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The Cenozoic evolution of SE Asia is marked by thousands of kilometres extension on the continental margin, including normal faults, half‐grabens, and volcanic rocks, but dating of brittle faults in the shallow crust is difficult because of a lack of synkinematic minerals. The Cenozoic extension in the Youjiang fold‐thrust belt in southwest China is marked by brittle normal faults and half‐grabens filled with Paleogene sediments in the region. Here, we identified a strongly weathered mafic sill that was truncated by normal faults in the fold‐thrust belt and present the age and chemistry of zircons from a weathered sill. The zircons from the sill yielded a mean age of ~35 Ma. Integrating cross‐cutting relationship and zircon U–Pb dating suggest that the Cenozoic extension was initiated later than ~35 Ma in Youjiang fold‐thrust belt in southwest China. Combined with structural analysis and previous fission track data in the region, we suggest that the normal faults in this study provide evidence of surface fault activity of Cenozoic extension in SE Asia caused by retreat of a trench system. Furthermore, this study provides a case study to discuss how to decipher brittle normal faulting using zircon geochronology and structural and textural analysis from the mesoscale to the microscale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Remote sensing techniques are widely used during petroleum exploration. However, limitations in spectral and spatial resolution mean that these techniques are used mainly to detect hydrocarbons either indirectly or under laboratory conditions. To investigate the spectral signatures of natural hydrocarbon-bearing features, we took spectral measurements from oil seeps and associated hydrocarbon-bearing materials in Karamay city, northwest China. The hydrocarbon content of 16 hydrocarbon-bearing samples was also determined to study the relationship between hydrocarbon content and spectral absorption. The results reveal a positive correlation between spectral absorption intensities at 1725 nm and hydrocarbon contents of >1 wt%. Thus, surface hydrocarbon content can be direct detection above a detection limit of around 1 wt% using this method. This result is not only instructive for petroleum exploration, but also important for environmental protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two phases of diabase-sill-forming magmatism are recorded within the Badu anticline where magmas were emplaced into upper Palaeozoic carbonates and clastic rocks of the Youjiang fold-and-thrust belt in the SW South China Block, China. Zircons from these diabase units yield weighted mean U–Pb ages of 249.2±2.0 Ma and 187.1±3.3 Ma, and magmatic oxygen fugacity values from ‒20 to ‒6 (average of ‒12, equating to FMQ +5) and ‒20 to ‒10 (average of ‒15, equating to FMQ +2), respectively. These data indicate that the sills were emplaced during Early Triassic and Early Jurassic times. The discovery of c. 250 Ma mafic magmatism in this area was probably related to post-flood-basalt extension associated with the Emeishan mantle plume or rollback of the subducting Palaeo-Tethys slab. The c. 190 Ma diabase sills indicate that the southwestern South China Block records Early Jurassic mafic magmatism and lithospheric extension that was likely associated with a transition from post-collisional to within-plate tectonic regimes. The emplacement of diabase intrusions at depth may have driven hydrothermal systems, enabling the mobilization of elements from sedimentary rocks and causing the formation of a giant epigenetic metallogenic domain. The results indicate that high-oxygen-fugacity materials within basement rocks caused crustal contamination of the magmas, contributing to the wide range of oxygen fugacity conditions recorded by the Au-bearing Badu diabase. In addition, data from inherited xenocrystic zircons within the Badu diabase and detrital zircons from basement rocks suggest that the Neoproterozoic Jiangshao suture extends to the south of the Badu anticline. