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Missing ophiolitic rocks along the Mae Yuam Fault as the Gondwana–Tethys divide in north‐west Thailand
Author(s) -
Hisada Kenichiro,
Sugiyama Masaaki,
Ueno Katsumi,
Charusiri Punya,
Arai Shoji
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
island arc
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.554
H-Index - 58
eISSN - 1440-1738
pISSN - 1038-4871
DOI - 10.1111/j.1440-1738.2003.00412.x
Subject(s) - gondwana , geology , ultramafic rock , peridotite , mafic , clastic rock , fibrous joint , outcrop , geochemistry , tethys ocean , paleozoic , basalt , precambrian , ophiolite , paleontology , tectonics , petrology , subduction , sedimentary rock , medicine , anatomy
Thailand comprises two continental blocks: Sibumasu and Indochina. The clastic rocks of the Triassic Mae Sariang Group are distributed in the Mae Hong Son–Mae Sariang area, north‐west Thailand, which corresponds to the central part of Sibumasu. The clastic rocks yield abundant detrital chromian spinels, indicating a source of ultramafic/mafic rocks. The chemistry of the detrital chromian spinels suggests that they were derived from three different rock types: ocean‐floor peridotite, chromitite and intraplate basalt, and that ophiolitic rocks were exposed in the area, where there are no outcrops of them at present. Exposition of an ophiolitic complex denotes a suture zone or other tectonic boundary. The discovery of chromian spinels suggests that the Gondwana–Tethys divide is located along the Mae Yuam Fault zone. Both paleontological and tectonic aspects support this conclusion.