Int J Earth Sci (Geol Rundsch) DOI 10.1007/s00531-017-1533-2
ORIGINAL PAPER
Lithospheric thermal evolution and dynamic mechanism of destruction of the North China Craton Zian Li1 · Lu Zhang2,5 · Ge Lin3 · Chongbin Zhao4 · Yingjie Liang3
Received: 28 November 2016 / Accepted: 27 August 2017 © Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany 2017
Abstract The dynamic mechanism for destruction of the North China Craton (NCC) has been extensively discussed. Numerical simulation is used in this paper to discuss the effect of mantle upward throughflow (MUT) on the lithospheric heat flux of the NCC. Our results yield a three-stage destruction of the NCC lithosphere as a consequence of MUT variation. (1) In Late Paleozoic, the elevation of MUT, which was probably caused by southward and northward subduction of the paleo-Asian and paleo-Tethyan oceans, respectively, became a prelude to the NCC destruction. The geological consequences include a limited decrease of the lithospheric thickness, an increase of heat flux, and a gradual enhancement of the crustal activity. But the tectonic attribute of the NCC maintained a stable craton. (2) During Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous, the initial velocity of the MUT became much faster probably in response to subduction of the Pacific Ocean; the conductive heat flux at the base of the NCC lithosphere gradually increased from * Lu Zhang
[email protected] * Ge Lin
[email protected] 1
School of Marine Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510006, China
Key Laboratory of Digital Earth Science, Institute of Remote Sensing and Digital Earth, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100094, China
2
3
Key Laboratory of Mineralogy and Metallogeny, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510640, China
4
Computational Geosciences Research Centre, Central South University, Changsha 410013, China
5
Key Laboratory of Earth Observation Hainan Province, Sanya, Hainan 572029, China
west to east; and the lithospheric thickness was significantly decreased. During this stage, the heat flux distribution was characterized by zonation and partition, with nearly horizontal layering in the lithosphere and vertical layering in the underlying asthenosphere. Continuous destruction of the NCC lithosphere was associated with the intense tectonomagmatic activity. (3) From Late Cretaceous to Paleogene, the velocity of MUT became slower due to the retreat of the subducting Pacific slab; the conductive heat flux at the base of lithosphere was increased from west to east; the distribution of heat flux was no longer layered. The crust of the western NCC is relatively hotter than the mantle, so-called as a ‘hot crust but cold mantle’ structure. At the eastern NCC, the crust and the mantle characterized by a ‘cold crust but hot mantle.’ The western NCC (e.g., the Ordos Basin) had a tectonically stable crust with low thermal gradients in the lithosphere; whereas the eastern NCC was active with a hot lithosphere. The numerical results show that the MUT is the main driving force for the NCC destruction, whereas the complex interaction of surrounding plates lit a fuse for the lithospheric thinning. Keywords Mantle upward throughflow · Heat flux · Dynamic mechanism · Cratonic destruction · North China Craton
Introduction One of the most important events in the Meso-Cenozoic Asian geology is lithospheric thinning or destruction occurring in the North China Craton (NCC), which has attracted great interest of international geologists (Fan and Menzies 1992; Griffin et al. 1992, 1998; Menzies et al. 1993, 2007; Fan et al. 2000; Xu 2001; Zheng et al. 2001, 2007; Gao
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et al. 2002, 2004; Zhang et al. 2002, 2003, 2008; Wu et al. 2008; Zhu et al. 2011, 2012). Destruction of NCC includes not only a change in lithospheric thickness, but also variations in the nature, composition, and heat flux of the subcontinental lithospheric mantle (SCLM; Wu et al. 2008; Xu et al. 2009, 2012; Tang et al. 2013; Zhang et al. 2013). The NCC crust, which originally had a cratonic property, has also undergone large-scale ductile deformation and tectonomagmatic activities (Zhao et al. 2000; Davis et al. 2001; Davis 2003; Zhang et al. 2003, 2013, 2014; Wu et al. 2005a; Zhu et al. 2009, 2015). This process is termed as cratonic destruction or decratonization (Yang et al. 2008; Zhu et al. 2011). There are two main hypotheses to account for this decratonization process: chemical–mechanical-thermal erosion (Fan and Menzies 1992; Menzies et al.1993; Xu 2001, 2007; Lin et al. 2005, 2008a; Zhai et al. 2007; Zheng et al. 2007, 2008a; Zheng 2009; Xu et al. 2009, 2012; Lin and Fan 2015) versus lithospheric delamination (Gao et al. 2002, 2004, 2008; Wu et al. 2005a; Xu et al. 2006, 2008, 2010; Deng et al. 2007). The former hypothesis considers that the destruction of the lithosphere is gradual, whereas the latter indicates a rapid (120 km of Archaean lithosphere, Sino-Korean Craton, China. In: Prichard HM, Alabaster T, Harris NBW et al (eds) Magmatic processes and plate tectonics. Geological Society, Special Publications, London, vol 76, pp 71–78 Menzies MA, Xu YG, Zhang HF et al (2007) Integration of geology, geophysics and geochemistry: a key to understanding the North China Craton. Lithos 96:1–21 Pearson DG, Nowell GM (2002) The continental lithospheric mantle: characteristics and significance of the mantle reservoir. Proc R Soc Ser A 360:2383–2410 Petitjean S, Rabinowicz M, Grégoire M, Chevrot S (2006) Differences between archean and proterozoic lithospheres: assessment of the possible major role of thermal conductivity. Geochem Geophys Geosyst 7:Q03021. doi:10.1029/2005GC001053 Pietro T, Giuseppe G, Massimiliano F et al (2011) Land uplift due to subsurface fluid injection. J Geodyn 51(1):1–16 Pollack H, Chapman DS (1977) On the regional variation of heat flow, geotherms and lithosphere thickness. Tectonophysics 38:279–296 Qiao Y, Liu C, Zhao GP et al (2012) Numerical simulation of the magmatism of North China Craton during Yanshanian. Earth Sci J China Univ Geosci 37(Suppl):203–212 (in Chinese with English abstract) Qiao Y, Guo Z, Shi Y (2013) Thermal convection thinning of the North China Craton: numerical simulation. Sci China Earth Sci 56(5):773–782 Qiu N, Zuo Y, Zhou X, Li C (2010) Geothermal regime of the Bohai offshore area, Bohai Bay Basin, North China. Energy Explor Exploit 28(5):327–350 Qiu NS, Zuo YH, Chang J, Li WZ (2014) Geothermal evidence of Meso-Cenozoic lithosphere thinning in the Jiyang sub-basin, Bohai Bay Basin, eastern North China Craton. Gondwana Res 26(3–4):1079–1092 Qiu NS, Li SP, Zeng JH (2004) Thermal history and tectonic-thermal evolution of the Jiyang Depression in the Bohai Bay Basin, East China. Acta Geol Sin 78(2):263–269 Ren ZL, Zhang S, Gao SL et al (2007) Tectonic thermal evolution of the Ordos Basin and its hydrocarbon accumulation and metallogenic significance. China Sci Ser D Earth Sci 37(suppl I):23–32 Rimi A (1999) Mantle heat flow and geotherms for the main geologic domains in Morocco. Int J Earth Sci 88:458–466
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