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Indosinian orogeny marks the termination of marine deposition and the accumulation of lower Permian to Late Triassic clastic sediments in the Youjiang Basin, South China Block. Major and trace element compositions of Early to Middle Triassic sedimentary clastic rocks from Youjiang Basin were analysed to constrain their provenance and tectonic setting. Argillaceous samples have low SiO 2 (average 56.95 wt.%), Al 2 O 3 (average 15.15 wt.%), and Fe 2 O 3 T + MgO (average 11.54 wt.%) contents, and high K 2 O/Na 2 O (average 15.61) and Al 2 O 3 /SiO 2 (average 0.27) ratios, similar to mudstones from continental arc basins. Arenaceous samples have moderate SiO 2 (average 76.98 wt.%), Al 2 O 3 (average 8.41 wt.%), and Fe 2 O 3 T + MgO (average 5.29 wt.%) contents, and moderate Al 2 O 3 /SiO 2 (average 0.11) and K 2 O/Na 2 O (average 15.26) ratios, identical to those of graywackes from continental island arcs or active continental margins. Both the argillaceous and arenaceous samples have low CIA values (57–85) and relatively high ICV values (0.69–2.11), indicating that the source rocks experienced weak chemical weathering and the sedimentary detritus was derived from an immature source. Compared with late Permian to Early Triassic South China granitoids and upper crust, the samples have lower contents of high-field-strength elements (e.g., Zr, Hf, Nb, and Ta) and large ion lithophile elements (e.g., Rb, Sr, Ba, Th, U, and Pb). However, their relatively high Rb concentrations (>51 ppm), and low Rb/Sr (0.16–4.19) and Th/U (2.66–5.21) ratios, are indicative of an igneous source from a continental arc that underwent weak chemical weathering. Both the argillaceous and arenaceous samples are moderately enriched in light rare earth elements and show relatively flat chondrite-normalized heavy rare earth element patterns (La N /Yb N = 6.61–17.35; average 10.61) with strong negative Eu anomalies (Eu/Eu * = 0.54–0.89; average 0.73). In tectonic discrimination diagrams, including Th–Sc–Zr/10 and La–Th–Sc plots, the geochemical data suggest that the clastic rocks were deposited in a continental arc or margin setting. Thus, we infer that Early to Middle Triassic sediments in the Youjiang foreland basin record the transition from late Permian and Early Triassic subduction to Middle Triassic collision at the southwestern margin of the South China Block. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The southwestern part of the South China Block (SCB) records Triassic and subsequent deformations and is a key region that provides evidence of the post-amalgamation tectonic evolution of Southeast Asia. Here, we outline the tectonothermal evolution of early Mesozoic orogenesis in this region using structural analysis and fission track thermochronology. This region is divided into three tectonic units (south to north): the Youjiang Fold-and-Thrust Belt (YFTB), the Qianzhong Massif (QZM), and the Thin-skinned Thrust Belt (TTB) of the southeastern Sichuan Basin, all three of which record three deformation events, here termed D 1 , D 2 , and D 3 . D 1 deformation is represented by Triassic top-to-the-north thrusts (F 1 ) and fault-related folds (f 1 ) that are indicative of N–S shortening. The intensity of deformation decreases toward the north. The subsequent D 2 and D 3 deformations are marked by Cretaceous top-to-the-NW thrusting and fault-propagation folding, and Cenozoic NE–SW trending normal faults (F 3 ), respectively. The temperature–time ( t – T ) path obtained by apatite fission-track modeling of samples from the YFTB, QZM, and TTB areas provides evidence of uplift and denudation. The D 1 deformation at ∼230–210 Ma is characterized by buried thrusts within the relatively stable YFTB and QZM, and an increase in depth of the TTB. This was coeval with the Late Triassic northward migration of uplift and denudation that is evidenced by a Late Triassic stratigraphic gap within the YFTB, a thin layer of coarse-grained continental clastics within the QZM, and a thick layer of clastic rocks within the TTB. The study area records a Triassic thrust system (D 1 ) that progressively migrated northwards and represents a foreland fold-and-thrust belt that formed during the Indochina–SCB collision. This initial deformation was subsequently overprinted by Late Jurassic to Cretaceous NW–SE thrusting (D 2 ) and the development of Cenozoic NW–SE extensional structures (D 3 ). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]