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Mesozoic basins and associated palaeogeographic evolution in North China
Abstract and Figures
In North China, the Mesozoic terrestrial basins, sedimentary palaeogeography and tectonic settings involved five evolutionary stages: (1) the Early‒Middle Triassic, (2) the Late Triassic to Early‒Middle Jurassic, (3) the Late Jurassic to early Early Cretaceous, (4) the middle‒late Early Cretaceous and (5) the Late Cretaceous. The regional punctuated tectonic events occurred during these evolutionary stages.
During the Early‒Middle Triassic (stage 1), the Xingmeng Orogenic Belt (XMOB, i.e., eastern part of Central Asia Orogenic Belt, CAOB) of the northern North China was settled in the transition of tectonic environment from syn‒orogenic compression to post‒orogenic extension with intensive uplifting. It is a main provenance in the unified Ordos‒North China Basin.The united continental plate of China and the Qinling‒Dabie‒Sulu Orogenic Belt formed due to convergence and collision between the North China Plate and the Yangtze Plate along two suture zones of the Mianlue and the Shangdan in the terminal Middle Triassic.
During the Late Triassic to the Early‒Middle Jurassic (stage 2), the Late Triassic mafic or alkaline rocks and intrusions occurred on the northern and southern margins of North China Craton (NCC) and XMOB, implying that intensified extension happened all over the North China (early phase of stage 2). Additionally, in the late phase of stage 2, the basic volcanicfilling faulted basins were widely distributed in the northeastern North China during the Early–Middle Jurassic, including a series of small- to medium-sized basins with coal-bearing strata and some volcanic rocks in other areas of North China, which was the result of subduction of the Palaeo-Pacific Plate during the Early–Middle Jurassic. An active continental margin with accretionary complex developed in the eastern Heilongjiang of China, Japan and the Far East of Russia at that time. However, in the end of the Early‒Middle Jurassic, because of the Yanshanian orogeny characterized by complicated thrust and fold, the previous unified Ordos–North China Basin was separated by the northeast-oriented Great Xing’an Range and Taihang Mountain uplifted linearment. The differential evolution of basins and sedimentary palaeogeography between eastern and western North China was initiated, and was interpreted to result in the closure of Okhotsk Ocean and the subduction of Palaeo-Pacific Plate (late stage 2).
During the Late Jurassic (the early phase of stage 3), a variety of faulted basins occurred in the Yanshan and Yinshan areas in the northeastern North China. In Yanshan area, basins were filled with thickened intermediate volcanic rocks and purple-red coarse-grained clastic rocks. In contrast, only thick layered sedimentary rocks with rare volcanic rocks developed in the Yinshan faulted basins, the Ordos Basin and basins in sourthern North China. XMOB was the main provenance of the Early Mesozoic basins in the North China, while the Ordos Basin and the Hefei Basin were partly supplied by the northern Qinling Orogenic Belt.
During the Late Jurassic–early Early Cretaceous (the late phase of stage 3), the northern and northeastern North China experienced extensional movement after the subduction of the Palaeo-Pacific Plate, the closure of the Mongolia–Okhotsk Ocean and the subsequent Yanshanian orogeny. At the same time, a NE-oriented, giant rift basin system (NE Asia Rift) extended from the Yanshan to the western Great Xing’an Range, where rift basins were filled with the regional, NE-oriented, thick coarse-grained clastic rocks and a belt of volcanic rocks. In the meantime, the eastern and northeastern China and most areas of NCC were presented as highland terrains.
During the middle‒late Early Cretaceous (stage 4), rift basins developed and accumulated alluvial sediments and interbedded alkaline volcanic rocks in the western and northern North China, including Yingen, Ejinaqi and Erlian regions. Basins were formed on both sides of the Tan-Lu Fault Zone under a striking-slipping force. Furthermore, faulted basins developed in the Yishu Fault Zone of Shandong (central Tan-Lu Fault Zone) as well, where dinosaur fauna flourished. Basic volcanic rocks and fluvial‒lacustrine sediments were deposited in small- or medium-sized rift basins in the northeastern China. The Songliao Basin was a typical giant basin that was mainly filled with late Early Cretaceous lacustrine sediments. A group of rift basins occurred in the Sanjiang area, central Heilongjiang Province, northeastern China.
