40Ar/39Ar dating constraints on the high-angle normal faulting along the southern segment of the Tan-Lu fault system: An implication for the onset of eastern China rift-systems

High-angle normal faulting in eastern China was an important tectonic process responsible for the rifting of the eastern Asian continental margin. Along the southern segment of the Tan-Lu fault system, part of the eastern China rift-system, 55-70° east-dipping normal faults are the oldest structures within this rift-system. Chlorite, pseudotachylite, and fault breccia are found in fault zones, which are characterized by microstructures and syn-deformation chlorite minerals aligned parallel to a down-dip stretching lineation. 40Ar/39Ar dating of syn-deformation chlorite and K-feldspar from the fault gouge zone yields cooling ages of ∼75-70 Ma, interpreted as the timing of slip along the normal faults. This age is older than that of opening of the Japanese sea and back-arc extension in the west Pacific, but similar to the onset of the Indo-Asian (soft?) collision.