2012 JAES-Li Sanzhong1.pdf

Journal of Asian Earth Sciences 47 (2012) 64–79

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Journal of Asian Earth Sciences

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Mesozoic basins in eastern China and their bearing on the deconstructionof the North China Craton

Sanzhong Li a,⇑, Guochun Zhao b, Liming Dai a, Xin Liu a, Lihong Zhou c, M. Santosh d, Yanhui Suo a

a College of Marine Geosciences, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266100, Chinab Department of Earth Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kongc Dagang Oilfield Company, CNPC, Tianjin 300280, Chinad Division of Interdisciplinary Science, Faculty of Science, Kochi University, Kochi 780-8520, Japan

a r t i c l e i n f o

Article history:Available online 3 July 2011

Keywords:North China CratonMesozoic basinExtrusionPlateauTan-Lu Fault System

1367-9120/$ - see front matter � 2011 Elsevier Ltd. Adoi:10.1016/j.jseaes.2011.06.008

⇑ Corresponding author. Address: Department ofMarine Geosciences, Ocean University of China, No.266100, China. Tel.: +86 532 66781971 (O).

E-mail address: [email protected] (S. Li).

a b s t r a c t

Mesozoic basins occur widely in the Eastern Block and the neighboring area of the North China Craton,including the Bohai Bay, the Jiaolai, the Hefei and the North Yellow Sea in the north, and the Jianghanand the Subei-South Yellow Sea basins to the south. Their spatial–temporal framework is the conse-quence of the Indosinian and Yanshanian tectonic regimes in eastern China and record the events relatedto Mesozoic deconstruction of the North China Craton. Our results demonstrate that the Mesozoic tec-tonic evolution of the eastern North China Craton was related to both sub-crustal delamination andintra-crustal extrusion or escape tectonics. Thus, we propose that the mechanism of uplift of the Yansh-anian North China Plateau and related lithosphere thinning in the eastern North China Craton wererelated to sub-crustal delamination at depth. However, the different distribution patterns of the basinson both sides of the Tan-Lu Fault System as well as the co-existence of both compressional and exten-sional basins in the Mesozoic indicate that these were controlled by escape tectonics in different tectonicparts of the crust.

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1. Introduction

One of the major advances in understanding the basementarchitecture of the North China Craton (NCC) is the recognition ofthe Trans-North China Orogen (TNCO), which divides the cratoninto the Eastern and Western Blocks (EB and WB) (Zhao et al.,2005, 2006; Li and Zhao, 2007; Santosh et al., 2009, 2010; Liet al., 2010, Fig. 1). Geochemical and geologic studies (e.g., Fanand Menzies, 1992; Menzies et al., 1993; Deng et al., 1996; Kuskyet al., 2007) show that the thick lithosphere (>200 km) of the East-ern Block of the NCC was substantially eroded from late Mesozoicto Cenozoic. Geophysical studies (e.g., Huang and Zhao, 2006;Huang et al., 2007) and combined geological–geophysical interpre-tations (Santosh, 2010) have also revealed a dramatically thinnedlithosphere beneath the Eastern Block of the NCC. A number ofstudies have revealed that the lithosphere thinning in this regionresults in crustal reactivation of the NCC (Zhai, 2008; Gao et al.,2008; Xu, 2008; Yang et al., 2008; Zhang et al., 2011, in press).Reactivation of the NCC began in the Early Mesozoic, with the up-lift and onset of magmatism, followed by the development of the

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Marine Geology, College of238, Songling Road, Qingdao

Mesozoic basins and possible plateaus (Zhai, 2008; Gao et al.,2008; Xu, 2008; Yang et al., 2008). This reactivation is related tothe ‘‘Yanshanian Movement’’ which is an intracontinental orogeny,named from the Yanshan area (Wong, 1927; Ge, 1989). The reacti-vation was also related to the development of the Mesozoic basins,including the Bohai Bay Basin (BBB), the Jiaolai Basin, the Hefei Ba-sin, and the North Yellow Sea Basin in the eastern part of the NCC(Fig. 2), and the Jianghan Basin and the Subei-South Yellow Sea Ba-sin to the south of the NCC (Fig. 2) (Liu, 1986; Liu and Yang, 1996;Shang et al., 1997; Liu et al., 2004, 2008a; Zong et al., 1999; Duet al., 1999a,b; Wang et al., 2000; Zhu et al., 2008).