From the middle‒late Early Cretaceous to the Late Cretaceous (stage 5), depositional and subsiding center of the basins constantly shifted southeastwards in Heilongjiang Province. The tectonic setting changed into the Palaeo-Pacific continental margin in north and northeastern China.
Besides, during the Late Mesozoic, a huge terrestrial biota, mainly dinosaur fauna, dominated in North China. The Yanliao biota of the Middle–Late Jurassic and the Jehol biota of the Early Cretaceous are characterized by feathered dinosaurs, primitive birds, mammals, pterosaur, insects and plants (angiosperms). In northeastern Asia, this Late Mesozoic tectonic background , palaeogeoraphy and palaeoecology were shared by East China, Korean Peninsula, Japan and the Far East of Russia.
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... Western Liaoning is located at the eastern end of the Yinshan-Yanshan orogenic belt on the northern margin of the North China Craton (NCC) (Fig. 1). This area has been affected by the Xingmeng Orogen, Tan-Lu Fault, and subduction of the Pacific Plate (Liu et al., 2015). The crystalline basement of the NCC consists of Archean-Paleoproterozoic metamorphic rocks. ...
... From the Late Jurassic to the beginning of the Early Cretaceous, compressional basins formed as a result of the low-angle subduction of the Pacific Plate Ma and Xu, 2021;Wu et al., 2019). Since the Early Cretaceous, the Pacific Plate has undergone roll-back, leading to lithospheric thinning, development of normal faults, and formation of extensional sedimentary basins (Liu et al., 2015;Zhu and Xu, 2019). The Jinyang Basin in western Liaoning was an active rift basin that formed as a result of active mantle upwelling . ...
... As a result of subduction of the Pacific Plate, the NCC underwent large-scale destruction in the late Mesozoic (Zhu and Xu, 2019;Zhu et al., 2012). During the Early Cretaceous, a series of tectonic-volcanic basins formed (Liu et al., 2015). The effects of volcanism on the Early Cretaceous ecosystems may have been two-fold. ...
... Western Liaoning is located at the eastern end of the Yinshan-Yanshan orogenic belt on the northern margin of the North China Craton (NCC) (Fig. 1). This area has been affected by the Xingmeng Orogen, Tan-Lu Fault, and subduction of the Pacific Plate (Liu et al., 2015). The crystalline basement of the NCC consists of Archean-Paleoproterozoic metamorphic rocks. ...
... From the Late Jurassic to the beginning of the Early Cretaceous, compressional basins formed as a result of the low-angle subduction of the Pacific Plate Ma and Xu, 2021;Wu et al., 2019). Since the Early Cretaceous, the Pacific Plate has undergone roll-back, leading to lithospheric thinning, development of normal faults, and formation of extensional sedimentary basins (Liu et al., 2015;Zhu and Xu, 2019). The Jinyang Basin in western Liaoning was an active rift basin that formed as a result of active mantle upwelling . ...
... As a result of subduction of the Pacific Plate, the NCC underwent large-scale destruction in the late Mesozoic (Zhu and Xu, 2019;Zhu et al., 2012). During the Early Cretaceous, a series of tectonic-volcanic basins formed (Liu et al., 2015). The effects of volcanism on the Early Cretaceous ecosystems may have been two-fold. ...
... Meng et al., 2019). Late Triassic strata are essentially missing from the eastern NCB and the QB (Liu, Kuang, et al., 2015;Meng et al., 2019). The Triassic succession conformably overlies Permian strata in the Luoyi Basin ( Figure 3; Li & Huang, 2013), but unconformably overlies the Proterozoic basement in the Nanzhao Basin ( Figure 3; Liu et al., 2021). ...
