Understanding how Permian exotic blocks (m & eacute;langes) formed within the Yarlung Zangbo Suture Zone is crucial for reconstructing the evolution of the Neo-Tethys Ocean and the paleogeography of Gondwana. Here, we report new paleomagnetic data from the Zhongbei limestone-one of the most representative of these blocks in South Tibet-to better constrain its history. Thermal demagnetization isolated a strong overprint component (unblocking up to 300-450 degrees C) across 24 sites (175 samples), with a mean direction of Dg = 167.2 degrees, Ig = 11.7 degrees (kg = 11.5, alpha 95 = 9.1 degrees). This component is likely carried by abundant framboidal magnetite, overgrowths, embayed edges, or authigenic microcrystalline magnetite. Analysis of 28 studies of remagnetization along the Yarlung Zangbo Suture Zone suggests that the shallow directions are an overprint related to Late Cretaceous arc-continent collision near the equator at ca. 70 Ma. A high-temperature component (unblocking up to 480-580 degrees C) was isolated from 17 sites (111 samples) with Ds= 140.7 degrees,Is= 54.0 degrees (ks = 24.0,alpha 95= 7.4 degrees), and it passed a fold test. In these samples, the presence of subhedral to euhedral and single microcrystalline detrital (titano)magnetite grains is observed, suggesting that the high-temperature component is primary. It is likely that the primary component can only be resolved when detrital (titano)magnetite is preserved in sufficient quantity. This component yielded a Permian paleolatitude of 34.5 degrees +/- 8.7 degrees S for the Zhongbei limestone block. Our results suggest that the exotic blocks in the Yarlung Zangbo Suture Zone either originated on a seamount along the northern margin of Greater India or were originally part of Greater India.

Large datasets are increasingly common in paleogeographic reconstruction, where tectonic element assignment can dominate query time. We present a GPU-rasterized framework that converts polygon-based tectonic assignment into direct lookup on a fixed 0.1° global grid while leaving the subsequent finite-rotation step unchanged. For each selected partition state, tectonic polygons are rasterized on demand into a categorical lookup field whose encoded cells resolve present-day query coordinates by constant-time addressing before rotation to the requested target age. Synthetic benchmarks from 100,000 to 1,000,000 records show lower task runtime than both GPlates GUI and BPPR, a published pyGPlates-based parallel batch workflow, under the tested configuration; at 1,000,000 records, the rasterized workflow required 53.97 s, compared with 374.06 s for GPlates GUI and 101.11 s for BPPR. Stage-wise analysis further shows that tectonic-identifier assignment decreases from 250.70 s in GPlates GUI to 3.73 s in the rasterized workflow at the largest tested workload. In a PBDB case-study workload, the public reference artifact reconstructed 275,346 usable fossil-collection coordinates to 100 Ma in 660 ms after a 1.832 s preparation step, with tectonic-identifier assignment accounting for 4.696 ms. In a 100,000-point global random agreement test against pyGPlates reference assignments, the rasterized workflow matched 99.38% of assignments, corresponding to a 0.62% mismatch rate. Boundary-focused stress tests confirm that mismatches are concentrated near polygon boundaries, defining the method as a high-throughput approximation for large-scale screening rather than exact local tectonic attribution.

Over the past six decades, the scientific ocean drilling (SOD) programs have collected vast and invaluable data for Earth history research. However, the scattered state of these data across multiple repositories, along with inconsistent standards, methodologies, and terminologies, have increased the complexity of data processing and posed barriers to its effective utilization. While several databases have been developed to consolidate and improve access to SOD data, each has limitations in scope. To address these challenges, we introduce the Sediment Spatial and Temporal Database (SedST, http://sedst.org), a new platform designed to aggregate chronological data from the extensive archives of SOD, including postcruise literature, and provide tools for data accessibility. SedST standardizes biostratigraphic, magnetostratigraphic, and radiometric dating records, aligning them with the latest Geologic Time Scale 2020, to ensure consistency and coherence. Employing the Bchron methodology, SedST establishes age-depth models for >1000 SOD boreholes. Presently, SedST encompasses 37,329 entries from 181 expeditions and 1300 holes, covering the world’s ocean basins and including records as old as the Late Jurassic. The platform provides powerful tools for sample ID to depth conversions and individual hole to composite site depth transformation. Accessible via user-friendly graphical interfaces, SedST simplifies data queries and allows the export of search results in CSV format. As a constantly developing platform under the umbrella of the Deep-time Digital Earth program, SedST is committed to enhancing the accessibility and discoverability of marine sediment data, fostering new insights into Earth’s geological history.

