Comparison of mantle-derived matierals from different spatiotemporal settings: Implications for destructive and accretional processes of the North China Craton

Cratonic destruction or lithospheric thinning beneath North China makes it as one of the most ideal areas for the studying on the formation and evolution of continent. However, the mechanism, time, range and dynamic setting of the destruction, even the lithospheric status before the destruction, are contentious. The comparison among mantle xenoliths in the volcanic rocks from different captured times （e.g. Paleozoic, Mesozoic and Cenozoic） and locations （e.g. intra-plate or its rim, the translithospheric Tanlu fault or the North-South Gravity Line）, and peridotitic massifs within the Sulu-Dabie ultrahigh-pressure metamorphism belt along the southern margin of the North China Craton, indicates that （1） the cratonic lithosphere is heterogeneous in structure and composition, and contains mantle weak zones; and （2） the Mesozoic-Cenozoic lithospheric thinning process is complex, including lateral spreading of lithosphere, interaction between melt and peridotite, non-even asthenospheric erosion （huge lithospheric thinning）, and the limited lithospheric accretion and thus thickening, which resulted in the final replacement of the refractory cratonic lithosphere by juvenile fertile mantle. In early Mesozoic, the integrity of the North China Craton was interrupted, even destroyed by subduction and collision of the Yangtze block. The mantle wedge of the North China Craton was also metasomatized and modified by melt/fluids revealed from the subducted Yangtze continent. Lithospheric mantle extension and tectonic intrusion of the North China Craton also occurred, accompanied by the asthenospheric upwelling that due to the detachement of the subducted Yangtze continent （orogenic root）. During early Cretaceous-early Tertiary, the huge thinning of lithosphere was triggered by the upwelling asthenosphere due to the subduction of the Pacific plate. Since late Tertiary, the cooling of the upwelling asthenosphere resulted in the replacement of the mantle in existence by the newly accreted lithosphere, accompanied with a little thickness in lithosphere and thus finally achieved the lithospheric thinning as a whole. The translithospheric faults, such as the Tanlu fault, play excellent channels for asthenospheric upwelling. Meanwhile, the channels in lithosphere are usually irregular, which resulted in different eruption times of magma. Peridotite xenolith in the basalts erupted at 100 Ma is mainly fertile, indicating such a fact, that is, the mantle replacement occurred before the eruption （e.g. 125--100 Ma） beneath the eastern part of the North China Craton.     

SHRIMP U-Pb zircon dating for lamprophyre from Liaodong Peninsula： Constraints on the initial time of Mesozoic lithosphere thinning beneath eastern China

It is undebated fact that the lithospheric mantle beneath eastern China was considerably thinned during the Mesozoic time. However, it has no adequate evidence for the exact timing when the lithosphere thinning started. The Liaodong Peninsula is located in the eastern segment of the North China Craton and is one of the important domains to explore the event of lithosphere thinning. SHRIMP U-Pb zircon dating and geochemical study were carried out for the lamprophyre dike swarm that intruded into the magnesite ore-beds in the Dashiqiao Formation of Paleoproterozoic Liaohe Group at the Huaziyu magnesite ore district, Liaodong Peninsula. The results indicate that these lamprophyre dikes were intruded in late Jurassic （155±4 Ma） and show some geochemical characteristics of potassic magmas. It is now accepted that the lithosphere thinning took place in the late Mesozoic, and the peak thinning stage occurred in early Cretaceous （130-120 Ma）. Considering the potassic mafic magmatism marking the onset of the lithospheric thinning, we therefore suggest that the studied late Jurassic potassic lamprophyre dike swarm could imply that the late Jurassic is the time that lithosphere thinning started.     

