Timing of deformation along the Tan‐Lu Fault Zone in eastern China: Constraints from zircon U–Pb geochronology of the Malongshan Shear Zone

The Tan‐Lu Fault Zone is a major fault system in eastern China, and its timing of activity has been the focus of much research. We studied a ductile segment of the Tan‐Lu Fault Zone, the Malongshan Shear Zone, which is located in the Feidong Complex (the southern part of the Zhangbaling Uplift). A dark biotite‐adamellite mylonite has been recognized in the Malongshan Shear Zone, and the mylonitic foliation strikes NNE, consistent with the regional orientation of the Tan‐Lu Fault Zone. The occurrence of abundant syn‐tectonic leucocratic veins within the biotite‐adamellite mylonite indicates that ductile shearing was accompanied by hydrothermal activity. To constrain the timing of deformation along the Malongshan Shear Zone, we dated the biotite‐adamellite mylonite and the leucocratic veins using zircon U–Pb geochronology. The weighted mean ages of zircon grains from the biotite‐adamellite mylonite (159.0 ± 5.5 Ma) and the captured Group 2 (156.3 ± 3.7 Ma and 173.2 ± 4.2 Ma) of leucocratic veins are interpreted as the ages of protoliths of the biotite‐adamellite mylonite during the Jurassic. Additional weighted mean age of the hydrothermal zircon grains (130.9 ± 3.6 Ma) represents the timing of crystallization of the veins. Therefore, the results indicate that the Malongshan Shear Zone (and hence the southern segment of the Tan‐Lu Fault Zone) was active during the Early Cretaceous (~131 Ma). Based on the present results and existing data, we consider that sinistral shearing of the Tan‐Lu Fault Zone during the Early Cretaceous was controlled by oblique subduction of the Pacific Plate at a high angle.