The Palaeo-Tethys in Mainland East and Southeast Asia: contributions from radiolarian studies.

The Palaeo-Tethys in Mainland Eastand Southeast Asia: Contributions fromradiolarian studies

I. METCALFE & F.C.P SPILLERDivision ofEarth Sciences, School ofPhysical Sciences and Engineering

University of New England, Armidale, Australia.

LIUBENPEIChina University of Geosciences, China

WU HAORUOInstitute of Geologt, Academia Sinica, China

K. SASHIDAInstitute of Geoscience, University of Tsukuba, Japan

ABSTRACT: Remnants of the Palaeo-Tethys ocean are preserved within a number ofsuture zones that separate allochthonous continental teranes in East and Southeast Asia.The main Palaeo-Tethys ocean is represented by the Lancangiiang 6d Qhangning-

Menglian sutures in Tibet and Yunnan, and the Nan-Uttaradit and Bentong-Raub sutures

in Thailand and Malaysia respectively. To the west of these sutures, terratres exhibitGondwanaland faunas and floras and marginal Gondwanaland stratigraphies up until the

Lower Permian. To the east, the terranes exhibit Lower Palaeozoic Gondwanaland faunas

but Tethyan/Cathaysian Late Palaeozoic faunas and floras and show no evidence ofGondwanalad related statigraphy in the Late Palaeozoic. Other branches of the Palaeo-

Tethys are represented by the Ailaoshan suture in Yunnan and the Song Ma suture inNorth Vieham. New data from the Palaeo-Tethys rermants along these sutures, particularlyin Yunnan, Thailand and Malaysi4 suggest that the Palaeo-Tethys opened in the Devonianwhen the first of tlree continental slivers rifted and separated from northerr Gondwana-

land. It is proposed that this continental sliver comprised North China South China,

Tarim, Indochinq Qaidam and Hainan. The branch of Palaeo-Tethys which separated

South China and Indochina closed by Early Carboniferous times in its eastem part along

the Song Ma suture, but much later in the west along the Ailaoshan suture during the

Triassic. Radiolarian biostatigraphic and other data suggest that the main Palaeo-Tethys

was closed when the Sibumasu-Qiangtang terranes amalgamated with Indochina/South

China in the Triassic. Ongoing problems relate to the correlation and contiguity of the

Palaeo-Tethyan sutures in south Yunnan, northem Thailand, Laos, Butma and Vietnam.

l INTRODUCTION

The tectonic history of East and Southeast Asia has been shown to be one of rifting ofcontinental terranes from Gondwanaland, their northwards tanslation and their amalga-

mation and accretion to one another. This process has involved the rifting of tlree conti-

nental slivers (now recogpised as collages of terranes in Asia) from the margin of Gond-

259

260 I. Metcalfe et al.

wanaland and the opening and closing of tlree successive ocean basins, the Palaeo-Tethys, Meso-Tethys and Ceno-Tethys (Metcalfe 1996, this volume). IGCP 321 has beenaimed at elucidating this process of dispersal of continental fragments from Gondwana-land and their accretion to form Asia. In particular, much work has been undertaken withtle aim of providing constraints on the timings of rifting, northwards movement, and su-

turing (amalgamation and accretion) of these terranes. In order to precisely constrainthese various timings, a multi-disciplinary approach is necessary, combining evidencefrom a wide range of geological disciplines. This paper discusses the contribution of ra-

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Figure 1. Distribution ofprincipal continental terranes and sutures ofEast and Southeast Asia- EM = East Malaya WB

= West Burm4 SWB = South West Bomeo, S = Semitau Tenane, HT = Hainan Island tenanes, L = Lhasa Terrane, QT= Qiangtang Terranq QS = Qamdo-Simao Terrane, SI = Simao Terrane, SG = Sonpan Ganzi accretionary complex,

KL = Kunlun Terrang QD : Qaidam Teffane, AL = Ala Shan Terrane, KT: Kurosegawa Terrane.

The Palaeo-Tethys in Mainland East and Southeast Asia 261

dioalarian studies to a greater understanding of the ages and duration of the variousbranches of Palaeo-Tethys in East and Southeast Asia and hence of Gondwanaland dis-persion and Asian accretion in general.