Clarifying the role of mountain‐building processes in the filling history of large hinterland basins is an essential aspect of basin–mountain system research. We consider the case of the Triassic South Ordos Basin (SOB) to clarify these points. Located in the south‐western North China Block (NCB), the SOB which preserves the most complete Triassic deposition on the north of the Qinling Orogenic Belt (QB) is crucial for understanding the detailed tectonic processes of the QB. Sedimentological, petrological and zircon U–Pb geochronological signatures from the three parts (eastern, central and western) in the SOB indicate that the sediment source migrated both temporally and spatially. Stratigraphic correlation identified two fluvial progradational episodes from south to north in the fluvial–deltaic–lacustrine sedimentary system, one in the eastern SOB and the other in the central SOB. The Late Triassic detrital zircons in the central SOB with distinguishing Neoproterozoic ages were derived from the southern margin of the NCB and the QB. The western SOB exhibited the sediment source shifted from pre‐Triassic North Qilian Belt sedimentary cover to basement from the Middle‐to‐Late Triassic based on a zircon age transition from ca. 2000 to ca. 430 Ma. Late Triassic sediment sources also included the southern margin of the NCB and the QB. Differing provenances from east to west were also confirmed using thin section and heavy mineral analyses. Regional comparisons of zircon age distributions in the eastern SOB with published data indicate that detritus from the QB was first transported to the eastern SOB and then to the central and western SOB. Spatiotemporal changes in the sediment source and sedimentary filling transitions in the three parts of the SOB suggest that the QB underwent asynchronous uplift that began in the east during the Early Triassic and propagated westward, reaching its maximum extent in the early Late Triassic.
... Ordos Basin looks like a rectangular shape that extends from north to south [35], some fault depressions have developed between the basin and the orogenic system [36], which can be divided into six tectonic units that include the Yimeng uplift, western overthrust belt, Tianhuan depression, Jinxi flexural fold belt, Lvliang uplift and Weibei uplift [32,37] (Figure 1b). In the Middle-Late Triassic, the Ordos Basin was compressed and uplifted among the Paleotethys oceanic crust to the southwest, the Alashan block to the northwest and the In the Middle-Late Triassic, the Ordos Basin was compressed and uplifted among the Paleotethys oceanic crust to the southwest, the Alashan block to the northwest and the Yangtze plate to the southeast [38,39]; it then developed into an independent large sedimentary basin. The overall tectonic pattern of the basin is tectonic belts with different characteristics developed along the basin margin, while the internal tectonic of the basin is relatively undeveloped [40]. ...
Sandstone type uranium is the most valuable and has the most potential for mining among the known uranium deposits. In the process of forming, the hydrolytic migration and enrichment of uranium require special basin sedimentary environment and tectonic background. Therefore, the mineralization process of sandstone type uranium deposits has certain layering characteristics and distribution rules in the underground vertical depth space. It is important to mine the spatial distribution characteristics of vertical uranium-bearing layers, and thus, reconstruct the three-dimensions of uranium orebodies. In this paper, according to the metallogenic law and distribution characteristics of sandstone type uranium in the underground vertical space, a nonlinear uranium-bearing layers identification (NULI) method of sandstone type uranium is proposed by using different types, resolutions and scales of borehole data. Then, the depth of uranium mineralization for the Daying uranium deposit within northern Ordos Basin is identified accurately and the spatial distribution characteristics of the uranium-bearing layer on the exploration line are obtained. Finally, the occurrence mode of the underground uranium orebodies are presented by using three-dimensional reconstruction analysis. It provides a basis for the prediction, exploration and mining of sandstone type uranium deposits within the Ordos Basin.
... In the Mesozoic in northern China, many rift basins [48], including the Jinlingsi-Yangshan (Jin-Yang), Beipiao, and Yixian basins (Fig. 1c), developed in response to the intensive lithospheric exten- [25]. Shaded blue labels represent the mean values of the parameters in the corresponding strata, respectively. ...
The Mesozoic terrestrial Jehol Biota of northern China exceeds the biomass and biodiversity of contemporaneous Lagerstätten. From 135 to 120 Ma, biotic radiation may have responded to the peak destruction of the North China Craton. However, the direct mechanistic link between geological and biological evolution is unclear. Phosphorus (P), a bio-essential nutrient, can be supplied by weathering of volcanics in terrestrial ecosystems. The middle-late Mesozoic volcanic-sedimentary sequences of northern China are amazingly rich in terrestrial organisms. Here we demonstrate episodic increases in P delivery, biological productivity, and species abundance in these strata to reveal the coevolution of volcanism and terrestrial biotas. A massive P supply from the weathering of voluminous volcanic products of craton destruction thus supported a terrestrial environment conducive to the high prosperity of the Jehol Biota. During the nascent stage of craton destruction, such volcanic-biotic coupling can also account for the preceding Yanliao Biota with relatively fewer fossils.
