data
arefromTable
4 andU/Pbdatasummarized
inFigure
3bandbyHacker
etal.[1998]).
Thedatum
marked
with
alarge
solid
itsunusually square
age inparentheses
difference
from isexcluded
the from
the
hornblende discussion
40Ar/39Ar due
to
agefrom its
the large
sameuncertaint3?+5.1
sample Ma)
and
(12 + 1 Ma).
(e)
Crystallization
ageofNorthern Orthogneiss
unitigneous
rocks
versus
theirdistance
from theXiaotian-Mozitang
detachment
fault(XMF).(f)AsinFigure
14a,butfor---110-90
Maand--85-75Ma(thelatter
ages
onlyoccur
inthe
southern
TongbaiShan.Seetextfor discussion.
13,332 RATSCHBACHER ET AL.: CRETACEOUS AND CENOZOIC HONG'AN-DABIE SHAN

episode of fastcoolingat-121 Ma alongtheXMF. (5) Assuming Further Early Cretaceousdeformationsupportedby geo-

furtherthat the age-distancerelation(Figure14e)was induced chronologycomprisesthe following: (1) Reischrnannet al.
by slipalongthe XMF, an approximate rateof averagesubhori- [1990] datedthe Shagoushearzone, a branchof the Shangdan
zontaldisplacement of 6-7 mm/yris obtained.(6) Followingthe fault zone in the Qinling belt, at >126 + 9 Ma. (2) Cooling
conceptual modelfurther,thelowerT, top-to-SEnormalcompo- through 400ø-300øC at 120-130 Ma may indicate Cretaceous
nentof shearing/faulting,bestdefinedalongthe southernmargin deformationin the Longmen Shan [Arne et al., 1997]. (3)
of the NOU, may be relatedto the requiredoppositesenseof Triassicdeformationalongthe northeastern marginof Indochina
shear(Figure 14b). (7) The zone close to the XMF has few was reactivatedby dextral(?)strike-strikeslip shear[Lepvrieret
undeformedplutonsbut showsintensedeformation.Deformation al., 1997] with coolingthrough400ø-300øCat 130-90 Ma. (4)
concentratedat the northern margin of the NOU would have The westernboundaryof IndochinashowsLate Jurassic-Early
exhumedthe plutonsto the near surfaceby verticalthinningof Cretaceouscontraction,e.g., along the Pak Lay fold belt [e.g.,
theirroofs.(8) The -40 km normaldisplacement alongthe XMF Stokeset al., 1996]. (5) Webb et al. [1999b] reportedsyn-
obtainedfrom the presentgeometryof the fault and differential kinematicbiotiteagesof 129-126Ma froma southernMongolian
exhumationacrossit comprisesa minimum for subhorizontal metamorphic corecomplex.(6) The Liaoningextensional detach-
extensionduringCretaceouscrustalthinning.Assumingthat the ment (east of Bohai Bay) cooledthrough400ø-300øCbetween
NOU originatedentirely in the Cretaceousyields a maximum 150 and 110 Ma [Yin and Nie, 1996]. (7) Normal faults in
valueof-70 km (100%) for subhorizontal crustalextension. northernJiangsuand southernShandong(Jiaonanarea),partlyat
Between-100 and 90 Ma the Dabie Shan was reactivated,and the top of the Sulu UHP rocks,were activebetween140 and 105
we relate the stressfield summarizedunderevent4 (Figure 6) to Ma [Chenet al., 1992; Yanget al., 2000]. (8) Final doming,and
this time. The XMF was dextral and conjugateto the sinistral possiblyformation of severalcore complexesin southeastern
Tan-Lu and Shang-Mafaults.We baseour interpretation on the China, was Early Cretaceous[Faure et al., 1996]. (9) Sedimen-
distinct reheating event concentratedalong the Tan-Lu (and tationof Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous, mostlycoarseclasticsin
probablythe Shang-Ma;Figure 5c) and the local observationof several NE trending basins marks extension in easternand
low-T ductiledeformationandbrecciationalongthe Tan-Lu. The northeastern China [e.g., Watsonet al., 1987].
reactivationis contemporaneous with the fault gougedatedat 90-
110 Ma along a Tan-Lu strandfar northof Dabie (see section
7. Plate Tectonic Framework for Cretaceous
3.2.). Finally, the shearzone along the southernTongbai Shan
wasactivesinistrallybetween85 and75 Ma (Figure14f). Reactivation of the Qinling-Dabie Belt
