The paleomagnetic record of Uppermost Permian, Lower Triassic rocks from the South China Block

Abstract

In order to constrain better the paleogeography of the blocks that now make up China, we collected paleomagnetic samples from Uppermost Permian to Middle Triassic limestones from two localities in the Sichuan Basin (South China Block). A low inclination component which passes both the fold test and the reversal test was found in five sites (D=46.1°, I=11.9°, k=83.6, α95=8.7°). We review corresponding remanences found in other studies of Permo‐Triassic rocks from the Sichuan Basin, and show that the component is probably characteristic of the Lower Triassic. We then review paleomagnetic results from the Uppermost Permian Emeishan Basalt. Despite small local rotations, the difference between the Emeishan Basalts and the Sichuan Basin poles is interpreted to be the result of motion of the whole South China Block around the time of the Permo‐Triassic boundary rather than of strain within the block.