Detrital Zircon Records of Meso‐Neoproterozoic Strata in the Yan‐Liao Rift Zone, North China Craton, and Their Implications of Tectono‐Sedimentary Evolution

ABSTRACTCretaceous rift basin evolution was an important part of the tectonic history of northeast Asia in the late Mesozoic. Three types of rift basins are identified—active, passive and wide rift basins—and they developed in different regions. Passive rift basins in the eastern North China craton are thought to be the consequence of crustal stretching and passive asthenospheric upwelling. Wide rift basins in the eastern Central Asian orogen are assumed to originate from gravitational collapse of the thickened and heated orogenic crust. Active rift basins in the northern North China craton are attributed to uprising of asthenospheric materials along a lithospheric-scale tear fault. Slab tearing of the subducting paleo-Pacific plate is postulated and well explains the spatial distribution of different types of rift basins and the eastward shifting of magmatism in the northern North China craton. The Late Cretaceous witnessed a period of mild deformation and weak magmatism, which was possibly due to kinematic variation of the paleo-Pacific plate.

The 1.33–1.30 Ga Yanliao large igneous province in the North China Craton: Implications for reconstruction of the Nuna (Columbia) supercontinent, and specifically with the North Australian Craton

It is significant to constrain the anisotropic crustal and lithospheric structures of the North China Craton (NCC) to understand the mechanisms of craton destruction. The NCC consists of the cratonic Ordos block, the Shanxi Rift, and the severely destructed eastern NCC. The Datong volcano zone (DVZ), which is located in the northern Shanxi Rift, suggests active magmatism and volcanism during the Cenozoic. In contrast, the magma-poor southern Shanxi Rift poses a significant challenge in demonstrating the rifting mechanism and processes. Using the database from ChinArray, we obtain anisotropic Rayleigh-wave phase velocity maps by Eikonal tomography and further invert for the 3-D S-wave structure and its azimuthal anisotropy. Strong azimuthal anisotropy with fast polarization directions parallel to the edge of the low-velocity zone is revealed at a depth of 50~60 km to the west of the DVZ, which is the uppermost mantle near Moho. Our results suggest that the magmatic underplating transfers horizontally in the northern NCC and causes ongoing craton destruction by thermal and chemical erosion. We propose that the subduction of the Paleo-Asian Ocean during the Mesozoic, which is a pre-existing structure, may have contributed to lithospheric activation and localized lithospheric thinning in the northern NCC and results in the north-south differential lithospheric deformation. Similar to the Shanxi Rift, other rift systems, such as the Baikal Rift and the Eastern African Rift, may also be the consequence of the lateral motion of an adjacent cratonic block on its margins. The presence of magmatism within the rift zone is mainly dependent on pre-existing structures, such as subduction.

Early Mesozoic tectonic settings of the northern North China craton

ABSTRACTThe intra-continental orogeny and tectonic evolution of the Mesozoic Yanshan fold-thrust belt (YFTB) in the northern North China Craton (NCC) have been strongly debated. Here, we focus on the Shangyi basin, located in the centre of the YFTB. An integrated analysis of sedimentary facies, palaeocurrents, clast compositions, and detrital zircon dating of sediments was adopted to determine the palaeogeography, provenance, basin evolution, and intra-continental orogenic process. The Shangyi basin comprises the well-exposed Early–early Middle Jurassic Xiahuayuan Formation and the Longmen Formation, and the Late Jurassic–Early Cretaceous Tuchengzi Formation. Based on the 18 measured sections, five facies associations – including alluvial fan, fluvial, delta, lacustrine, and eolian facies – have been identified and described in detail. The onset of the Shangyi basin was filled with fluvial, deltaic, and lacustrine deposits controlled by the normal fault bounding the northern basin, corresponding to the pre-orogeny. In the Middle Jurassic, the cobble–boulder conglomerates of alluvial fan, as molasse deposits, were compatible with the syn-orogeny of the Yanshan movement, which played a critical role in northern North China and even East Asia. After the depositional break in the Middle–Late Jurassic, the Shangyi basin, controlled by the normal fault present in the north of the basin, re-subsided and quickly expanded southward with thick sedimentation, which is correlative with the post-orogeny. Combined with A-type granites, metamorphic core complexes, mafic dikes, and rift basins of the Late Jurassic–early Early Cretaceous present in the northern NCC and Mongolia, significant extension was widespread in the northern NCC and even in northeast Asia. Moreover, vertical changes of provenance indicate that the Taihang Mountain and the Inner Mongolia palaeo-uplift (IMPU) present at the west and north of the basin, respectively, experienced uplift twice in the Middle–Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous, resulting in a regional depositional break.