The documentedregionalclockwisechangein the orientation
of the principalstresses (e.g., changeof (•3 alongthe XMF from Building on, but refining, the easternAsian tectonicsetting
early approximatelyE-W to late approximatelyNE-SW) very proposedby Yin and Nie [1996], we suggestthat Cretaceous
likely recordsa changein the regionalstressfield and not the deformation in eastern Asia was the result of the combined
rotationof a largecrustalblock.Gilder and Courtillot[1997] and effects of (1) the Siberia-Mongolia-Sino-Koreancollision, (2)
Gilder et al. [1999] demonstrated that boththe Sino-Koreanand the Lhasa-West Burma(?Sibumasu)-Qiangtang-Indochina col-
the Yangtze blocks lack paleomagnetically detectableinternal lision,(3) Pacificsubduction, and(4) relatedmagmatism.
block rotationssincethe Late Jurassicin the vicinity,of the plate 1. The ocean separating Siberia from the combined
suture. Mongolia-Sino-Koreanblocks closedin the Middle and Late
Jurassic, forming the Mongol-Okhotsk suture. Crustal
contractionprobablylastedinto the Early Cretaceous when the
6. Time-Correlative Early Cretaceous thickenedfold-and-thrust belt wasoverprintedby normalfaulting
Deformation in East China [e.g.,Zorin, 1999; Enkin et al., 1992].
2. The Lhasa-Qiangtangcollision is well dated at latest
Figure 15a summarizesrecentdataon the age and kinematics Jurassic-earliestCretaceous [e.g., Allegre et al., 1984];
of Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous deformationthroughouteastern convergence continueduntil the early Late Cretaceous[Murphy
Asia. The most spectacularintracontinental deformation,the et al., 1997]. It is unclearwhetherthe Sibumasublock was the
Yinshan fold belt, is slightly older (160-125 Ma) than easterncontinuationof the Lhasablock [e.g., Yin and Nie, 1996]
widespreadextensionthat is most spectacularly manifestin or was a separateblock and collidedearlier[e.g., Enkinet al.,
Cordilleran-typemetamorphiccorecomplexesfrom Mongoliato 1992].
southeastem China [e.g.,Davis et al., 1996; Webbet al., 1999b]. 3. Figure 15b summarizesconvergencevectorsfor north-
The extensionalsystemsoverprintingthe Yinshanianthrustsand western Pacific Cretaceoussubduction [Engebretsonet al.,
folds locally show an increasein cooling rates at-118 Ma, 1985]. Two eventsmay have had an effect on the easternAsia
possiblyindicatingrapid cooling after exhumation.As in the continentalmargin:(1) a changein the Early Cretaceousfrom a
Tongbaiand alongthe Tan-Lu, gougeages(89-72 Ma; Wanget transcurrentto a convergentplate boundarywith a high conver-
al. [1989] and Davis et al. [1996]) along the Hefangkou gence velocity; possiblyyoung oceanic lithospherewas sub-
extensionaldetachmentfault indicatelate-stagereactivation.Yin ducted,as the spreadingridge betweenthe Farallonand Izanagi
and Nie [ 1996] andDavis et al. [1996, 1998] speculated that the platesprobablywas in the westernmostPacific. (2) A changein
enigmaticYinshan belt originatedfrom compressional intraplate the Late Cretaceousfrom a left-lateral convergentto frontal
stressestransmitted from the Siberian-Mongolia-Sino-Korean convergent plateboundarywith reducedconvergence rates.
collision(Mongol-Okhotsksuture)superimposed ontothermally 4. Mesozoic calc-alkaline volcanic rocks and granites in
weakenedcrust causedby synchronous, westwardPacific sub- southeastern China occur in belts and are between 145 and 85
ductionand attendantmagmatism;they did not reporta genetic Myr old (Figure15c;Zheng[1985]andLapierreet al., [1997]).
associationbetweenthe normalandthrustfault systems. Althoughlate Mesozoicgranitoidsoccurin the entireregionof
 13,333
RATSCHBACHER
ETAL.: CRETACEOUS
ANDCENOZOIC
HONG'AN-DABIE
SHAN

