The emplacement time of the Hegenshan ophiolite: Constraints from the unconformably overlying Paleozoic strata

Controversy has long surrounded the emplacement time of the Hegenshan ophiolite that is considered to mark a suture zone, called the Hegenshan–Heihe suture, resulting from the closure of a back-arc basin in the Paleo-Asian Ocean. The Hegenshan ophiolite in the Xiaobaliang area is unconformably overlain by a sequence of Paleozoic strata, called the Zhesi Formation that consists of conglomerate, sandstone, siltstone and limestone, some of which...