Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Letter
  • Published:

Fragmentation of Asia in the Permian

Abstract

Asia is a composite continent formed by the accretion of crustal blocks1–3. A likely sequence of events is that Siberia collided with a Kazakhstan block which together then collided with Europe along the Urals in Permo-Triassic times2. This was followed by the sucessive accretion of various blocks of south and east Asia to Siberia, culminating in the collision of India with Asia during the Cenozoic. Palaeomagnetic data have already demonstrated that the Kolyma and Sikhote Alin blocks of eastern Asia collided with the main continent along the late Mesozoic fold belts of Verkhoyansk and Sikhote Alin4. Furthermore, results from the Malay peninsula5 and Japan6 suggest that South-east Asia and Japan were situated near the Equator in Permian times and were therefore separated from the Asian continent. We report here some palaeomagnetic results from the Permian of the Sino-Korean and Yangtze blocks of China that show they were also situated near the Equator, were not in their present relationship to one another and were widely separated from Siberia.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Dewey, J. F. & Bird, J. M. J. geophys. Res. 75, 2625–2647 (1970).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  2. Hamilton, W. Bull. geol. Soc. Am. 81, 2553–2576 (1970).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Burrett, C. F. Earth planet. Sci. Lett. 21, 181–189 (1974).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  4. McElhinny, M. W. in The Western Pacific: Island Arcs, Marginal seas, Geochemistry (ed. Coleman, P. J.) 407–414 (University of Western Australia Press, 1973).

    Google Scholar 

  5. McElhinny, M. W., Haile, N. S. & Crawford, A. R. Nature 252, 641–645 (1974).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Hattori, I. & Hirooka, K. Tectonophysics 57, 211–235 (1979).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  7. Scotese, C. R., Bambach, R. K., Barton, C., van der Voo, R. & Ziegler, A. M. J. Geol. 87, 217–277 (1979).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  8. Huang, Chi-Ching (T. K.) Eclogae Geol. Helv. 71, 611–635 (1978).

    Google Scholar 

  9. Haile, N. S., McElhinny, M. W. & McDougall, I. J. geol. Soc. London. 133, 133–144 (1977).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Wang, T., Teng, H., Li, C. & Yen, S. Acta geophys. Sin. 9, 125–138 (1960).

    Google Scholar 

  11. Zijderveld, J. D. A. in Methods in Palaeomagnetism (eds Collinson, D. W., Creer, K. M. & Runcorn, S. K.) 254–286 (Elsevier, Amsterdam, 1967).

    Google Scholar 

  12. Kirschvink, J. L. Geophys. J. R. astr. Soc. 62, 699–718 (1980).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  13. McElhinny, M. W. Geophys. J. R. astr. Soc. 8, 338–340 (1964).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. McFadden, P. L. & Jones, D. L. Geophys. J. R. astr. Soc. (in the press).

  15. Irving, E. & Parry, L. G. Geophys. J. R. astr. Soc. 7, 395–411 (1963).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  16. Irving, E. Nature 270, 304–309 (1977).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  17. Nur, A. & Ben-Avraham, Z. Nature 270, 41–43 (1977).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  18. Pechersky, D. M. Akad. Nauk SSSR Izv. Earth Phys. Ser. 69–83 (1970).

  19. Vlassov, A. Ya & Popova, A. V. in Rock Magnetism and Palaeomagnetism (ed. Vlassov, A.Ya) 333–339 (Siberian Academy of Sciences, Krasnoyarsk, 1963).

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

McElhinny, M., Embleton, B., Ma, X. et al. Fragmentation of Asia in the Permian. Nature 293, 212–216 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1038/293212a0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/293212a0

This article is cited by

Comments

By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing