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Was there a Cambrian ocean in South China? – Insight from detrital provenance analyses

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 July 2014

WEI-HUA YAO ,
ZHENG-XIANG LI  and
WU-XIAN LI
WEI-HUA YAO*
Affiliation:
ARC Centre of Excellence for Core to Crust Fluid Systems (CCFS) and The Institute for Geoscience Research (TIGeR), Department of Applied Geology, Curtin University, Perth, WA 6845, Australia
ZHENG-XIANG LI
Affiliation:
ARC Centre of Excellence for Core to Crust Fluid Systems (CCFS) and The Institute for Geoscience Research (TIGeR), Department of Applied Geology, Curtin University, Perth, WA 6845, Australia
WU-XIAN LI
Affiliation:
Key Laboratory of Isotope Geochronology and Geochemistry, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510640, China
*
†Author for correspondence: [email protected]
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Abstract

We use detrital provenance data from Cambrian sandstones to examine whether the Yangtze and Cathaysia blocks in South China were separated by an ocean during the Cambrian period. Zircons from the Cambrian sandstones exhibit a dominant ~ 800 Ma age peak in the central Yangtze Block, being sourced from the western Yangtze Block, whereas a ~ 980 Ma peak dominates in the northwestern Cathaysia Block, being sourced from an exotic continent once connected to Cathaysia. A mixed provenance with both age peaks is found in Cambrian sandstones from the southeastern Yangtze Block, indicating that detritus can travel from the Cathaysia Block to the Yangtze Block, and therefore arguing against the existence of a broad Cambrian ocean.

Keywords

South ChinaCambrian oceandetrital provenanceU–Pb geochronology
Type
Rapid Communication
Information
Geological Magazine , Volume 152 , Issue 1 , January 2015 , pp. 184 - 191
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

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