Yang ChuChinese Academy of Sciences | CAS · Institute of Geology and Geophysics
Yang Chu
Dr.
Bsc(Nanjing University)-PhD(Institute of Geology and Geophysics, CAS/Université d’Orleans)
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73
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Introduction
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November 2018 - October 2019
January 2015 - present
April 2012 - December 2014
Publications
Publications (73)
In the Cretaceous, the subduction of the Izanagi/Paleo‐Pacific plates beneath the South China Block (SCB) created a wide back‐arc domain characterized by numerous extensional basins coeval with voluminous magmatism. The SCB witnessed the whole evolution by records of widespread extensional structures to accommodate the lithospheric stretching. In t...
The timings of the onset of oceanic spreading, subduction and collision are crucial in plate reconstructions, but not always straightforward to resolve. The Paleo‐Tethys evolution dominated the Paleozoic‐Early Mesozoic tectonics of West Asia, but the timeline of events is still poorly constrained. We present new detrital zircon ages from the Binalu...
Accommodation of plate convergence during the Arabia-Eurasia collision is expressed in the exhumation record of the broad collision zone. In order to better constrain the spatial and temporal patterns of exhumation, this paper presents new geochronology (zircon U-Pb) and thermochronology (zircon and apatite (U-Th)/He, and apatite fission track) dat...
Cyclical change in subduction angle is the favorable mechanism to elucidate the cyclicity of continental arc magmatism, however, the role of episodic tectonics and variation of the lithosphere in overriding plates is much underestimated. Here we focus on structural, magnetic, and gravitational features of the Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous grani...
Mid‐to‐lower crustal rock exhumation is common in orogenic belts, but the deformation process exposing these rocks remains debated. Distributed deformation in low viscous crust extruding mid‐to‐lower crustal rocks as channel flow and localized deformation along shear zones imbricating rigid blocks are two end‐members that account for crustal thicke...
Establishing the mechanisms for craton modification is critical for understanding cratonic stability and architecture. It is well known that oceanic subduction and mantle plumes can destroy and destabilize the overriding cratonic lithosphere, but the role of continental subduction in craton modification remains unclear. In the North China craton (N...
The Tibetan Plateau has been known for its highest elevation and thickest crust on earth, and become a key region for comprehending the rheology and tectonic evolution of continental plates and associated dynamic processes. Over the past years, numerous geophysical studies have been conducted to explore the deep structure of the Tibetan Plateau, re...
The lithospheric architecture of the South China Block (SCB) is crucial to understanding the formation and evolution of this distinctive and highly reworked continental lithosphere with over 3 billion years of tectonic history. However, due to a lack of high‐resolution geophysical datasets, a detailed picture of the SCB lithosphere is absent, and f...
After two continents collide, plate convergence and orogenesis are sustained because subducted continental lithosphere continues pulling the surface plate. It remains controversial how, why, and when continental plate convergence and collision slow down and eventually cease. We use an unprecedented data coverage and present a regional-scale seismic...
The timing and mechanism of the combination between the South China Block (SCB) and the Indochina Block (IB) are controversial. Three ophiolitic mélange zones (Ailaoshan, Song Ma, and Song Chay) have been proposed as suture zones within this collisional orogen. However, the relationships among the three corresponding tectonic belts are unclear. In...
The Neo‐Tethys subduction and subsequent Arabia‐Eurasia continental collision invoked widespread Cenozoic tectono‐magmatism throughout the Iranian Plateau. We herein develop a new method to image the shallow crustal S‐wave velocity (Vs) structure by joint inversion of multifrequency waveforms and horizontal‐to‐vertical ratios around the direct P ph...
In response to the craton destruction, the North China Craton (NCC) underwent the Early Cretaceous extensional tectonics. During this period, the eastern NCC has also experienced numerous plutonism, volcanism, and extensional structures. Particularly, half-graben or graben, Early Cretaceous extensional domes, metamorphic core complex, and syn-kinem...
Tethyan evolution is characterized by cyclical continent-transfer from Gondwana to the continents in the Northern Hemisphere, similar to a “one-way” train. Subduction has been viewed as the primary driver of transference. Therefore, it is crucial to understand the tectonic evolution of all past subduction zones that occurred along Eurasia's souther...
