Evidence of Early Cretaceous lower arc crust delamination and its role in the opening of the South China Sea

Understanding the formation mechanism of the South China Sea has important implications for research on plate rupture and continent-ocean transition globally. Granitoids dredged from the Xiaozhenzhu Rise provide new perspectives on lithosphere evolution processes of this region. Zircon UPb (127–122 Ma) and amphibole/K-feldspar 40Ar/39Ar (123–115 Ma) ages indicate high cooling rates of 55–64 °C/myr and thus rapid magma emplacement and uplift in...