Heat flow in the continental area of China: a new data set

A new compilation of heat flow data for the continental area of China has b een constructed using both published data (up to 1999) as well as previousl y unpublished data. The data set is composed of 862 observations from diffe rent sites. Within the continental area of China, heat flow values range fr om 23 to 319 mW/m(2), with a mean of 63 +/- 24.2 mW/m2. If non-conductive v alues related to local hydrothermal systems are excluded, the representativ e average heat flow is 61 +/- 15.5 mW/m(2) (n = 823), with an associated ra nge of 30-140 mW/m(2). Heat flow analysis for each specific subtectonic pro vince shows discernible trends within a tectonic province. The relationship s between the heat flow and geological ages based on this new dataset indic ate that surface heat flow is obviously more dependent on the last tectonot hermal activity than the age of the orogeny. The overall heat flow pattern exhibits high values in the east and in the southwest, and low in the cente r and northwest parts of the continental area of China, and appears to be d ominated largely by the Meso-Cenozoic tectonothermal evolution of the litho sphere. The Cenozoic collision between the Indian and Eurasian plates, and the subsequent thickening of the lithosphere; and the lithospheric thinning and volcano-magmatic activities during the Late Mesozoic in East China; ca n be seen clearly in the heat flow pattern. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.