Stratigraphy and geochronology of Permo-Carboniferous strata in the Western North China Craton: Insights into the tectonic evolution of the southern Paleo-Asian Ocean

Abstract

The Northwestern Ordos Terrane (NOT) in the Western North China Craton (W-NCC) comprises the northwestern Ordos Basin in the east and the eastern Alxa Massif in the west, bound by the Helanshan Tectonic Belt (HTB). The key position makes the NOT crucial for understanding the evolutionary processes of the W-NCC and particularly the tectonic relation of the Alxa Massif with the W-NCC. In this study, petrologic, stratigraphic and geochronologic studies were conducted on Permo-Carboniferous successions in the NOT. Stratigraphic correlation reveals that Carboniferous marine successions display a transgressive sequence with a slight westward-deepening facies variation, evidenced by the continuous onlap of tidal-flat layers toward the east. The Permian nonmarine strata in the HTB and the Ordos Basin have no substantial facies variation, defining an upward regressive sequence from deltaic to fluvial associations, while time-equivalent units in the eastern Alxa Massif have been eroded. The generally SSW-directed paleocurrents suggest that Permo-Carboniferous siliciclastic materials were derived from a highland to the northeast. The unified sedimentary system in the NOT constrains the Alxa Massif to be part of the W-NCC. The Lower Carboniferous sandstone contain zircons with a concentrated age cluster of 1700–2700 Ma, comparable to Archean to Paleoproterozoic crystalline basement in the northern W-NCC. By contrast, in addition to zircons of 1700–2700 Ma, Late Carboniferous and Permian sandstones all contain abundant Paleozoic zircons with two age clusters around ~300 Ma and ~420 Ma, which are similar to age patterns of Paleozoic magmatism in the northern W-NCC. Zircon age profile and sandstone modal composition indicate the origin from an Andean-type continental arc. The Permo-Carboniferous tectono-sedimentary processes of the NOT should occur in a marginal basin behind the continental arc along the northern W-NCC in response to the southward subduction of Solonker Ocean, southern branch of Paleo-Asian Ocean.