Seismic tomography of the northwest Pacific and its geodynamic implications

High-resolution tomographic images across Japan Trenh-Changhai Mountains-lDong Ujimqinqi are displayed, showing the morphological feature of the subducted slab in the norhwestem Pacific margin and the eharaeter istics of lithosphere stmctures under the Changhai Mountains and the Da Hinggan Mnuntains. The Pacific plate began to penetrate into the deeper mantle after it subducted to the 660 km discontinuity with an underthmsting angle of 26°, but did not continue to mnve furrther westward. In contrast, there appeared a remarkable thermal upwelling zone to the west of the downward plate. In addition, the evidence frnm the subduction time and time lag between the subduetion and eon sequent magmatism indicates that there is no direct genetic correlatiom between the Mesoznic magmatism in eastern China ami subduction of the Pacific plate. In this work. we also emphasize that what the tomographic images reflect is the pre sent structure in the deep earth interior, which should preserve some Mesozoic lithospheric structure characteristics. In summary, we attribute the Mesozoic intense magmatic evolution in north China to the intraplate asthenosphere upwelling zone.     

A late Mesozoic high plateau in eastern China: Evidence from basalt vesicular paleoaltimetry

Eastern China is made of a number of large and small continental fragments throughout late Paleozoic and Mesozoic time,and is still the best natural laboratory for examining kinematic models of continent tectonics.The paleoelevation history of eastern China provides direct insight into the tectonic processes in China.Here we present basalt-vesicularity based estimates of the paleoaltimetry of the early Cretaceous basalts in northern East China,which indicate that the studied basalt units were at an elevation of more than 4 kilometers in late Mesozoic.Two vesicular basaltic rocks have been collected form bottom to top along the lava flow outcrop in eastern Inner Mongolia.After the digital precessing to the sample cross-sections,and taking advantage of the stereological conversion method to acquire the bubble size distributions,paleoelevation estimate was calculated for East China in the early Cretaceous.The results show that the elevation has been near 4700±750 m when the lava flows was cooling,implying that there were highland regions in the northern part of the East China Plateau during the early Cretaceous.Combined with other geological evidence,we conclude that there was a high plateau with elevation near 5000 m above sea level in Eastern China during the late Mesozoic.This ancient high plateau in eastern China was most likely formed by the collision of the north and south China blocks.     

Petrogenesis of the Neoproterozoic bimodal volcanic rocks along the western margin of the Yangtze Block： New constraints from Hf isotopes and Fe/Mn ratios

High-precision major element and Hf isotope data are reported for the Neoproterozoic Suxiong volcanic rocks along the western margin of the Yangtze Block. These volcanic rocks have variable εHf（T） values and Fe/Mn ratios. The relatively primitive basalts have high Fe/Mn ratios and high Hf-Nd isotopic compositions, indicating that they were generated by partial melting of garnet clinopyroxene in mantle plume at high pressure. Thus, the Suxiong basalts are genetically related to the proposed Neoproterozoic superplume. On the contrary, a few differentiated basalts have low Fe/Mn ratios and low Hf-Nd isotopic compositions. They are likely to experience assimilation-fractional crystallization process. The Suxiong rhyolites have consistent Hf and Nd model ages of 1.3-1.4 Ga. They are likely generated by shallow dehydration melting of pre-existing young arc igneous rocks associated with the basaltic underplating/intrusion in a continental rift.     

Delamination and destruction of the North China Craton

This article presents an overview on recent developments in studies of chemical and physical processes of lithospheric delamination with respect to destruction of the North China Craton. It is emphasized that the pyroxenite source resulting from interaction between eclogite-derived melt and peridotite is a direct consequence of delamination. The pyroxenite source thus formed has unique mineralogical and geochemical features, which characterize Mesozoic basalts of the North China Craton. Melt-peridotite interaction played an important role in refertilization of cratonic lithospheric mantle, leading to density increase, weakening and final destabilization of the North China Craton. The nature of the melt is the key to distinguish mechanisms of destructing this craton.     

Radiometric dating of sediments derived from metamorphic rocks of the Dabie orogenic belt in the Jurasic and Early Cretaceous

