Objective The development of continental rifting and seafloor spreading can be predominated by magmatic upwelling(magma-rich)or tectonic stretching(magma-poor).Located in the terminal portion of propagating seafloor spreading of the South China Sea(SCS),the southwestern mid-ridge of the southwest sub-basin(SWSB)of the
Since the recognition of the Indosinian orogeny in northern Vietnam,Triassic orogens have been widely identified around the western and southwestern boundaries of the South China block.The paleo-Tethys sutures stretch from west to southeast,from Jinshajiang-Ailaoshan via NE Vietnam to Hainan Island;these sutures exhibit and develop voluminous Permian-early Triassic magmatism and numerous high-strain shear zones.As ophiolites related to the paleo-Tethys are lacking on Hainan Island,the eastward extension of the Indosinian orogeny and subduction and closure time of the paleo-Tethys Ocean on Hainan Island remain controversial.Here,an integrated kinematic and geochronological study has been conducted on two shear zones,called the Xiaomei and Mangsan shear zones.U-Pb zircon dating yields an age of early Triassic(252-251 Myr)for Xiaomei syntectonic granites which formed in the same tectonic setting and presented the similar nanoparticles to the Indosinian granites from Ailaoshan ductile shear zone,including the strawberry-like and flower-like nanoparticles.The NE-trending Mangsan shear zone represented by the gneissic granites with middle Permian ages(264-262 Myr)formed in the same tectonic setting as the Wuzhi-shan granites that were proposed as I-type granites.These middle Permian gneissic granites with arc affinity may represent an arc setting related to the NW subduction of the paleo-Tethys.The analyses reveal that granites with late Triassic ages(235-232 Myr)in the Xiaomei shear zone have the characteristics of A-type granites.The late Triassic extensional events on Hainan Island may be related to the subduction of the paleo-Pacific Plate beneath the East Asian continent.
Objective Dongsha waters are poorly studied for gas hydrates.Previous multi-channel seismic reflection and Chirp subbottom profiles show that numerous submarine mounds stand up to 100 m high above the seafloor over the continental slope of the SW Dongsha Island in northern margin of the South China Sea(SCS).These mounds
