Termination time of peak decratonization in North China: Geochemical evidence from mafic igneous rocks

Abstract

Geophysical and petrological data indicate destruction of the cratonic lithosphere in North China in the Mesozoic, resulting in replacement of the ancient subcontinental lithospheric mantle (SCLM) by the juvenile SCLM. However, it remains to be answered when the craton destruction would have been terminated in the Mesozoic. This question is resolved by studying the two types of mafic igneous rocks with contrasting geochemical compositions from North China. The first type of mafic igneous rock shows arc-like trace element distribution patterns and enriched radiogenic Sr–Nd isotope compositions, with emplacement ages spanning from the Triassic to Early Cretaceous. The mafic magmatism is absent in a period from ~200Ma to ~135Ma, recording the thinning of cratonic lithosphere due to the westward flat subduction of the Paleo-Pacific slab beneath the North China Craton. In contrast, the second type of mafic igneous rocks exhibits oceanic island basalts (OIB)-like trace element distribution patterns and relatively depleted radiogenic Sr–Nd isotope compositions, with emplacement ages spanning from the Early Cretaceous to Cenozoic. Zircon U–Pb dating yields an age of ~121Ma for the geochemical transformation between the two types of mafic igneous rocks. This age marks a dramatic demarcation in the composition of their mantle sources. As such, the nature of mantle lithosphere in North China was changed from the ancient SCLM to the juvenile SCLM at ~121Ma. Thus, this age not only signifies the tectonic transition from the enriched mantle to the depleted mantle in the Early Cretaceous, but also dates the termination of peak decratonization in North China. Therefore, the craton destruction in the Early Cretaceous is temporally and spatially associated with the dramatic changes in the geochemical composition of mantle lithosphere.