... With the destruction of the North China craton in the Mesozoic, large-scale tectonic activities resulted in many rift basins (Y. Liu et al., 2015). This landform and the greenhouse effect caused by the continuous CO 2 emissions associated with volcanism accelerated the weathering of volcanic products. ...
The Jehol and Yanliao biotas of northern China, two world‐class Lagerstätten with abundant biomass and biodiversity, provide critical clues to Mesozoic terrestrial ecosystems. Their evolution is a response to the destruction of the North China craton. However, the impetus for the rapid bloom of the biotas remains a mystery. Mesozoic large‐scale volcanic‐sedimentary strata in northern China are rich in terrestrial organisms. Statistical analyses show that volcanic nutrient element delivery, biomass, and biodiversity in these stratigraphic sequences increase synchronously, while harmful elements have the opposite change with them. These observations reveal the coevolutionary relationship between volcanism and terrestrial biotas. The increased nutrient element supply and inhibited harmful element delivery to terrestrial ecosystems from the voluminous volcanic products, produced under the geodynamic regime of paleo‐Pacific subduction and cratonic destruction, could create a conducive environment for the biodiversity and high prosperity of Mesozoic terrestrial biotas.
... Because of its tectonic location, the Ordos Basin is an unstable craton basin [63], affected by both the circum-Pacific tectonic domain in eastern China and the Paleotethys-Himalayan tectonic domain in Southwest China, and has the characteristics of a transitional zone of two tectonic domains, particularly since the Mesozoic [64,65]. In the Middle-Late Triassic, the Ordos Basin was compressed and uplifted among the Paleotethys oceanic crust to the southwest, the Alashan block to the northwest and the Yangtze plate to the southeast [66,67], and then developed into an independent large sedimentary basin. After this, the main geological tectonic framework of the basin was formed in the Yanshanian period and finally evolved into the present basin pattern (Figure 1e) [68,69]. ...
Under a specific tectonic background, the change in paleoclimate can show different facies associations and depositional architecture. The Jurassic China continent was an important region for transforming the Paleotethys tectonic domain to the circum-Pacific tectonic domain, and its paleoclimate information was entirely preserved in the continental sedimentary successions. The Middle Jurassic Zhiluo Formation, in the Ordos Basin, was at just the critical period of paleostructure and paleoclimate transition, preserving considerable sedimentological evidence; however, little sedimentological research has been conducted under the transition. This study reconstructed the sedimentary filling characteristics of the Zhiluo Formation under paleoclimate transition based on field outcrop survey, thin section observation, geochemical indices, stratigraphic correlation, and depositional environment analysis. The results showed that with the paleoclimate change from warm and humid to hot and arid, the sedimentary facies of the Zhiluo Formation were characterised by the change from the braided river/braided river delta in the J2z1-1 sedimentary period to the meandering river/meandering river delta in the J2z1-2 sedimentary period, and finally the change to the meandering river, meandering river delta, and lacustrine in the J2z2 sedimentary period. The combined action of the southern super monsoon effect, the increasing global CO2 concentrations, the moving southward of the East Asian block, and the terrain elevation difference, changed the basin’s climate from warm and humid to hot and semi-arid/arid. This study provides a crucial basis for reconstructing the interplay between paleoclimate and paleotectonics, and guiding sedimentology and paleoenvironment research on East Asia during the Middle Jurassic period.
