Early Mesozoic polyphase contractional deformation in the Yanshan belt: Implications for the destruction of the north China Craton. (1st June 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Huang, Yingzhu; Zhang, Changhou; Li, Chengming; Teng, Fei
• Is Part Of: Journal of Asian earth sciences. Volume 230(2022)
• Publication Date: 2022-06-01
• Subjects: Contractional deformation -- Early Mesozoic -- Tectonic setting -- Destruction of craton -- North China; Earth sciences -- Asia -- Periodicals; Sciences de la terre -- Asie -- Périodiques; Earth sciences; Asia; Periodicals; 555.05
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jseaes.2022.105181
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1367-9120

Abstract

Graphical abstract: Highlights: The northern North China Craton was in a contractional setting in early Mesozoic. Post-collisional contractional deformation was due to the lithosphere delamination. A decoupling process dominated the early stage of the destruction of the NCC. Abstract: After the collision of the Mongolian arc terranes with the amalgamated Bainaimiao arc and North China Craton in the latest Permian to earliest Triassic, the northern North China Craton ended the Andean-type accretionary orogenesis. The nature of the subsequent post-collision tectonic setting in early Mesozoic in the northern North China Craton remains controversial. Some workers proposed that the northern North China Craton evolved into a post-orogenic extensional stage. However, this view was mainly built on geochemistry studies of Triassic plutonic rocks in northern North China Craton while it had never received support from studies of tectonic deformation. In contrast, our recent field mapping combining with geochronological studies in the Yanshan belt suggest that the northern North China Craton was in an overall polyphase multi-directional contractional settings in early Mesozoic. We have identified four stages of contractional deformation (D1 -D4 ) in this region. D1 (250–231 Ma) is the intracratonic response to the collision of the Mongolia arc terranes with the NCC. D2 (214 ∼ 207 Ma) and D3 (204 ∼ 195 Ma) are post-collisional intracratonic contractional deformation which occurred synchronously with the lithosphere thinning. D2 and D3 and the intervened plutonism might be a crustal response to the delamination and sinking of the over-thickened lithosphere of the northern North China Craton. D4 is the result of the west-ward subduction of the Izanagi plate beneath the eastern Asian continent plate in the Early Jurassic. These findings together with previous studies indicate that the northern North China Craton experienced a long period of polyphase contractional deformation before its final destruction in the Early Cretaceous. The early stage of the destruction of the North China Craton is characterized by coeval lithosphere thinning and crustal thickening.