However, for several decades, the ‘‘Yanshanian Movement’’ hasremained unclear, as also the processes within the continent as aconsequence of the development of these basins (Dong et al.,2000, 2005, 2007, 2008; Zhu, 2007). Recently, a large amount ofdata have been gathered from studies related to the Yanshanianmagmatism in the eastern part of the NCC (Zhang, 2007; Gaoet al., 2008), with several workers correlating the process with lith-osphere thinning (Shao et al., 2000, 2007; Li et al., 2004b, 2006,2007b; Xu et al., 2004; Huang and Zhao, 2006; Zhang, 2007; Xu,1999, 2007; Huang et al., 2007; Kusky et al., 2007; Cope andGraham, 2007; Gao et al., 2008; Xu and Zhao, 2009; Zhao, 2009;Lee et al., 2010; Li et al., 2011). However, the detailed mechanismand tectonic setting related to the lithosphere thinning are signif-icantly different. For example, the Yanshanian deformation was

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Fig. 1. Tectonic subdivision of the North China Craton (Zhao et al., 2005). Abbreviations for metamorphic complexes: CD – Chengde; DF – Dengfeng; EH – Eastern Hebei; ES –Eastern Shandong; GY – Guyang; HA – Huai’an; HL – Helanshan; JN – Jining; LL – Lüliang; MY – Miyun; NH – Northern Hebei; NL – Northern Liaoning; QL – Qianlishan; SJ –Southern Jilin; SL – Southern Liaoning; TH – Taihua; WD – Wulashan-Daqingshan; WL – Western Liaoning; WS – Western Shandong; WT – Wutai; XH – Xuanhua; ZH –Zanhuang; ZT – Zhongtiao.

S. Li et al. / Journal of Asian Earth Sciences 47 (2012) 64–79 65

attributed not only to some effects of southward subduction of theSiberia Plate and northward subduction of the South China Cratonunder the NCC, but also to a contribution of oblique subduction ofthe Paleo-Pacific plate (Kula plate), or to a combination of thesemechanisms (Yin and Nie, 1996; Song and Dou, 1997; Yang et al.,2001a,b; Ren et al., 2002). On the other hand, studies on the Meso-zoic magmatism reveal that the subduction of the Paleo-Pacificplate was not the major factor that contributed to the large-scalemagmatic activities during the Yanshanian period in eastern China(Zhang et al., 2001a; Zhang, 2007).

Thus, the important scientific issues to resolve include the iden-tification of the cause of uplift and collapse of the YanshanianNorth China Plateau, its extent and geodynamics (Wang, 1985;Zhang et al., 2001a, 2008, 2009). Furthermore, the tectonic settingof formation of the BBB (Tang et al., 1995; Wu and Cao, 1999), themechanism of the coexisting compressive and extensional struc-tures (Li et al., 2000), the timing and nature of the transitional re-gime of Mesozoic tectonics in eastern China, and their relations tothe exhumation of the UHP–HP rocks in the Qinling–Dabie–SuluOrogen (Fig. 1) (Zhai et al., 2000) are also significant aspects thatremain to be addressed.

Until now, several tectonic models have been put forward con-cerning some of the problems mentioned above, including blockfaulting (Zhang, 1984), strike-slip faulting (Xu et al., 1987; Zhang,1992; Zhang et al., 2007; Zhang and Dong, 2008), indentation(Yin and Nie, 1993, 1996), metamorphic core complexes (Zhenget al., 1990, 2000; Niu et al., 1994; Zhang et al., 1998; Liu et al.,2006, 2008b), point-contact collision (Hacker et al., 1996),

root-plume (Deng et al., 1996), extrusion (Sengör and Natal’in,1996; Zhou et al., 2003), full collision (Zhang, 1997), back-arcspreading (Du et al., 1999a,b), delamination (Xiang et al., 2000;Shao et al., 2007; Cope and Graham, 2007; Li et al., 2007b; Huanget al., 2007), slab window (Zhou and Zhou, 2006), underplating(Zhang, 2007), thermal erosion including thermo-chemical andthermo-mechanical processes (Xu, 2001; Gao et al., 2008), mantlereplacement (Zheng, 1999, 2005), and the ‘‘mushroom’’ model (Luet al., 2005, 2006).