The Yanshan (Yan Mountains) of northern China extend westward at about lat 40°N from Bohai Bay and Liaoning province to the border between Hebei province and Inner Mongolia. It is likely, but not unequivocally demonstrated, that the Archean-floored Yanshan continue farther westward under a cover of Neogene strata to emerge as the Yinshan belt of Inner Mongolia. Mesozoic terrestrial sedimentation, magmatism and deformation-including multiple phases of folding and contractional, extensional, and strike-slip faulting-characterize the Yanshan fold and thrust belt. Field studies and radiometric dating (U-Pb, 40Ar-39Ar) of plutonic and volcanic rock units in Beijing Municipality and northern Hebei and western Liaoning provinces have revealed that the complexity of Mesozoic deformation in these areas is in large part (1) a consequence of profound earlier deformation of Permian(?) to early Mesozoic age, and (2) an unusual younger Mesozoic history of alternating northward and southward tectonic vergence of major structures. Major south-directed low-angle thrust faulting of pre-Middle Jurassic age (7180 Ma) in the Yanshan involved Archean basement rocks and their Proterozoic and Phanerozoic cover, and developed south of a Permian-Triassic magmatic arc. Thrusting could have been (1) a consequence of the collisional suturing of Paleozoic Mongolian arcs against an Andean-style continental arc along the northern margin of the North China plate, or (2) an expression of a backarc, foreland fold and thrust belt of U.S. Cordilleran type formed during southward subduction beneath the North China Archean "craton." This episode of thrusting and folding was followed by widespread erosion of upper plate rocks and subsequent terrestrial deposition of Middle Jurassic volcanic and sedimentary strata across both plates. Our studies indicate that Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous contractional deformation in the Yanshan was also much more intense than generally believed, and that it followed a heretofore unrecognized phase of Middle Jurassic or early Late Jurassic east-west extension in northern Hebei province. Prior to our studies, popular views of east- to east-northeast- trending Yanshan contractional deformation proposed that (1) involvement of Archean basement rocks in faulting indicates a thickskinned tectonic style analogous to the U.S. Laramide Rocky Mountains; (2) thrust faults steepen downward into the basement; (3) vertical movements predominated in the development of the belt; and (4) Mesozoic contraction across the belt was only a few tens of percent; some workers have believed that the Yanshan developed independently of plate interactions. We question all of these assumptions. We have identified a major, synformally folded, thin-skinned thrust plate just south of Chengde, Hebei province, that is of Late Jurassic age and had a minimum northward displacement of &40 km. In earlier studies in the Yunmeng Shan area of the Yanshan north of Beijing we defined major south-vergent Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous ductile structures involving Archean basement rocks and their cover. These structures include a recumbent, basement-cored anticlinal nappe and a lower limb ductile thrust fault within a 6-km-thick gneissic shear zone. The Jurassic-Cretaceous Yanshan belt, and its probable western continuation, the Yinshan belt of Inner Mongolia, appear to be reflect regional north-south intraplate shortening. However, some Yanshan patterns of deformation, e.g., ductile nappe formation in the Yunmeng Shan and northeast structural trends of the belt in Liaoning province, were influenced by thermal regimes related to magmatism (≤ 180-190 Ma) accompanying westward or northwestward Pacific plate subduction beneath eastern Asia. We thus believe it likely that two contrasting modes of plate interaction occurred synchronously in the Yanshan segment of the Yinshan-Yanshan belt during Middle Jurassic through Early Cretaceous time. Jurassic-Cretaceous collision of an amalgamated North China-Mongolian plate with the Siberian plate is widely believed to have accompanied closure of a Mongolo- Okhotsk sea more than 800-1100 km north of the Yanshan belt. This collision might have been responsible forYanshan (andYinshan) intraplate contractional deformation farther south, but such a hypothesis is severely complicated by reports of widespread, basin-forming Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous extension in the terranes between the Mongolo-Okhotsk suture and the Yinshan-Yanshan belt. Following Early Cretaceous contraction in both the Yinshan and Yanshan belts, the northern margin of the Archean-floored plate was also the site of major northwest-southeast regional extension beginning soon after 120 Ma. Subducting plate rollback or postorogenic collapse are only two of several possible explanations for the development of extensional metamorphic core complexes in northern InnerMongolia and theYanshan belt farther east.
The Late Mesozoic volcanic rocks are widely distributed in the Yingcheng Formation in southeastern margin of the Songliao Basin. SHRIMP zircon U-Pb dating gives ages between 117Ma and HOMa for the volcanic rocks indicating that the volcanic succession formed around Aptian-Albian of the Early Cretaceous. Two stages of the volcanism can be identified according to the sedimentary interlayer. Petrographical and geochemical study shows that the early stage was characterized with acidic eruption, while the late stage mainly with medium-basic magmatism. All the rocks are mostly belong to high-K calc-alkaline series or sub-alkaline series. There is an intimate geochemical evolution relationship between the acidic and the medium-basic. Sr-Nd isotopic result indicates that these two volcanic successions were derived from the same magma source, a depleted mantle, and contaminated by the crust in different level during the period of ascending and evolving. Good determination on the volcanic events in the southeastern margin of the Songliao Basin is significant for the study of the Late Mesozoic volcanic activities in the Songliao Basin and correlation with magmatism in adjacent region.
