Location and sinistral displacement of the eastern Liaoyuan Accretionary Belt along the Tan–Lu Fault Zone, NE China

Abstract

The NE- to NNE-striking, continental-scale Tan–Lu Fault Zone (TLFZ) in NE China is subdivided into the ∼900 km long Yilan–Yitong Fault (YYF) in the west and the ∼1000 km long Dunhua–Mishan Fault (DMF) in the east. Both faults record sinistral displacement during the earliest Cretaceous, leading to an obvious offset of the boundary between the Liaoyuan Accretionary Belt (LAB) and the North China Craton (NCC). Previous studies have demonstrated that the LAB in the south of the eastern Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB) extends eastwards into an area between the YYF and the DMF. The boundaries between the LAB and NCC indicate a 35 km sinistral displacement upon the YYF. However, it remains unclear whether the LAB extends to the east of the DMF, and the amount of sinistral displacement on the DMF is poorly constrained. Here we present lithological observations and U–Pb and Hf isotopic data from zircon to constrain the age and position of the LAB to the east of the DMF. The data indicate an eastward extension of the LAB across the DMF, suggesting the continuous presence of the LAB east of the TLFZ in NE China. The U–Pb ages, εHf(t) values, and two-stage model ages of zircons from the study area constrain the boundary between the LAB and NCC to an extension of the NE-dipping Chifeng–Kaiyuan Fault to the east of the DMF. The geological boundaries on both sides of the DMF indicate a 170 km sinistral displacement along the fault. Thus, the TLFZ has a total sinistral displacement of 205 km in NE China. The eastern branch of the TLFZ records significantly more movement due to its proximity to the Pacific Ocean, where subduction of oceanic crust might have caused sinistral faulting along the TLFZ.