These models highlight the complexity of the shallow and deepMesozoic tectonic processes, deformation, and the relation be-tween spatial distribution of basins and orogens in the EasternBlock of the NCC. To better understand the tectonic evolutionand deformation, it is essential to carry out detailed investigationsof the processes that triggered the formation and loss of the cra-ton’s lithospheric keel, and the decratonization of the easternNCC (Kusky et al., 2007; Yang et al., 2008).

In the last decade, several workers carried out geological fieldinvestigations on the various tectonic units including the basins,blocks and orogens in eastern China. In addition, they have col-lected and re-interpreted previous data, especially from oil compa-nies. This paper refines the Mesozoic tectonic units in the region(Fig. 2), and systematically describes and discusses the Mesozoictectonics, deformation and basin architectural features as a re-sponse to geological processes at depth. Moreover, correlations be-tween these tectonic units are examined, including the ages oftheir deformation, which have been preliminarily defined. We alsodiscuss the tectonic evolution, geodynamic mechanism at depth,

Fig. 2. Sketch tectonic map showing escape tectonics of Mesozoic blocks in eastern China. 1. Erlian–Songliao Block; 2. Jinyi-Ordos Block; 3. Jiaobei–Liaodong–Jinan Block; 4.Bohai–Luxi Block (south) or Liaobei-Jamusi Block (north), 5. Middle–Upper Yangtze Block; 6. Lower Yangtze-South Yellow Sea Block; 7. Orogen: QDS – Qinling–Dabie–Suluorogen, YY – Yinshan–Yanshan Orogen; 8. Mesozoic basins: EL – Erlian Basin, SL – Songliao Basin, SJ – Sanjiang Basin, OR – Ordos Basin, BBB – Bohai Bay Basin, NYS – NorthYellow Sea Basin, MY – Mengyin Basin, JL – Jiaolai Basin, HF – Hefei Basin, SC – Sichuan Basin, JH – Jianghan Basin; 9. sea area; 10. boundary faults of blocks or Orogens; 11.general fault; 12. deduced fault; 13. strike-slip direction; 14. escape direction of blocks. F1: Tan-Lu Fault System; F2: Lan-Liao Fault System; F3: Dunhua-Mishan Fault System;F4: Yilan–Shulan Fault System.

66 S. Li et al. / Journal of Asian Earth Sciences 47 (2012) 64–79

and the tectonic setting at shallow levels and their response todeep processes.

2. Geological setting

The North China Craton (NCC) is one of the world’s oldest Ar-chean cratons, preserving crustal remnants of 3.8–3.0 Ga (Liuet al., 1992, 2008c; Zhai and Santosh, 2011), but its Mesozoic reac-tivation history is distinct from that of other Achaean cratons inthe world (Li et al., 2004a,b, 2007b; Zhang, 2007; Gao et al.,2008; Zhang et al., 2011, in press). The craton has been divided intothe Eastern Block (EB), Western Block (WB) and the interveningTrans-North China Orogen (TNCO) (Fig. 1, Zhao et al., 2003, 2005,2007; Wilde et al., 2004; Xia et al., 2006a,b; Li et al., 2007b,2010). The cratonization of the NCC is considered to have occurred

at ca. 1.80 Ga through the collision of the WB and EB, althoughsome models propose the timing of this collision as late Archean(Kusky, 2011 and references therein). The occurrence of diamond-iferous kimberlites and their entrained garnet peridotitic xenolithsin the Mengyin and Fuxian kimberlite fields reveal the presence ofold, stable and cold Paleozoic lithospheric mantle with a thicknessgreater than 200 km until the mid-Ordovician (465 Ma) (Fan andMenzies, 1992; Menzies et al., 1993; Zhang, 2007). However,Mesozoic reactivation occurred in the EB, as manifested in abun-dant Mesozoic magmatism. Mesozoic lithospheric thinning of theEB has also been identified from geochemical studies (Huanget al., 2007).