The Mianlüe tectonic zone (Mianlüe zone), an ancient suture zone in addition to the Shangdan suture in the Qinling-Dabie orogenic belt, marks an important tectonic division geologically separating north from south and connecting east with west in China continent. To determine present structural geometry and kinematics in the Mianlüe tectonic zone and to reconstruct the formation and evolution history involving plate subduction and collision in the Qinling-Dabie orogenic belt, through a multidisciplinary study, are significant for exploring the mountain-building orogenesis of the central orogenic system and the entire process of the major Chinese continental amalgamation during the Indosinian.
U-Pb-Hf isotopic analyses have been carried out on detrital zircons from Late Permian-Jurassic strata in the Western Shandong-Bohai Bay (WSBB) basins with aims of constraining the paleogeography and evolution of the eastern North China Craton (NCC). Four major groups of U-Pb ages (namely, 3.0-2.3 Ga, 2.2-1.4 Ga, 1250-430 Ma and 410-150 Ma) are recognized for zircons from the fine-grained sandstones. The post-Paleoproterozoic zircons of the Late Permian sample show an age cluster of 344-255 Ma with epsilon(Hf)(t) values of -18 to -8, being similar to those extracted from Late Paleozoic igneous rocks from the Yinshan-Yanshan Orogenic Belt (YYOB) on the northern margin of the NCC. However, the Devonian-Jurassic zircons (390-150 Ma) from the Jurassic sediments have epsilon(Hf)(t) values from -45 to +14, very similar to the mixture of Phanerozoic zircons from the Xing-Meng Orogenic Belt (XMOB) and the YYOB, but significantly different from those of the Liaodong Peninsula, Jiaodong Peninsula and the Western Shandong Uplift. In addition, Cambrian-Silurian zircons (535-430 Ma) of the Jurassic samples have epsilon(Hf)(t) values from -27 to +7, resembling the Early Paleozoic zircons extracted from the Northern Qinling Orogen (NQO). The U-Pb age spectra and Hf isotope of Devonian-Jurassic zircons as well as bulk Nd isotopes suggest that the central eastern NCC received some juvenile materials from the XMOB, the YYOB and the NQO during the Jurassic. This indicates widespread prototype basins and a low elevation during the Jurassic, arguing against the presence of a paleo-plateau in the eastern NCC at that time. The lack of evidence predicted by lithospheric delamination (e.g., large-scale elevation or doming after Late Triassic) makes the delamination unlikely to be a viable mechanism of lithospheric thinning of the NCC The subsidence rather than elevation of the eastern NCC after Late Triassic might be related to thermo-chemical erosion of the lithosphere by underlying convective mantle in a back-arc setting. (C) 2012 International Association for Gondwana Research. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
This paper reports LA-ICP-MS U-Pb dates and in situ Hf isotope analyses of detrital zircons from the Mesozoic basins in western Shandong, China, with the aim to constrain the depositional ages and provenances of the Mesozoic strata as well as the Mesozoic tectonic evolution of the eastern North China Block (NCB). The Mesozoic strata in western Shandong, from bottom to top, include the Fenghuangshan, Fangzi, Santai and Wennan formations. Most of the analyzed zircon grains exhibit oscillatory growth zoning and have relatively high Th/U ratios (generally 0.2-3.4), suggesting a magmatic origin. Zircons from the Fenghuangshan Formation in the Zhoucun Basin yield six main age populations (2489, 1854, 331, 305, 282, and 247 Ma). Zircons from the Fangzi Formation in the Zhoucun and Mengyin basins yield eight main age populations (2494, 1844, 927, 465, 323, 273, 223, and 159 Ma) and ten main age populations (2498, 1847, 932, 808, 540, 431, 315, 282, 227, and 175 Ma), respectively, whereas zircons from the Santai Formation in the Zhoucun and Mengyin basins yield nine main age populations (2519, 1845, 433, 325, 271, 237, 192, 161, and 146 Ma) and six main age populations (2464, 1845, 853, 277, 191, and 150 Ma), respectively. Five main age populations (2558, 1330, 609, 181, and 136 Ma) are detected for zircons from the Wennan Formation in the Pingyi Basin. Based on the youngest