Zircon U-Pb Geochronology, Geochemistry, and Sr-Nd-Hf Isotopic Composition of Ben Giang-Que Son Complex in the Southern Truong Son Belt: Implications for Permian–Triassic Tectonic Evolution
and Ho Thi Thu 1
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsThe data obtained by the authors on geochronology, geochemistry and Sr-Nd-Hf isotopic composition of the Ben Giang-Que Son complex in the southern of Truong Son belt allow us to assume that the subduction process in the region began in the Early Permian. This fact should be in the first place in the text. It is your data, and not the data of the work of your predecessors. This is especially true for conclusions. It is necessary to edit the graphic material in a high-quality manner. When using already published maps, you must refer to the original source. And if the cards have been improved, add a new author. When presenting a group of figures, it is necessary for each figure give a description (a), b), c)….). The text requires stylistic revision. See all comments in the text of the article.
Comments for author File: 
Comments.pdf
Author Response
RESPONSE TO REVIEWERS’ COMMENTS
Thank you for reviewing our original paper. Your comments are precious for us to improve our manuscript. After rewriting our manuscript again, we found the quality of the manuscript had improved a lot. Thanks for taking the time to improve our paper.
REVIEWER 1
Page 1, line 20. Comment: unclear
Response: Thank you. We rewrited the sentence “All these geochemical features above, in combination with high Mg# of 41.2–53.6 and positive ꜪHf(t) values (+2.4 ÷ +4.6) suggest BG-QS granitoid derived from an origin through partial melting of enriched mantle source region.” as your suggestion.
Page 1, line 22. Comment: what kind of minerals are these?
Response: Thank you. The whole-rock Sr-Nd isotopic composition was analysed on whole-rock (minerals mixed in rock) and zircon Hf isotopic composition was analysed on zircon.
Page 1, line 27. Comment: Did these two processes occur simultaneously?
Response: Thank you. These two processes do not occur simultaneously, but they are sequential.
Page 2, line 54. Comment: Remove the names of the breeds from the map, it is in the legend. Enter the age of the rocks into the legend. It is necessary to indicate the copies of the maps: Hieu et al., 2015; Thang et al., 1998
Response: Thank you. The names of the breeds from the map were removed as your suggestion. The age of the rocks was added in the legend. The copies of the maps: Hieu et al., 2015; Thang et al., 1998 were added in the description of the figure 1
Page 3, line 86. Comment: It is necessary to describe the mineral content for each rock separately
Response: Thank you. The detail description of mineral contents for each rock was presented in manuscript as your suggestion “Plagioclases exhibits slightly altered polysynthetic twins, and some show evidence of oscillatory zoning. Potassium feldspar is always sericitized or kaolinized, and it has the shape of an anhedral crystal. Quartz is interstitial and anhedral granular. Biotite crystals are euhedral in shape and have undergone minor modifications, including chloritization and sericitization. Hornblende has a subhedral granular to prismatic shape and some hornblende show cleavages at 56 and 124 degrees”
Page 3, line 91. Comment: Give a description of each picture. Make a common abbreviation for minerals.
Response: Thank you. We rewrited the sentence of description in figure 2 as your suggestion “Figure 2. Petrography and mineralogy of the BG-QS granitoids: (a) representative field photos of the BG-QS granitoidsamples; (b) Medium–coarse grained granodiorite; (c) Medium–coarse grained gabbrodiorite; (d, e) Microphotographs of TS32 gabbrodiorite and (f) Microphotograph of TS26 granodiorite. Abbreviations: Pl=plagioclase, Bt=biotite, Hbl=hornblende, Qtz=quartz, and Kfs=K-feldspar”.
Page 5, line 142. Comment: The description of the breeds must be divided.