Using isotopic dating of tuff, heavy mineral and lithofacies, correlation of Jurassic strata on the northern margin of the Dabie orogenic belt (DOB) has been enabled in the Fenghuangtai, Zhougongshan, Maotanchang and Jingangtai formations, which might be as young as Early Cretaceous. Depositional systems have been interpreted as mainly alluvial fan, braided stream and overbank, secondarily fan-delta and lacustrine. The palaeocurrent systems of the Jurassic-Cretaceous basins can be divided into two classes: one transverse adjacent to the southern margin, the other longitudinal close to the middle flowing from west to east. Mesozoic sedimentary source rocks are mainly from the DOB and, according to their geochemistry, experienced evolution in a volcanic arc tectonic setting. The Jurassic-Cretaceous strata have been subdivided into four Chronosomes, and their overlapping progressively from east toward west implies that exhumation of the DOB characterized diachronous. Based on stratigraphic evidence from eclogite conglomerates found in the Maotanchang and Fenghuangtai formations, the first exposure of UHP (ultrahigh pressure) rocks in the DOB occurred in Jurassic-Lower Cretaceous time. Further, phengites and Triassic zircons found in the Lower Jurassic Fanghushan Formation suggest that denudation began in the Early Jurassic.     

Radiometric dating of sediments derived from metamorphic rocks of the Dabie orogenic belt in the Jurasic and Early Cretaceous

Using isotopic dating of tuff, heavy mineral and lithofacies, correlation of Jurassic strata on the northern margin of the Dabie orogenic belt (DOB) has been enabled in the Fenghuangtai, Zhougongshan, Maotanchang and Jingangtai formations, which might be as young as Early Cretaceous. Depositional systems have been interpreted as mainly alluvial fan, braided stream and overbank, secondarily fan-delta and lacustrine. The palaeocurrent systems of the Jurassic-Cretaceous basins can be divided into two classes: one transverse adjacent to the southern margin, the other longitudinal close to the middle flowing from west to east. Mesozoic sedimentary source rocks are mainly from the DOB and, according to their geochemistry, experienced evolution in a volcanic arc tectonic setting. The Jurassic-Cretaceous strata have been subdivided into four Chronosomes, and their overlapping progressively from east toward west implies that exhumation of the DOB characterized diachronous. Based on stratigraphic evidence from eclogite conglomerates found in the Maotanchang and Fenghuangtai formations, the first exposure of UHP (ultrahigh pressure) rocks in the DOB occurred in Jurassic-Lower Cretaceous time. Further, phengites and Triassic zircons found in the Lower Jurassic Fanghushan Formation suggest that denudation began in the Early Jurassic.     

U-Pb ages and Hf isotopes for detrital zircons from quartzite in the Paleoproterozoic Songshan Group on the southwestern margin of the North China Craton

In situ U-Pb dating and Lu-Hf isotopic analysis were carried out for detrital zircons from quartzite in the Paleoproterozoic Songshan Group on the southern margin of the North China Craton （NCC）. The results provide further constraints on the crustal formation and evolution history of NCC. Four ^207Pb/^206Pb age populations were obtained from 99 analyses, with clusters at -3.40 Ga, 2.77-2.80 Ga, -2.50 Ga and 2.34 Ga, respectively. The 3.40 Ga old zircons have similar Hf isotopic compositions to those from Archean rocks in the Jidong and Anshan areas of NCC. However, crustal remnants older than 3.6 Ga have been identified in the southern margin of NCC, the South China Craton, the northwestern part of the Qinling Orogen and its adjacent area. Thus, it is not easy to trace the source rock from which the 3.40 Ge detrital zircons were derived. It can be inferred that the crustal remnants older than 3.40 Ga might have been widely distributed in the North China Craton. The 2.77-2.80 Ga zircons make up a relatively small proportion and have the highest εHf（t） values （up to 6.1±1.6）, consistent with the Hf isotopic composition of the depleted mantle at 2.83 Ga. Their single-stage Hf model age of 2.83 Ga is close to their crystallized age, suggesting that their source rocks were extracted from the contemporaneous depleted mantle. The -2.50 Ga zircon grains constitute about 85% of the total grain population and their Hf isotopic compositions indicate major growth of juvenile crust at -2.50 Ga but minor reworking of ancient crust. The youngest zircon dated in this study gave an U-Pb age of 2337±2.3 Ma, which can be considered the maximum depositional age of the formation of the Songshan Group.     

