Early Eocene Radiolarian Fauna from the Sangdanlin, Southern Tibet: Constraints on the Timing of Initial India‐Asia Collision

Abstract

AbstractThis is a new report on the early Eocene radiolarian fauna from the Sangdanlin section in the Gyirong region, along the southern margin of the Yarlung Zangbo Suture Zone. The Sangdanlin section measured in this study is divided into three lithostratigraphic units from bottom to top: the Zongzhuo, Sangdanlin, and Zheya formations. Abundant radiolarian fossils were obtained from the Sangdanlin section and 54 species of 30 genera were identified and assigned as follows: Cryptamphorella conara‐C. macropora the late Cretaceous Zone and Amphisphaera coronate, Buryella tetradica‐Bekoma campechensis, and B. bidartensis‐B. divaricata the Paleocene‐early Eocene Interval Zones. The Paleocene‐early Eocene radiolarian zones are comparable to the radiolarian zones RP4‐RP8 in New Zealand. Based on the data of radiolaria and lithofacies, it is suggested that the Zongzhuo Formation should be deposited along the base of the north‐facing, continental slope of the Greater Indian continental margin, and the Sangdanlin Formation should be a deep marine, sedimentary sequence located in a foreland basin. The early Eocene radiolarian fauna in the Sangdanlin Formation constrains the initial age of the India‐Asia collision to no later than 53.6 Ma.