Trace Element and Isotope Characteristics of Cenozoic Basalts around the Tanlu Fault with Implications for the Eastern Plate Boundary between North and South China: A Reply

Abstract

Abstract Cenozoic intraplate basalts in eastern China show variations of Pb, Sr, and Nd isotope ratios that essentially correspond to major lithospheric domains with distinct tectonic histories. Whereas an enriched‐mantle EM1‐type isotope signature is commonly observed in basalts from the North China block, an EM2‐type isotope signature appears to dominate in those from the South China block. This study reports new trace element data for Cenozoic basalts occurring around the Tanlu fault zone, a sinistral, translithospheric fault related to the Triassic continental collision between the North and South China blocks. Combining published isotope data, basalts from the Subei basin in the east of the Tanlu fault exhibit the EM1‐type geochemical and isotopic features, implying that their lithospheric mantle source region is structurally affiliated with the North China block. This is consistent with the crustal detachment collision model that suggests a subsurface suture between the North and South China blocks ...