•Paleocurrent direction of Early Devonian strata in Tarim transitioned from SW to NE.•Magnetic fabric can be used to track paleocurrent changes in weakly deformed rocks.•The shift in source regions supports Early Devonian opening of South Tianshan Ocean.

Paleomagnetic records of middle Neoproterozoic (820 to 780 Ma) rocks display high amplitude directional variations that lead to large discrepancies in paleogeographic reconstructions. Hypotheses to explain these data include rapid true polar wander (TPW), a geomagnetic field geometry that deviates from a predominantly axial dipole field, a hyper-reversing field (>10 reversals/Ma), and/or undiagnosed remagnetization. To test these hypotheses, we collected 1,057 oriented cores over a 85 m stratigraphic succession in the Laoshanya Formation (Yangjiaping, Hunan, China). High precision U-Pb dating of two intercalated tuff layers constrain the age of the sediments between 809 and 804 Ma. Thermal demagnetization isolates three magnetization components residing in hematite which are not time-progressive but conflated throughout the section. All samples possess a north and downward directed component in geographic coordinates at temperatures up to 660 degrees C that is ascribed to a Cretaceous overprint. Two components isolated above 660 degrees C reveal distinct directional clusters: one is interpreted as a depositional remanence, while the other appears to be the result of a mid-Paleozoic (460 to 420 Ma) remagnetization, which is likely widespread throughout South China. The high-temperature directions are subtly dependent on lithology; microscopic and rock magnetic analyses identify multiple generations of hematite that vary in concentration and distinguish the magnetization components. A comparison with other middle Neoproterozoic paleomagnetic studies in the region indicates that the sudden changes in paleomagnetic directions, used elsewhere to support the rapid TPW hypothesis (ca. 805 Ma), are better explained by mixtures of primary and remagnetized components, and/or vertical axis rotations. Plain Language Summary Paleomagnetic directions recorded in 820 to 780 million year old rocks from South China exhibit large amplitude changes that vary rapidly, which have been interpreted to indicate extraordinarily fast motion of Earth's crust and mantle, up to 90 degrees within a 5 million year span, with respect to the spin axis of the core. This hypothetical phenomenon, called rapid true polar wander (TPW), could be responsible for dramatic global environmental change at that time. To test this theory, we collected over 1,000 samples from a well exposed section where the incongruous directions are found. Our measurements suggest that some of the rocks acquired a new magnetic signal during a pervasive remagnetization event in South China around 440 million years ago, long after original deposition of the rocks. New hematite growth has a demagnetization spectrum that partially overlaps or completely obscures the original magnetic signal, which was previously unrecognized. This implies that rapid TPW is likely an artifact of magnetic overprinting in ancient rocks from South China. Our results suggest that South China was in a relatively stable position at high latitudes 809 to 804 million years ago. We find no evidence to support exceptionally fast continental drift or an abnormal geomagnetic field geometry during that time.