U–Pb ages and Hf isotopes for detrital zircons from quartzite in the Paleoproterozoic Songshan Group on the southwestern margin of the North China Craton

In situ U-Pb dating and Lu-Hf isotopic analysis were carried out for detrital zircons from quartzite in the Paleoproterozoic Songshan Group on the southern margin of the North China Craton (NCC). The re- sults provide further constraints on the crustal formation and evolution history of NCC. Four 207Pb/206Pb age populations were obtained from 99 analyses, with clusters at ~3.40 Ga, 2.77―2.80 Ga, ~2.50 Ga and 2.34 Ga, respectively. The 3.40 Ga old zircons have similar Hf isotopic compositions to those from Ar- chean rocks in the Jidong and Anshan areas of NCC. However, crustal remnants older than 3.6 Ga have been identified in the southern margin of NCC, the South China Craton, the northwestern part of the Qinling Orogen and its adjacent area. Thus, it is not easy to trace the source rock from which the 3.40 Ga detrital zircons were derived. It can be inferred that the crustal remnants older than 3.40 Ga might have been widely distributed in the North China Craton. The 2.77―2.80 Ga zircons make up a relatively small proportion and have the highest εHf (t) values (up to 6.1±1.6), consistent with the Hf isotopic composition of the depleted mantle at 2.83 Ga. Their single-stage Hf model age of 2.83 Ga is close to their crystallized age, suggesting that their source rocks were extracted from the contemporaneous depleted mantle. The ~2.50 Ga zircon grains constitute about 85% of the total grain population and their Hf isotopic compositions indicate major growth of juvenile crust at ~2.50 Ga but minor reworking of ancient crust. The youngest zircon dated in this study gave an U-Pb age of 2337±23 Ma, which can be considered the maximum depositional age of the formation of the Songshan Group.     

Mantle xenoliths from Late Cretaceous basalt in eastern Shandong Province： New constraint on the timing of lithospheric thinning in eastern China

Studies of mantle xenoliths hosted in both the Cenozoic alkali basalt and the Early Paleozoic kimberlite suggest that part of the subcontinental lithosphere as thick as more than 100 km has been lost from the Early Paleozoic to Cenozoic[1—8]. Neither the scale and mechanism nor the accurate timing of the lithospheric thinning has been precisely constrained[7-12]. One of the reasons for this is that there are only a few Mesozoic basalts cropped out, especially, few containing mantle-derived …     

Old EMI-type enriched mantle under the middle North China Craton as indicated by Sr and Nd isotopes of mantle xenoliths from Yangyuan, Hebei Province

Recent studies indicate that the Mesozoic litho- spheric thinning in North China was diachronous with that in west to the Taihangshan gravity lineament being later than in the eastern part of the North China Cra- ton[1―3]. During the Cenozoic, lithospher…     

华北板块北缘中——-西段早白垩世钾玄岩地球化学特征及对比研究

对内蒙古阿拉善盟苏宏图地区一套早白垩世富钾碱性玄武岩中主量元素和微量元素进行测试, 结果表明: 岩石以富碱(K₂O+Na₂O含量为5.20%~8.92%)、高K₂O/Na₂O比值(0.59~1.03)和高TiO₂ (1.59%~2.05%, 平均1.82%)为主要特征, 为钾玄岩系列。该火山岩富集大离子亲石元素、轻稀土元素及高场强元素, 有微弱的Eu异常(δEu=0.88~1.11)。岩石地球化学特征表明, 华北板块北缘西段的苏宏图组火山岩与中段四子王旗地区及白云鄂博南部的早白垩世火山岩有较大的相似性。苏宏图组火山岩、四子王旗钾玄岩以及白云鄂博南部玄武岩均为钾玄岩系列, 三地火山岩在喷出过程中都较少经历地壳混染作用, Nb和Ta的负异常更可能是古亚洲洋俯冲物质影响的结果。同位素和微量元素分析结果表明, 苏宏图组火山岩与四子王旗钾玄岩源区为被古亚洲洋俯冲板块交代的EMⅠ型富集软流圈地幔, 白云鄂博南部玄武岩富集程度稍弱于其他两地, 但三地源区有相似的演化历史, 都经历了亏损的软流圈地幔交代富集过程。三地火山岩相似的源区演化历史表明, 华北板块北缘中?西段在早白垩世可能有相似的构造运动, 在古亚洲洋闭合后, 晚三叠世南北向挤压缩短, 地壳强烈加厚, 而后下部岩石圈拆沉, 已俯冲的古亚洲洋板块的物质重熔, 对亏损的软流圈地幔进行交代富集, 最终富集的软流圈地幔上涌, 形成沿华北板块北缘中?西段东西向呈线状分布的早白垩世钾玄岩。     