Mongol-Okhotsk
suture,
o o o
-•n..-140-lOOMa
--• oo o 0

A extensionaloverprint, oo
oo
oo
o
o0
o 5•MMa
-P B
Early Cretaceous oo O0
O0 .,...-.'0©
161 - 148 Ma
Sihetangnappe
Yi'nshanJb143-127
Ma

129-126 Ma

•- O0
O0 5Ma-I
ShagouF
>126 Ma oo

Pacific
subduction
NOU cc
140-120
Ma
Lushan cc

I44tgongshan
cc
Cretaceous

j'
I4tnkaidashancc ? c

ßTruongSonF.
Ma (reactivated)
•
P• œayJb
!•rass
•clCretaceøus
\ i•
20 t middle
&lower
Yangtze
belt I i JSEChina
belt

Yanshanianmagmatism
•.• • Sutures
(•) Suolong(•) Qinling-Dabie
(•)Song-Ma
(•) Jinsha
o oo J3- K2 coarse
ooo
clastics
in extensional
basins
•l• cc,metamorphic
core
complex
• fb, fold-thrust
belt
• F, fault/shearzone

•• ymmetric,
asymmetric
extensional structure

EarlyCretaceous
indentation-escape
ffi indentation
• escape 'Qinling-Dab
suture",

.-.• accreting
continents
/• Pacificbackarc
extensionandmagmatism
C• Tongbai-Hong'an-Dabie
Equator

Figure15.(a)Recent
dataontheage and
kinematics
ofLateJurassic-Early
Cretaceous
deformation
ineastern
Asia,
after
thereferences
inthetext.(b)Convergence
vectors
forthenorthwestern
Pacific
Cretaceous
subduction
[data
fromEngebretson
etal.,1985].(c)Mesozoic
calc-alkaline
volcanic
rocksandgranites
insoutheastern
China
and
theiragedistribution;
datafromZheng [1985]
andLapierreetal. [1997].
(d)Possible
LateJurassic-Early
Cretaceous
tectonic
scenarioplacedupon
theEarly
Cretaceous
paleomagnetic
reconstruction
ofAsia[Enkin
etal.,
1992].Overall,
this
fitstoanEarlyCretaceous
setting
dominated
bytectonic
escape
andPacific
backarc
extension.
See text for discussion.
 13,334 RATSCHBACHER ET AL.: CRETACEOUS AND CENOZOIC HONG'AN-DABIE SHAN

