Characteristics of the island-arc pillow lavas from southeast Yunnan Province, and its tectonic implications for Paleo-Tethys in South China

Based on the geological mapping, it is suggested that the pillow lavas exposed in Jianshui area in southeastern Yunnan Province are emplaced into the western part of Shizong-Mile faults, the boundary between the Yangtze and Cathaysian blocks, and mainly composed of tectonic massive of basalts and basaltic andsites. The geological and geochemical studies show that these lavas erupted in an island arc tectonic setting, which suggests that there existed the subduction of oceanic crust between the Yangtze and Cathaysian blocks. The paleontological fossils in the sedimentary interlayers between the volcanic rocks indicate that these pillow lavas erupted during Carboniferous-Permian. The geologic and geochemical evidence suggested that there existed an eastern branch of Paleo-Tethys between the Yangtze and Cathaysian blocks in southeastern Yunnan, South China.