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Sedimentary successions and the onset of the Neoproterozoic Jiangnan sub-basin in the Nanhua rift, South China

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Abstract

Recent results of research from a regional geological survey have demonstrated that the Neoproterozoic Nanhuan strata in the Jiangnan sub-basin in the Nanhua rift in South China are built up of “wedge-shaped strata”, which rest transgressively on the metamorphic basement. These strata are grouped, as indicated by our sedimentary facies analysis, into the following four depositional successions (with ten related sedimentary facies associations): (1) continental volcanic depositional succession; (2) continental siliciclastic depositional succession; (3) marine siliciclastic depositional succession; and (4) glacial depositional succession. Compared with the Hunan-Guangxi sub-basin and the Northern Zhejiang sub-basin, the sedimentary processes in the Jiangnan sub-basin are dominated by continental rather than marine facies. However, similar sedimentary successions with identical facies trends can be recognized in all these sub-basins. All the Neoproterozoic basin fills in South China are characterized by a deepening water trend leading from continental to fully marine facies, recording the evolution of a typical rift basin related to the break-up of Rodinia. The crystalline zircons from a rhyolite sample taken from the base part of the first succession in the Jiangnan sub-basin give a mean SHRIMP U–Pb age of 803 ± 9 Ma. The occurrence of the ca. 803 Ma volcanic rocks and the volcaniclastic rocks marks the onset of a new phase of depositional cycles in the Jiangnan sub-basin.

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Acknowledgments

This project was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 41030315, 41402103), and the China Geological Survey (Grant No. 1212011121111). The authors would like to express their heartfelt thanks to Hans-Jurgen Gawlick and Sigrid Missoni (Leoben, Austria) for their suggestions and discussions of the manuscript. They also sincerely appreciate the detailed and constructive reviews of two anonymous reviewers, which greatly improved this paper. Moreover, the authors want to express their gratitude to Wang Chengshu, Maurice Dusseault and Betty Dusseault(University of Waterloo, Canada) for English language editing; Li Zhengxiang, Li Xianhua and Gao Yonghua for cooperation and support in the field geological survey; Yan Quanren for his help in the experimental analysis, Wang Zhengjiang and He Jianglin et al. for their revision of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Chengdu Institute of Geology and Mineral Resources, Chengdu, 610081, Sichuan, China

    Jian Wang, Xiaolin Zhou, Qi Deng, Xiugen Fu & Xiumei Guo

  2. Key Laboratory of Sedimentary Basin and Paleogeography and Lithofacies, Ministry of Land and Resources, Chengdu, 610081, Sichuan, China

    Jian Wang, Xiaolin Zhou, Qi Deng, Xiugen Fu & Xiumei Guo

  3. Chengdu University of Technology, Chengdu, 610059, Sichuan, China

    Xiaolin Zhou & Xiumei Guo

  4. Petroleum Exploration and Production Research Institute, Sinopec, Beijing, 100083, China

    Taizhong Duan

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  1. Jian Wang
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  2. Xiaolin Zhou
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  3. Qi Deng
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Correspondence to Xiaolin Zhou.

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Wang, J., Zhou, X., Deng, Q. et al. Sedimentary successions and the onset of the Neoproterozoic Jiangnan sub-basin in the Nanhua rift, South China. Int J Earth Sci (Geol Rundsch) 104, 521–539 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00531-014-1107-5

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