Magnetotelluric signatures of Neoproterozoic subduction, and subsequent lithospheric reactivation and thinning beneath central South China

Broadband and long-period magnetotelluric (MT) soundings were collected along a 600-km-long EW-trending profile across the southwestern segment of the Jiangnan Orogenic Belt (JOB) to explore the possible remnants of ancient tectonic processes beneath the central South China Block (SCB). Beneath the JOB, the resistivity model reveals a west-dipping, trans-lithosphere conductor (1000 Ω ∙ m) lithosphere, possibly associated with relics of the Neoproterozoic subduction zone between the Yangtze and Cathaysia blocks. The crustal portion of this conductor is interpreted as solid conducting materials (e.g., graphite, sulfide) that were emplaced into the crust during subduction and orogenesis, whereas its lithospheric mantle portion is more likely to be volatile-bearing minerals formed by subduction-related metasomatic processes. We attribute the greatly reduced asthenospheric resistivities (1~10 Ω ∙ m) below the JOB to low-degree melting of the early-formed metasomatized mantle. In contrast, the lithosphere of the Cathaysia Block is evidently thinned (60–100 km) and segmented by several subvertical, lithospheric-scale conductors (1~30 Ω ∙ m) that are likely associated with fossil fluid pathways along reactivated shear/fault zones. Notably, the thinnest lithosphere sits above a prominent low-resistivity (10 ~ 30 Ω ∙ m) anomaly in the asthenospheric mantle and is spatially coincident with the location of Late Jurassic basaltic outcrops. We interpret these features as signs of lithospheric extension and asthenospheric upwelling driven by roll-back of the Paleo-Pacific Plate during the Late Mesozoic. The results provide key constraints on subduction–accretion tectonics associated with the Neoproterozoic assembly of the SCB and the subsequent lithospheric evolution during the Phanerozoic. [Display omitted] •Dense magnetotelluric soundings reveal high-resolution lithospheric structure beneath central South China.•Relics of Neoproterozoic subduction preserved beneath the Jiangnan Orogenic Belt.•A notably thinned lithosphere is identified beneath the westernmost Cathaysia Block.