A precise time sequence of Mesozoic lithospheric thinning ofthe EB has been proposed by some workers based on geochemicalsignature and geochronological data. Thus, Zhang (2007) demon-strated that the commencement of Mesozoic lithospheric thinning


in the southern EB is around Early Jurassic (190–180 Ma) when thebase of the lithosphere was eroded to a thickness of 80–100 km.The peak of intrusive and extrusive magmatism was in the EarlyCretaceous (130–110 Ma), which is also the peak of the lithopsher-ic thinning in the EB (Zhai et al., 2003; Zhang, 2007; Gao et al.,2008). The lithospheric thinning in the NCC ceased by 86–65 Maattaining its present thickness of about 65 km below the thinnestregion (Xu, 2001; Zhang, 2007). The lithosphere beneath the EB be-came thicker (up to 80 km) by underplating from the Late Creta-ceous to the Cenozoic. Furthermore, the process of lithosphericthinning beneath the EB seems to have started earlier in the norththan that in the south (Zhang, 2007).

The mechanism of lithosphere thinning has recently been hotlydebated. The various models such as delamination and underplat-

Fig. 3. Distribution of major Mesozoic basins in China. Basin names and types: 1 – BohaiApart Basin; 5 – Jizhong Pull-Apart Basin; 6 – Hefei Buckling Basin; 7 – Jiaolai Half GrabeBuckling Basin; 11 – Chengde Buckling Basin; 12 – Pingquan Buckling Basin; 13 – BeipiaPull-Apart Basin; 17 – Jixi Pull-Apart Basin; 18 – Songliao Rift; 19 – Erlian Pull-Apart BGraben; 23 – Yuanma Buckling Basin; 24 – Xiangzhong Pull-Apart Basin; 25 – Gaoan Pull-Basin; 28 – Lanping-Simao Pull-Apart Basin; 29 – Tarim Buckling Basin; 30 – Junggar BuPull-Apart Basin; 34 – Yanqi Pull-Apart Basin; 35 – Kumish Pull-Apart Basin; 36 – SantangBasin; 39 – Daofengshan Pull-Apart Basin; 40 – Aksai Pull-Apart Basin; 41 – DunhuangShucheng Fault, south segment of Tan-Lu Fault System and Tangwu-Gegou, Yishui-TanJiashan–Lujiang Fault, south segment of Tan-Lu Fault System and Anqiu-Juxian, Changyi-– Yilan-Shulang Fault, middle segment of Tan-Lu Fault System; F2 – Lan-Liao Fault SystemF2-2 – Yanshan–Qikou–Xingang Fault, middle segment of Lan-Liao Fault System, F2-3 –Fault, northeast segment of Lan-Liao Fault System; F3 – Tianshan–Solonker Suture (Xiao(Xar Moron-Yanji), F4 – Altyn-Tagn Strike-slip Fault; F5 – Kalameili-Greater Hingan Sutur2009), F6 – Huhhot-Gushi-Chicheng-Fault; F7 – East Taihanshan Fault; F8 – HelanF10-1 – Shangxian–Danfeng Segment, F10-2 – Wulian–Qingdao–Yantai Segment, F10-3F11-2 – Mianxian-Lueyang-Chengkou-Fangxiang-Guangji Segment, F11-3 – AnimaqinShuanghu–Changning–Menglian Suture; F15 – Jinshajiang–Ailaoshan–Majiang Suture; FPrecambrian Basement Uplift; F18 � Jiang–Shao or Chenzhou–Linwu Fault; F19 – Xuxu

ing are discussed from the view point of the geodynamic processesat depth, and correlating with the major events in surrounding oro-gens such as the Central Asian Orogen in the north, the Central Chi-na Orogenic Belt in the south or the northwestward subduction ofthe Paleo-Pacific plate (Fig. 2) (Li et al., 2004a, 2007a; Shao et al.,2007; Zhang, 2007; Huang et al., 2007; Kusky et al., 2007; Copeand Graham, 2007; Gao et al., 2008). The thinning led not only toa decrease in the lithosphere thickness, but also to the formationof various small Jurassic and Cretaceous sedimentary basins. How-ever, it should be noted that the lithosphere of the EB has been un-der contractional deformation arising from the compressive forcesin the surrounding orogens during Early Mesozoic time, with noextensional thinning. Until the Late Cretaceous and Cenozoic, thegeneration of sedimentary basins in eastern China resulted from

