Mesozoic doming extensional tectonics of Wugongshan, South China

Abstract

Wugongshan in Jiangxi Province, China was a Mesozoic granitic dome-type extensional tectonics that is composed of metamorphic core complexes, ductile and brittle shear-deformed zones distributed around Mesozoic granites. Within it, the foliation defines an E-W elliptical shape and bears S-N stretching lineations. The axial part is located in Hongjiang-Wanlongshan area and occupied by oriented granites with coaxial symmetric shear fabrics. The southem and northern flanks, including rocks in the Anfu Basin to the south and the Pingxiang Basin to the north, display top-to-south and top-to-north motions, respectively. The ductile and brittle structures indicate a geometric and kinematic consistency. The extensional tectonics is developed on a Caledonian metamorphic basement and is unconformably covered by Late Cretaceous red beds. Isotopic ages on muscovite, biotite and whole rock by40Ar-39Ar, K-Ar and Rb-Sr suggest that the Wugongshan extensional doming began from the Triassic and ended in the Late Cretaceous. A geodynamic model is discussed.