Structure, evolution and regional tectonic implications of the Queshan metamorphic core complex in eastern Jiaodong Peninsula of China

Abstract

The Queshan MCC is an important example of a crustal extensional structure in the eastern Jiaodong Peninsula along the southeastern margin of the NCC in the Early Cretaceous. The MCC is a typical Cordilleran-type core complex with a three-layered structure: (1) the upper plate is constituted by the Cretaceous supradetachment basin and Paleoproterozoic basement; (2) the lower plate comprises the Neoarchean high-grade metamorphic complexes and late Mesozoic granitic intrusions; and (3) the two plates are separated by a master detachment fault. A series of late NEN-oriented brittle faults superimposed on and destructed the early MCC. Petrology, geometry, kinematics, macro- and micro-structures and quartz c-axis fabrics imply that the MCC has a progressive exhumation history from middle-lower to subsurface level (via middle-upper crustal level) under the nearly WNW-ESE regional extensional regime. We present structural and geochronological evidence to constrain the exhumation of the Queshan MCC from ca. 135 to 113 Ma. Based on the comprehensive analysis of the different patterns of extensional structures in the Jiaodong and Liaodong Peninsula, we have defined the Jiao-Liao Early Cretaceou extensional province and further divided the crustal extension of it into two stages: the first stage was the intense flow of the middle-lower crust and the second stage was the extension of the middle-upper crust. Combining the tectonic setting, the lithosphere thinning in the Jiao-Liao Early Cretaceous extensional province can be considered a typical model for the response of crust-mantle detachment faulting under regional extension in East Asia.