REN JISHUN, J. CHARVET & S. HADA

ISBN 90 5410 446 5

East and Southeast Asia comprises a giant "jigsaw puzzle" of continental fragments (terranes) which had their origins on the margin of the ancient supercontinent Gondwana in the southern hemisphere. During the last 400 million years, the various continental fragments of the East Asian region split off Gondwana, drifted northwards and re-assembled. The separation of Asian terranes from Gondwana occurred in three episodes which were accompanied by the opening, and subsequent closure of three ocean basins, the Palaeo-Tethys, Meso-Tethys and Ceno-Tethys. The remnants of these now destroyed ancient ocean basins are preserved in narrow suture zones between the Asian continental terranes. The eighteen contributions in this book by internationally renowned geoscientists, are the culmination of the six-year long International Geological Correlation Programme Project 321, "Gondwana dispersion and Asian accretion". The contributions reflect the multidisciplinary and international collaborative nature of the project and provide important new data, and interpretations and syntheses of the region. The papers cover both continental terranes and suture zones and collectively provide exciting new insights, especially on the timings of events, relating to the Gondwana dispersion and Asian accretion processes that led to the assembly of modern-day Asia.

Preface

Introduction

Gondwana dispersion and Asian accretion: An overview

Relationship between the Chinese continental blocks and Gondwana

Some tectonic aspects of the pre-Jurassic accretionary evolution of East Asia

Rift-drift history and the amalgamation of Shan-Thai and Indochina/East Malaya blocks

Triassic to Jurassic dextral ductile shearing along the eastern margin of Asia: A synthesis

Early-middle Palaeozoic vertebrate faunas in relation to Gondwana dispersion and Asian accretion

Accretion history of Borneo inferred from the polyphase structural features in the Meratus Mountains

Recycling and interaction of the crust and upper mantle in the Qinling Orogen: Isotopic and trace element evidence

Occurrence and tectonic significance of Paleozoic and Mesozoic radiolaria in Thailand and Malaysia

The Phanerozoic apparant polar wander path for the Korean Peninsula and its tectonic implication

Discussion on geochemical division and affinity of East Asia Blocks: Implications for Tectonic Framework

The Carboniferous floras of Southeast Asia: Implications for the relationships and timing of accretion of some Southeast Asian blocks

Gondwana marginal subduction zone deduced from chemistry of chromium spinels in Upper Devonian sandstone, Japan.

The Palaeo-Tethys in mainland Southeast Asia: Contributions from radiolarian studies

Origin and evolution of the South Kitakami microcontinent during the Early Middle Palaeozoic

The early Paleozoic paleogeography and tectonics in Vietnam/South China as markers for the Cenozoic tectonic offset along the Red River fault zone

Main tectonic units and geological evolution in South China and its environs: in the light of Gondwana dispersion and Asian accretion

Review of the Indochina-South China plate boundary problem: Structure of the Song Ma-Song Da zone