East and Southeast Asia is a complex collage of allochthonous continental terranes

boundedby sutures thatrepresentthe remnants ofthe ancient ocean basins that once sepa-

rated them (Fig. l). The various terranes separated from Gondwanaland in tlree episodes;in the Devonian (North China, South Chinq Tarim, Indochin4 Qaidam, Hainan terranes);late Early Permian (Sibumasu, Qiangtang and other elements of the Cimmerian conti-nent); and Late Triassic-Late Jurassic (Lhasa, West Burma, Sikuleh and Natal terranes).The separation of the first continental sliver from Gondwanaland was accompanied by the

opening of the Palaeo-Tethys ocean between this sliver and Gondwanaland, (Metcalfe1996). Remnants of this ocean basin are now found along the various Palaeo-Tethyan su-

tures in Asia between dismembered fragments of the first and second continental sliversthat separated from Gondwanaland in the Devonian and Permian respectively (Fig. l).Studies of the radiolarian faunas of the deep-marine siliceous sediments (ribbon-beddedcherts, siliceous mudstones) that formed in the various branches of the Palaeo-Tethysocean have provided vital conskaints on the times of opening, duration and closure ofthese as discussed below.

2 THE PALAEO.TETHYS IN MAINLAND EAST AND SOUTHEAST ASIA

The main Palaeo-Tethys ocean basin is represented in eastern Asia by the Lancangjiangand Chanping-Menglian sutures of Tibet and Yunnan, China, the Nan-Uttaradit and Sra

Kaeo sutures of Thailand and the Bentong-Raub suture of Peninsular Malaysia (Metcalfe1988, 1996). All continental terranes to the present east of these sutures show no post-

Devonian Gondwanaland features, whereas those to the present west of these sutures

show Gondwanaland stratigraphies and faunal affinities up until the Early Permian(Stauffer 1983, Stauffer & Lee 1989, Audley-Charles 1983, 1984, 1988, 1991, Seng6r1979,1984, Sengdr et al. 1988, Metcalfe 1986, 1988, 1990,1993,1994a,1994c,1996,Burrett et al. 1990, Shi & Archbold 1995). Sutures that represent other branches of thePalaeo-Tethys ocean are the Qinling-Dabie suture (separating North and South China),the Kunlun, Jinshajiang, Ailaoshan and Song Ma sutures which separate Indochina (here

taken to include the Qamdo-Simao and Simao blocks) from South China and the SongpanGanzi accretionary complex (Fig. l). Recent radiolarian biostratigraphic studies haveprovided new ages for deep-marine Palaeo-Tethyan sediments in these sutures and hence

valuable constraining information on the ages of the ocean basins they represent.

2.1 Main Palaeo-Talryan Sutures

2.1.1 Lancangiiang SutureThis suture forms the boundary between the Qamdo-Simao and Qiangtang terranes(Figs l, 2) and is here regarded as representing a segment of the main Palaeo-Tethys ocean.

The suture zone rocks include Devonian and Carboniferous turbidites, ultamafics, ocean-

floor basic extrusives of Permian age and Carbo-Permian m6lange. These suture zone rocks

me also blanketedbyMiddle Triassic continental clastics (Chen & Xie 1994). Carboniferous-


Figure 2. Map ofwestem Yunnan showing the principal suture zones and tectonic blocks

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Chongshanmetamorphic belt

The Pqlaeo-Tethys in Mainland East and Southeast Asia 263

Pemrian island arc rocks are developed along the west side of the suture (Fan & fuang1994) and Late Triassic collisional granitoids me associated with the suture (Wang & Tan1994).ln Tibet and Qinghni, the suture runs along the Lancangjiang Thrust and is covered

by huge thicknesses of Jurassic sediments in the Tanggula Range. Scattered ultamaficrocks occur in the Muta region of Tibet and in Qinghai (Chen & Xie 1994). The sutureappears to be similar in character and age to &e Changning-Menglian suture of Western

Yunnan and the Bentong-Raub suture in Peninsular Malaysia here considered to represent

the main Palaeo-Tethyan ocean.

2.1.2 Changning-Menglian SutureThe Changning-Menglian suture in Western Yunnan (Fig. 2) is a narrow north-south ori-ented zone of dismembered ophiolites and associated deep-marine sedimentary rocks thatare interpreted as representing a segment of the main Palaeo-Tethys in East Asia (Huang

et al. 1984, fuanget al. 1985, Wu & 7.hang 1987, Liu et al. 1991, Wu 1993, Fang et al.

1994, Wu et al. 1995). The suture can be taced from Menglian northwards ftrsrrgh Lao-chong, Tongchangjie to Changning and ophiolitic mdlange includes blocks of harzburgite,cumulate websterite, gabbro, basalt, limestone and chert in a mud-silt grade matrix. Associ-

Bedded cherUTurbidites

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Red beds

Volcanics

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Stratigraphicbreak

Figure 3. Stratigraphic sequence and occurrence ofdeep-marine sedimentary rock in the Changning-Menglian

Suture zone, Yunnan. After Liu et al. (1991).

