The Structural Framework of the Erlangping Group in North Qinling, Central China

Abstract

As one major unit of the North Qinling tectonic belt, and being located in the north side of the UHP belt between the Yangtze block and the North China block, the Erlangping Group has become one hot research spot because it still keeps records of both plate and inner-continent evolution histories. Three aspects of the Erlangping Group are reviewed. (1) Research history are concluded into three stages, including the determination of rock assemblages before the late 1980s, the regional metamorphism laws solution in the 1990s, and the formation time and tectonic background discussion in the 2000s. (2) Five major controversies and frontier scientific problems have been offered, such as, the deformation ages determination, the Cretaceous tectonic event definition, the determination of the deformation mechanisms and conditions, the kinematic and dynamic nature of the Zhuyangguan-Xiaguan shear zone, and the reconstruction of the evolution and exhumation history. (3) Structural framework of the Erlangping Group is divided into five parts according to our field and laboratory study, including the Erjingou slab, the Damiao-Wantan shear zone, the Huoshenmiao slab, the Xiaozhai-Erlangping shear zone, and the Baoshuping slab. Only the Xiaozhai-Erlangping shear zone has clear kinematic marks of left lateral slip.