To understand the post-orogenic tectonics related to collision between the North China Craton (NCC) and the South China Block (SCB), the Northern Sulu massif is a representative area. It experienced a complex evolution marked by exhumation of ultra-high-pressure metamorphism rocks, migmatization, and alkaline magmatism in the Latest Triassic, and f...
The Cretaceous extensional province of the South China Block (SCB), and the decratonization-induced extension in the North China Block (NCB), were both controlled by the Late Mesozoic subduction of the Izanagi/Paleo-Pacific Plate. Different from the metamorphic core complexes exhuming deep crustal rocks of the NCB, extension of the SCB is expressed...
Collisional orogens are locations where continental terranes amalgamate and are potential sites of weakness that facilitate subsequent continental breakup. Therefore, the lithospheric architecture of collision zones provides key information for evaluating the long-term evolution of the continental interior: for example, the South China Block (SCB),...
Subduction of oceanic lithosphere is the primary driver for plate tectonics on earth, but a paucity of geological records hinders our understanding of how subduction is initiated. Two general mechanisms have been proposed - induced and spontaneous nucleation of subduction zones. For both mechanisms, subduction inception begins with initial lower pl...
The Longmenshan Thrust Belt in Eastern Tibet resulted from a Mesozoic orogeny and Cenozoic reworking. It is generally believed that the Cenozoic tectonics along the Longmenshan Thrust Belt are mostly inherited from the Mesozoic. Reconstructing the Mesozoic tectonics of the Longmenshan Thrust Belt is therefore important for understanding its evoluti...
The Bikou Terrane, located at the conjunction of the Longmenshan fold-thrust belt and the west Qinling orogenic belt in centeral China, was involved in the Late Triassic collision between the South China and North China blocks. The Bikou Terrane has preserved crucial information on structural geometry and kinematics of Triassic tectonics, and is th...
The Pozantı-Karsantı ophiolite is one of the well-preserved supra-subduction-zone oceanic lithosphere slices. It offers a unique opportunity to study oceanic crust formation, and to specify subduction initiation processes of the Inner Tauride ocean in the Neo-Tethyan subduction system. The Pozantı-Karsantı ophiolite is tectonically underlain by a s...
During the Late Paleozoic to Cenozoic, with the closure of the Tethys oceans, the East and/or Southeast Asia was amalgamated by individual blocks. In order to understand the Paleogeography of the Eastern Paleo-Tethys, a systematic UPb dating on 11 samples have conducted to constrain the age and provenance of the elements forming the Ailaoshan-Song...
The Iranian plateau has a more straightforward relationship between the Paleo-Tethys and Neo-Tethys, than other regions in the Tethyan realm and is an ideal place to test the genetic connection of how the Paleo-Tethys affected the Neo-Tethys. Moreover, there is no consensus on how Paleo-Tethyan evolution influenced the Neo-Tethyan Wilson cycle. We...
The location of the suture zone between the South China Block (SCB) and the Indochina Block (IB) is disputed. Recently, along the Song Chay (Chay river) belt, a mélange zone was proposed as a potential suture zone of the SCB and IB. However, the provenance and age of the Song Chay mélange is poorly known. In order to better constrain the age and pr...
The craton is a long-lived stable geologic unit on the Earth’s surface. However, since the Mesozoic, the North China Craton (NCC) experienced large-scale lithospheric removal, the fundamental change of physical and chemical characteristics of the lithospheric mantle, widely distributed crustal deformation, and extensive magmatism. This complex evol...
The Yanshan fold and thrust belt (YFTB) was built up by multiple contractional events, namely the “Yanshan Movement”, which was traditionally subdivided into the “Yanshan-A” and “Yanshan-B”. In contrast with the better constraint on “Yanshan-B” (ca.140 Ma), the timing of “Yanshan-A” is still in dispute. The Middle Jurassic contraction (172-160 Ma)...
The Makran represents a huge accretionary wedge in SE Iran that resulted from the long‐lasting subduction of the Neotethys Ocean since the Mesozoic. From west to east, this accretionary wedge extends ∼1000 km between the Minab Fault in Iran, and the Ornach‐Nal Fault in Pakistan. The ongoing oceanic subduction characterizes this belt between the Ira...
A large plateau can be produced by crustal thickening in convergent zones such as continental collision belts and Andean-type subduction zones, but the life cycles of such plateaux are not well-understood. In particular, it is not clear how long they persist after construction, before other tectonic processes or erosion reduce crustal thickness and...
