The present-day number of tectonic plates

The number of tectonic plates on Earth described in the literature has expanded greatly since the start of the plate tectonic era, when only about a dozen plates were considered in global models of present-day plate motions. With new techniques of more accurate earthquake epicenter locations, modern ways of measuring ocean bathymetry using swath mapping, and the use of space based geodetic techniques, there has been a huge growth in the number of plates thought to exist. The study by Bird (2003) proposed 52 plates, many of which were delineated on the basis of earthquake locations. Because of the pattern of areas of these plates, he suggested that there should be more small plates than he could identify. In this paper, I gather together publications that have proposed a total of 107 new plates, giving 159 plates in all. The largest plate (Pacific) is about 20 % of the Earth's area or 104 Mm (super 2) , and the smallest of which (Plate number 5 from Hammond et al. 2011) is only 273 km (super 2) in area. Sorting the plates by size allows us to investigate how size varies as a function of order. There are several changes of slope in the plots of plate number organized by size against plate size order which are discussed. The sizes of the largest seven plates is constrained by the area of the Earth. A middle set of 73 plates down to an area of 97,563 km (super 2) (the Danakil plate at number 80, is the plate of median size) follows a fairly regular pattern of plate size as a function of plate number. For smaller plates, there is a break in the slope of the plate size/plate number plot and the next 32 plates follow a pattern of plate size proposed by the models of Koehn et al. (2008) down to an area of 11,638 km (super 2) (West Mojave plate # 112). Smaller plates do not follow any regular pattern of area as a function of plate number, probably because we have not sampled enough of these very small plates to reveal any clear pattern. Copyright 2016 The Author(s) and Harrison

U-Pb and Hf isotopic compositions of detrital zircons from the paragneisses of the Quanji Massif, NW China: Implications for its early tectonic evolutionary history

The Quanji Massif is a cratonic fragment located on the northeastern margin of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau in western Qinghai Province, northwest China (Fig. 1). This massif consists of pre-Neoproterozoic crystalline basement unconformably overlain by mid- to late-Neoproterozoic and Cambrian strata. The basement is dominantly made up of the Delingha complex and the supracrustal Dakendaban Group. The Delingha complex is made up of 2.24–2.39 Ga granitic gneisses with enclaves of dominant amphibolite and minor felsic gneisses as well as granulites. The supracrustal Dakendaban group is in tectonic contact with the Delingha Complex, and can be divided into the lower and upper Dakendaban sub-Groups. Data from detrital zircons show that the protolith rocks of these two sub-groups were deposited after ～2.32 Ga, and ～2.11 Ga, respectively. The detrital zircon age and Hf isotopic data and geological correlations suggest that the Quanji Massif was possibly fragmented from the Tarim Craton, and the Delingha complex was probably uplifted to become the major sedimentary source for the upper Dakendaban sub-group at ～2.11 Ga. Our zircon Hf-isotope compositions demonstrate important crustal growth at 2.6–2.7 Ga and ～2.5 Ga. Together with the important magmatic activity at ～2.2–2.4 Ga and geological data, our results seem to suggest that the Tarim Craton was part of the North China Craton in its early evolutionary history but rifted away and joined the Yangtze Craton prior to the Neoproterozoic. 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Two-stage collision-related extrusion of the western Dabie HP-UHP metamorphic terranes, central China: Evidence from quartz c-axis fabrics and structures

The western Dabie orogen (also known as the Hong'an block) forms the western part of the Dabie-Sulu HP-UHP belt, central China. Rocks of this orogen have been subjected to pervasive ductile deformation, and include numerous quartz schists and felsic mylonites cropping out in ductile shear zones. Quartz textures in these mylonites contain important clues for understanding the movement sense of late-collisional extrusion and exhumation of high-pressure-ultrahigh-pressure (HP-UHP) rocks from the lower crustal level to the upper crustal level during Middle Triassic and Early Jurassic. The orientation and distribution of quartz crystallographic axes were used to confirm the regional shear sense across the orogen. The asymmetry of c-axis patterns consistently indicates top-to-the-southeast thrusting across the orogen in early structural stages. Later stages of deformation show different senses of movement in northern and southern parts of the orogen, with top-to-the-northwest sinistral shearing recorded in rocks north of the Xinxian HP-UHP eclogite-facies belt, and top-to-the-southeast dextral shearing south of the same unit. Based on our study on quartz c-axis fabrics and marco- to micro-scale structures, simultaneous southeastward shearing within a large part of the orogen and normal faulting north of the Xinxian HP-UHP unit is explained by upward extrusion in early stages of deformation. The extrusion process has been attributed to syn- and late-collisional processes, accounting for some earlier deformation in the western Dabie orogen such as metamorphic sequences around the core of the Xinxian HP-UHP eclogite-facies unit. Much higher pressure of deformation is also indicated in the aligned glaucophane and omphacite from blueschist and eclogite in the field. An orogen-parallel eastward extrusion of the Xinxian HP-UHP eclogite-facies unit, however, occurred diachronously in later stages of deformation. Therefore, a tectonic model combining an early upward extrusion with a later eastward extrusion is presented. Two different stages and types of extrusion for exhumation of HP-UHP rocks are suitable to all of east central China. Geochronological data shows that the first, upward extrusion occurred during Middle Triassic, the second, eastward extrusion occurred during Late Triassic to Early Jurassic. These two extrusions are correlative with two stages of rapid exhumation of the Dabie HP-UHP rocks, respectively. These two-stage late-collisional (Middle Triassic to Early Jurassic) extrusion events bridge the gap between syn-collisional (Early to Middle Triassic) vertical extrusion and post-collisional (Cretaceous) eastward-directed lateral escape and provide vital clues to understanding the more detailed processes of exhumation of HP-UHP rocks. © 2009 International Association for Gondwana Research.link_to_subscribed_fulltex