Response: Thank you. We rewrited the sentence 2 as your suggestion “The bulk-rock compositions of the Ben Giang-Que Son (BG-QS) gabbrodiorite are characterized by low TiO2 (1.01–1.07 wt%). SiO2 contents of the BG-QS gabbrodiorite are in the range of 51.11–52.76 wt%, Al2O3 of 18.02– 18.31 wt%, and total alkali contents (K2O+Na2O) of 5.32– 6.10 wt%) with the wide variation of K2O/Na2O ratios (0.35– 0.41). The concentrations of MgO, Fe2O3t, and CaO oxides vary from 3.33 to 4.22 wt%, 7.73 to 8.67 wt%, and 7.70 to 8.41 wt%, respectively. The bulk-rock compositions of the BG-QS granodiorite are characterized by low TiO2 (0.59– 0.81wt%). SiO2 contents of the BG-QS gabbrodiorite are in the range of 61.51– 64.11 wt%, Al2O3 of 15.61– 16.29 wt%, and total alkali contents (K2O+Na2O) of 6.92– 7.85 wt%) with the wide variation of K2O/Na2O ratios (0.91– 1.29). The concentrations of MgO, Fe2O3t, and CaO oxides vary from 1.65 to 2.83 wt%, 4.21 to 5.45 wt%, and 2.95 to 4.21 wt%, respectively”
Page 5, line 153. Comment: whose formula is used to calculate ASI
Response: Thank you. We added the formula of ASI as your suggestion “ASI=Al2O3(molar)/(CaO+Na2O+K2O(molar)”
Page 5, line 162. Comment: Move the legend under the drawing. Indicate the author of the diagrams.
Response: Thank you. The legend was moved under the drawing as your suggestion. We rewrited the sentence of description in figure 3 as your suggestion “Figure 3. Harker diagrams of major elements for the BG-QS granitoid. The I- and S-type trends from [6]. Comparison data is from [4, 10, 25]”.
Page 6, line 164. Comment: You need to give a description of each diagram. Indicate the authors of the diagrams.
Response: Thank you. We rewrited the sentence of description in figure 4 as your suggestion “(a) A plot of the BG-QS granitoids [32]; (b) A/NK vs. A/CNK diagram [33] (c) SiO2 vs. K2O (wt%) showing high-K fields ([34]); (d) AFM diagram [35]; (e) Y vs. Rb diagram [36]; and (f) Zr vs. 10,000×Ga/Al diagram [37]. Comparison data is from [4, 10, 25]”
Page 8, line 170. Comment: Move the conditional ones under the drawing. Indicate the authors of the diagrams.
Response: Thank you. The legend was moved under the drawing as your suggestion. We rewrited the sentence of description in figure 6 as your suggestion “(a-c) Discrimination diagram for the BG-QS granitoids. WPG = within-plate granite, VAG = vol-canic-arc granite, Syn-COLG = syn-collisional granite, Post-COLG = post-collisional granite, ORG = ocean-ridge granite [39]; (d) Zircon temperature [40]. Comparison data is from [4, 10, 25]”
Page 12, line 223. Comment: Letters to fig. move to the right corner.
Response: Thank you. Letters of figure 9 was moved to the right corner as your suggestion
Page 14, line 237. Comment: Move the letters to the right corner. No description of fig. d). Indicate the authors of the diagrams. Whose samples were used? From what works?
Response: Thank you. Letters of figure 10 was moved to the right corner as your suggestion We rewrited the sentence of description in figure 10 as your suggestion “Figure 10. (a) Histograms of zircon ꜪHf(t) values; (b) Hf model age (TDM2) from the BG-QS granitoids; and (c, d) Initial ꜪHf values and Hf model ages of zircons from the this study, Vietnam (modified after [2]). Comparison data is from [2, 5-7, 10, 25, 47-52]”.
Page 17, line 340. Comment: Maybe these are arrays or plutons? or are these the names of the complexes
Response: Thank you. “Chieng Khuong granite, Dien Bien granite, and Song Ma granite” was replaced with “Chieng Khuong complex, Dien Bien complex, and Song Ma complex” as your suggestion
Page 18, line 386. Comment: B.A. Barbarin [74]
Response: Thank you. “Barbarin” was replaced with “B.A. Barbarin”
Page 19, line 401. Comment: Whose cards are used? Whose age data is included on the map?
