Huangling Anticline

Location of the Huangling Anticline
Huangling Stratigraphy showing Neo-Proterozoic granitoids, Archean to Paleoproterozoic TTG gneisses and Paleozoic carbonate, shale outlying the dome.

The Huangling Anticline or Complex represents a group of rock units that appear in the middle of the Yangtze Block in South China,[1] distributed across Yixingshan, Zigui, Huangling, and Yichang counties.[2] The group of rock involves nonconformity that sedimentary rocks overlie the metamorphic basement.[3] It is a 73-km long, asymmetrical dome-shaped anticline with axial plane orientating in the north-south direction. It has a steeper west flank and a gentler east flank.[3] Basically, there are three tectonic units from the anticline core to the rim, including Archean to Paleoproterozoic metamorphic basement, Neoproterozoic to Jurassic sedimentary rocks, and Cretaceous fluvial deposit sedimentary cover.[2] The northern part of the core is mainly tonalite-trondhjemite-gneiss (TTG) and Cretaceous sedimentary rock called the Archean Kongling Complex.[4] The middle of the core is mainly the Neoproterozoic granitoid. The southern part of the core is the Neoproterozoic potassium granite.[5] Two basins are situated on the western and eastern flanks of the core, respectively, including the Zigui basin and Dangyang basin. Both basins are synforms while Zigui basin has a larger extent of folding. Yuanan Graben and Jingmen Graben are found within the Dangyang Basin area.[3] The Huangling Anticline is an important area that helps unravel the tectonic history of the South China Craton because it has well-exposed layers of rock units from Archean basement rock to Cretaceous sedimentary rock cover due to the erosion of the anticline.[6]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference :1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b Zhou, X.M. (2006). "Petrogenesis of Mesozoic granitoids and volcanic rocks in South China: a response to tectonic evolution". Episodes. 29: 26–33. doi:10.18814/epiiugs/2006/v29i1/004.
  3. ^ a b c Ji, W.; et al. (2013). "Origin and tectonic significance of the Huangling massif within the Yangtze craton, South China". Journal of Asian Earth Sciences. 86: 59–75. Bibcode:2014JAESc..86...59J. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.696.1160. doi:10.1016/j.jseaes.2013.06.007.
  4. ^ Zhang (2009). "Origin of TTG- like rocks from anatexis of ancient lower crust: geochemical evidence from Neoproterozoic granitoids in South China". Lithos. 113 (3): 347–368. Bibcode:2009Litho.113..347Z. doi:10.1016/j.lithos.2009.04.024.
  5. ^ Zhang, J.; Griffin, W.L.; et al. (2006). "Widespread Archean basement beneath the Yangtze Craton". Geology. 34 (6): 417–420. Bibcode:2006Geo....34..417Z. doi:10.1130/G22282.1. hdl:10388/14973.
  6. ^ Zhang, Y.Q. (2012). "The new progress in the study of Mesozoic tectonics of south China". Acta Geoscientica Sinica. 33: 257–279.