Missing ophiolitic rocks along the Mae Yuam Fault as the Gondwana-Tethys divide in north-west Thailand Missing ophiolitic rocks along the Mae Yuam Fault as the Gondwana-Tethys divide in north-west Thailand

Thailand comprises two continental blocks: Sibumasu and Indochina. The clastic rocks of the Triassic Mae Sariang Group are distributed in the Mae Hong Son-Mae Sariang area, north-west Thailand, which corresponds to the central part of Sibumasu. The clastic rocks yield abundant detrital chromian spinels, indicating a source of ultramafic/mafic rocks. The chemistry of the detrital chromian spinels suggests that they were derived from three different rock types: ocean-floor peridotite, chromitite and intraplate basalt, and that ophiolitic rocks were exposed in the area, where there are no outcrops of them at present. Exposition of an ophiolitic complex denotes a suture zone or other tectonic boundary. The discovery of chromian spinels suggests that the Gondwana-Tethys divide is located along the Mae Yuam Fault zone. Both paleontological and tectonic aspects support this conclusion. © 2004 Blackwell Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.