Provenance and tectonic evolution of Lower Paleozoic–Upper Mesozoic strata from Sibumasu terrane, Myanmar

Abstract

The provenance of Sibumasu terrane sedimentary rocks and their tectonic relationships with surrounding terranes exposed in Southeast Asia record separation and accretion of Gondwana-derived terranes during Late Paleozoic and Mesozoic time. This paper reports sandstone petrographic and U–Pb detrital zircon geochronologic data from Ordovician to Lower Jurassic strata within the Sibumasu terrane in Shan State, Myanmar. The Ordovician strata are composed of limestone and siltstone. The Lower Silurian Linwe and Upper Silurian Namhism Formations are comprised of limestone, silty sandstone, conglomerate and sandstone, respectively. Sandstones from both Ordovician and Silurian strata are dominated by 567–470Ma and 982–917Ma detrital zircons that are interpreted to be sourced from the eastern Gondwana supercontinent. The Carboniferous unit is composed of metasedimentary rocks (phyllite, slate, quartzite, and meta-marl). Sandstones from Carboniferous units show a strong 1165–1070Ma detrital zircon age peak that is not present in the Ordovician and Silurian strata. These zircon grains were most likely derived from both the Albany–Fraser Province in Southwest Australia and Maud Province in Antarctic. The Upper Triassic to Lower Jurassic, shallow marine Loi-an Group consists of thin- to medium-bedded sandstone and mudstone that unconformably overly the Permian to Middle Triassic Plateau Limestone Group. Sandstones from the Loi-an Group contain abundant Permian to Triassic detrital zircons that are interpreted to have been derived from the Sukhothai Arc of the western Indochina terrane. Formation of this arc is attributed to eastward (present coordinates) subduction of Paleo-Tethyan oceanic lithosphere beneath Indochina. Therefore, we propose that the Sibumasu terrane was juxtaposed against northwestern Australia as part of the Gondwana supercontinent during Paleozoic to Early Permian time. During the Late Triassic and Early Jurassic, Sibumasu strata record an abrupt influx of Permian and Triassic zircon grains, signifying a change in provenance from Gondwana to the Sukhothai Arc. These data are consistent with a tectonic model involving rifting of the Sibumasu terrane from Gondwana and subsequent docking with the Indochina/Simao terranes during Mesozoic time.