Defining the original size of Greater India is a critical parameter for reconstructing the kinematics and timing of the India–Asia collision. Early Cretaceous paleontology-based paleoceanographic and paleogeographic reconstruction for the northern coast of East Gondwanaland provides independent constraint for the extent of Greater India. In this study, newly discovered Early Cretaceous radiolarian faunas from the Tethys Himalaya were objectively compared with non-Tethyan austral faunas from the Argo Abyssal Plain (AAP) and the typical Tethyan fauna from Italy using the Hayashi's Quantification Method Type III. We found that (1) The occurrence of austral cold-water radiolarian species at the western coast of Australia and northern coast of Greater India is attributable to northward intrusion of circumantarctic cold water via a seaway newly opened during the breakup of East Gondwanaland from ∼136 Ma; (2) Gyangze was under shallow warm-water conditions with typical Tethyan radiolarian fauna (Cluster 3) until the late Valanginian when cold-water species (Cluster 1) arrived from the south. A water mass boundary shift from Tethyan species dominant to austral cold-water species dominant in Gyangze indicates its lower paleolatitude than Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Leg 123, Site 765 in the AAP; (3) The same austral cold-water radiolarian-bearing intervals from the late Berriasian to Valanginian indicate that Kangma in southern Tibet was proximal to ODP Site 765; (4) Different radiolarian faunas in Italy–Zhongba, Kangma, and the AAP reveal complex water conditions under different degrees of effect by Tethyan warm water and austral cold water at different water depths during the Barremian to Aptian. This radiolarian biogeography is highly consistent with the paleomagnetic reconstruction and indicates that eastern Greater India extended to the Exmouth Plateau (>2400 km) during the Early Cretaceous.

Hydrocarbon source rock is one of the key factors controlling oil/gas accumulation in petroliferous system of a sedimentary basin. Focusing on the challenges facing hydrocarbon source rock prediction in basins or lows with relatively low exploration maturity, sparsely distributed drilling wells and insufficient source rock index, we take the underexplored areas in northern Zhu Ⅰ Depression in the Pearl River Mouth Basin (PRMB) as an example to systematically analyze the source-to-sink system and predict source rocks from the perspectives of “searching for lake (deep-to-semi-deep lake)”, “recognizing mudstones (deep-to-semi-deep lacustrine mudstones)”, and “identifying hydrocarbon (hydrocarbon source rock prediction and evaluation)”. First, the original basin features and location of the paleo-lacustrine basin are illustrated by restoring multi-stage tectono-palaeogeomorphology to “find the lake”; and the deep-to-semi-deep lake is identified in the underexplored area together with preliminary selection of potential lows with well-developed hydrocarbon source rocks in combination with analyses including “identifying the lacustrine basin boundary by seismic progradational reflection, determining the scope of the deep-to-semi-deep lake by slope break system, illustrating paleo-environment characters by biochemical index, and defining the lacustrine basin scale by tectonic intensity”. The results indicate that five lows formed during the Wenchang depositional period , and five lows formed during the depositional period of the lower Enping Formation have the potential of developing deep-to-semi-deep lacustrine mudstones. Second, the reconstruction of source-to-sink system and the geological analysis of deep-to-semideep lacustrine mudstone development are conducted through analyses of paleo-provenance, paleo-environment and depositional systems, as well as tectono-palaeogeomorphology features; various configuration elements simulation results of the source-to-sink system show that basins characterized by medium sediment supply intensity, fine-grained source materials, high lake level, large accommodation space and under-equal or equal compensation are favorable for the deposition of mud-rich lacustrine facies. Finally, based on data of exploratory wells encountering high-quality hydrocarbon source rocks in mature exploration areas, we analyze four types of deep-to-semi-deep seismic facies and their geologic backgrounds corresponding to hydrocarbon source rock intervals, establish the “hydrocarbon source rock facies (seismic facies of hydrocarbon source rocks)” of the mature exploration areas. Coupled with the systematic summary of hydrocarbon-enrichment factors in main hydrocarbon-rich lows of the Zhu Ⅰ Depression, we assess and rank the high-quality hydrocarbon source rocks in the underexplored areas with multiple factors and from multidimensional points of view. The research results also indicate that the first-order potentially hydrocarbon-rich lows include LF22, HF33, and HZ24 (with the lower and upper Wenchang Formation as source rocks), as well as the LF7 and HF10 (with the lower Wenchang Formation as source rocks); the second-order potentially hydrocarbon-rich ones are HZ5 and HZ11 (with the lower Enping Formation as source rocks), with the hydrocarbon source rock prediction and evaluation results of some lows having been testified in practical exploration.