Response: Thank you. We rewrited the sentence of description in figure 11 as your suggestion “Figure 11. (a) Tectonic map of Asia's east and center regions (modified after [10, 74]) and (b) Geo-logical map of the Indochina block that is simplified and displays the emplacement ages of Per-mian-Triassic rocks (modified after [10]). Comparison data is from [2-5, 8, 10, 16, 19, 21, 25, 49-52, 66-68]”
Page 20, line 407. Comment: Why are these granodiorites in Table 2, and granites in Table 5?
Response: Thank you. Lithology of study sample is gabbrodorite and granodiorite. In this study, the Ben Giang-Que Son granitoid belong to I-type granite (there are I-type granite, S-type granite and A-type granite on the Earth)
Page 46, line 417. Comment: Tables 5-8: leave only the authors' data. Published data should be removed. This can be indicated in the text as staging.
Response: Thank you. Tables 5-8 was moved to supplement tables
Page 49, line 419. Comment: The title of the article indicates “the significance of granites”; this issue is not disclosed in conclusions.
Response: Thank you. The conclusion was rewrited as your suggestion
Page 49, line 430. Comment: In Fig. 12 only subduction is present. When and where was the collision? It is necessary to add the geodynamic setting only for the granitoids under consideration.
Response: Thank you. We rewrited the sentence “These ages indicate the existence of an Indosinian tectonic-thermal event in the study area, which is linked to the subduction to amalgamate Indochina blocks and and South China” as your suggestion
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 2 Report
Comments and Suggestions for Authors
Review of the manuscrit : “Zircon U-Pb geochronology, geochemistry and Sr-Nd-Hf isotopic composition of Ben Giang-Que Son complex in the southern of Truong Son belt: Implications for Permian-Triassic tec-4 tonic evolution by Thuy Thi Bich Nguyen et al.”
This article deals with the Ben Giang-Que Son granitic complex that is an important point in the geology of Vietnam. The authors provide new geochemical and geochronological data. As fas as I can evaluate them, the analytical method section, and the new results one are sound. These data deserve publication in Minerals. However, several flaws must be corrected before the publication.
Firstly, the English writing is very poor. Some sentences are hardly understandable, even for a reader familiar with the geology of the area. It is necessary that a fluently speaking English geologist help the authors to improve their text.
Secondly, some figures must be improved.
Fig. 11 (a) must be revised. The term “trans-Vietnam Orogenic Belt” is not suitable. Indeed, it is the Indosinian Orogen. The Truong Son Belt is the arc unit developed before the collision. If the Truong Son belt is a magmatic arc, its width, about 500 km) is unusual, and thus not really credible. What is the nature of the boundary between Indochina and the Truong Son : thrust, strike-slip fault, other?
Fig. 11 (b), the age compilation is useful but the text of the ages is too small, so difficult to read. The Dien Bien Fu fault is not shown. This map is the same as the fig 1B of Tran Van Thanh et al (2019). It will be good to cite this paper even if the authors belong to the same team.
Fig 12. This figure is the same as the fig 16 of Tran Van Thanh et al (2019). It will be good to mention it.
The Regional geology and petrography section 2 is probably OK but due to the poor English, some parts are not understandable.
Concerning the Discussion section 5, parts 5.1 and 5.2 seems acceptable, at least for a non- geochemist. The origin of the Ben Giang-Que Son granites from a depleted mantle is reasonable. On the contrary, section 5.3 is quite messy. The interest of lines 368 -385 for the topic of the Ben Giang-Que Son granites does not appear clearly.
Instead of using “Trans-Vietnam orogenic belt”, “Indosinian orogen” ou “Indosinian belt” should be preferred.
Lastly, the conclusion must be also improved.
In conclusion, in spite of its interest, this paper must ne seriously revised before publication in Minerals.
Comments on the Quality of English Language
As already said above, the English is quite poor.
Author Response
REVIEWER 2
Comment: Firstly, the English writing is very poor. Some sentences are hardly understandable, even for a reader familiar with the geology of the area. It is necessary that a fluently speaking English geologist help the authors to improve their text
Response: Thank you. The English writing was improved by a fluently speaking English geologist as your suggestion.