In this contribution, we present whole-rock major and trace element chemistry, including rare earth elements (REE), highly siderophile elements (HSE), and ReOs isotope data, together with mineral chemistry for the harzburgites and dunites from the Kızıldağ ophiolite of SE Turkey, in an attempt to better constrain its petrogenesis. Both the harzburg...
Chromitites in the Pozantı-Karsantı ophiolite in Turkey mainly occur as podiform chromitites within mantle harzburgite and stratiform-like chromitites in mantle-crust transition zone. Chromites in chromitites have varing Cr# from 62.8 to 80.3 and can be divided into two types, namely; intermediate (Cr#: 62.8 – 69.2) and high-Cr (Cr#: 73.9 – 80.3) t...
Harzburgites with high modal orthopyroxene (generally >23 vol%) in Archean craton, mantle wedge and oceanic lithospheric mantle are considered to be produced by the interaction between Si-rich liquids and rocks. However, the absence of samples from continental margin hinders the recognition whether this process is prevalent. Mantle xenoliths entrai...
At the front of metamorphic Cenozoic Alpine nappe of Schistes Lustrés, Western Alpine Corsica (France) exposes non- to very low grade metamorphic nappes, such as the Piedmont nappes, Upper nappes, and the Balagne nappe. The provenance of the Balagne nappe remains still opened: an origin close to the Corsican continental margin; or an origin far Eas...
The Early Mesozoic Xuefengshan Belt, located in the central part of the South China Block, East Asia, developed as an intracontinental belt during the Middle Triassic. Analyses of structural and strain patterns in Neoproterozoic conglomerates constrain the internal deformation and three-dimensional kinematic evolution of this fold-and-thrust belt....
The South China block (SCB) experienced a polyphase reworking by the Phanerozoic tectono-thermal events. To better understand its Late Mesozoic tectonics, an integrated multidisciplinary investigation has been conducted on the Dayunshan–Mufushan composite batholith in the north-central SCB. This batholith consists of two major intrusions that recor...
Detrital zircons from Cretaceous micaschist, Late Eocene-Earliest Oligocene sandstone and Early Oligocene siltstone of the Western Alps fall into three main separable age clusters at 610-540 Ma, 490-430 Ma, and 340-280 Ma that correspond to the Cadomian (Neoproterozoic), Ordovician and Variscan (Carboniferous) events widespread in Western and Centr...
In SE Yunnan, the Ailaoshan Belt has been extensively studied for the ductile shearing coeval with the left-lateral Cenozoic activity of the Red River fault. However, the Late Triassic unconformity of the continental red beds upon metamorphic and ductilely deformed rocks demonstrates that the Ailaoshan Belt was already built up by Early Mesozoic te...
Middle Triassic orogens are widespread around and inside the South China Block (SCB). The southern peripheral belts that develop from northwest to southeast, namely Jinshajiang, Ailaoshan, NW Vietnam, NE Vietnam, Yunkai and Hainan exhibit striking similarities, with Permian-Early Triassic magmatic arc, ophiolitic mélange, northeast- to north-direct...
The Xuefengshan-Jiuling Belt, located in the center of the South China Block, is a typical intracontinental orogen. According to our detailed field investigation, the Xuefengshan Belt has experienced three phases of deformation: Dj is characterized by top-to-the NW shearing, D2 is represented by back-folding and thrusting, and D3 formed upright fol...
As the oldest exposed basement and the typical sedimentary cover of the Yangtze craton, the Huangling massif is a suitable place to decipher the tectonics of South China block. Structural analysis shows that the Huangling massif has an elliptic domal shape with N–S striking long axis, an asymmetric antiform with a steep western flank and a gentle e...
Abstract The structure of the Jiuling Massif has been investigated in order to delineate the polyorogenic deformation and discuss its geodynamic evolution and orogenic mechanisms. Detailed structural analysis indicates that the D1 event is characterized by top-to-the NNW ductile shearing with pervasive foliation, and mineral and stretching lineatio...
In order to reveal the tectonic evolution of the South Chinese Tianshan orogenic belt, we conducted structural, geochemical, and geochronological studies and identified granitic and volcanic rocks along the northern margin of the Tarim block. Zircon laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) U-Pb dating of two samples f...
