TECTONIC FRAMEWORK OF THE CONTINENTAL BASEMENT OF SOUTHEAST CHINA

The chronology and tectonic evolution model of the continental basement in southeast China margin is an important debatable geological subject. The Cathaysia is shown in this paper to be in accordance with many geological facts and also with the age data obtained by multi-dating method. Its age has been determined to range from 900 to 2000 Ma. The age of the unconformity plane in the Cathaysia is 1400 Ma. The collision and suture between the Jiangnan oldland and the Cathaysia took place during the early Jinning Period. Toward Jiangxi, Hunan, Guangdong and Guangxi, these two continents gradually opened to form a residual oceanic basin. The sedimentation centre of the basin continuously migrated southwestward from the Jinning through the Caledonian Period, and finally closed in the Guangxi Movement and Dongwu Movement. The drift-rotation of the Cathaysia after the Jinning Period has been inferred.