SOUTH CHINA IN RODINIA - PART OF THE MISSING LINK BETWEEN AUSTRALIA EAST ANTARCTICA AND LAURENTIA

Stratigraphic correlations and tectonic analysis suggest that the Yangtze block of South China could have been a continental fragment caught between the Australian craton and Laurentia during the late Mesoproterozoic assembly of the supercontinent Rodinia. The Cathaysia block of southeast China may have been part of a 1.9-1.4 Ga continental strip adjoining western Laurentia before it became attached to the Yangtze block around 1 Ga. This configuration provides a western source region for the elastic wedges in the Belt Supergroup of western North America which contain detrital grains of 1.8-1.6 Ga and 1.22-1.07 Ga. The breakup of Rodinia around 0.7 Ga separated South China (Yangtze plus Cathaysia blocks) from the other continents.