Comment: Secondly, some figures must be improved.
Response: Thank you. Some figures were improved as as your suggestion.
Comment: Fig. 11 (a) must be revised. The term “trans-Vietnam Orogenic Belt” is not suitable. Indeed, it is the Indosinian Orogen. The Truong Son Belt is the arc unit developed before the collision. If the Truong Son belt is a magmatic arc, its width, about 500 km) is unusual, and thus not really credible. What is the nature of the boundary between Indochina and the Truong Son : thrust, strike-slip fault, other?
Response: Thank you. “trans-Vietnam Orogenic Belt” has been published in many international articles and has been recognized by many geologists as this trans-Vietnam Orogenic Belt (Osanai et al., 2008, Nakano et al., 2018, 2021; Bui et al., 2020; Owada 2020).
Osanai, Y., Nakano, N., Owada, M., Nam, T. N., Miyamoto, T., Minh, N. T., ... & Van Tri, T. (2008). Collision zone metamorphism in Vietnam and adjacent South-eastern Asia: proposition for Trans Vietnam Orogenic Belt. Journal of Mineralogical and Petrological Sciences, 103(4), 226-241.
Nakano, N., Osanai, Y., Van Nam, N., & Van Tri, T. (2018). Bauxite to eclogite: Evidence for late Permian supracontinental subduction at the Red River shear zone, northern Vietnam. Lithos, 302, 37-49.
Nakano, N., Osanai, Y., Owada, M., Binh, P., Hokada, T., Kaiden, H., & Bui, V. T. (2021). Evolution of the Indochina block from its formation to amalgamation with Asia: Constraints from protoliths in the Kontum Massif, Vietnam. Gondwana Research, 90, 47-62.
Bui, V. T. S., Osanai, Y., Nakano, N., Adachi, T., Kitano, I., & Owada, M. (2020). Timing of high-grade metamorphism in the Kontum Massif, Vietnam: Constraints from zircon–monazite multi-geochronology and trace elements geochemistry of zircon–monazite–garnet. Journal of Asian Earth Sciences, 187, 104084.
Owada, M., Osanai, Y., Nakano, N., Kitano, I., Adachi, T., Binh, P., & Van Tri, T. (2020). Timing of magmatism and ultrahigh-to high-grade metamorphism in the Kannak Complex, Kon Tum Massif, Vietnam: Magmatic activity and its tectonic implications. Journal of Asian Earth Sciences, 200, 104077.
Comment: Fig. 11 (b), the age compilation is useful but the text of the ages is too small, so difficult to read. The Dien Bien Fu fault is not shown. This map is the same as the fig 1B of Tran Van Thanh et al (2019). It will be good to cite this paper even if the authors belong to the same team.
Response: Thank you. We rewrited the sentence of description in figure 11 as your suggestion “Figure 11. (a) Tectonic map of Asia's east and center regions (modified after [10, 74]) and (b) Geo-logical map of the Indochina block that is simplified and displays the emplacement ages of Per-mian-Triassic rocks (modified after [10]). Comparison data is from [2-5, 8, 10, 16, 19, 21, 25, 49-52, 66-68]”. The Dien Bien Fu fault was added in the figure 11b as your suggestion
Comment: Fig 12. This figure is the same as the fig 16 of Tran Van Thanh et al (2019). It will be good to mention it
Response: Thank you. We rewrited the sentence of description in figure 12 as your suggestion “Figure 12. (a) Tectonic reconstruction of the Indochina block and its adjacent areas in Permi-an-Triassic (modified after [10, 84]) and (b) and (c) Tectonic setting for the BG-QS granitoid and other PermianTriassic magmas in Vietnam (modified after [2, 10]).”
Comment: The Regional geology and petrography section 2 is probably OK but due to the poor English, some parts are not understandable.
Response: Thank you. The English writing was improved by a fluently speaking English geologist as your suggestion.