内蒙古四子王旗早白垩世深源捕虏体的发现及意义

内蒙古四子王旗地区地处华北板块北缘,与西伯利亚板块的接合部,其早白垩世橄榄玄武岩中发现大量下地壳麻粒岩捕虏体,并可见辉石、长石捕虏晶。寄主岩石K-Ar同位素年龄在108.6～128.4 Ma之间。四子王旗地区下地壳捕虏体的发现对研究华北板块北缘中生代构造格局转化过程中深部壳幔的相互作用及物质成分的演变具有重要意义,为华北板块中生代末岩石圈拆沉事件提供了证据。     

松辽盆地中、新生代构造特征及其演化

松辽盆地发育在大陆内部古生宙－元古宙基底之上，出现在中生代火山岩带的后缘，经历了晚侏罗世地幔上隆、陆壳坳陷，早白垩世大规模岩浆上涌、引张裂陷、晚白垩世盆地挤压、构造反转和新生代较小幅度伸展断陷多阶段的构造演化。研究表明，发生在松辽盆地的从岩石圈伸展减薄到挤压增厚再到拉伸的复杂动力学演化过程是中生代伊泽奈崎大洋岩石圈朝东亚陆缘俯冲－碰撞作用的结果，松辽盆地的形成演化与洋壳运动方向、俯冲角度、俯冲速率的变化、俯冲带位置的迁移、大陆内部对洋壳消减了作用的响应方式等因素密切相关。     

Isotopic evidence for Late Cretaceous plume-ridge interaction at the Hawaiian hotspot

When a mantle plume interacts with a mid-ocean ridge, both are noticeably affected. The mid-ocean ridge can display anomalously shallow bathymetry, excess volcanism, thickened crust, asymmetric sea-floor spreading and a plume component in the composition of the ridge basalts. The hotspot-related volcanism can be drawn closer to the ridge, and its geochemical composition can also be affected. Here we present Sr-Nd-Pb isotopic analyses of samples from the next-to-oldest seamount in the Hawaiian hotspot track, the Detroit seamount at 51 degrees N, which show that, 81 Myr ago, the Hawaiian hotspot produced volcanism with an isotopic signature indistinguishable from mid-ocean ridge basalt. This composition is unprecedented in the known volcanism from the Hawaiian hotspot, but is consistent with the interpretation from plate reconstructions that the hotspot was located close to a mid-ocean ridge about 80 Myr ago. As the rising mantle plume encountered the hot, low-viscosity asthenosphere and hot, thin lithosphere near the spreading centre, it appears to have entrained enough of the isotopically depleted upper mantle to overwhelm the chemical characteristics of the plume itself. The Hawaiian hotspot thus joins the growing list of hotspots that have interacted with a rift early in their history.     

Ancient, highly heterogeneous mantle beneath Gakkel ridge, Arctic Ocean

The Earth's mantle beneath ocean ridges is widely thought to be depleted by previous melt extraction, but well homogenized by convective stirring. This inference of homogeneity has been complicated by the occurrence of portions enriched in incompatible elements. Here we show that some refractory abyssal peridotites from the ultraslow-spreading Gakkel ridge (Arctic Ocean) have very depleted 187Os/188Os ratios with model ages up to 2 billion years, implying the long-term preservation of refractory domains in the asthenospheric mantle rather than their erasure by mantle convection. The refractory domains would not be sampled by mid-ocean-ridge basalts because they contribute little to the genesis of magmas. We thus suggest that the upwelling mantle beneath mid-ocean ridges is highly heterogeneous, which makes it difficult to constrain its composition by mid-ocean-ridge basalts alone. Furthermore, the existence of ancient domains in oceanic mantle suggests that using osmium model ages to constrain the evolution of continental lithosphere should be approached with caution.