Mid-Mesoproterozoic bimodal magmatic rocks in the northern North China Craton: Implications for magmatism related to breakup of the Columbia supercontinent

Meso-Neoproterozoic arc-related sediments of the Xiahe Group in the Qinling block, central China: Implications for the paleogeographic reconstruction of Rodinia

Early–Middle Permian plutons in the Langshan area, western Inner Mongolia, China, and their tectonic implications

The Mesozoic Caosiyao giant porphyry Mo deposit in Inner Mongolia, North China and Paleo-Pacific subduction-related magmatism in the northern North China Craton

Structural architecture and stratigraphic record of Late Mesozoic sedimentary basins in NE China: Tectonic archives of the Late Cretaceous continental margin evolution in East Asia

Paleo-Pacific Plate rollback triggered Early Cretaceous intermediate-felsic magmatism in the northern North China Craton

A synthesis of late Paleozoic and early Mesozoic sedimentary provenances and constraints on the tectonic evolution of the northern North China Craton

General Aspects of Rifting.- Evolution of Continental Rift Systems in the Light of Plate Tectonics.- Evolution of the Earth's Crust.- The Origin and Evolution of Rifts and Rift Valley Structures: A Mechanistic Interpretation.- Experimental Model Studies of Rift-Valley Systems (Abstract).- Rates of Sedimentation and Vertical Subsidence in Neorifts and Paleorifts.- Active Continental Rifts.- Deep Structure and Evolution of the Baikal Rift Zone.- Two Stages Rhinegraben Rifting.- The Rio Grande Rift and A Diapiric Mechanism for Continental Rifting.- Owens Valley - A Major Rift between the Sierra Nevada Batholith and Basin and Range Province, USA.- Paleorifts.- Rift Systems in the Western United States.- The Late Precambrian Central North American Rift System - A Survey of Recent Geological and Geophysical Investigations.- An Early Paleozoic Continental Rift System in Galicia (NW Spain).- The Midland Valley as a Rift, Seen in Connection with the Late Palaeozoic European Rift System.- Main Geologic Features of the Oslo Graben.- The Tectonic History of the Oslo Region.- The Oslo Region during the Early Palaeozoic.- Continental Margins.- The Margin South of Australia - A Continental Margin Paleorift.- Passive Continental Margins and Intra-Cratonic Rifts, A Comparison.- Observations on the Margin off Norway (66-70 N) and the History of Early Cenozoic Rifting.- Pelagic Sedimentation in Immature Ocean Basins.- North Sea Rift and Basin Development.- Geophysical Studies.- A Comparison of Magnetic Anomalies in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.- Palaeomagnetism in the Oslo Rift Zone.- Seismic Mapping of the Fennoscandian Lithosphere and Asthenosphere with Special Reference to the Oslo Graben Region.- The Ideal-Body Concept in Interpretation of the Oslo Rift Gravity Data and their Correlation with Seismic Observations.- Comparative Studies.- Comparison of the East African Rift System and the Permian Oslo Rift.- A Comparison between the Older (Karroo) Rifts and the Younger (Cenozoic) Rifts of Eastern Africa (Abstract).- Main Features of Evolution and Magmatism of Continental Rift Zones in the Cenozoic.- The St. Lawrence Paleo-Rift System: A Comparative Study.- Some Problems of Rifting Development in the Earth's History.- Rift Valleys on Earth, Mars and Venus.- Paleorifts - Concluding Remarks.

Neoproterozoic tectonic evolution and proto-basin of the Yangtze Block, China

A precise zircon Th-Pb age of carbonatite sills from the world’s largest Bayan Obo deposit: Implications for timing and genesis of REE-Nb mineralization