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Figure 4. R

adiolarian assemblages/zones

reported from P

alaeo-Tethyan suture zones of E

ast and Southeast A

sia. l. Ailaoshan (C

hina),

2. Changning-M

englian (C

hina), 3. Jinshajiang (China), 4. U

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ated basalts are of mid-ocean ridge and ocean-island types (Wu et al. 1995) and remnantsof limestone capped seamounts have been identified in the zone (Liu et al. l99l). Oceanicribbon-bedded chert-shale sequences have yielded graptolites, conodonts and radiolariansindicating ages ranging from Lower Devonian to Middle Triassic (Duan et al. 1982, Qinet al. 1980, Wu & Thang 1987, Wu & Li 1989, Liu et al. 1991, Feng & Y e 1996: see Figs 3

and 4). Limestone blocks and lenses dominantly found within the basalt sequence of thesuture and interpreted as seamount caps, have yielded fusulinids indicative of Lower Car-boniferous to Upper Permian ages (Duan et al. 1982, Wu et al. 1995). The suture is trun-cated to the north of Chanping by the Chongshan metamorphic belt and atnost certainlycontinues northwards as the Lancangjiang suture to the west of Deqin (Fig. 2). The south-ern extension of the Chanping-Menglian suture is problematic. The suture can be tacedto the China-Myanmar border but its extension into Myanmsl has not been doct'mented.It may be offset by major left lateral strike-slip faults then to continue down into Laosalong the Dien Bien Phu line of mafic and ultramafic rocks in Laos and hence to connectwith the Nan-Uttaradit suture in Thailand and the Bentong-Raub suture in PeninsularMalaysia. Radiolarians recovered from the Changning-Menglian suture zone include De-vonian, Carboniferous, Permian and Triassic assemblages (Liu et al. 1993, Feng & Liu1993a,7993b,1993c, Feng & Ye 1996; see Fig. 4).

2.1.3 Nan-Uttaradit SutureThe Nan-Uttaradit sutwe zone in Thailand (Figs I and 2) has long been regarded as rep-resenting tle Palaeo-Tethys destroyed by continent-continent collision between Sibumasuand Indochina. The suture has also been generally regarded as being contiguous with theBentong-Raub suture in Peninsular Malaysia (see below), and more recently, theChangping-Menglian suture of south-west China (Bar & Macdonald 1987). The precise

age of suturing is still contoversial wittr ages of Lower Carboniferous (Helmke 1985b),Perrnian (Helmke & Kraikhong 1982, Helmke & Lindenberg 1983, Helmke 1983,1985a), Early Triassic (Mitchell 1989, Cooper et al. 1989, Metcalfe 1990) and Late Tri-assic (Ridd 1980, Mitchell 1981, Seng0r 1984) being proposed. This wide range of ages

reflected pauclty and poor quality of constraining data. The suture includes a belt of pre-Permian ophiolitic mafic and ultamafic rocks (Type II ophiolitic associations) with asso-

ciated blueschists distributed north-east of Uttaradit (Barr & Macdonald 1987, Barr et al.1985). Hada et al. (1994) have shown that the suture in south-east Thailand (Sra Kaeo-Chanthaburi) comprises a western chert-clastic belt and an eastern serpentinite mdlangebelt (see below). Mafic and ultamafic blocks in the mdlange comprise ocean-island ba-salts, back-arc basin basalts and andesites, island-arc basalts and andesites and supra-subduction cumulates generated in Carboniferous to Pemo-Triassic times (Panjasawat-

wong & Yaowanoiyothin 1993). Stuctural studies of Carboniferous to Perrtian meta-greywacke and phyllite, which enclose the mafic-ulramafic sequence, in the Sirikit Damarea (Singharajwarapan & Berry 1993) indicate that these represent an accretionary com-plex. These rocks are associated with Permo-Triassic volcanic and volcaniclastic rocks ofdacitic and rhyolitic composition and a relatively unmetamorphosed Lower Triassic sand-

stone-shale turbidite sequence. Structures indicate east-directed accretionary thrusting and

hence westward directed subduction. The suture zone rocks are overlain unconformablyby Jurassic redbeds and post-Triassic basaltic lavas which disconformably overly the su-

ture are intraplate continental basalts (Panjasawatwong & Yaowanoiyothin 1993). MiddleTriassic radiolarians have also been recovered from chert clasts in the Lower Khorat


Group continental deposits which overly the Nan-Uttaradit Suture. Ribbon-bedded cherts,hown as the Fang Cherq associated with basic volcanics near Chiang Rai may be a dis-rupted segment of the Nan-Uthradit sutme. These cherts have yielded Devonian, Carbonif-erous, Permian and Middle Triassic radiolar"ians (Cmidroit 199I, 1993, Caridroit et al.1990, Caridroit et al. 1992, Sashida et al. 1993, Sashida &lgo, this vohune).

