Sedimentary record of the collision of the North and South China cratons: New insights from the Western Hubei Trough

Collision of the South and North China cratons was an important event in eastern Asia and contributed to the formation of the Central Orogenic Belt in China. While the timing of collision has been documented to the west (at the West Qinling Belt) and east (at the Dabie Mountains), little is known regarding the timing of collision in the middle sector of the collision zone. We present field, sedimentological, mineralogical, and geochemical data from the Late Permian Dalong Formation and Early Triassic Daye Formation (lower part) in the Western Hubei Trough which is located in the northern South China Craton. Based on sedimentary facies, SEM, and XRD data, we suggest that the Dalong Formation, which is mainly composed of chert and carbonaceous mudstone, was deposited in a deep shelf, and the lower part of the Daye Formation, which is mainly composed of mudstone and carbonate rocks, was deposited in a shallow shelf. Geochemical data imply that the source of the mudstone in these formations was the Qinling active continental margin of the North China Craton. These data support a scenario that the South and North China cratons may have collided by the end of the Late Wuchiapingian of Late Permian time at the southern margin of the East Qinling Belt. The collision event may have led to the formation of the Western Hubei Trough.