Articles

Contrasting Structural Features at Different Boundary Areas of the North China Craton and Its Tectonic Implications

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  • State Key Laboratory of Lithospheric Evolution, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China

Received date: 2009-07-23

  Revised date: 2010-02-24

  Online published: 2010-06-10

Abstract

The destruction of the North China Craton (NCC) during the Phanerozoic is highly spatially uneven. The inherent heterogeneity of the cratonic lithosphere and the tectonics of  interactions among the sourrounding blocks may be responsible for the distinctly different tectonic processes and deformation patterns in the different parts of the NCC. The tectonic diversity certainly would have left significant imprints on the deep structure beneath different geological domains of the craton. A detailed knowledge of the deep structure of the NCC therefore can provide important constrains on the dynamic process and mechanism of the Phanerozoic craton destruction. In this paper, we present the deep structural images of the different boundary zones of the NCC. These images were constructed from the data recently collected by the dense broadband seismic arrays of the North China Interior Structure Project (NCISP). Considering the contrasting features of the crustal and lithospheric structure as well as the upper mantle deformation pattern between these boundary zones, we discuss the spatial heterogeneity and possible tectonic processes of the craton destruction. Our results show that as a mechanically weak zone along the eastern margin of the NCC, the Tanlu Fault Zone has the thinnest lithosphere (~60 km) and obviously attenuated crust (<35 km) at the present time, indicating that this fault zone may have been the most significantly affected during the wholesale lithospheric destruction and thinning in the eastern NCC. On the other hand, both the Yanshan belt and the northern Ordos block around the northeastern and northwestern boundaries of the NCC, respectively, are characterized by the coexistence of both thinned and thick lithosphere and sharp changes in the crustal and upper mantle structure, suggesting an uneven lithopsheric remobilization and thinning in these regions. The sharp Moho and fine-scale variations in both the lithospheric structure and upper mantle deformation pattern beneath the Yanshan belt probably resulted from the joint influence of the multiple phases of compressional deformation in the Mesozoic and intense regional extension from Late Mesozoic to Cenozoic. Striking structural contrasts are even more pronounced between the stable interior of the Ordos block and the surrounding Cenozoic rift areas near the northwestern boundry of the NCC. This as well as the localized lithospheric thinning observed in the rift areas may be attributed to the preexisting structural heterogeneity and repeated thermotectonic reactivation during the long term evolution of the craton.

Cite this article

Cheng Ling,Cheng Cheng,Wei Zigen . Contrasting Structural Features at Different Boundary Areas of the North China Craton and Its Tectonic Implications[J]. Advances in Earth Science, 2010 , 25(6) : 571 -581 . DOI: 10.11867/j.issn.1001-8166.2010.06.0571

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