2.1.4 Sra Kaeo SutureThis suture, exposed in the Sra Kaeo-Chantaraburi area of southeast Thailand (see Figs Iand 5) comprises a westerl chert-clastic belt and an eastem serpentinite mdlange belt(Hada et al., this volume). The westem chert-clastic sequence appears to form a stack ofimbricate thrust slices and is dated as Middle-Upper Triassic by radiolarians. The cheds

are associated with pillow lavas in places. This belt has been interpreted as an accretion-ary complex by Hada et al. (this volume). The eastern serpentinite mdlange belt includes a

wide variety ofrock packages including rocks ofss6nnis, island arc and continental af-finities of various ages. Ages of limestone blocks in the mdlange (indicated by fusulinids)range from late Early Permian to Middle Permian and a granitic lens has yielded an Early

o,r*,i"6Jjr4jchians "ff tffi6.,

Nan(:

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20NLAOS

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t Vientiane- ,\ol' 't

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-,.:1. .': Suture Zone

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6679 Arc volcanicooa, rocks

r H'Lil*i.:""

THAILAND

Phetchabun

Figure 5. Map showing the Nan-Uttaradit and Sra Kaeo Palaeo-

Tethyan suture segments in Thai-

land.


Ordovician Zicon U-Pb age of 486 +/- 5 Ma (Hada et al. 1994; this volume). Clasts ofchert within the mdlange have yielded radiolarians representative of the late Early Per-mian Pseudoalbaillella scalprata m. rhombothrocarta Assemblage Zone and Early-Middle Permian (Albaillella sp. cf. sinuata, Albaillella sp.) and early Late Permian(Follicucullus scholasticus and Follicucullus bipartitus) radiolarians (see Hada et al (thisvol',me) and Sashida & Igo (this volume) and Fig. 4).

2.1.5 Bentong-Raub SutureThe Bentong-Raub suture is exposed as a narrow north-south hending zone extendingfrom Thailand througtr Raub and Bentong to the east of Malacc4 Peninsular Malaysia

@igs I and 6). Its extension to the south and southeast is contoversial (Hutchison 1993,Casperon & Varne 1995) but a southwards (disrupted) extension into Slmata as sug-gested by lia (1989) and Hutchison (1993) is here favoured. The suture is exposed as anapproximately 20 lxn wide zone in Peninsular Malaysia and comprises mdlange, oceanicsediments (including ribbon-bedded cherts), schist and discontinuous, narrow, elongatebodies of serpentinised mafic-ultamafic rocks that have been interpreted as representingophiolite (Hutchison 1989, ljia 1987, 1989). The mdlange has a mud.isilt matrix andcontains a variety of clasts including ribbon-bedded cherts, limestones, volcanic and vol-caniclastic rocks. Basic subduction-related volcanic clasts (which occur courmonly in theNan-Uttaradit suture firther north) have not however been reported from the Bentong-Raub suture. The precise age of suturing is still poorly constained but a latest Permian-earliest Triassic suturing age is here favoured. Hmbury et al. (1990) presented structuralevidence which seems to preclude a Late Triassic collision. Ages of limestone clasts inthe m6lange (based on conodonts and fusulinids) include Lower and Upper Perrnian(Metcalfe 1989) which indicate a latest Permian or younger age for the mdlange matrix.The Main Range 'collisional' 'S' Type granites of Peninsular Malaysia range from LateTriassic Q30 +l- 9 Ma) to earliest Jurassic (207 +/- 14 Ma) in age, with a peak of around210 Ma (Liew & Page, 1985, Darbyshire 1988). Ages 6f sssanis deep-marine beddedcherts within the suture ,sas ranB€ from Upper Devonian to uppermost Lower Permian(Metcalfe 1992, Spiller & Metcalfe 1993, Metcalfe & Spiller 1994, Spiller & Metcalfe1995q 1995b, Spiller 1996; see Figs 4, 6). The ages ofthe fault-bounded blocks ofbed-ded chert and argillite includes Upper Devonian (Famennian), Lower Carboniferous(Tournaisian and Visean) and Lower Permian (Wolfcampian and Leonardian). These ages

are represented by eight radiolarian zones. These ue: Holoeciscus 2-3, Albaillella de-

flandrei, Albaillella cartalla, Pseudoalbaillella u-forma m. Il, Pseudoalbaillella lomentaria,Pseudoalbaillella scalprata m. rhombotharacata, Albaillella sinuqta nd Pseudoalbaillellalongtanensis zones. These data support the existence of Palaeo-Tethys betweeu Sibumasuand Indochina/East Malaya from Late Devonian to uppermost Lower Permian or lower-most Upper Permian

