Abstract
Stratigraphic correlations and tectonic analysis suggest that the Yangtze block of South China could have been a continental fragment caught between the Australian craton and Laurentia during the late mesoproterozoic assembly of the supercontinent Rodinia. The Cathaysia block of southeast China may have been part of a 1.9–1.4 Ga continental strip adjoining western Laurentia before it became attached to the Yangtze block around 1 Ga. This configuration provides a western source region for the clastic wedges in the Belt Supergroup of western North America which contain detrital grains of 1.8–1.6 Ga and 1.22–1.07 Ga. The breakup of Rodinia around 0.7 Ga separated South China (Yangtze plus Cathaysia blocks) from the other continents.
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