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Early Mesozoic structural deformation in the Chuandian N-S Tectonic Belt, China

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Abstract

The Helan-Chuandian N-S Tectonic Belt is a mantle transitional belt in China. The southern part, forming the Chuandian N-S Tectonic Belt, comprises several tectonic systems, each displaying different characteristics. The Chuandian N-S Tectonic Belt along the western margin of Yangtze Block is a strike-slip tectonic belt with a series of echelon left-lateral slip faults. The strike-slip fault systems experienced two stages of structural deformation: early NW-SE striking thrust faults formed under a NE-SW compression stress field, and later sinistral strike-slip structures formed along thrust faults under a NW-SE compression stress field. Mesozoic basins developed between the left-lateral slip faults. Sedimentary facies and paleocurrent directions indicate that basin development was controlled by the strike-slip faults. The oldest strata in the Chuandian N-S Tectonic Belt constrain its formation to early Mesozoic. In fact, The slip tectonic belt formed by clockwise rotation and north-directed subduction-collision of the Yangtze Block in Late Triassic-Jurassic. The strike-slip faults that developed within the belt also formed at this time.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Geomechanics, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, Beijing, 100081, China

    Hong Chen, JianMin Hu & HongJie Qu

  2. Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100029, China

    GuoLi Wu

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  1. Hong Chen
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Correspondence to JianMin Hu.

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Chen, H., Hu, J., Qu, H. et al. Early Mesozoic structural deformation in the Chuandian N-S Tectonic Belt, China. Sci. China Earth Sci. 54, 1651–1664 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-011-4261-7

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