Abstract
The core of South East Asia is composed of a mosaic of continental blocks, among which the Indochina and theSouth China blocks (present day northern Vietnam), amalgamated during the Permian and/or the Triassic. LatePermian to Late Triassic geodynamic evolution of these two blocks remains controversial. The main discussionpoints concern the existence and the closure of an oceanic domain separating the Indochina and the South Chinablocks during this period. Especially, the polarity and the timing of the subduction zone that led to the collisionbetween the blocks as well as the present location of the suture delimiting them are a matter of debate. Despite thevaluable information they can provide, the sedimentary basins from northern Vietnam have been neglected in theprevious studies dealing with the geodynamic evolution of South East Asia.To determine the geodynamic evolution of the area, the basins of Sam Nua and Song Da, presently locatedin North Vietnam, have been investigated using a combined approach involving sedimentology, geochronology(U-Pb/zircon) and geochemistry (whole-rock major and trace elements composition of both volcanic and volcaniclasticrocks). The palaeoenvironment evolution, the main unconformities, their age and the tectonic affinitiesof the interbedded volcanic and volcaniclastics series have been characterized for these two basins. Our resultsdemonstrate (i) that the Song Da Basin exhibits a palaeogeographic affinity with the South China block, (ii) theoccurrence of extensive calk-alkaline volcanism and associated volcaniclastic deposits in the Sam Nua Basin,related to the existence of an active magmatic arc during the Early and the lower Middle Triassic, (iii) a Southdipping (present day coordinate) oceanic lithosphere beneath the Indochina block, deduced from the location ofthe magmatic arc south of the potential suture zones, (iv) that an angular unconformity postdates the lower MiddleTriassic volcaniclastic deposits in the Sam Nua basin. This unconformity, crosscutting the subduction relateddeposits, is interpreted as the result of the collision between the Indochina and the South China blocks.