A reinterpretation of the metamorphic Yuli belt: Evidence for a middle‐late Miocene accretionary prism in eastern Taiwan

The Yuli metamorphic belt has been the topic of petrological and geochronological studies for over 40 years and has been interpreted as a Cretaceous mélange. Our study utilizes zircon U‐Pb dating of schist and exotic blueschist blocks in the Yuli belt. These new ages indicate that these metamorphic rocks are actually middle Miocene in age and may represent the deeper structural levels of an accretionary prism. Several distinctive detrital zircon U‐Pb age populations are recognized from 14 siliceous schists of mélange‐hosted rocks that are similar in age population to the Cretaceous, Eocene‐Oligocene, and Miocene strata of Taiwan. The wide range of ages is interpreted as a product mixing of various sedimentary strata prior to metamorphism. Three blueschists of a volcanic‐arc protolith enclosed within the host rocks yield crystallization ages of 15.4 ± 0.4, 15.5 ± 0.3, and 16.0 ± 0.2 Ma based on zircon U‐Pb dating. In consideration of the new data regarding the Cretaceous‐Miocene host rocks and the middle Miocene exotic blueschist blocks, it strongly suggests that the Yuli belt formed at deeper levels of an accretionary wedge during subduction of South China Sea oceanic crust at the middle‐late Miocene. Subsequently, the rapid uplift of the metamorphic belt was probably related to doubly vergent wedge extrusion due to the Pliocene arc‐continent collision. Key Points The paper indicates that a metamorphic belt that consists of Miocene exotic sedimentary and volcanic blocks was inferred as a Mesozoic mélange The study proposes a new formation age of Yuli belt that reconstructs the timing of arc‐continent collision during late Cenozoic orogeny The study is the first report on a double mélange in Taiwan during late Cenozoic arc‐continental collision