New insights into Phanerozoic tectonics of South China: Early Paleozoic sinistral and Triassic dextral transpression in the east Wuyishan and Chencai domains, NE Cathaysia

The northeast Cathaysia area is characterized by an archetypical, transpressional system with widespread strike‐slip shear zones whose geometries, kinematics, and ages are critical for deciphering the Phanerozoic tectonic evolution of South China. We present new structural, geochronological and thermochronological data from the shear zones in the east Wuyishan and Chencai domains, which record two phases of deformation. The first phase corresponds to sinistral oblique shearing along arrays of NNE oriented, steep‐dipping zones under amphibolite facies conditions. The sinistral oblique shearing commenced at ~451 Ma, concurrently with regional NW/SE directed thrust shearing and folding; the coexistence of sinistral and thrust structures indicates NW‐SE transpressive shortening deformation. Dating by 40Ar/39Ar shows that such deformation terminated before 400 Ma and was followed by cooling through ~450–350°C at ~400–370 Ma. Our results, merged with published data, aid in tracing an Early Paleozoic orogen that extends through the Jiangnan domain into the northeast Cathaysia, with the southeast Yangtze acting as a foreland belt. The synorogenic shortening was interpreted as resulting from underthrusting of the Cathaysia beneath the east Yangtze. The second phase involved dextral oblique shearing associated with NNE‐SSW transpression under greenschist to amphibolite facies conditions at 245–228 Ma, which was followed by postkinematic magmatism and cooling at ~221–200 Ma. In the Cathaysia, similar Middle Triassic dextral shear zones were widespread and operated with approximately east striking thrusts as mutually complementary structures; their kinematic coupling can be explained by a contractional termination model. Geodynamically, we attributed Middle Triassic dextral transpression to the collisions of South China with North China and Indochina. Key Points Early Paleozoic sinistral and Triassic dextral transpression in addition to thrust deformation accommodated shortening in north Cathaysia Early Paleozoic (451–420 Ma) sinistral transpression and metamorphism resulted from the Yangtze‐Cathaysia intraplate oblique convergence Triassic (245–228 Ma) dextral transpression and metamorphism were induced by the collisions of South China with North China and Indochina