Post-conference field trip -2

Post-conference field trip -2a:

Cretaceous granitic complexes and the Tiger Hill Park in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province 

Time:  Saturday October 19th – Monday October 21st, 2019 

Price: $450 US dollars

This three-day field trip will bring the Hutton Symposium attendants to the Suzhou Mesozoic granitic complex and the volcanic rocks of the Tiger Hill park.

The Suzhou granitic complex is located approximately 10 km west of Suzhou in southeast Jiangsu Province. It was emplaced into Devonian sandstones and is exposed over an area of 11 km2. The trip will examine three units of the Suzhou granitic complex, including the amphibole- and biotite-bearing granite, biotite granite, and fine-grained K-feldspar granite.

A unique rock type, glimmerite, is present at the top of the main granite unit and comprises about 30% biotite. Zircon U–Pb ages (~124 Ma) indicate that the Suzhou granitic units were all emplaced in the Cretaceous. These granitic rocks are also enriched in rare metals (e.g., Be-Nb-Ta); which were the rare-metal hosted rocks to be firstly discovered in China.

Suzhou has a long history of over 4000 years and Tiger Hill is regarded as a major landmark of old Suzhou. Here you can see Jurassic rhyolites, as well as several historical heritage sites. (This is a scenic spot — No hammering or sampling)

Fig. 12  A photograph showing a view of the Suzhou granite.

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Fig. 13 A view of the 1400-year-old Tiger Hill Pagoda,

 which was built upon Jurassic rhyolitic rocks.

Day 1 (Oct. 19)

Morning: Depart from Nanjing to Suzhou (3 hrs)

Afternoon: We will visit the Hengshan or Tianpingshan granite in Suzhou.

Here we will examine the late Jurassic / early Cretaceous porphyritic medium-fine-grained K-feldspar granite and porphyritic coarse-medium-grained biotite-K-feldspar granite. The contact between the granites and the wall-rock (sandstones of the Wutong Formation) is very obvious. Roof pendants can also be observed.

Day 2 (Oct. 20)

We will visit various granitic phases that were emplaced around Suzhou.

1) The porphyritic amphibole- and biotite-bearing granite in Bai’eshan near Taihu Avenue;

2) The Jinshan granite;

3) The porphyritic biotite granite in Tianchishan, one typical spot of the main granitic units in the Suzhou complex;

4) The porphyritic Nb-Ta-bearing biotite granite and glimmerite at the top located on the Yangshan East Road (near Xinmin Cemetery).

Day 3 (Oct. 21)

Morning: We will examine the rhyolitic volcanoclastic rocks in Tiger Hill (Huqiu) Park.

A complete profile of the volcanoclastic rocks can be observed, which, from the base upwards include volcanic breccia, gravel tuff-bearing rhyolite, rhyolitic tuff-containing gravel, rhyolitic tuff, and tuffaceous sandstone. Fissure springs can also be observed.

After lunch: We will travel back to Nanjing and visit the Gaozi granodiorite if time permits. Overseas participants can go directly to Shanghai Pudong International Airport.

Post-conference field trip -2b:

Meihuashan granitic batholith and Longyan Aspiring Global Geopark, Longyan, Fujian Province

Time: October 19th (Saturday) –October 22st (Tuesday), 2019

Price: $450 US dollars

The Meihuashan giant granite batholith is located in the area where the east-west-trending Nanling granite belt intersects the north-east-trending coastal granite belt in SE China, with a surface area > 1000 km2. It is mainly composed of complex plutons of the Indosinian (Triassic), Early Yanshanian (Late Jurassic) and Late Yanshanian (Early Cretaceous) ages. The Triassic unit is a homogeneous monzogranite composed of perthite, plagioclase, quartz, amphibole, biotite and ilmenite with abundant titanite, and is characterized by K-feldspar megacrysts (> 5 cm). The Late Jurassic unit is a medium- to coarse-grained monzogranite, rarely porphyritic with orthoclase as minor phenocrysts. The Early Cretaceous unit is a coarse-grained syenogranite, containing perthite, plagioclase, quartz, biotite and minor amphibole. This structure of intrusive complex generally occurs in the Nanling granite belt of SE China, and thus the Meihuashan batholith is a representative batholith in SE China.

“Caledonian” (Early Palaeozoic) granitic plutons occur to the south of, and were intruded by, the Meihuashan batholith. Small Late Cretaceous miarolitic alkali-feldspar granite plutons intruded into the batholith. These rocks constitute the Meihuashan granitic complex with a protracted magmatism active for about 300 Ma (430–95 Ma), making the complex a miniature of multi-episode granites of SE China which has fully recorded the multi-stage tectonic evolution and transition of SE China. All these granites are excellently exposed and are easily accessible within the Longyan Aspiring Global Geopark.

In addition to visiting the granitic complex, we will visit the Tiger Wildlife Nature Reserves in the Meihuashan area, as well as the Peitian ancient village during this field trip. There will also be an opportunity to visit the Guanzhaishan Danxia landform which is composed of the Late Cretaceous red-bed sedimentary rocks in the Liancheng rift basin.

Fig. 14 The “Caledonian” (~430 Ma) syntectonic granite with a gneissic foliation. 

Fig. 15 The Indosinian (~220 Ma) monzogranite with K-feldspar megacrysts.

Fig. 16 The Late Yanshanian (~140 Ma) coarse-grained syenogranite.

Fig. 17 The Guanzhaishan Danxia landform, composed of the Late Cretaceous 

red-bed sedimentary rocks in the Liancheng rift basin.

Fig. 18 The Peitian ancient village built in the Ming and Qing Dynasties

Day 1 (Oct. 19)

     Morning:Departure at 8:30 am.

Travel from Nanjing to Xiamen by plane, and then travel from Xiamen to Gutian by high-speed train in the afternoon.

Visit the old location of the Gutian Meeting in the afternoon.

Evening: Arrive at the hotel at the Meihuashan Tiger Wildlife Nature Reserves.

Day 2 (Oct. 20)

Focus on the Meihuashan batholith. Examine the “Caledonian” (~430 Ma) syntectonic granites, the Indosinian (~220 Ma) monzogranite with K-feldspar megacrysts, and the Late Yanshanian (~140 Ma) coarse-grained syenogranite.

Evening:Stay at the hotel at the Meihuashan Tiger Wildlife Nature Reserves.

Day 3 (Oct. 21)

Visit the South China Tiger in the Meihuashan Tiger Wildlife Nature Reserves and then continue to examine the Meihuashan batholith. Observe the Late Jurassic (~160 Ma) granodiorite and monzogranite in the north part of the batholith. Visit the Peitian ancient village during this trip. Examine the Guanzhaishan Danxia landform and visit the Museum of Longyan Aspiring Global Geopark in the afternoon.

Evening:Stay at the Baixiang Resort Hotel in the Liancheng County.

Day 4 (Oct. 22)

Travel from Liancheng to Xiamen by high-speed train in the morning, and then travel from Xiamen to Nanjing by plane, departing at about 13:00 pm.