.ime and srrggests collision of Sibumasu with Indochina in the latest

Permian or Triassic.Radiolarians have also been recovered from the Lower Chert Member of the fault-

bounded Semanggol Formation of Northwest Peninsular Malaysia. Sashida et al (1992,1993) recovered Upper Permian radiolarians representing the Follicucullus monacanthusand Neoalbaillella ornithoformis zones of Ishiga (1990). Spiller & Metcalfe (1995b) re-ported ? Lower and Upper Pennian radiolarians from the Lower Chert Member of theSerranggol Formation. Radiolarian biostratigraphic z)nes represented include the ?Pseudo-albaillella longtanensis, Follicucullus monacanthus and Neoalbaillella ornithoformis zo-

268 L Metcalfe et al.

Figure 6. Map of Peninsilar Ma-laysia showing the distribution ofRaub-Bentong Suture zone rocksand radiolarian localities withages.

nes. Middle Triassic radiolarians representative of the Triassocampe deweveri zone werealso reported @asir Jasin 1994, Spiller & Metcalfe 1995b). The tectonic and statigraphicrelationship of the Lower Chert Member of the Semanggol Formation to the Bentong-Raub suture zone is not hown.

Radiolarians were also extacted from an isolated block of isoclinally folded, tuf-faceous chert exposed along a road cutting near Kuala Kangsar (Fig. 6) in west PeninsularMalaysia (Spiller & Metcalfe 1995b). This locality is outside the Bentong-Raub suturezone (as defined by previous authors). One sample yielded very poorly preserved radio-larians tentatively assiped to ?Albaillella deJlandrei Gourmelon which is indicative of anEarly Carboniferous age.

The range of ages of the radiolarians recovered from rocks within the Bentong-Raub

suture zone suggests that an ocean existed between the Sibumasu and Indochina terranes

from at least Late Devonian to Late Pemian time. If the cherts previously considered the

lower part of tle Semanggol Formation, axe in fact part of tle Bentong-Raub suture zone,

then the age of this zone can be extended to Middle Triassic, suggesting closure of the

Palaeo-Tethys ocean in Peninsular Malaysia in the Late Triassic.

Radiolarian locality with age1 02E


2.2 Other Palaeo-Tetlryan Sutures

2.2.1 Ailaoshan SutureThe Ailaoshan suture zone (Figs I and 2) is a nalrow NW-SE oriented belt of ophioliticrocks and oceanic sediments which forms the boundary between the Simao (Indochina)and South China blocks. The ophiolitic rocks of the zone ssmprise peridotite, gabbro-

diabase and basalt. The peridotite includes weakly depleted plagio-lherzolite and spinel-harzbergite with Sm/Nd ratios of mid-ocean ridge type (ftang et al. 1984, Wang & hongl99l). The ophiolitic rocks are associated with deep-marine sedimentary rocks includingribbon-bedded cherts that have yielded some Lower Carboniferous (Archocyrtium sp., En-tactinosphaera sp.) and Lower Permian radiolarians (Wang & hong 1991, Feng & Liu1992, see Fig. a). Late Triassic (Norian limestones and Rhaetian sandstones) appear to blan-ket the suture in this region. The suture tends southeast into North Vieham but its exten-sion there has not been demonstated. If the sutrne is Mesozoic in age it may well correlatewith the Song Da suture. If it is Palaeozoic in age then it probably correlates with the Song

Ma suture. Another possibility is that it is Mesozoic but correlates with the Song Ma suture,

closure ofthe Palaeo-Tethys being diachronous, earlier in the east and younger in the west.

It has also been suggested that the Ailaoshan ophiolitic zone possibly comprises two belts,one of which correlates with the Song Ma suture of Vieham and one that correlates withthe Nan-Uttaradit suture in Thailand (Zhng et al. 1984). Further constaints are requiredon the nature and age of the Ailaoshan suture in order to resolve these various possibilities.

2.2.2 Jinshajiang SutureThis suture, which probably correlates with the Ailaoshan suture to the south (Figs Iand}), defines the northeastem limit of the Qamdo-Simao block and forms the boundarybetween this block and the Kunlun terrane and the Songpan Ganzi 36$stionary complexterrane. The suture has well developed ophiolites, and mdlange comprises Devonian, Car-

boniferous and Permian exotics in a Triassic matix. The ages of the ophiolites are re-garded as Late Permian to Early Triassic and the age of the suture regarded as Late Trias-sic by Dewey et al. (1988). An earlier age for this suture has however been suggestedrecently by Chen &Xie (1994) and Bian (1991) who recoenise Late Permian to Jurassic

sediments unconformably overlying Early Permian ophiolites in the Hoh Xil Range. Re'cent studies of radiolarian cherts of the suture in northwest Yunnan and southwest Tibet(Wu 1993, Li & Bian 1993, Sun et al. 1994; Feng, in press) have yielded radiolarians ofLate Devonian to Triassic ages (Fig. 4). Devonian, Carboniferous, Permian and Triassicradiolarians have been recovered from cherts in Deqin County by Feng & Ye (1996). De-vonian radiolarians include Entactinia sp. and Entactinosphaerq sp. The Carboniferousassemblage includes Entactinia parwa Won, Entactinia tortispina Ormiston & Late, En-tactinosphaera foremanae Ormiston & Lane, Belowea vaiabilis (Ormiston & Lane) and

Astroentactinia multispinosa (Won) which is interpreted as late Tournaisian or earlyVisean in age.

Purplish red bedded cherts associated with ultabasic and basic rocks of the Gonka(Dongzhulin) Ophiolite in Deqin County have yielded Permian radiolarians including l/-baillella sp., Pseudoalbaillella cf. lomentaria Ishiga & Inoto, Pseudoalbaillella aff.longicornis Ishiga & Imoto, Pseudoalbaillella cf. nodoso 6higa, Latentifistula cf. cruxNazarav & Ormiston and Entactinispaera sP.


Cherts in the Xiaruo district (Wu 1993) have produced Lower Carboniferous radiolari-ans including Albaillella indensis Won, Asteroentactinia biaciculata Nazarov, Beloweaaff. valiabilis (Won), Eostylodictya eccentrica Ormiston & Lane, Tetragregnon syca-morensis Ormiston & Lane and Trilonche cimelia Ormiston & Lane which indicate a lateTournaisian-early Visean age.

In addition, Lower Carboniferous cherts to the north in the Kekexili area, have leldedLower Carboniferous and Lower Permian radiolarians including Entactinia variospina(V/on), Pylentonema sp., Pseudoalbaillella chilensis Ling & Forsythe and Pseudoqlbail-lella scalprata Holdsworth & Jones (Li & Bian 1993).

Feng & Ye (1996) reported Lower and Upper Permian radiolarian assemblages fromthe Jinshajiang area, These include Pseudoalbaillella nodosa Ishiga, Pseudoalbaillellalomentaria Ishiga & Imoto, Pseudoalbaillella cf. sahnarensis (Kozur), Albaillella sinuataIshiga & Watase, Pseudoalbaillella cf. globo.sa Ishiga & Imoto and Albaillella levisIshiga, Kito & Imoto. Thus, oceanic cherts within the Jinshajiang Suture zone range inage from Late Devonian to Upper Devonian.

2.2.3 Southern GuangxiRibbon-bedded cherts exposed in a narrow belt near Bancheng and Yulin in SouthernGuangxi, South China (Fig. 7) have yielded radiolarian assemblages of Lower Devonian,

Mesozoic- ffiffi Palaeozoic- f-.] Silurian- [r .-.-]l yuntaiI ICeno_zoic trFfiTriassic I lDevonian I :lComplex

Red Beds h'ir t ._H Carbonates Turbidites

ffi :ffi}:-' Ai"^Hrr tE s:$*ir"' E Grani'ie

Figure 7. Simplified geological map ofpart ofSouthem Guanxi, showing the Devonian to Permian chert belt.A-fter Wu et al. (1994b).

The Palaeo-Tethys in Mainland East and Southeast Asia 2'll

Lower and Upper Carboniferous, and Lower and Upper Permian ages (Wu et al. 1994a,Wu et al. 1994b; Fig. a). These cherts have been interpreted by some authors (Wu et al.1994b) as a possible remnant of a branch of the Palaeo-Tethys ocean. Other authors (Ztaoet al. in press) regard this Palaeozoic seaway as representing a failed rift (aulacogen) re-lated to the rifting and separation of South China from Gondwanaland.

3 DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS

Radiolarian biostatigraphic studies have provided, and will continue to provide vital in-fonnation on the ages of oceanic sedimentary rocks deposited in the ancient Palaeo-Tethys ocean, often where there has been no previous age contol. The radiolarian ages

provide constraints on the ages of opening of the Palaeo-Tethys and of the closure of itsmain and subsidiary branches. The oldest radiolarian assemblages recorded in the Palaeo-Tethyan cherts are Lower Devonian, which indicates that the ocean opened in the Devo-nian. This is consistent with other biogeographic, sedimentalogical and palaeomap.eticevidence which suggests that North and South Chinq Indochinq Tarim and Qaidam riftedand separated from northern Gondwanaland in the Devonian (Metcalfe 1996, this vol-rrms).