southeasternChina (but without firm age constraints),the pure Pacific backarc extension,dominant since about the mid-
principaloccurrences are found in the Tongbai-Hong'an-Dabie Cretaceous.Then, continental-margin-parallelfaultswere reac-
area, in the easternpart of the Yangtze block, and in eastern tivatedor developedas normalfaults.Obliquesubduction may
Zhejiang. Isotopic featuresindicate that remelting of ancient haveimposed the sinistralslip componentsalong,e.g.,the Tan-
lower continentalcrust may be the dominantsourcefor these Lu, Lishui-Haifong,andChangle-Nanao faults[e.g.,Faureet al.,
plutonicrocks[Chenand dahn, 1998;Ameset al., 1996]. 1996], as predictedby the model of slip partitioningalong
Figure 15d placesour data on reactivationof the Qinling- obliqueplate boundaries[McCaffrey,1996]. The decreasein
Dabie belt into a plate tectonicframework,basedon the Early convergence mayrelateto a netreductionin horizontalcompres-
Cretaceouspaleomagneticreconstruction of Asia [Enkin et al., sional stresstransmittedbetween the Izanagi-Pacificand
1992]. Overall,this fits to an Early Cretaceous settingdominated Eurasianplates,whichmay haveresultedin increased extension
by tectonic escape and backarc extension and to a mid- ratesalongtheadjacentcontinental margin.
Cretaceoussettingdominatedby Pacific subduction.Following
Yin and Nie [ 1996] andDavis et al. [ 1998], the primarycausefor
the Yinshanfold belt probablywas the Siberia-Mongolia-Sino- 8. Conclusions
Koreancollision.Contractionaldeformationin SE Asia probably
resultedfrom the Lhasa-?Sibumasu-Qiangtang-Indochina colli- A minimumextension of 18%(>5.4 km dip slipalongand>4
sion. It has been demonstrated that in Cenozoic Asia and thekm throw acrossthe Tan-Lu) occurredacrossthe Cenozoic
Cenozoic Alps-Carpathians[Tapponnieret al., 1986; Ratsch- forelandbasin east of the Dabie, and this constrainsCenozoic
bacher et al., 1991], initial frontal shorteningwas followed by denudation of the Dabie Shan to <5 km. The sinistral Jinzhai
prolongedcontractionwith a componentof eastwardmotion of fault zone,crossing the northernmarginof the Hong'an-Dabie,
triangular wedges,whose boundarieswere mostly reactivated thenormalTan-Lufaultzone,marking theeastern edgeof Dabie,
preexistinglithosphericheterogeneities. If this is true for the anda sinistralfaultzonein the southern TongbaiandHong'an
Early Cretaceousof Asia, the structuresdefiningthis extrusion are the majorCenozoicfeaturesof the Tongbai-Hong'an-Dabie
would includeprovenor assumedsinistralslip components along portion of the Qinling-Dabieorogenicbelt. The documented
the Suolongsutureandthe Qinling-Dabiesuture,anddextralslip Cenozoic faultingemphasizes thedifference
between strike-slip-
alongthe Song-Masuture(Figure 15a;Davis et al. [1998], this dominated tectonicsalongthe Qilian-Qinling-Dabie belt and
paper and Lepvrier et al. [1997]). The interactionwith Pacific dominant rifling in northChina.
backarcextensionandthe possibleradialescapeof the wedgesto Cretaceous plutonscomprise 47% of thesurface exposureof
the weak subduction boundaries in the east and southeast im- Dabie, and almost the entire northern Dabie consists of
posedextensionin easternChina, spectacularly manifestin the Cretaceous
plutonsandorthogneisses constituting
theNorthern
metamorphiccore complexes,locally with documentedsinistral Orthogneissunit (NOU). The Cretaceous
overprintdiminishes
transtension.The pivot for the escapingYangtze block, for westwardin the Hong'anareawhereCretaceous granitoids
are