Half Graben; 2 – Jiyang Half Graben; 3 – Mengyin Half Graben; 4 – Huanghua Pull-n; 8 – North Yellow Sea Pull-Apart Basin; 9 – Jingxi Buckling Basin; 10 – Shiguangzio Buckling Basin; 14 – Kailu Pull-Apart Basin; 15 – Sanjiang Half Graben; 16 – Boliasin; 20 – Ordos Buckling Basin; 21 – Sichuan Buckling Basin; 22 – Jianghan HalfApart Basin; 26 – Subei-South Yellow Sea Pull-Apart Basin; 27 – Chuxiong Pull-Apartckling Basin; 31 – Illy Buckling Basin; 32 – South Illy Pull-Apart Basin; 33 – Yabulaihu Buckling Basin; 37 – Turpan-Hami (Tuha) Pull-Apart Basin; 38 – Kash Pull-ApartPull-Apart Basin. Fault names and types: F1 – Tan-Lu Fault System, F1-1 – Wuhe–

gtou and Yingkou–Weifang Faults, middle segment of Tan-Lu Fault System, F1-2 –Dadian and Tong’erpu–Yingkou Faults, middle segment of Tan-Lu Fault System, F1-3

, F2-1 – Lankao–Liaocheng–Yanshan Fault, south segment of Lan-Liao Fault System,Tai’an–Dawa Fault, north segment of Lan-Liao Fault System, F2-4 – Dunhua-Mishanet al., 2009), F3-1 – Tianshan Segment (Wuqia-Korla-Xingeer Fault), F3-2 – Solonkere; F5-1 – Kalameili Segement, F5-2 – Mongolia-Greater Hingan Segment (Zhou et al.,-Liupan Thrust; F9 – North Suture of Qilian Orogen; F10 – Shangdan Suture,– Caibeiyuan Segment; F11 – Mianlue Suture, F11-1 – Jiashan–Xiangshui Segment,Segment; F12 – Bangonghu–Nujiang Suture; F13 – Yalong Zangbo Suture; F14 –16 – Longmenshan Thrust; F17 � Northern boundary fault of the Jiangnan–XuefengNappe; F20 – Liaonan Nappe.


regional back-arc expansion or extension due to the northwest-ward subduction of the Pacific Plate (Ren et al., 2002).

The basins in Eastern China are closely related in time, spatialdistribution and genesis. The medium- and large-scale Mesozoicbasins include the (Haila’er-) Erlian Basin, the Songliao Basin, theOrdos Basin, the Bohai Bay Basin, the Jiaolai Basin, the Hefei Basin,the Sichuan Basin, the Jianghan Basin and the North Yellow Sea Ba-sin (Figs. 2 and 3). These basins are second-order tectonic unitsdeveloped on blocks, which include the Erlian–Songliao Block,the Jingyi–Ordos Block, the Jiaobei–Liaodong–Jinan Block, theBohai–Luxi Block, the North Liaoning-Jiamusi Block, the Middle–Upper Yangtze Block and the Lower Yangtze-South Yellow SeaBlock (Fig. 2). These blocks are related to the surrounding orogens,which include the Yinshan–Yanshan Orogen and the Qinling–Dabie–Sulu Orogen of the Central China Orogen, because of Triassiccollision of the NCC and South China Craton and Jurassic super-convergence of the surrounding plates (Fig. 2). The South andNorth China Cratons were joined as one unified block in earlyMesozoic, but the tectonics, deformation and distribution of thesebasins in the NCC were mainly controlled by two fault systems: the

Fig. 4. Cenozoic structural division of the Bohai Bay Basin showing distinct difference bYishui-Tangtou Fault; F3 – Anqiu-Juxian Fault; F4 – Changyi-Dadian Fault; F5 – YingkChengnan Fault; F8 – Tai’an–Dawa Fault; F9 – Yanshan–Qikou–Xingang Fault; F10 – Lan

Lankao–Liaocheng–Yanshan–Tai’an–Dawa–Dunhua-Mishan (Lan-Liao) Fault System and the Tancheng–Lujiang–Yilan–Shulan (Tan-Lu) Fault System (Figs. 2 and 3) (Zhou et al., 2003). The natureand significance of these two major fault systems are consideredbelow.

3. Two Mesozoic fault systems with opposite sense ofmovement

3.1. The Lan-Liao Fault System

In accordance with the surface geology, geophysical data andthe tectonic boundary between the Jingyi–Ordos Block and the Jia-obei–Liaodong–Jinan Block since the Tertiary, the Lan-Liao FaultSystem can be divided into three segments: the northeastDunhua-Mishan segment, the middle segment and the southwestLankao–Liaocheng–Yanshan segment (Figs. 2 and 6). The faultsare well developed in the northwest Dunhua-Mishan and south-west Liaocheng–Lankao segments (Xiang et al., 2000), extendingsouthwestward from Lankao County (Fig. 2).

etween its west part and its east part. Fault names: F1 – Tangwu-Gegou Fault; F2 –ou–Weifang and Tong’erpu–Yingkou Faults; F6 – Zhangjiakou-Penglai Fault; F7 –kao–Liaocheng Fault; F11 – Cangxian Fault; F12 – East Taihangshan Fault.

