Geochronology Constraints on Transformation Age from Ductile to Brittle Deformation of the Shangma Fault and Its Tectonic Significance, Dabieshan, Central China

By a detailed investigation of geometry and kinematics of the Shangma fault in Dabieshan, three different crust levels of extension movement have been recognized in sequence from the deep to the shallow: low-angle ductile detachment shearing with top to the NW; low-angle normal fault with top to the NW or NWW in brittle or brittle-ductile transition domain; high-angle brittle normal fault with top to the W or NWW. Two samples were chosen for zircon U-Pb age dating to constrain the activity age of the Shangma fault. A bedding intrusive granitoid pegmatite vein that is parallel to the foliation of the low-angle ductile detachment shear zone of the country rock exhibits a lotus-joint type of boudinage deformation, showing syn-tectonic emplacing at the end of the ductile deformation period and deformation in the brittle-ductile transition domain. The zircon U-Pb dating of this granitoid pegmatite vein gives an age of (125.9 ± 4.2) Ma, which expresses the extension in the brittle-ductile transition domain of the Shangma fault. The other sample, which is collected from a granite pluton cutting the foliation of the low-angle ductile detachment shear zone, gives a zircon U-Pb age of (118.8 ± 4.1) Ma, constraining the end of the ductile detachment shearing. Then the transformation age from ductile to brittle deformation can be constrained between 126-119 Ma. Combined with the previous researches, the formation of the Luotian dome, which is located to the east of the Shangma fault, can be constrained during 150-126 Ma. This study gives a new time constraint to the evolution of the Dabie orogenic belt.