Paleostress inversion of fault-slip data from the Jurassic to Cretaceous Huangshan Basin and implications for the tectonic evolution of southeastern China

Eight paleostress stages are established in the Jurassic-Cretaceous Huangshan Basin based on fault-slip analysis and age estimation. The first six stages correspond to the subduction of the Paleo-Pacific Plate or the northward motion of the Philippine Block along the southeastern active margin of the South China Block: (1) the 169-162 Ma strike-slip regime was caused by westward low-angle subduction of the Paleo-Pacific Plate, which resulted in NNE-striking folds and top-to-the west thrusting along the southeastern margin of the Huangshan Basin; (2) the 156-125 Ma NW-SE extensional regime was triggered by slab break-off of the Paleo-Pacific Plate. This extension led to Early Cretaceous magmatism, deposition of Early Cretaceous sediments and development of normal faults along the northern boundary of the Huangshan Basin; (3) the 125-107 Ma strike-slip regime was induced by the N-S collision between the Philippine and South China blocks. This tectonic event caused the angular unconformity between the Upper and Lower Cretaceous and the inversion of the Early Cretaceous extensional basin; (4) the 105-86 Ma WNW-ESE extensional regime resulted from an off-shore arc jump of the subducted Paleo-Pacific Plate. This extension triggered the deposition of the Late Cretaceous Qiyunshan Formation; (5) the 86-80 Ma strike-slip regime was induced by high-angle subduction of the Pacific Plate after the off-shore arc jump. This event led to regional uplift and an unconformity at the base of the Late Cretaceous Xiaoyan Formation; (6) the 80-36 Ma N-S extensional regime was caused by the extension following the collision between the Philippine and South China blocks, corresponding to the deposition of the Late Cretaceous Xiaoyan Formation. The last two paleostress stages were the consequences of the far-field effect of the India-Asia continent-continent collision to the southwest of the South China Block: (7) the 36-30 Ma strike-slip regime was caused by the India-Asia collision. It is recorded by conjugate strike-slip faults and NW-striking thrust faults in the Huangshan Basin; (8) the 28-16 Ma ENE-WSW extensional regime resulted from subsequent post-collisional extension. This extension generated NW-striking normal faults in the Huangshan Basin and elsewhere in the eastern margin of Asia. The results of our paleostress inversion support that the Late Mesozoic to Cenozoic tectonic evolution of southeastern China is characterized by alternating strike-slip and extensional regimes.