Comment: Concerning the Discussion section 5, parts 5.1 and 5.2 seems acceptable, at least for a nongeochemist. The origin of the Ben Giang-Que Son granites from a depleted mantle is reasonable. On the contrary, section 5.3 is quite messy. The interest of lines 368 -385 for the topic of the Ben Giang-Que Son granites does not appear clearly.
Response: Thank you. We rewrited the sentence as your suggestion “Some geologists believe that the poly-mineralization in the TS belt related to formation of large-scale Permian-Triassic granites [75]. Existing studies have identified a large number of late Paleozoic (306~260 Ma) island arc magmatic rocks that related to the subduction of the ocean basin in the Song Ma area in Laos and northern Vietnam in the Truong Son zone (Table S4; [4, 7, 8, 22]). In addition, many studies on Late Permi-an-Triassic magmatism and metamorphic events have been identified in this belt and its surrounding areas, such as the Muong Lat granite in the Song Ma zone, northern Vietnam (251 ~ 235 Ma; [2]); Lat Boua granite (255~245 Ma), Kham Duc granite (253 ~ 234 Ma), Phon Thong granite (250~245 Ma), and Lua granite (239~ 234 Ma) and Na The granite [52]; granite in the Dien Bien area of northwest Vietnam (242~225 Ma, [4, 6, 68]) and Hai Van granite in Central Vietnam (242~224 Ma, [11])”
Comment: Instead of using “Trans-Vietnam orogenic belt”, “Indosinian orogen” ou “Indosinian belt” should be preferred
Response: Thank you. Response: Thank you. “trans-Vietnam Orogenic Belt” has been published in many international articles and has been recognized by many geologists as this trans-Vietnam Orogenic Belt (Osanai et al., 2008, Nakano et al., 2018, 2021; Bui et al., 2020; Owada 2020).
Osanai, Y., Nakano, N., Owada, M., Nam, T. N., Miyamoto, T., Minh, N. T., ... & Van Tri, T. (2008). Collision zone metamorphism in Vietnam and adjacent South-eastern Asia: proposition for Trans Vietnam Orogenic Belt. Journal of Mineralogical and Petrological Sciences, 103(4), 226-241.
Nakano, N., Osanai, Y., Van Nam, N., & Van Tri, T. (2018). Bauxite to eclogite: Evidence for late Permian supracontinental subduction at the Red River shear zone, northern Vietnam. Lithos, 302, 37-49.
Nakano, N., Osanai, Y., Owada, M., Binh, P., Hokada, T., Kaiden, H., & Bui, V. T. (2021). Evolution of the Indochina block from its formation to amalgamation with Asia: Constraints from protoliths in the Kontum Massif, Vietnam. Gondwana Research, 90, 47-62.
Bui, V. T. S., Osanai, Y., Nakano, N., Adachi, T., Kitano, I., & Owada, M. (2020). Timing of high-grade metamorphism in the Kontum Massif, Vietnam: Constraints from zircon–monazite multi-geochronology and trace elements geochemistry of zircon–monazite–garnet. Journal of Asian Earth Sciences, 187, 104084.
Owada, M., Osanai, Y., Nakano, N., Kitano, I., Adachi, T., Binh, P., & Van Tri, T. (2020). Timing of magmatism and ultrahigh-to high-grade metamorphism in the Kannak Complex, Kon Tum Massif, Vietnam: Magmatic activity and its tectonic implications. Journal of Asian Earth Sciences, 200, 104077.
Comment: Lastly, the conclusion must be also improved
Response: Thank you. The conclusion was improved as your suggestion
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Round 2
Reviewer 1 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsAll comments are in the text.
Comments for author File: Comments.pdf
Author Response
REVIEWER 1
Page 2, line 56. Comment: Formation is the concept of material composition. It is not determined by age. On map (b), age indices must be placed on all bodies. According to the legend.
Response: Thank you. We redrawed the figure 1 as your suggestions.
Page 7, line 187. Comment: Give a general name (Geochemical characteristics.......)?