example, would be the junction betweenthe Jinsha-Song-Ma concentratedalong the northernboundary(20% of surface
andthe Qinling-Dabiesutures. exposure).The Cretaceousoverprintprecludesany major
Our model also explainswhy Pacific magmatismreachedso preservationof the lithosphericstructureof the TriassicUHP
far into the continentalinterior and why it did so particularly orogen. The NOU contrastswith the UHP-HP units in southern
alongwesttrendingzones:It followedactivedeformationzones. Dabieandin Hong'anandis characterized
by its intermediate-
It may alsoexplaintwo prominentHong'an-Dabiefeatures.First, compositionplutonic rock assemblage,its fault-bounded
the changefrom highly obliqueto orthogonalPacificsubduction structuralsetting,and its Cretaceous
age. Intrusion-deformation
in the Late Jurassic(Figure 15b) and the resultantmagmatism relationships
indicate
thatat leastsomeplutonsat thecoreof the
with its spectacularonsetat -•145 Ma in easternChina (Figure NOU weredeformedin a hypersolidus state.Plutonism
occurred
15c) may have causedthe documented reheatingof the Hong'an- in thenorthernDabiefrom137to 125Ma, andmineral cooling
Dabie UHP unitsand may thushavefacilitatedcrustalextension agesdefinea thermal
domearound thesezirconages.Thisperiod
commencingat •-140 Ma. Rapid subduction of youngoceancrust alsomarksthelasttimethattheUHP rockswereat temperatures
might have carried the heat source far into the continental >300øC.TheXiaotian-Mozitangfault(XMF) imposed themajor
interior.We suggestthat Pacificsubduction wasthe majorsource control on cooling, and its structuraleffect vanishedafter 120
for the magmaticrocksof Hong'an-Dabieand/orit providedthe Ma. Therocksof theNOU wereexhumedfromanaveragedepth
heat sourcefor partialmeltingof a Triassic-Jurassic lithospheric of 18km(5.1kbar)andCretaceous
plutons
intruded
upto 15km
root, which might have existedbeforethe Cretaceousextension deeperin the UHP-HP units than in the NOU. The maximum
and magmatism[cf. dahn et al., 1999]. Second,the XMF seems Cretaceous exhumation was •-30 km. Isotherms and isobars are
to be a first-order
exampleof the reactivation
of lithosphericboth normalto the principalextensiondirectionof Cretaceous
heterogeneities.Here, we documented that the Huwan crustal extension, andthusexhumation,magmatism, andcooling
detachment zone was reactivated
in the Cretaceous; in the were controlledby deformation.
northernDabie this Triassiclithospheric
normalfault zone Cretaceous
structures
are dominantlystrike-slipandnormal
exhuming
theUHP continental
crust[Hackeret al., thisissue] faults.The major crust-shaping
eventwas the formationof the
must have run between the central Dabie UHP units and the magmatic-metamorphic-structural
domeof theNOU undergen-
basementunits of the Dabie foreland,the Fozilingand eral NW.-$E subhorizontal extension and NE-SW contraction
Luzhenguang
units,i.e.,mostprobably
alongtheXMF (Figure with the activation of the XMF detachmentfault. The character-
1). Similarly,the CenozoicJinzhaifault reactivatedthe Triassic isticregionalfeatureis a generalclockwisechangein theorien-
suturefor a considerablestretchin theTongbai-Hong'an-Dabie tationof thesubhorizontal strain/stress
axes,i.e.,a change
in ex-
(Figure 1). tensionfrom earlyNW-SE to intermediate
N-$ to late,subordi-
AftertheEarlyCretaceous
event,a compoundof several
plate natelydeveloped,
NE-SW. Cretaceous mesoscale faultingwas
boundaryprocesses,
laterevents
probablywerecausedmoreby widespreadalsoin the UHP unitsandthe forelands.
 RATSCHBACHER ET AL.: CRETACEOUS AND CENOZOIC HONG'AN-DABIE SHAN 13,335

