Late Mesozoic Intracontinental Deformation in the Northern Margin of the North China Craton: A Case Study From the Shangyi Basin, Northwestern Hebei Province, China

Yu Zhang,Wei Shi,Qian Yang,Guiting Hou,Yilin Zhao

doi:10.3389/feart.2021.710758

Yu Zhang, Wei Shi + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2021.710758

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Abstract

During the late Mesozoic, the East Asian continent underwent a complex tectonic history due to multiple episodes of plate convergence. How the crust responds to the multiple plate convergence in the North China Craton (NCC) remains unclear. Here we undertook field geological investigations and fault-slip vectors analysis of the Shangyi Basin in the western Yanshan fold and thrust belt, northern margin of the NCC. Combined with new geochronological data, we delineate three phases of intracontinental deformation in the area: 1) NW-SE compression during the Late Jurassic to earliest Cretaceous (ca. 151–141 Ma); 2) NW-SE extension during the middle–late Early Cretaceous (ca. 135–110 Ma); and 3) NE-SW compressional deformation later than 110 Ma. The early NW-SE compression controlled the present bulk architecture of the basin, and the subsequent two tectonic events only caused limited reworking of the previous structures. Through balanced cross-section restoration, we estimate the horizontal shortening ratio of the crust in the study area is over 27% due to the NW-SE compression. Moreover, the contribution of tectonic shortening from the north side of the basin is greater than that from the south side. NW-SE compressional deformation is consistent in time with the episode B of the Yanshanian movement (Yanshanian B), which may be influenced by the subduction of the Paleo-Pacific plate beneath East Asia and the closure of the Mongol-Okhosk Ocean. Subsequent NW–SE extension is likely to be associated with the destruction of the NCC during the Early Cretaceous. Extension may result from the roll-back of the Paleo-Pacific plate and post-orogenic collapse of the Mongol-Okhotsk belt. The last NE-SW compressional event may be linked to the remote effect of the final collision between the Qiangtang and Lhasa terranes.

Highlights

The North China Craton (NCC), located in the interior of the East Asian continent, has experienced a multi-phase intracontinental deformation since the Mesozoic
Considering that fault slip data, including dip directions and angles of fault planes, pitch directions and angles of striations, and strike-slip directions, are easy to obtain, this method has been extensively applied to the study of tectonic evolution (Angelier, 1979, 1984; Delvaux et al, 1995; Delvaux and Sperner, 2003; Zhang et al, 2003; Allmendinger et al, 2012; Riller et al, 2017; Lin et al, 2015; Shi et al, 2015, 2020; B.; Zhang et al, 2020)
Some other conditions need to be considered, for example 1) the stress field remain constant during a tectonic event (Angelier, 1979); 2) the faults do not interfere with each other, with no rotation of the fault planes (Lacombe, 2012); and 3) the protoliths of the deformed rocks are homogeneous and isotropic (Lacombe, 2012)

Summary

Introduction

The North China Craton (NCC), located in the interior of the East Asian continent, has experienced a multi-phase intracontinental deformation since the Mesozoic The Yanshanian intracontinental orogeny (Zheng et al, 2000; Davis et al, 2001; Cope et al, 2007; Zhang et al, 2007; Lin et al, 2013; Huang, 2019) and the subsequent large-scale lithospheric extension and thinning of the NCC (Meng, 2003; Zhu et al, 2011; Zhu and Xu, 2019; Wang et al, 2011, 2012; Lin and Wei, 2018; Liu et al, 2020) are the most representative during the complex Mesozoic tectonic evolution, attracting extensive attention from a large amount of geologists Multiple research approaches, such as analysis of structural geometry and kinematics (Zhang et al, 2011; Li et al, 2016; Clinkscales and Kapp, 2019), study of palaeo-stress field based on fault-slip data The related geodynamic mechanisms was attributed to the subduction of the Paleo-Pacific plate (Ren et al, 2002; Zhu et al, 2011; Zhu et al, 2018; Zhu and Xu, 2019), a combined effect from the Paleo-Pacific subducting plate and the closure of the Mongol-Okhosk Ocean (Meng, 2003; Wang et al, 2011), and a multi-plate convergence around East Asia (Dong et al, 2015, 2018)

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