Radiolarian data suggests that closure of the main branch of the Palaeo-Tethys, nowrepresented by the Nan-Uttaradit-Sra Kaeo and Chanping-Menglian sutures, occrrredduring Middle-Late Triassic time. Radiolarian faunas extracted from tle southerr segmentof the main branch of the Palaeo Tethys ocean, the Bentong-Raub suture zone, suggestthat closure of the ocean in Peninsular Malaysia occurred during the Late Permian. If the

Semanggol Formation of northwest Peninsular Malaysia is in fact part of the Bentong-Raub suture zone then closure of the Palaeo-Tethys ocean in Peninsular Malaysia can also

be interpreted to have occurred during Middle to Late Triassic time. This is again consis-tent with other constraining data (see Metcalfe 1996). Radiolarian data from other sub-sidiary branches of the Palaeo-Tethys, now represented by the Jinshajiang and Ailaoshansutures, suggest Triassic closure of these. Further work is required in Southern Guangxi,to establish whether the Palaeozoic cherts there represent an oceanic segment of the Pa-

laeo-Tethys or a deep intacontinental Palaeo-Tethyan seaway that represents a failed rift.Further work is also required to eluciudate the correlation/contiguity of Palaeo-Tethyan

sutures in Yurnan, Thailand, Burma, Laos and Vietnam and to confirm/refute the Fang

Chert of North Thailand as a disrupted sesnent of the Palaeo-Tethys.


Figure 8. Scanning electron micrographs of radiolarians from the Uttaradit-Nan-Sra Kaeo Suture, Thailand.

Locality is indicated in square brackets. knglh of scale bar in pm is indicated in parenthesis. a. Heleniforelaticlavium Nazarov & Ormiston. [Loe-15], (100 pm). b. Entactinia variospina (Won). [Loe-3], (100 pm). c.

Pseudoalbaillella bulbosa Ishiga. [TH-6], (100 pm). d. Pseudoalbaillella elegans Ishiga & Imoto. lFag-l5],(100 pm)- e. Pseudoalbaillella lomentaria Ishiga & Imoto. [Fag-I71, (100 pm). f. Pseudoalbaillella scalprataHoldsworth & Jones. [Fag-la]., (100 pm). g. Follicacullus monacanthus Ishiga & Imoto. [Fag-16], (150 pm).h. Follicucullus scholasticus Ormiston & Babcock. [Sake-l0], (100 pm). i. Neoalbaillella optima lshig4 Kito& Imoto. [FA-14], (150 pm). j. Neoalbaillella omithoformis Takemura & Nakaseko. [FA-7], (150 pm). k. En-tactinia nikomi Sashida & Igo. [PAT-I], (150 pm). l. Parentactinia nakatsugawaensis Sashida. [FA-3], (150pm). m. Eptingium manfredi Dumitrica. [Lang4]" (100 pm).

The Palaeo-Tethys in Mainland East and Southeast Asia 2't3

Figure 9. Scanning electron micrographs ofradiolarians from western Yunnan. lrngth ofscale bar in pm is in-dicated in parenthesis. a.-c. Eoalbaillella lilaensis Feng &Liu (Eoalbaillella lilaensis ass.): a. lateral view,(102 pm); b. dorsal view, (180 pm). c. lateral view, (90 pm). Lower Devonian, Lila village, Ximeng county.d.-e. Cangruanella deflandrei Feng: d. (82 pm); e. (100 pm). Upper Permian Changxingian, Papai village,Cangluan county. f. Wangia elegans Feng (Wangia assemblage) (l 00 pm). Uppermost Late Permian, Muyinhevalley, Lancang county. g. Areolicaudatus semiglobosus Feng (Wangia assemblage) (124 pm). Uppermost LatePermian, Laochang Ag-Pb ore are4 Lancang county. h. Shengia yini (Feng) (Shengia lni assemblage) (l 13 pm).Early Early Triasssic, Muyinhe valley, Lancang county. i. Yangia? sp. B Feng (Shengta )rini assemblage)(100 pm). Early Early Triasssic, Muyinhe valley, Lancang county. j. Pseudoeucryis liui Feng (Pseudoeucyrtis/izi assemblage) (106 fm). Late Early Triassic, Muyinhe valley, Lancang county. k.-1. Shengia solida Feng(Pseudoeucyrtis /lui assemblage): k. (90 pm); l. (72 pm). Late Early Triassic, Muyinhe valley, Lancang county.


Figure 10. Scanning electron micrographs ofPalaeozoic radiolarians from Southem Guangxi. Length ofscalebar in pm is indicated in parenthesis. a. Entactinia variospina (Won) (115 pm), Upper Devonian. b. Enracti-nosphaera palimbola Foreman (1 I I pm), Upper Devonian. c. Entactinosphaera inusitata Foreman (1 17 pm),Upper Devonian. d. Albaillella cartalla Ormislon & Lane (87 pm), Lower Carboniferous, Yulin. e. Beloweavariabilis (Ormiston & Lane) (100 pm), Lower Carboniferous, Yulin. f. Pseudoalbaillella nodosa Ishiga(I47 pm), Upper Carboniferous. g. Pseudoalbaillella sp. aff. Pseudoalbaillella u-forma Holdsworth & Jones(123 pm), Lower Permian. h. Pseudoalbaillella elegans Ishiga & Imolo (134 pm), Lower Permian. i. Pseu-doalbaillella lomentaria Ishiga & Imoto (175 pm), Lower Permian. j. Pseudoalhaillella longicornis Ishiga &Imoto (95 um)., Lower Permian.

