Continental Crust Growth and Recycling in Southeast Asia and South China and the Tethyan-Circum-Pacific Accretionary System

Southeast Asia is one of the world's most tectonically complex regions, comprising a mosaic of continental blocks, magmatic arcs, accretionary complexes, and suture zones that record a long history of subduction, accretion, collision, extension, and magmatism. Major tectonic domains, including the South China Block, Indochina Block, Sibumasu Terrane, and West Burma Terrane, preserve evidence of repeated episodes of continental growth and reworking from the Neoproterozoic to the present. These domains form part of the broader Tethyan and circum-Pacific accretionary system, a global network of convergent margins that includes the Tibet–Himalaya orogen, the South China margin, eastern Australia, and the western Pacific arcs. Recent advances in zircon U–Pb geochronology, Lu–Hf and O isotopes, whole-rock geochemistry, and geophysical imaging have greatly improved our ability to trace crustal evolution. Nevertheless, the relative roles of juvenile crustal addition and recycling of older crust remain poorly constrained at regional scales. Understanding how continental crust was generated, modified, and preserved in Southeast Asia, and how this record compares with adjacent segments of the Tethyan and circum-Pacific system, is essential for reconstructing regional tectonic evolution and for addressing broader questions concerning continental growth, crust–mantle interaction, and Earth system evolution.This Research Topic aims to advance our understanding of how continental crust in Southeast Asia and the wider Tethyan–circum-Pacific accretionary system was generated, modified, and recycled through successive tectonic cycles. In particular, it seeks to address the longstanding question of whether the present continental architecture primarily reflects juvenile crustal addition through subduction-related magmatism and terrane accretion, or extensive reworking and recycling of older crust during collisional and post-collisional events. We encourage contributions that integrate geological, geochemical, geochronological, isotopic, geophysical, and numerical modeling approaches to evaluate crustal evolution across different tectonic settings. Comparative and along-strike studies are especially welcome, including work that places the Southeast Asian record alongside the Tibet–Himalaya orogen, the South China margin, eastern Australia, and the western Pacific arcs, so that common mechanisms and regional differences in continental growth can be identified. Particular emphasis is placed on linking crustal growth and recycling to major geodynamic processes, including Paleo-Tethyan subduction and closure, Paleo-Pacific tectonism, terrane amalgamation, slab rollback, slab break-off, lithospheric delamination, and mantle–crust interaction. By synthesizing regional datasets and developing new conceptual and quantitative models, this Research Topic aims to establish a comprehensive framework for understanding the evolution of continental crust across these convergent systems and its significance within global continental growth.This Research Topic welcomes original research articles, review papers, data reports, methodological contributions, and synthesis studies addressing the evolution of continental crust in Southeast Asia and comparable segments of the Tethyan and circum-Pacific accretionary system. Relevant themes include, but are not limited to: (1) continental crust growth and recycling revealed by zircon U–Pb–Hf–O isotopes and whole-rock isotopic systems; (2) tectonic evolution of the South China, Indochina, Sibumasu, West Burma and associated terranes, and their correlatives along strike; (3) crust–mantle interaction and magma genesis; (4) Paleo-Tethyan and Paleo-Pacific tectonic processes; (5) subduction-accretion systems, collisional orogens, and post-collisional magmatism; (6) metamorphism, anatexis, and crustal reworking; (7) geophysical constraints on lithospheric architecture and continental assembly; (8) numerical and geodynamic models of crustal growth; (9) implications of crustal evolution for metallogeny and mineral systems; and (10) comparative and along-strike studies linking Southeast Asia with the Tibet–Himalaya orogen, the South China margin, eastern Australia, and the western Pacific arcs. Contributions integrating multiple datasets across regional to continental scales are particularly encouraged, as are studies that provide new insights into the mechanisms and timing of continental crust formation and recycling. Topic editors: Vuong Nguyen, Quanshu Yan, Wei Li Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/86972/continental-crust-growth-and-recycling-in-southeast-asia-and-south-china-and-the-tethyan-circum-pacific-accretionary-system