LA-MC-ICPMS U-Pb dating has been performed on detrital zircons from the Upper Carboniferous Tai-yuan Formation (N-8) in the Ningwu-Jingle Basin, west of the North China Craton (NCC). The ages of 72 detrital zircon grains are divided into three groups: 303―320 Ma (6 grains), 1631―2194 Ma (37 grains, peaked at 1850 Ma), 2318―2646 Ma (29 grains, peaked at 2500 Ma). Detrital zircons of Group 2 and Group 3 were likely derived from the basement of the NCC. Group 1 zircons exhibit 176Hf/177Hf ratios ranging from 0.281725 to 0.282239, with corresponding negative εHf(t) values of -12.4―-30.3 and old Hf model ages of 1.4―2.2 Ga. These characteristics show a strong resemblance to those of Carboniferous igneous zircons from the Inner Mongolia Paleo-uplift (IMPU) on the northern margin of the NCC, but differ significantly from those of the Xing-Meng Orogenic Belt, suggesting that the source of the Tai-yuan Formation partly came from the IMPU. All detrital zircons of Group 1 have relatively high Th/U ratios (> 0.67), indicating a magmatic origin. The mean age (304 ± 6 Ma) of the two youngest grains is close to the depositional age of the Taiyuan Formation, suggesting a strong tectonic uplift and magmatism in the IMPU during the Late Carboniferous. This paper provides important geological evidence for the activation of the northern margin of the NCC in the Late Paleozoic.
LI HongYanXU YiGangHUANG XiaoLongHE BinLUO ZhenYuYAN Bin
The timing and duration of the destruction of the North China Craton, which is pivotal to understanding the destruction mechanism and its geodynamic controlling factors, still remain controversial. On the basis of the principles of magma genesis and evolution, first we outline magmatic expressions that can be related to cratonic destruction, then use magmatic and basin evolution trends to constrain the timescale of the lithospheric thinning in North China. The main conclusions include: (1) the thinning of the lithosphere beneath the North China Craton might have started, at least locally, since late Carboniferous-late Triassic, attained its climax during the late Jurassic-early Cretaceous, and continued till the end of late Cretaceous-early Cenozoic. The destruction of the North China Craton was a relatively slow, rather than a dramatic process. (2) The weakened lithospheric zones along the margins and interiors of the craton played an important role in cratonic destruction, partly accounting for the heterogeneous pattern of cratonic destruction. (3) The tectonic factors that controlled the destruction of the North China Craton may be multiple. The late Carboniferous southward subduction of the Paleo-Asian plate and the late Triassic collision between North China and South China may have re-activated the craton by influencing the thermal and integral structure of the craton. The Pacific subduction underneath the eastern Asian continent played a determinant role in the cratonic destruction, governing the distribution patterns of post-Mesozoic basins and major tectonic configuration, temporal change of magmatism and formation of the North-South gravity lineament.