The Palaeo-Tethys in Mainland East and Southeast Asia 27 5

Figure 11. Scanning electron micrographs ofPalaeozoic radiolarians from Southem Guangxi Length ofscale

Uar in pm is indicated in parenthesis. a. Pseudoalbaillella fusformis Holdsworth & Jones (120 pm), middle

Permian- b. Pseudoalbaillella globosa Ishiga & Imoto (146 pm), middle Permian. c Follicucullus monacan'

thuslshiga&lmoro(176pm),middlePermian. d. IshigaumtrifusrisDeWever&Caridroit(l49pm),Upperpermian. e. Follicucullus chanteti DeWever & Caridroit (147 pm), Upper Permian. f. Follicucullus scholasti-

czs Ormiston & Babcock m. II Ishiga (181 pm), Upper Permian. g. Entactinosphaera pseudocimella Sashida

& Tonishi (103 pm), Upper Permian. h. Foremanhelena ttiangula DeWever & Caridroit (167 pm), Upper

permian. i. Pseud.ototmentus kamigoriensis DeWever & Caridroit (174 pm), Upper Permian


Figure 12. Scanning electron micrographs ofradiolarians from the Bentong-Raub suture zone, Peninsular Ma-laysia. Length of scale bar in pm is indicated in parenthesis. a. Helenifore laticlavium Nazarov & Ormiston(111 pm), Upper Devonian (Famennian). b. Palaeoscenidium cladophorum Deflandre (75 pm), Upper Devo-nian (Famennian). c. Holoeciscus foremanae Cheng (100 pm), Upper Devonian (Famennian). d,. Albaillellaparadoxa Deflandre (115 pm), Lower Carboniferous (Toumaisian). e. Albaillella undulata Deflandre (115pm), Lower Carboniferous (Toumaisian). f. Albaillella deflandrei Gourmelon (125 pm), Lower Carboniferous(Toumaisian). g. Albaillella cartalla Ormiston & Lane (75 pm), Lower Carboniferous (Vis6an). h. Pseudoal-baillella elegans Ishiga & Imoto (100 pm), Lower Permian (Wotfcampian). i. Pseudoalbaillella sakmarensis(Kozur) (94 pm), Lower Permian (Wolfcampian). j . Pseudoalbaillella ornata Ishiga & Imoto (136 pm), LowerPermian (Wolfcampian). k. Ps. scalprata Holdsworth & Jones morphotype scalprata Ishiga (100 pm), LowerPermian (Wolfcampian). l. Albaillella asymmetrica Ishiga & Imoto (68 pm), Lower Permian (Leonardian).


Figure 13. Scanning electron micrographs ofradiolarians from the Bentong-Raub suture zone, Peninsular Ma-

laysia. Length of scale bar in pm is indicated in parenthesis. a. Albaillella sinuatalshiga& Watase (125 pm),

Lower Permian (Leonardian). b. Pseudoalbaillella longtanensis Sheng & Wang (1 15 pm), Lowel Permian

(Leonardian). c. Pseudoalbaillella globosa Ishiga & Imoto (63 pm), Lower Permian (uppermost [,eonardian).

d. Folticucaltus monacanthus Ishiga & Imoto (100 pm), Upper Permian (Guadalupian). e. Follicucallus por-

rectus Rudenko (125 pm), Upper Permian (Guadalupian). f. Follicucullus scholasticus Ormiston & Babcock

(136 pm), Upper Permian (Guadalupian). g. Follicucullus dorsoconvexus (Kozur) (94 pm), Upper Permian

(Guadalupian). h. Atbailtella excelsalshig4 Kito & Imoto (S3 gm), Upper Permian (Guadalupian). i. Albail'

lella levis Ishig4 Kito & Imoto (63 pm), Upper Permian (Guadalupian). j. Neoalbaillella ornithofornis Taka'

mura & Nakaseko (75 pm), LJpper Permian (Guadalupian). k. Triassocampe coronatc Bragin (63 pm), Middle

Triassic (Anisian). l. Triassocampe deweveri (Nakaseko & Nishimura) (150 pm), Middle Triassic (Ladinian).

Petroleum Geologists, Memoir 17 : 97 -111.Metcalfe, l. 1996. Pre-Cretaceous evolution of SE Asian terranes In R. Hall & D. Blundell, D. (eds), Tectonic

Evolution ofSoutheast Asia. Geol. Soc. Special Publication 106:97-122.Metcalfe, I. & F.C.P. Spiller 1994. Correlation of the Permian and

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The Palaeo-Tethys in Mainland East and Southeast Asia: contributions from radiolarian studies.

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