Mesozoic tectonics in the Eastern Block of the North China Craton: Implications for subduction of the Pacific plate beneath the Eurasian plate

The Jiao-Liao massif is located in the hanging wall of the north-dipping Dabie-Sulu suture zone and is an important part of the Eastern Block of the North China Craton. Several important tectonic models for the tectonic evolution of Eastern Asia rely on critical information from the Jiao-Liao massif. This paper combines new sensitive high-resolution ion microprobe (SHRIMP) U-Pb zircon ages of the Dandong Granite in the southern Liaoning Province, China, with extensive field data for the eastern North China Craton, including the Bohai Bay Basin. Combined with other recent SHRIMP dating, we use this information to summarize the Mesozoic tectonic reactivation and evolutionary processes of the Jiao-Liao massif of the Eastern Block of the North China Craton. In this study we identify a c. 160 Ma episode of partial melting of Palaeoproterozoic plutons in the Jiao-Liao massif. Cathode luminescence and backscatter electron imagery reveal c. 167-157 Ma magmatic euhedral single zircons and magmatic zircon rims surrounding c. 2100 Ma cores in the Dandong Granites near the Liaonan Neoarchaean terrane. This partial melting is probably related to in situ remelting of ancient lower continental material, mostly the North China Craton. The Dandong plutons are aligned in a NE-SW direction and are extensively deformed by subhorizontal ductile thrust-related shearing and subsequent NNE-SSW trending folds. Here, we show that for the Dandong area the first deformation occurred between 195 and 193 Ma, based on K-Ar and 40Ar/39Ar ages of muscovites from east-west-trending shear zones on the Liaodong Peninsula. Based on the field relationships between the plutons and structural fabrics, a range from 153 to 145 Ma is defined as the duration of the second deformation in the Dandong Granites. The third deformation is marked by the formation of NNE-SSW strike-slip faults between 135 and 95 Ma. This deduced age range is similar to an 40Ar/39Ar age range of 128-132 Ma of initial sinistral strike-slip faulting of the Tan-Lu fault in Anhui Province and to a biotite cooling age of 100 ± 2.3 Ma of the Yilan-Yitong segment of the Tan-Lu fault in the Jilin Province. These faults are transtensive and controlled the formation of pull-apart basins. However, during the third deformation, some metamorphic core complexes in Eastern China formed in the overlapping area between the largescale sinistral faults. Our SHRIMP data also indicate that the Liaodong basement and its Early Mesozoic magmatism are similar to the Jiaodong basement and its Mesozoic magmatism. Therefore, the Early Mesozoic evolution of the Liaodong area, similar to that of the Jiaodong area, was also closely related to the Sulu orogen in the Early Mesozoic and to the Pacific subduction throughout the Mesozoic. © The Geological Society of London 2007.link_to_subscribed_fulltex

Collision leading to multiple-stage large-scale extrusion in the Qinling orogen: Insights from the Mianlue suture