Reheatingof the UHP unitsat 150-130Ma might have maximum of eight. The diffusion-domaintheory predictscon-
thermallyweakenedthe Dabiecrustto locallyfacilitatecrustal stantor monotonicallyincreasingagespectra,andspectrathat do
extension.Together with constraintsfrom the NOU, this not fit this ideal must be adjusted.Step ageswere assigned2c•
establishes
---140Ma astheupperboundfor theonsetof large- analyticaluncertainties,exceptfor stepagesyoungerthan previ-
scale deformation.Together with the last occurrenceof a ous steps,for which the uncertaintieswere expandeduntil adja-
structurally
controlled
coolingpatternin theDabie(•-120Ma), a centstepswere concordant.In addition,multipleisothermal,low-
pulseof NOU-deriveddetritalgrainsin the foreland(123-119 temperature steps designedto identify Cl-correlated excess40Ar
Ma), and the regionalinitial K-feldsparcoolingat •-118 Ma, [Harrison et al., 1994] were all assignedthe age of the youngest
rapidcoolingalongthe XMF at ---121Ma establishes
---120Ma as step in the group. Stepsabovemelting (>1100øC) that yielded
the lower bound for the sinistraltranstensionaldeformation. spuriousageswere either ignoredor madethe sameas the final
A rollinghinge-isostatic
rebound modelis suggested, which 1100øCstep, and stepswith low radiogenicyields (<95%) and
fits the distinctly asymmetricexhumationof the NOU. anomalouslyold ageswere adjustedto provide a smoothlyin-
Deformationmigratedfrom SW to NE, andthe XMF controlled creasingtrend.Whereasstepscollectedat temperatures >1100øC
the exhumation geometry of theNOU. Applyingthismodelto are not modeledby the program,adjustinganomalouslyold step
theage,intrusion depth,andstructural geometry datasuggestsageswith low radiogenicyieldshasno phenomenological justifi-
variableexhumation ratesashighas2 mm/yranda rateof sub- cation.Fifty monotonicandnonmonotoniccoolinghistorieswere
horizontalextensionof upto 6 mm/yr.Between•-100and90 Ma generatedusing age spectrummodelingroutines;unlessother-
theDabiewasreactivated, andtheXMF waspresumably dextral wise noted,we only show coolinghistoriesthat provide a good
andconjugate to the sinistralTan-LuandShang-Mafaults.The fit to the data.Coolinghistorieswere calculatedfrom initial ages
reactivationwascontemporaneous withfaultgougedatedat 90- 50-100 Ma older than the oldeststep.
110 Ma along a Tan-Lu strandfar to the north of the Dabie. A
last pre-Cenozoic
deformation occurred
in southern
Tongbai Appendix 2: Methods of Fault Slip Analysis
between 85 and75 Ma; it wascontemporaneous
withlate-stage and Definition of StressTensor Groups
deformation
alongthe Yinshanbelt in northernChinaandhada
similar NW-SE extension direction.
In the courseof our structuralstudies,fault slip datawere
EarlyCretaceousdeformation in easternAsia,coevalwith that
collectedfrom outcrops of knownor assumed stratigraphicposi-
in Hong'an-Dabie,occurredin the intracontinental
Yinshanfold
tion.Eachstationis an outcropof up to quarrysizewith uniform
belt,alongthe Shagou
shearzonein theQinlingbelt,alongthe lithology.Senseof slip alongthe faultswasdeducedfrom kine-
LongmenShanat the eastern termination
of the Tibetplateau, maticindicators,
e.g.,offsetmarkers,fibrousminerals (mostly
alongthe marginsof the Indochinablock,alongthe Liaoning calciteandquartz)grownbehindfaultsteps, Riedelshears,ten-
extensional
detachmenteastof BohaiBay,at thetopof theSulu
siongashes,
andslickenlines[e.g.,Petitet al., 1983].Because
UHProcksin northeasternChina,withinseveralcorecomplexeserrorsin slip sensedetermination
mayhavesevereeffectson the
from Mongolia to southeastern
China, and within a numberof
calculationof principalstressaxes,a confidencelevel was as-
basinsin eastern
andnortheastern China.Refiningearliermodels, signedto eachslip sensedatum.Theselevelsarerecordedin the
we suggestthat Cretaceousdeformationin easternAsia was the
styleof the arrowheads expressing the slip directionof the
resultof thecombined effectsof (1) theSiberia-Mongolia-Sino-
hanging wallblockin thefaultslipdatadiagrams, thusallowing
Koreanblockscollision,(2) the Lhasa-West Burma(?Sibu- judgment of thequalityof thedatabase. Surfacemorphology of
masu)-Qiangtang-Indochina collision,(3) Pacific subduction,theslickensides (e.g.,fiber-or stylolite-coated
or polished)
and
and(4) relatedmagmatism. Thisoverallplatetectonicframework faultsize,classified qualitatively
basedonanestimate of thedis-
indicatesan Early Cretaceous tectonicsettingdominated by placement andthe lateralextentof the fault,wererecorded.The
eastwardtectonicescapeand Pacific backarcextensionand a aim was to discriminatefirst-orderfaults and to enable a com-
mid-Cretaceoussettingdominatedby Pacific subduction.
The parisonof faultsmeasured
in outcropswith thoseinferredfrom
changefrom transcurrent to frontalconvergent
Pacificsub- mapping. Indicationsof multipleslip wererecorded,andthe
ductionin theLateJurassic
andtheresultant
magmatismwithits relativechronologywasusedfor separation of heterogeneous
onsetat•-145Ma in eastern
Chinamayhavecausedthereheating rawdatafaultsetsintosubsets.Overprintingrelationships
such
of the Hong'an-DabieUHP units and thus facilitatedcrustal
asconsistent
faultsuperposition,
overgrowths
of differently
ori-
extension.
The XMF andJinzhaifaultzonesprovidefirst-order entedfibers,orfiberswithchanging growthdirection
guidedthe
examplesof reactivated
lithospheric
heterogeneities.
TheTriassic assignmentof the subsetsto relativeagegroups.
The raw data
Huwan detachmentzone, which exhumed the UHP continental
usually
contain
severalfaultslipsetswithincompatible slipsense
crust,coincides
in theDabiewiththeNOU, andmostprobably but with consistent fault superposition,
whichwereusedasthe
with the XMF. Similarly,the CenozoicJinzhaifault reactivated geological
constraint
for separation.
Note,however, thatthesub-
the Triassicsuturefor a considerablestretchin the Tongbai- setsmay containincompatibledata.The latterare includedin the
Hong'an-Dabie. stereograms
but excludedfrom the calculationsof the stressaxes.
Thederivation of an absolutechronology of faultingeventsis
Appendix 1' Diffusion-DomainK-Feldspar based ontherelationship of faulting
to theknownageof a rock
Thermochronology (e.g.,Tables1 and5) or to theabsolute ageof itslastmetamor-
phism;ourgeochronological dataaresummarized in thispaper
We ran modified1997versionsof Lovera's[1992] modeling anditscompanion
[Hackeretal., thisissue].
routines.A minimumof four agestepsfrom a spectrumwere fit We usedthe computerprogrampackage of Sperneret al.
witha lineto defineactivation
energyE andfrequency factorDO [1993]andSpernerandRatschbacher [1994]forfaultslipanaly-
[Loveraet al., 1997];morestepswereaddedif thefit improved. sisto calculate
theorientation
of principal
stress
axesandthere-
The number of domains was limited to a minimum of three and a duced
stress
tensors
[e.g.,Angelier,
1984].Outof thispackage
 13,336 RATSCHBACHER ET AL.: CRETACEOUS AND CENOZOIC HONG'AN-DABIE SHAN