The Sangdanlin section in southern Tibet represents a geologic Rosetta stone to constrain the initiation of the India-Asia collision from its sedimentary and paleomagnetic records. However, geoscientists have arrived at fundamentally divergent interpretations surrounding the age of the strata and its paleomagnetic record. Here, we report paleontologic, petrographic, and paleomagnetic data from the Sangdanlin section that recognize the sequence as a thrust complex containing interlaced Barremian-Albian (Early Cretaceous) and Paleocene strata, each separated by thrust faults. Recognizing two complexly interwoven formations of distinctly different ages contradicts a continuous stratigraphic superposition. Assigning an Early Cretaceous, instead of Paleocene, age to the units collected for paleomagnetic data revises paleogeographic models thereby supporting a large (2,000 to 3,000 km) extent of Greater India, with collision initiating at 55 ± 5 Ma in the western Himalayas. A contiguous plate in the Neotethys Ocean precludes that Asia's southern margin was built through a succession of accreted terrains.

Deep-water strata preserved in the distal northern Indian margin record the evolution of the Neotethys Ocean before and during the India-Asia initial collision. These strata are however difficult to date precisely as radiolarian are the only fossils present. We here revise the Cretaceous to Paleocene stratigraphy of deep-water sediments deposited in the distal part of the Indian passive margin, located just south of the Yarlung-Tsangpo suture zone near Saga. Four radiolarian assemblages are illustrated and correlated to the Cecrops septemporatus zone to Aurisaturnalis carinatus zone (late Valanginian to Barremian), the Turbocapsula costata zone (Aptian), the Spoletoensis zone (Albian), and the RP6a subzone (lower Selandian). Four units deposited from the Early Cretaceous to the Paleocene are thus identified (bottom to top): Rilang, Duobeng, Chuangde, and Sangdanlin formations. Such a revised stratigraphic scheme allows correlation with the sedimentary successions exposed in the Gyangze and Zhongba areas. Stratigraphic correlation proves that Indian-derived sandstones below the India to Asia provenance reversal (IAPR) were deposited on the Indian passive margin rather than on Neotethys oceanic crust. Sand injection complex preserved in the lower part of the deep-water sediments is related to extensional tectonics associated with Lower Cretaceous volcanism documented all along the northern margin of India. This study provides a much improved framework to interpret the geological evolution of the deep-water edge of the northern Indian margin during progressive closure of the Neotethys Ocean culminated with the onset of the India-Asia collision.

The Cathaysian Coastal Mountains are thought to be an ancient high‐topographic feature that existed along the margin of South China. They are characterised by extensive Jurassic–Cretaceous magmatism; however, their formation mechanism and timing remains uncertain. In this paper, we present sedimentological and detrital zircon analyses from Cretaceous–Eocene strata and drainage sediments from Hainan Island. Our analyses show a change in provenance from a proximal Cathaysian Coastal arc source in Cretaceous strata to a widely distributed intra‐island granite source in the Eocene strata and modern river sediments. Reconstruction of the crustal thickness evolution for the South China margin from Eu/Eu*‐in‐zircon proxy shows significant crustal thickening during the Late Jurassic–Cretaceous, thereby suggesting the existence of the Cathaysian Coastal Mountains. Together with a compilation of detrital zircon U‐Pb ages in the northern basins of the South China Sea margin, we conclude that the Cathaysian Coastal Mountains extended from the Red River region to Taiwan along the South China margin during the Late Jurassic–Cretaceous and then collapsed/eroded from northeast to southwest during the Eocene–Miocene. This large mountain range supplied detrital sediments to the marginal basins in the northern South China Sea and formed a topographic barrier that prohibited moist Pacific air to reach the relatively arid inland area of South China during the Late Jurassic–Cretaceous.