Fig. 5. Distribution of thrust faults in the Huanghua Depression and their genetic analysis (isodepth contours of the top surface of Late Ordovician in Mesozoic basin).


The southwest segment exhibits sharp gravity and magneticgradients, well displayed along the southwest segment that con-sists of a number of parallel, multiple-scale faults, with the mainfault extending north–north-eastward, plunging northwestwardand dipping 40–60�. The fault plane is flat and smooth and evi-dently offsets the strata seen on the seismic profiles. At the south-ern tip of the segment, reverse dragging is observed. The segmentis also called the Chengxi Fault and occurs as the western boundaryfault of the Cenozoic Luxi Uplift and Chengning Uplift (Fig. 4),which controls the Paleogene sedimentation in the Dongpu andother depressions (Fig. 4).

The available data from the Dagang Oilfield Company (Scientificbook compilers of Dagang Oilfields, 1999) shows that one dextraltranspressional fault extends northeastward to Yanshan Town,via Huanghua (Fig. 5), Qinhuangdao City and the western slopeof the western depression of the Liaohe Oilfield (Fig. 2), linkingup with the Tai’an–Dawa Fault on the western side of the LiaoheCentral Rise (Fig. 4). In terms of the gravity data, it links up with

the northeast segment in Shenyang City. In general, the faultstrikes at 30–40�, with a total length of more than 3000 km, andis the boundary fault that divides the Mesozoic Bohai–Luxi Blockand the Jinyi-Ordos Block (Fig. 2).

The southwest segment formed during Middle–Late Mesozoictime (Tian et al., 2000). The thrust and strike-slip fault assemblageand relevant fold belts indicate that during the Mesozoic, this faultsystem was a dextral transpressional tectonic zone (Fig. 5), in con-trast to the Tan-Lu Fault System (Fig. 2). It controls not only the thickNNE-trending Mesozoic sedimentation, but has also induced intensetectonism since the Paleogene, controlling the sedimentation anddevelopment of the eastern boundary fault of the depression.

The middle segment of the Lan-Liao Fault System includes theblind Yanshan–Qikou Fault and the Tai’an–Dawa Fault (Figs. 3and 4). The Tai’an–Dawa Fault in the Liaohe Depression (Fig. 4)controls the distribution of Meso- and Cenozoic faults anddepression on the western side of the Mesozoic faults, where thereare a large number of Mesozoic sedimentary depressions and

Fig. 6. Distribution and different proto-types of relic Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous basins in eastern North China. Fault names: F1 – Rizhao–Qingdao–Yantai Fault; F2 –Wulian–Qingdao Fault; F3 – Tangwu-Gegou and Yishui-Tangtou Faults; F4 – Anqiu-Juxian and Changyi-Dadian Faults; F5 – Shangwujin and Sishili-Changshan Faults; F6 –Jinan Fault; F7 – Yanshan–Qikou–Xingang Fault; F8 – Tai’an–Dawa Fault; F9 – Cangxian Fault; F10 – Shulu-Gaoyang-Anguo Fault; F11 – Xushui–Baoding-Shijiazhuang Fault;F12 – Babaoshan Fault; F13 – Hohhot-Gushi-Chifeng Fault; F14 – Solonker Suture; F15 – Helan-Liupan Fault; F16 – Lenglongling Fault; F17 – Heihe Fault; F18 – ShangdanSuture; F19 – Jinzhai-Longhekou Fault. Basin names: B1 – Liaodong Bay Basin; B2 – Laizhou Bay Basin; B3 – Jiyang Basin; B4 – Jiaolai Basin; B5 – Pingyi Basin; B6 – LaiwuBasin; B7 – Mengying Basin; B8 – Suxian Basin; B9 – Sixian Basin; B10 – Linquan Basin; B11 – Shangqiu Basin; B12 – Shenqiu Basin; B13 – Geyucheng Basin; B14 –Beijing Basin; B15 – Shijiazhuang Basin; B16 – Huanghua Basin; B17 – Lingqing Basin; B18 – Jiyuan Basin; B19 – Nanshao Basin; B20 – Tanglu Basin; B21 – Hefei Basin;B22 – Ordos Basin; B23 – Huajiying Basin; B24 – Fengshan Basin; B25 – Pingzhuang Basin; B26 – Jianchuang-Kazuo Basin; B27 – Fuxin Basin.