Response: Thank you. “Geochemical characteristics of granitoids:” was added as your suggestion.
Page 8, line 191. Comment: Give a general name: Concentrations of the rare elements in the granitoids.....
Response: Thank you. “Concentrations of the rare elements in the granitoids” was added as your suggestion.
Page 9, line 195. Comment: Discrimination diagram for the BG-QS granitoid (a - с), and then for each separately: a)....b)... and so on
Response: Thank you. We rewrited the sentence of description in figure 6 as your suggestion “Figure 6. Discrimination diagram for the BG-QS granitoid (a-c) and (d) zircon temperature [39]. WPG = within-plate granite, VAG = volcanic-arc granite, Syn-COLG = syn-collisional granite, Post-COLG = post-collisional granite, ORG = ocean-ridge granite [40]; Comparison data is from [4, 10, 11].”
Page 15, line 264. Comment: Characteristics of Ben Giang-Que Son granitoids based on zircon isotope data. Histograms of zircon ꜪHf(t) values (a); model age of Hf (TDM2) from granitoid BG-QS (b); initial values of ꜪHf and model age of Hf of zircons (c, d). .....
Response: Thank you. We rewrited the sentence of description in figure 10 as your suggestion “Characteristics of BG-QS granitoids based on zircon isotope data. Histograms of zircon ꜪHf(t) val-ues(a); Hf model age (TDM2) from the BG-QS granitoid (b); and initial ꜪHf values and Hf model ages of zircons (c, d) from the this study, Vietnam (modified after [2]). Comparison data is from [2, 5-7, 10, 11, 47-52]”
Page 18, line 371. Comment: These rocks are not on the map (Fig. 12a). If these granitoids have the same age and composition, then this should be one complex. Then these are arrays or bodies.
Response: Thank you. We rewrited the sentence as your suggestion “Chieng Khuong, Dien Bien, and Song Ma bodies”.
Page 19, line 415. Comment: deleted.
Response: Thank you. “1999” was deleted as your suggestion
Page 21, line 436. Comment: Tectonic reconstruction of the Indochina block and adjacent territories: in the Permian-Triassic with modifications from [10, 84] (a). Tectonic setting for the BG-QS granitoid and other Permian-Triassic magmas in Vietnam, modified from [2, 10] (b, c).
Response: Thank you. We rewrited the sentence of description in figure 12 as your suggestion “Tectonic reconstruction of the Indochina block and adjacent territories: in the Permian-Triassic with modifications from [10, 84]) (a). Tectonic setting for the BG-QS granitoid and other Permian-Triassic magmas in Vietnam, modified from [2, 10] (b, c)”
Reviewer 2 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsI appreciate this revised version. It has been well improved. Nevertheless, there are some minor english flaws that require moderate editing.
On the scientific grounds, the end of discussion section 5.3 must be improved. Some parts are useless for the purpose of the paper. They just contribute to confuse the readers unfamiliar with the geology of Indochina. (see attached annotated file.
Comments for author File: Comments.pdf
I tried to edit some parts but not all. It takes time, and I consider that it is not my job to do that
Author Response
REVIEWER 2
Page 1, line 27. Comment: of.
Response: Thank you. “of” was added as your suggestion
Page 1, line 33. Comment: Simao is the same as Indochina. Useless to mention it.
Response: Thank you. “Simao” was deleted as your suggestion
Page 1, line 38. Comment: constrain.
Response: Thank you. “limiting” was replaced with “constrain” as your suggestion
Page 1, line 40. Comment: the place.
Response: Thank you. “the place” was added as your suggestion
Page 1, line 40. Comment: Permian-Triassic.
Response: Thank you. “Permian-Triassic” was deleted as your suggestion
Page 1, line 41. Comment: during the Late Permian to Early Triassic.
Response: Thank you. “during the Late Permian to Early Triassic” was added as your suggestion
Page 1, line 43. Comment: poorly documented.
Response: Thank you. “unknown” was replaced with “poorly documented” as your suggestion
Page 2, line 53. Comment: represent.