we obtainedstressaxesby the "pressure-tension (P-B-T) axes" itedbyA. Yin and T.M. Harrison, pp.253-280, Cambridge Univ.
Press,New York, 1996.
method [Turner, 1953] and calculatedstresstensorsby the
Davis,G.A.,C. Wang,Y. Zheng,J. Zhang,Ch.Zhang,andG.E.Ge-
"numericaldynamicanalysis"of Spang [1972] and the "grid hrels,The enigmaticYinshanfold-and-thrust beltof northernChina:
search"techniqueof Hardcastle [1989]. In additionto stress Newviewsonitsintraplate contractional styles,
Geology,26,43-46,
orientation the computation of the reduced stress tensor 1998.

determinesthe ratio R, which expresses the relationshipbetween Dell'Angelo, L.N.,andJ.Tullis,Fabric development in experimentally
shearedquartzites,
Tectonophysics, 169, 1-21,1989.
the magnitudesof the principal stresses.Extreme values of R
Eide,L., M.O. McWilliams, andJ.G.Liou,4øAr/39Ar geochronologic
correspond to stressellipsoidswith rs2 = rs3 (R = 0) or rs1 = rs2 constraintson the exhumation of HP-UHPmetamorphic rocksin
(R = 1). The qualityandthe quantityof field datadetermined the east-central
China,Geology,22, 601-604, 1994.
selection of the method used for calculation. The P-B-T axes Engebretson,
D.C., A. Cox,andR.G. Gordon,Relativemotionbetween
method was used with scarce data and where insufficient time was oceanicanccontinental platesin thePacificbasin, Spec.Pap.Geol.
Soc.Am., 206, 1-55, 1985.
availablein the field for carefulanalysisof fault andstriaecharac- Enkin,R.J.,Z. Yang,Y. Chen,andV. Courtillot,Palcomagneticcon-
teristics.A comparison of methodsis givenby Ratschbacher et al. straintson the geodynamichistoryof majorblocksof Chinafrom
[1993]. The distance-weighting methodof Lee and Angelier Permian to Present,
d. Geophys.
Res.,97, 13,953-13,989,
1992.
[1994] wasemployedto produceregionalstresstrajectories from Faure,M., Y. Sun,L. Shu,P. Monie,andJ. Charvet,Extensionaltec-
multiplelocal stressorientationdeterminations. tonicswithina subduction-type orogen:The casestudyof the
Wugongshan
dome(JiangxiProvince,
southeastern
China),Tec-
tonophysics,
263, 77-106, 1996.
Acknowledgments. This researchwas fundedby DFG grants Fletcher, C.J.N.,W.R.Fitches, C.C.Rundle, andJ.A.Evans, Geological
Ra442/4, Ra442/9, and Ra442/14 and NSF grantEAR-9417958.K- andisotopicconstraints on the timingof movement in the Tan-Lu
feldspar
modeling madeuseof FrankSpera's IBM 43Pcomputer in the fault zone,northeastern
China,d. SoutheastAsianEarth Sci., 11, 15-
MagmaDynamicsLaboratory at UCSB.We thankDaveRowIcy,the 22, 1995.
StanfordAsia group,JensandRobertSchmid,InesGaitzsch,andnu- Gilder, S.A., andV. Courtillot,Timingof the North-SouthChinacolli-
merousChinesecolleagues for discussionandfield guidence.Hagen sionfromnewmiddleto lateMesozoicpalcomagnetic datafromthe
DeckeftandJohannes Pic are thankedfor transtbrring
somedatainto North ChinaBlock,,/. Geophys.Res.,102, 17,713-17,727,1997.
computergraphics,andGeroldZeilingerandJtirgen Eliascontributed by Gilder,S.A.,P.H. Leloup,V. Courtillot,Y. Chen,R.S.Coe,X. Zhao,W.
U-stagework. JensSchmidprovideda helpfulpresubmission review. Xiao, N. Halim, J.-P. Cogn&and R. Zhu, Tectonicevolutionof the
Bor-mingJahnis thankedfor sendinga stimulating "in press"paper. Tancheng-Lujiang (Tan-Lu)faultvia MiddleTriassicto EarlyCeno-
Lastbutnot leasta "thankyou" is givento thejournalreviewersDenis zoic palcomagnetic data, d. Geophys.Res., 104, 15,365-15,390,
Gapais,RobertaRudnick,andAn Yin fortheireducating comments! 1999.
Hacker,B.R., and Q.C. Wang, Ar/Ar geochronology of ultrahigh-
pressure metamorphism in centralChina,Tectonics,
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