Tectonics of the Paleoproterozoic Jiao-Liao-Ji orogenic belt in the Liaodong peninsula, North China Craton: A review

Abstract

A global collisional orogenic event that formed the Columbia supercontinent occurred during 2100–1800 Ma. In the eastern North China Craton (NCC), the Paleoproterozoic Jiao-Liao-Ji orogenic belt (JLJOB), composed of metamorphosed volcanic-sedimentary rocks and intrusions, may have preserved records of the collisional event. Tectonics of the JLJOB thus becomes the key to the understanding of the tectonic evolution of the NCC, and may provide important information on assembly of the Columbia supercontinent. Two classical models, i.e. the rift closure model and arc-continent collision model, have been widely cited for the tectonic evolution of the JLJOB. The former is based on occurrence of A-type granites and bimodal volcanics within the orogenic belt, and comparable Archean blocks to the south and north of it, while the latter is supported by occurrence of calc-alkaline volcanics, I-type granites, paired metamorphic belts and detrital zircon age constraints. Integration of literature results and our data, we suggest that the JLJOB was formed by closure of a back-arc basin at an active continental margin. Tectonic evolution of the JLJOB is subdivided into four stages, i.e., pre-orogenic stage at 2200–2060 Ma, transitional stage at 2060–1940 Ma, orogenic stage at 1940–1860 Ma and post-orogenic stage after 1860 Ma.