Paleozoic paleogeographic reconstruction and evolution of the three continental blocks of central and western China

doi:10.13745/j.esf.sf.2022.8.3

Abstract

Abstract:

The Paleozoic paleogeographic position of the three continental blocks of central and western China—namely the North China, South China and Tarim blocks—in the global ocean-continent pattern has been under debate. Applying the latest research methods and ideas of paleogeographic reconstruction, along with the paleomagnetic measurements of Paleozoic cores (from the Ordos, Sichuan and Tarim basins in the study area), global Paleozoic paleomagnetic data, and constrains from major global geological events, this paper reconstructs and locates the paleogeographic position of the North China, South China and Tarim blocks using the GPlates software. The results indicate that the three continental blocks migrate mainly between the mid and low latitudes of ±30° during the Paleozoic and undergo at least three different clockwise rotations and azimuth conversions. And the migration rates of the three blocks oscillate at least three times between different high and low velocities. In response to the breakup and assembly of Paleozoic global oceans/supercontinents, the three continental blocks experience a series of crustal movements, including “archipelagic ocean” dispersion under ocean basin expansion, divergence/convergence coexistence under ocean basin subduction and collision, differential convergence/uplift under ocean basin subduction, differential divergence/convergence under transformation between old and new ocean basins, and differential divergence/convergence under the control of mantle plume. Obviously, the Paleozoic position of the three continental blocks of China in the global ocean-supercontinents pattern, along with differential tectonic settings, provide basic conditions for the formation and evolution of different types of basins or petroleum reservoirs of different strata and for the differential development of primitive reservoir materials within the three continental blocks.

Key words: Paleozoic, reconstruction of paleogeographic position, paleomagnetism, GPlates, North China Block, South China Block, Tarim Block

CLC Number:

P542.4

YANG Fengli, XU Mingchen, ZHUANG Yuan, ZHAO Xixi, HU Yuyang, YANG Ruiqing. Paleozoic paleogeographic reconstruction and evolution of the three continental blocks of central and western China[J]. Earth Science Frontiers, 2022, 29(6): 265-276.

Figures/Tables 10

Fig.1 Sketch maps of the Tarim (a), Sichuan (b) and Ordos (c) basins of central and western China showing the tectonic units of the study area and distribution of paleomagnetic sampling sites. Modified after [20].

Table 1 Summary of Paleozoic paleomagnetic sample data and testing results for the three basins (Tarim, Ordos and Sichuan basins) in the study area

盆地	层位	时代/Ma	采样钻井	岩性	样品个数	精度参数	磁倾角/ (°)	置信区间 α₉₅/(°)	古纬度/ (°)
塔里木盆地	中二叠统库普库满苏组(P₂k)	270~265	Z18	火山碎屑岩	4	21.54	46.0	20.4	27.4
	下石炭统巴楚组(C₁b)	359~326	S108,AT19, BT6	岩屑石英砂岩	16	9.30	44.2	13.2	25.9
	上泥盆统东河塘组(D₃d)	385~359	Z18	砂岩	4	26.91	19.3	29.0	9.9
	下志留统柯坪塔格组(S₁k)	441~438	AT40,AT19, Z18,S9,BT6	岩屑石英砂岩	36	15.42	35.8	8.1	19.8
	奥陶系硫磺山群(O_2-3l)	467~456	S108,KT1	灰岩	4	36.43	37.1	24.6	20.7
	奥陶系鹰山组(O_1-2y)	478~467	Z18,BT6,SB2	泥晶灰岩	19	4.38	32.1	23.7	17.4
	下寒武统肖尔布拉克组($\rlap{-}\text{C}_{1}$x)	530~513	XH1,KT1, DG1	泥岩、泥晶白云岩	8	19.50	42.5	9.8	24.6
鄂尔多斯盆地	下二叠统太原组(P₁t)	304~298	XF5,NS1, J77,DB8	砂岩	10	13.63	33.2	13.3	18.1
	中奥陶统马家沟组(O₂m)	471~460	XF5,DB8,B2	白云岩、灰岩	13	12.42	14.8	13.8	7.5
	中寒武统张夏组($\rlap{-}\text{C}_{2}$z)	506~500	CT1,DB8,XH1	白云岩、灰岩	6	19.12	35.5	15.4	19.6
四川盆地	下志留统龙马溪组(S₁l)	444~441	LY3,YY2	页岩	6	16.94	9.3	16.2	4.7
	下寒武统筇竹寺组($\rlap{-}\text{C}_{1}$q)	520~514	JS103	暗色灰岩	3	37.01	23.6	24.9	12.3
	震旦系灯影组(Z₂d)	551~541	JS103	白云岩	3	21.82	39.3	31.6	22.3

Fig.2 Seismic profiles along four different directions passing through sampling layers of AT-40 well core, Tarim basin (drilling site see Fig.1)

Fig.3 Examples of typical demagnetization behaviors before tilt correction in samples collected from three basins the study area. Panel (a): Orthogonal (Zijderveld) vector plots. Panel (b): Decay of natural remanent magnetization (NRM) during thermal demagnetization.

Fig.4 Stereographic projections of the principle axes of the ellipsoid of AMS for the samples from the Tarim (a), Ordos (b) and Sichuan (c) basins in the study area

Fig.5 Comparison of paleomagnetic data between this study and previous research results (after [3,7-8] for the Tarim (a), North China (b) and South China (c) in the study area)

Fig.6 Palaeogeographic evolution of the North China, South China and Tarim continental blocks during the Paleozoic

Fig.7 Migration paths of the three continental blocks of China (North China, South China and Tarim) and world's major continental blocks during the Paleozoic

Fig.8 Variation of paleolatitude and azimuth of the North China (top), South China (middle) and Tarim blocks during the Paleozoic

Fig.9 Migration rates of the North China (red line), South China (green line) and Tarim (black line) blocks during the Paleozoic

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