Paleostress Analysis from Calcite Twins at the Longshan Dome (Central Hunan, South China): Mesozoic Mega-Fold Superimposition in the Reworked Continent

Abstract

It is generally accepted that during the Mesozoic NE−NNE-trending folds overprinted E−W-trending folds to form the Longshan dome in the central South China continent, although the interference map does not tell the relative ages of the fold sets. In an effort to deepen our understanding of the process of reworking the continent, paleostress analysis using calcite twins was carried out in this study to verify or falsify this model. Ten limestone samples were collected from Upper-Paleozoic limestones on the flanks of the dome and were measured using the universal stage for calcite e-twins. E-twins in the samples are divisible into two kinds, thick (≥1 μm) and thin (<1 μm), indicative of relatively higher and lower deformation temperatures, respectively. Stress estimates obtained using the improved version of Shan et al.’s (2019) method were grouped into two layer-parallel shortening (LPS) subsets and three non-LPS subsets. These subsets comprise four tectonic regimes: NWW−SEE compression (LPS1 and non-LPS1), NNE−SSW compression (LPS2 and non-LPS2), NW−SE extension (non-LPS3a) and NNE−SSW extension (non-LPS3b). They were further arranged in a temperature-decreasing order to establish a complex deformation sequence of the study area. In the sequence NE−NNE-trending folds have an older age than E−W-trending folds, something different from the model. The approximately N−S regional compression responsible for the former folds should have a profound effect on the intensely deformed continent, something ignored in earlier work.