Response: Thank you. “contributes” was replaced with “represent” as your suggestion
Page 2, line 62. Comment: argue.
Response: Thank you. “believe” was replaced with “argue” as your suggestion
Page 2, line 62. Comment: consists of.
Response: Thank you. “is split into” was replaced with “consists of” as your suggestion
Page 2, line 69. Comment: exhibits.
Response: Thank you. “is made up of” was replaced with “exhibits” as your suggestion
Page 2, line 70. Comment: strike sub-parallel.
Response: Thank you. “are in line” was replaced with “strike sub-parallel” as your suggestion
Page 2, line 70. Comment: orientation of.
Response: Thank you. “orientation of” was deleted as your suggestion
Page 2, line 72. Comment: orientation.
Response: Thank you. “orientation” was deleted as your suggestion
Page 3, line 82. Comment: collisional.
Response: Thank you. “joining” was replaced with “collisional” as your suggestion
Page 3, line 88. Comment: intrude.
Response: Thank you. “penetrated” was replaced with “intrude” as your suggestion
Page 3, line 90. Comment: sedimentary formation of.
Response: Thank you. “sediments of the” was replaced with “sedimentary formation of” as your suggestion
Page 3, line 96. Comment: its shape is indicative.
Response: Thank you. “it has the shape” was replaced with “its shape is indicative” as your suggestion
Page 16, line 273. Comment: intrude.
Response: Thank you. “penetrated” was replaced with “intrude” as your suggestion
Page 17, line 312. Comment: ly melted.
Response: Thank you. “ly melted” was added as your suggestion
Page 17, line 313. Comment: an.
Response: Thank you. “an” was deleted as your suggestion
Page 17, line 314 Comment: first?.
Response: Thank you. “initial” was used according to previous studie
Page 17, line 322. Comment: the.
Response: Thank you. “zircons from” was replaced with “the” as your suggestion
Page 17, line 324. Comment: mantle.
Response: Thank you. “mantel” was replaced with “mantle” as your suggestion
Page 17, line 343. Comment: t.
Response: Thank you. “T” was replaced with “t” as your suggestion
Page 17, line 356. Comment: The.
Response: Thank you. “The” was deleted as your suggestion
Page 18, line 376. Comment: due.
Response: Thank you. “concerning” was replaced with “due” as your suggestion
Page 18, line 384. Comment: I suppose this is the Chinese reading of Song Ma , right? Song Ma is the official name used in the international literature. Please change..
Response: Thank you. “Majiang” was replaced with “Song Ma” as your suggestion
Page 19, line 388. Comment: argued.
Response: Thank you. “thought” was replaced with “argued” as your suggestion
Page 18-19, line 398. Comment: And so what? The meaning of this very long list is unclear.
Response: Thank you. We rewrited the sentence as your suggestion
Page 19, line 423 and 426. Comment: Indosinian Belt.
Response: Thank you. “Trans Vietnam Orogenic Belt” was used in pervious studies so we use it in the manuscript.
Page 19, line 423. Comment: Unsuitable reference. Trans N Vietnam orogen does not exist as defined in this reference.
Response: Thank you. “Trans Vietnam Orogenic Belt” was shown in figure 1 in the journal of Osani et al. 2008. The title of the journal also show “Trans Vietnam Orogenic Belt”.
Osanai, Y.; Nakano, N.; Owada, M.; Nam, T.N.; Miyamoto, T.; Minh, N.T.; Nam, N.V. Tri, T.V. Collision zone metamorphism in Vietnam and adjacent South-eastern Asia: Proposition for Trans Vietnam Orogenic Belt. J. Miner. Petrol. Sci. 2008, 103(4), 226-241
Page 22, line 451. Comment: oceanic.
Response: Thank you. “oceanic” was added as your suggestion
Page 22, line 451. Comment: of Paleotethys leading to the amalgamation of.
Response: Thank you. “to amalgamate” was replaced with “of Paleotethys leading to the amalgamation of” as your suggestion
Page 22, line 451. Comment: blocks.
Response: Thank you. “blocks” was added as your suggestion
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