Hainan Island lies near the Red River Fault, a prominent tectonic feature produced by the India‐Asia collision. There, we carried out a geochronologic and paleomagnetic study on Cretaceous rocks in order to better understand the kinematic history of the region. U‐Pb zircon dating of tuff intercalated in red bed sedimentary rocks yielded a concordant age of 106.6 ± 0.3 Ma; a mafic dyke intruding the red beds yielded a concordant age of 104.6 ± 0.7 Ma. Stepwise demagnetization experiments on 448 sedimentary rock samples and 191 dyke samples isolate solely normal polarities. Paleomagnetic directions of the dykes cluster in two distinct populations in geographic coordinates, indicating that dyke intrusion occurred in two pulses of limited duration (secular variation was not averaged) after tilting of the sediments. Baking of the sediments from the dykes only occurred near the contacts. Together with published data, the mean directions of 104 sites most tightly group at 58.3 ± 3.2% unfolding, indicative of a synfolding remagnetization, which can be constrained to have occurred within a 2 Myr period between sedimentation and dyke intrusion. We suggest that warm (50–100°C) fluid interaction during basin development led to new mineral growth spawning chemical remagnetization. The corresponding paleomagnetic pole at 81.5°N, 145.2°E ( A 95 = 2.4°) is indistinguishable from the coeval Eurasian reference pole, suggesting the South China Block has remained fixed to Eurasia since 105 Ma. A contour map of paleomagnetic rotations from 115 studies in the region shows that the Red River Fault roughly demarcates rotation magnitudes/signs, suggestive of a major tectonic boundary.

The continued subduction of the Pacific oceanic lithosphere during the Jurassic-Cretaceous time formed a large magmatic province as "Basin and Range" at the South China Block. However, the timing and mechanisms of such a huge rifting and magmatism belt are still controversial. Here we present new petrological, sedimentological and geochemical analyses for the Cretaceous Lumuwan Formation and coeval intruded mafic dykes under the robust age constrain in Hainan Island. Our results show that the mid-Cretaceous Lumuwan Formation was a typical lacustrine stratigraphic sandwich that accumulated in an intracontinental back-arc extensional basin. The Hainan mafic dykes (similar to 108-93 Ma) were probably sourced from asthenospheric and lithospheric mantle which were metasomatized by subducted oceanic sediments in a back-arc extension of the continental lithosphere. The timing of the NW-SE-directed back-arc extension in the Hainan Basin has been constrained as 108-93 Ma and played a significant role in the formation of Basin and Range-type tectonics and landscape evolution in the South China. (c) 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of China University of Petroleum (Beijing). This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Hydrocarbon source rocks, as a main geologic factor of petroliferous systems in a sedimentary basin, play a key role in the accumulation of oil and gas and the formation of hydrocarbon accumulations. This study, which focuses on difficulties in prediction of hydrocarbon source rocks in basins or sags with low exploration degree and insufficient hydrocarbon source rock indicators, taking the Wenchang Formation of northern Zhu I Depression, Pearl River Mouth Basin as an example, proposed a hypothesis of "finding lakes and hydrocarbon source rocks". Detailed steps include, first, determination of the lacustrine basin boundary according to analysis of seismic foreset facies, determination of the depositional area based on the compilation of strata residual thickness maps, determination of the lacustrine basin shape according to deciphering slope break belt system, determination of the fluctuation of paleo-water depth according to biogeochemical indicators of mature exploration areas, determination of the lacustrine basin scale based on analyses of tectonics intensity and accommodation space, which prove the existence of the lacustrine basin and identify the range of semi deep-deep lake; second, further analyses of tectonopalaeogeomorphology, paleo-provenance, palaeoclimate and paleo-water depth to reconstruct the geologic background of the original basin and semi-deep-deep lacustrine facies, to determine the distribution of semi-deep/deep lacustrine sediments in combination with studies of logging facies, core facies, seismic facies and sedimentary facies, and to rank the sags' potential of developing hydrocarbon source rocks from controlling factors of source-to-sink system development; third, on the basis of regional sedimentary facies analysis, through identification and assessment of seismic facies types of semi-deep/deep lacustrine basins in mature areas, establishing "hydrocarbon source rock facies" in mature areas to instruct the identification and depicting of hydrocarbon source rocks in semi-deep/deep lacustrine basins with low exploration degree; fourth, through systematical summary of hydrocarbon-rich geological factors and lower limit index of hydrocarbon formation of the sags already revealed by drilling wells (e.g., sag area, tectonic subsidence amount, accommodation space, provenance characteristic, mudstone thickness, water body environment, sedimentary facies types of hydrocarbon source rocks), in correlation with corresponding indexes of sags with low exploration degree, then the evaluation and sorting of high-quality source rocks in areas with sparsely distributed or no drilling wells can be conducted with multi-factors and multiple dimensions. It is concluded that LF22 sag, HZ10 sag and HZ8 sag are II-order hydrocarbon rich sags; whereas HZS, HZ11 and HZ24 are the III-order hydrocarbon-generating sags.

The India-Asia collision produced the Himalayan orogenic belt. The kinematics of crustal blocks within the orogenic belt can shed insights into the tectonic processes related with the continental collision. We report a combined study of paleomagnetism and microtextures from the Zhongba microterrane, northwestern Tethys Himalaya. The Zhongba microterrane is located in the southwestern part of Tibet. A total of 71 samples collected from Permian formations yield a distinct remanent component carried by pyrrhotite, which failed fold tests. Compared with the apparent polar wander path of India, it is suggested that this overprint component is acquired recently (10-0 Ma), and a similar to 16 degrees clockwise rotation is also indicated. Microtextures from several localities show E-W directed shear. Together with reported GPS observations and clockwise rotations, a bookshelf-style deformation pattern associated with strike-slip faulting is proposed for the Neohimalayan tectonics in the Tethys Himalaya. Bookshelf-style rotation of small blocks coordinated by strike-slip faults is not only a practical model to absorb the crustal shortening caused by the convergence of the Indian-Eurasian plate, but also an important way for the escape of the Tibetan Plateau to the southeast.

Knowing the original size of Greater India is a fundamental parameter to quantify the amount of continental lithosphere that was subducted to help form the Tibetan Plateau and to constrain the tectonic evolution of the India-Asia collision. Here, we report Early Cretaceous paleomagnetic data from the central and eastern Tethyan Himalaya that yield paleolatitudes consistent with previous Early Cretaceous paleogeographic reconstructions. These data suggest Greater India extended at least 2,675 ± 720 and 1,950 ± 970 km farther north from the present northern margin of India at 83.6°E and 92.4°E, respectively. The paleomagnetic data from Upper Cretaceous rocks of the western Tethyan Himalaya that are consistent with a model that Greater India extended ~2700 km farther north from its present northern margin at the longitude of 79.6°E before collision with Asia. Our result further suggests that the Indian plate, together with Greater India, acted as a single entity since at least the Early Cretaceous. An area of lithosphere ≥4.7 × 106 km2 was consumed through subduction, thereby placing a strict limit on the minimum amount of Indian lithosphere consumed since the breakup of Gondwanaland. The pre-collision geometry of Greater India’s leading margin helped shape the India-Asia plate boundary. The proposed configuration produced right lateral shear east of the indenter, thereby accounting for the clockwise vertical axis block rotations observed there.

The Tuoyun volcanics from the Tian Shan range (Central Asia) give an opportunity to investigate the variability of the Earth's magnetic field during the Cretaceous and Early Paleogene. In the paper we focus on Maastrichtian-Paleocene basalts and report new paleomagnetic results from 70 lava flows (respectively 45 directional groups) sampled near Tuoyun village (75.33 degrees E; 40.18 degrees N) from three distinct sections. Combined with previous results, our new data set yields a virtual geomagnetic pole at fS 1/4 180.2 degrees E,.S 1/4 49.5 degrees N with an angular standard deviation S 1/4 20:8 degrees j23:1 degrees 18:8 degrees (for N 1/4 93 directional groups). The mean inclination Is 1/4 36.2 degrees is indicative of an emplacement of the Tuoyun volcanics at a paleolatitude around 20 degrees N, consistent with the high dispersion k 1/4 14.6 of the directions. Such an inclination value is 10-15 degrees lower than the predictions from the apparent polar wander paths for stable Europe and East Asia. This observation can be partly explained by crustal shortening within the East Asian plate during the India-Asia convergence, but also needs to invoke a local field anomaly in Central Asia as previously proposed. Our absolute paleointensity experiments conducted on two lava flows and two baked sedimentary layers yield a mean virtual dipole moment of 58.9 +/- 6.9 ZA.m2, consistent with the values at 60-70 Ma in the global paleointensity database. Compared to relative paleointensity results during the Cretaceous Normal Superchron and during the Plio-Pleistocene, the relative variability in intensity-supposed to be a proxy for the geodynamo's activity-estimated here at 31 +/- 5% (N 1/4 15) from pseudo-Thellier experiments possibly corroborates a correlation between geomagnetic reversal frequency and paleosecular variation rate during the past 120 Myr.

