摘要
The Nanxiong fault zone is a large-scale extension detachment structure. According to the results of Ar-Ar laser step-heating dating of the syntectonic muscovite separated from a mylonite sample in the Nanxiong fault zone,combining with the field surveying and microstructure analysis, the initial extension of the Nanxiong fault zone occurred at (117.3±2.7) Ma in Early Cretaceous. The strong extension and ductile shearing of the fault zone took place at the end of the Early Cretaceous or the beginning of the Late Cretaceous with an Ar-Ar plateau age of (94.6±0.4) Ma. The Ar-Ar chronology data of the Nanxiong fault zone provide a new geochronological constraint on the Cretaceous lithospheric extension in South China.