Mesozoic tectonic evolution of the Daba Shan Thrust Belt in the southern Qinling orogen, central China: Constraints from surface geology and reflection seismology

Abstract

The Daba Shan Thrust Belt is located along the southern margin of the Qinling orogen that separates the north China block in the north from the south China block in the south. Despite decades of research, the total magnitude of shortening accommodated by continent-continent convergence across the Qinling orogen after Triassic ocean closure between north and south China remains poorly constrained. The lack of knowledge on the shortening magnitude in turn limits our ability to test a wide array of tectonic models for the development of the Qinling orogen and thus the convergence history between north and south China. In order to address this issue, we construct a balanced cross section and develop a new kinematic model for the evolution of the Daba Shan Thrust Belt. This work was accomplished by integrating (1) surface geologic mapping, (2) detailed kinematic analysis of key structures, (3) existing geochronologic and thermochronological data, and (4) a recently obtained lithospheric-scale seismic reflection profile. Restoration of the cross section indicates that the minimum shortening strain increases northward from ~10% in the foreland to >45% in the thrust belt interior. The estimated amount of upper crustal shortening across the Daba Shan Thrust Belt is >130 km, which is sufficient to allow the inferred mafic lower crust of the subducted south China lithosphere to have experienced eclogite phase transition. Thus, our work supports that the development of the Daba Shan Thrust Belt may have been driven by slab pull of the subducted mafic lower crust at the leading edge of the down-plunging south China continental lithosphere.