The geologic framework of the Phanerozoic Qinling-Dabie orogen was built up through two major suturing events of three blocks. From north to south these include the North China craton (including the north Qinling block), the Qinling-Dabie microblock, and the South China craton (including the Bikou block), separated by the Shangdan and Mianlue sutures. The Mianlue suture zone contains evidence for Mesozoic extrusion tectonics in the form of major strike-slip border faults surrounding basement blocks, a Late Paleozoic ophiolite and a ca. 240-200 Ma thrust belt that reformed by 200-150 Ma thrusts during A-type (intracontinental) subduction. The regional map pattern shows that the blocks are surrounded by complexly deformed Devonian to Early Triassic metasandstones and metapelites, forming a regional-scale block-in-matrix mélange fabric. Five distinct tectonic units have been recognized in the belt: (1) basement blocks including two types of Precambrian basement, crystalline and transitional; (2) continental margin slices including Early Paleozoic strata, and Late Paleozoic fluviodeltaic sedimentary rocks, proximal and distal fan clastics, reflecting the development of a north-facing rift margin on the edge of the South China plate; (3) out of sequence oceanic crustal slices including strongly deformed postrift, deep-water sedimentary rocks, sheeted dikes, basalts, and mafic-ultramafic cumulates of a Late Paleozoic ophiolite suite, developing independent of the rift margin in a separate basin; (4) out-of-sequence island-arc slices; (5) accretionary wedge slices. All the tectonic units were deformed during three geometrically distinct deformation episodes (D1, D2 and D3 during 240-200 Ma). Units 2-4 involved southward thrusting and vertical then southward extrusion of about 20 km of horizontal displacement above the autochthonous basement during the D1 episode. Thrust slices 20 km south of the Mianlue suture are related to this vertical extrusion due to the same rock assemblages, ages and kinematics. The D2 and D3 episodes folded all the units in a thick-skinned style about east-west (D2) and west-northwest (D3) axes in the Mianlue suture zone. An early foreland propagating sequence of accretion of Late Paleozoic rocks deposited above the Yangtze craton is not involved in D1 deformation but is temporally equivalent to the D2 and D3 deformation in the Mianlue suture. Two stages of strike-slip faulting mainly occurred at the end of D2 and D3, respectively. During D2 deformation, the Bikou block was obliquely indented to the ESE into the Mianlue suture, rather than being thrust over the Mianlue suture from the north as a part of the Qinling-Dabie microblock. During D3 deformation, however, the Bikou block was bounded by the south boundary fault of the Mianlue suture, and the Yangpingguan fault on the south. These faults are coeval strike-slip faults, but of opposite senses, and accommodated minor southwestward extrusion of the Bikou block into Songpan-Ganze orogen. The other basement blocks north of the Mianlue suture were extruded eastward by about 20 km of lateral displacement, based on the offset of the Wudang dome, during the D3 episode due to the northeastward indentation of the Hannan complex of the South China craton. Post-D3 emplacement of granite, cutting across the strike-slip faults such as the Mianlue suture, provides a minimum age of 200 Ma for D3 deformation. Therefore, based on insights from the evolution of the Mianlue suture, the D2 and D3 episodes in the Mianlue suture and its neighbors are not responsible for and associated with the two-stage extrusion of the Dabie UHP-HP terranes from the Foping dome to the present erosional surface (more than 350 km). © 2006 International Association for Gondwana Research.link_to_subscribed_fulltex

Evolution of high-pressure mafic granulites and pelitic gneisses from NE Madagascar: Tectonic implications

The occurrence of high-pressure mafic-ultramafic bodies within major shear zones is one of the indicators of paleo-subduction. In mafic granulites of the Andriamena complex (north-eastern Madagascar) we document unusual textures including garnet-clinopyroxene-quartz coronas that formed after the breakdown of orthopyroxene-plagioclase-ilmenite. Textural evidence and isochemical phase diagram calculations in the Na2O-CaO-K2O-FeO-MgO-Al2O3-SiO2-H2O-TiO2 system indicate a pressure-temperature (P-T) evolution from an isothermal (780 degrees C) pressure up to c. 24 kbar to decompression and cooling. Such a P-T trajectory is typically attained in a subduction zone setting where a gabbroic/ultramafic complex is subducted and later exhumed to the present crustal level during oceanic closure and final continental collision. The present results suggest that the presence of such deeply subducted rocks of the Andriamena complex is related to formation of the Betsimisaraka suture. LA-ICPMS U-Pb zircon dating of pelitic gneisses from the Betsimisaraka suture yields low Th/U ratios and protolith ages ranging from 2535 to 2625 Ma. A granitic gneiss from the Alaotra complex yields a zircon crystallization age of ca. 818 Ma and Th/U ratios vary from 1.08 to 2.09. K-Ar dating of muscovite and biotite from biotite-kyanite-sillimanite gneiss and garnet-biotite gneiss yields age of 486 +/- 9 Ma and 459 +/- 9 Ma respectively. We have estimated regional crustal thicknesses in NE Madagascar using a flexural inversion technique, which indicates the presence of an anomalously thick crust (c. 43 km) beneath the Antananarivo block. This result is consistent with the present concept that subduction beneath the Antananarivo block resulted in a more competent and thicker crust. The textural data, thermodynamic model, and geophysical evidence together provide a new insight to the subduction history, crustal thickening and evolution of the high-pressure Andriamena complex and its link to the terminal formation of the Betsimisaraka suture in north-eastern Madagascar. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved