Qinling Orogen, Central China

The east to west striking Qinling-Dabie orogen in central China separates the Sino-Korean craton ( North China Block, NCB) and the Yangtse Craton ( South China Block, SCB) (Fig. 1).  To the west, this belt connects with the Kunlun and Qilian orogens.  To the east, it appears to be truncated by the north-south striking Tan Lu Fault.  The Paleozoic¯Early Mesozoic Qinling¯Dabie orogen is the world's largest ultrahigh pressure metamorphic belt, which extends E¯W for ~2000 km and contains diamond- and coesite-bearing eclogite (Xu et al., 1992). The structure and history of the Qinling orogen are a key to the tectonic evolution of eastern Asia.  Fig. 1. Simplified tectonic map of China, showing position of the Qinling orogenic belt. K=Kunlun orogen; Q=Qilian orogen; SCO=South China orogen; T=Tienshan orogen; Y=Yanshanian orogen; S¯G=Songpan¯Ganzi terrane.