Palaeomagnetic results from Palaeogene red beds of the Chuan-Dian Fragment, southeastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau: implications for the displacement on the Xianshuihe–Xiaojiang fault systems

The mechanism of deformation associated with the Cenozoic collision of India with Asia along the eastern boundary remains a poorly understood aspect of the tectonic evolution of the southwestern South China Block (SCB). Consequently, we carried out a palaeomagnetic investigation of Palaeogene red beds of the Dayao area of Yunnan Province in order to contribute to understanding the Palaeogene evolution of the SCB. A characteristic higher temperature magnetic component (HTC), with an unblocking temperature from 660°C to 680°C, was determined by principal component analysis (PCA), and positive fold tests indicated that the remanence was a primary magnetization. The mean direction of the HTC from the Dayao area is Ds = 27.8° Is = 33.1° κ = 64.8, α95 = 4.3° after tilt correction. Compared with other palaeomagnetic results from the SCB, our data suggest that the central part of the Chuan–Dian Fragment (CDF) experienced approximately 16.3 ± 4.7° clockwise rotation with respect to East Asia. Rotation of the CDF occurred along the left-lateral Xianshuihe–Xiaojiang Fault Systems (XSF-XJF), which exhibit an arc-shaped curve centred on the Eastern Himalayan Syntaxis. The XSF-XJF was approximated by a circle centred on a Euler pole at Lat. = 26.5° N, Lon. = 97.2° E (α95 = 0.2°), based on 11 reference points selected from the fault system. The clockwise rotation of the CDF resulted in left-lateral shearing along the XSF-XJF system, with a left-lateral displacement of ~200 km. The nature of diverse intense local deformation along the Xianshuihe-Xiaojiang left-lateral strike-slip fault systems is also discussed.