The breakup of Rodinia: did it start with a mantle plume beneath South China?

Mafic to ultramafic dykes and sills in South China, dated as 828 +/- 7 Ma o ld, are identical in age to the 827 +/- 6 Ma Gairdner Dyke Swarm in Austral ia, thought to be of mantle plume origin. These intrusive rocks, accompanie d by widespread granite intrusions and rapid unroofing at a lateral extent of ca, 1000 km, and followed by continental rifting, are interpreted to ind icate the arrival of a plume head centred beneath South China. This interpr etation supports the idea that South China lay between Australia and Lauren tia in the Rodinia supercontinent, and suggests that Rodinia breakup may ha ve started with a mantle plume which initiated continental rifting at about 820 Ma ago. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.