age, together with the contact relationships among formations, we propose that the Fenghuangshan Formation formed in the Early-Middle Triassic, the Fangzi Formation in the Middle-Late Jurassic, the Santai Formation after the Late Jurassic, and the Wennan Formation after the Early Cretaceous. These results, together with previously published data, indicate that: (1) the sediments of the Fenghuangshan Formation were sourced from the Precambrian basement and from late Paleozoic to early Mesozoic igneous rocks in the northern part of the NCB; (2) the sediments of the Fangzi and Santai formations were sourced from the Precambrian basement, late Paleozoic to early Mesozoic igneous rocks in the northern part of the NCB, and the Sulu terrane, as well as from Middle-Late Jurassic igneous rocks in the southeastern part of the NCB; and (3) the Wennan Formation was sourced from the Tongshi intrusive complex, the Sulu terrane, and minor Precambrian basement and Early Cretaceous igneous rocks. The evolution of detrital provenance indicates that in the Early-Middle Triassic, the northern part of the NCB was higher than its interior; during the Late Triassic to Early Jurassic, the eastern NCB was uplifted, resulting in a period of non-deposition; and an important transition from a compressional to an extensional tectonic regime occurred during the Middle-Late Jurassic. The presence of Neoproterozoic and Triassic detrital zircons in the Fangzi Formation sourced from the Sulu terrane suggests that large-scale sinistral strike-slip movement along the Tan-Lu Fault Zone did not occur after the Middle Jurassic (ca. 175 Ma).
The North China Craton (NCC) provides one of the classic examples of
craton destruction, although the mechanisms and processes of its
decratonization are yet to be fully understood. Here we integrate
petrological, geochemical, geochronological and geophysical information
from the NCC and conclude that the destruction of the craton involved
multiple events of circum-craton subduction, which provided the driving
force that destabilized mantle convection and tectonically eroded the
lithospheric mantle beneath the craton. Furthermore,
subducted-slab-derived fluids/melts weakened the subcontinental
lithospheric mantle and facilitated thermo-mechanical and chemical
erosion of the lithosphere. The more intense destruction beneath the
eastern part of the NCC reflects the crucial contribution of Pacific
plate subduction from the east that overprinted the mantle lithosphere
modified during the early subduction processes. Our study further
establishes the close relationship between lithospheric modification via
peridotite-melt reactions induced by oceanic plate subduction and
cratonic destruction.
The North China Craton (NCC) is the typical example of destruction of an
ancient craton. However, the destruction mechanism and geodynamic
controlling factors still remain enigmatic due to controversy on the
timing of destruction, which is the key to understanding the destruction
processes. Based on temporal and spatial distributions of the igneous
rocks, and their sources and tectonic settings, it is recognized that
six stages of tectono-magmatism occurred in the NCC during the
Phanerozoic, i.e., Carboniferous to Early Permian, Late Permian to
Middle Triassic, Late Triassic, Jurassic, Early Cretaceous and Cenozoic.
Among them, Cenozoic magmatism mainly consists of alkali basalts and is
found only occasionally in the eastern NCC. The first four stages of
magmatism and tectonism, related to the southward subduction of the
Paleo-Asian plate and the assembly of Sino-Korean and Yangtze cratons,
are locally distributed in limited parts of the NCC, reflecting a
multiple stage modification of the NCC from the Late Carboniferous to
Jurassic. However, the intensive development of Early Cretaceous
magmatism, extensional deformation and associated gold mineralization,
with significant continental crustal growth, indicate that the eastern
NCC was destroyed during this time period. This destruction was the
result of Paleo-Pacific subduction beneath the eastern Asian continent,
with lithospheric removal and/or replacement of an ancient cratonic
lithosphere by a juvenile oceanic lithosphere.