AbstractThe evolution of Cenozoic climate patterns in Asia has been linked to uplift of the Tibetan Plateau (TP), retreat of the Paratethys Sea, and global cooling. However, less attention has been placed on the latitudinal change of the TP. Here we report new climate modeling to explore how modern climate changes as a function of topographic growth and spatial migration of the TP. Our results show that the northward displacement of the uplifted proto‐TP within the subtropics can significantly affect the wind and precipitation pattern over East‐Central Asia. By compiling proxy‐based climatic records, paleolatitudinal and paleoelevational evolution models of the proto‐TP, and in comparison with previous modeling under a global paleogeography, we suggest that the northward migration of the proto‐TP in the Paleogene could have intensified the aridity in Central Asia, but its influence on East Asian precipitation and monsoonal circulation could be dependent on the paleogeography and other boundary conditions.

This study uses high‐quality two‐dimensional (2‐D) seismic and well data to analyse seismic stratigraphy and deep‐water Pliocene sediments in the Qiongdongnan Basin (QDNB), South China Sea. Eight major seismic facies were identified based on the amplitude, continuity, configuration, and external geometry of seismic reflections. Among them, sigmoid progradational configurations, oblique progradational configurations, mound‐shaped chaotic configurations, and mound‐shaped hummocky configurations are newly identified seismic facies indicative of provenance and water system significance. They were interpreted as a Pliocene‐aged eastern shelf‐edge delta, a western shelf‐edge delta, and eastern and western submarine fans in QDNB. Consequently, two sets of Pliocene shelf‐edge delta‐continental slope canyon‐submarine fan systems were established in the QDNB. From the approximately NNW–SSE progradation of the shelf‐edge delta, the characteristics of the approximately ENE–WSW distributed continental slope system, and the definition of a source‐to‐sink system, as well as previous heavy mineral research, we conclude the existence of two Pliocene sources from Hainan Island in the northern QDNB, corresponding to the Lingshui River and Wanquan River. Two independent and complete source‐to‐sink systems (S2S‐2, S2S‐3) were distinguished from the northern Hainan Island to the basin area. S2S‐2 is located in the western QDNB, which includes the Lingshui River‐western shelf‐edge delta‐continental slope canyon‐submarine fan. This source‐to‐sink system has more sand‐rich material and better reservoir conditions than S2S‐3 in the eastern basin, predominantly due to a higher quality granite parent rock, abundant provenance, and a large‐scale delta and submarine fan.

Greater India comprises a part of the Indian plate that subducted under Asia to help form the Tibetan Plateau. Defining the size of the Greater India is thus a key constraint to model the India-Asia collision, growth of the plateau, and the tectonic evolution of the Neo-Tethyan realm. We report Early Cretaceous paleomagnetic data from the central and eastern Tethyan Himalaya that yield paleolatitudes consistent with previous Early Cretaceous paleogeographic reconstructions. These data suggest Greater India extended at least 2,675 +/- 720 and 1,950 +/- 970 km farther north from the present northern margin of India at 83.6 degrees E and 92.4 degrees E, respectively. An area of lithosphere >= 4.7 x 10(6) km(2) was consumed through subduction, thereby placing a strict limit on the minimum amount of Indian lithosphere consumed since the breakup of Gondwanaland. Plain Language summary Greater India is part of the Indian plate, subsequently subducted under Asia, that helped create the Tibetan Plateau. The amount of Greater Indian crust therefore plays a critical role to address key problems in continental geodynamics. To what extent can continental crust be subducted? How much crust was derived from horizontal shortening of existing crust? How much of Tibet was created by subducted buoyant, continental crust? We provide paleomagnetic evidence that defines the minimum size of Greater India. Our data show that a lithospheric area of >= 4.7 x 10(6) km(2) was subducted, which supports the notion that the growth of Tibetan Plateau in the Cenozoic occurred by adding buoyant material to its base.