The northeastern Vietnam, northeastern Guangxi, southwestern Guangdong and Hainan Island with NW-SE trending all locate in south margin of South China Block ( SCB). It is an important region to understanding the tectonic evolution of South China Block. Song Chay belt locates in the northeast region of Vietnam, a NE-SW mineral and stretching lineati...
Six trends of joint sets (E-W, N-S, ENE-WSW, NNW-SSE, WNW-ESE, NNE-SSW) and three groups of orthogonal joints systems (EW and SN, ENE-WSW and NNW-SSE, NWW-SEE and NNE-SSW) are recognized in the Mesozoic strata within the southeastern Ordos Basin. The orthogonal joint systems developed in three sequences; D1 with E-W and N-S trening joints, D2 with...
In orogenic belts, a basal décollement zone often develops at depth to accommodate the shortening due to folding and thrusting of the sedimentary cover. In the Early Mesozoic intracontinental Xuefengshan Belt of South China, such a décollement zone is exposed in the core of anticlines formed by the emplacement of the late-orogenic granitic plutons....
Neoproterozoic sedimentary sequences in the South China Block provide great opportunity to examine the tectonic evolution and crustal accretion during this period. This study presents U–Pb ages and Hf isotope composition of detrital zircons and Nd isotope composition of whole rocks of the Neoproterozoic sequences from the Yangtze Block, part of the...
The Xuefengshan Belt, characterized by large-scale fold and thrust
structures and widespread granites, is a key area to decipher the
tectonic evolution of the South China block. In this belt, two magmatic
episodes are recorded by Early Paleozoic and Early Mesozoic granites. In
this paper, we carried out precise SIMS zircon UPb dating and in situ
Lu...
Detail field observations indicate that the Xuefengshan Belt can be divided into a Western OuterZone, characterized by km-scale box-fold structures, and an Eastern Zone, separated from theWestern Outer Zone by the Main Xuefengshan Thrust. In the Eastern Zone, NW verging folds coevalwith a pervasive slaty cleavage and a NW-SE trending lineation are...
Unlike most Precambrian cratons that have thick sub-continental lithospheric roots, the Archean lithosphere beneath the North
China Craton is thin (reduced from 200 km to about 80 km), and has been replaced by a geochemically juvenile lithospheric
mantle. This is a unique regional geological event, which has attracted worldwide attention. In the No...
The nature of the extension dome in the Central Dabieshan Domain remains in debates for a long history. Based on the structural analysis of the core complex as well as its boundary shear zones or fracture zones and associated with a comprehensive review of the relative studies, we define this migmatite-gneiss dome as a metamorphic core complex (MCC...
The Early Mesozoic tectonic and geodynamic evolutions of the South China Block (SCB) are still debated questions. Along the southern margin of the SCB, the Yunkai and Song Chay massifs are key regions to address these questions. In both of these massifs, an Early Mesozoic ductile deformation with thrust and folds structures have been observed. In t...
In the center of the South China Block, in Hunan Province, the Xuefengshan Belt provides a well-exposed example of intracontinental orogens. Detail field observations indicate that the Xuefengshan Belt can be divided into: (1) the Western Outer Zone, characterized by km-scale box-fold structure; (2) the Central Xuefengshan Zone, where the dip of th...
Huangling anticline, located in the east of the Yangtze Craton, is becoming a hotspot of the geology research in south China, because the Kongling Group exposed in its core region is thought to be the basement of the Yangtze Craton. On regional scale, Huangling anticline is adjacent to the Jianghan Basin and between the Jingdang Basin to the east a...
The Yunkai massif. experienced granulite to high-amphibolite high-grade metamorphism, is a key area in the southern part of the South China Block, and evidenced the tectonic evolution from Paleozoic to Mesozoic, including 4 events-late Early Paleozoic, Early Mesozoic, Early Late Mesozoic and Late Late Mesozoic. Coincided with tectonic events, the c...
Extensive organic-matter (OM) rich facies (black shales) occur in the Ordo-Silurian boundary successions in the Yangtze area, South China. To investigate the redox changes of the Yangtze Sea during the Ordo-Silurian transition, two OM sections (Wangjiawan in Yichang, Hubei Province, and Sanjiaguan in Zhangjiajie, Hunan Province) straddling the Ordo...