Fusulinoidean faunal succession of a Paleo–Tethyan oceanic seamount in the Changning–Menglian Belt, West Yunnan, Southwest China: An overview

Abstract  Fusulinoidean faunal succession from Paleo–Tethyan seamount‐type carbonates of the Yutangzhai section in the Central zone of the Changning–Menglian Belt of West Yunnan, Southwest China, is presented for the first time. The Changning–Menglian Belt is one of the orogenic belts that represent the closed main Paleo–Tethys in East Asia. The Yutangzhai section is represented by basalts and overlying carbonates, about 1100 m thick. It exhibits a continuous faunal succession composed of 17 fusulinoidean assemblages ranging from the Serpukhovian (late Mississippian/late Early Carboniferous) to Midian/Capitanian (late Middle Permian/late Guadalupian). No significant faunal break can be recognized in this section. The generic and some specific composition of the Yutangzhai assemblages indicates that the faunal succession is similar to those observed in Tethyan and Panthalassan areas and is of tropical Tethyan type although their generic diversity is definitely lower than those of Paleo–Tethyan shelves, such as South China, Indochina, and Central Asia. Throughout the Yutangzhai section, the carbonate rocks are essentially massive, very pure in composition, and devoid of terrigenous siliciclastic inputs. These lithologic characters are identical to those observed in accreted shallow‐marine carbonate successions of seamount origin in Permian and Jurassic accretionary complexes of Japan, for example the Akiyoshi Limestone. This evidence further demonstrates the seamount origin of the basalt–limestone succession in the Central zone of the Changning–Menglian Belt from the viewpoint of lithofacies. In middle Mississippian (middle Early Carboniferous) time, oceanic submarine volcanism that was probably related to hot spot activities formed a number of seamounts and oceanic plateaus. It was active not only in the Panthalassa, but also in the Paleo–Tethys.