Paleogene volcanic rocks, and these rocks are locally considerablythick. The blind Yanshan–Qikou–Xingang Fault is a pre-Tertiarydeep-seated large-scale fault. Recent 3-D seismic data reveal thatthe Yanshan–Chengxi Fault penetrates to the Moho with a throwof 3.6–4.1 km (Fig. 4, Zhang et al., 1999).

The Lan-Liao Fault System separates the Jinyi-Ordos Block fromthe Bohai–Luxi Block (Fig. 2), constituting an important boundaryfault between the two types of Precambrian crystalline as well asa boundary for the different degree of preserved pre-Mesozoic stra-ta. There is difference between the Neoproterozoic Series acrossthis boundary fault, to the east, called the Liaodong type (Fig. 4)and to the west, called the Liaoxi type (Fig. 4) with thick deposits.The lines of principal evidence for the existence of this fault can besummarized as follows:

(1) Regional structural traces on both sides of the Lan-Liao FaultSystem are perpendicular (Fig. 4). On both sides of the faultsystem, the tectonic lines (including faults) are distinctly per-pendicular in strike. The basement-involved faults in theCenozoic western Huanghua and Jizhong depressions(Fig. 4) on the western side show NE- and NNE-strikingtectonic lines, while those in the Cenozoic eastern Huanghua,Jiyang, Nanbao and Bohai depressions (Fig. 4) on the easternside show the approximately EW- or NW-striking tectoniclines, reflecting differences in the tectonic style of basementdevelopment between the eastern and western parts of theBBB.

(2) The continuity of the tectonic patterns is interrupted. TheCangdong and Nandagang faults (Fig. 4) are NE-strikingand southeastward plunging basement-involved faults,disappearing abruptly when extending to the western coast-

line of Bohai Bay, and then swinging into the NNE-strikingand northwestward-plunging Qidong and Tangjiahe (base-ment-involved) faults (Fig. 4). The opposing tectonic pat-terns reflect buried fault system at depth.

(3) In the upper part of this fault, NE left-lateral dextral en ech-elon structural highs appear.

(4) Geophysical profile also reflects that the Moho is not contin-uous across the boundary between the Huanghua Depres-sion and the Cangxian Uplift (Fig. 4). The Moho betweenthe Huanghau Depression and the Chengning Uplift is offsetby a fault with a throw of about 4 km. This fault lies beneaththe Yanshan Sag (Fig. 4), and along the fault are a series ofigneous rocks, which extend discontinuously to the northof the Shijiutuo Rise and western Xiaoliaohe Depression(Fig. 4) where there are widespread magmatic rocks belong-ing to the Yanshanian event, indicating that this fault hasbeen active since Mesozoic.

(5) As viewed from the distribution of Tertiary volcanic rocks,the igneous rocks of different ages are distributed alongthis fault zone, reflecting that this fault had developed asa lithospheric fault during the Early Tertiary. During theCenozoic, this fault had a conjugate relation with theCangdong Fault (Fig. 4), at depth this fault links up withthe Cangdong Fault as a deep strike-slip fault as reflectedby seismic profile, exhibiting a large negative flower-likestructure. This fault zone, as a whole, shows NEE-strikenormal fault system, within which the horsts are rotatedclockwise, reflecting a dextral fault pattern under theextension. Within the basin to the west of the fault sys-tem, the fault assemblage is very complicated, with lis-tric-, chair- and plane-shaped faults recognized. However,


most of the fault types are relatively simple, steep plane-shaped faults in the Chengning Uplift and its easterngentle-slope areas.

The Dunhua-Mishan Fault System (Figs. 2 and 3) is the north-east segment of this important strike-slip fault system which isabout 10–20 km in width, where tectonic activities were intenseduring the Mesozoic, controlling the development of Late Mesozoicgrabens and the distribution of sedimentary formations andYanshanian intrusive bodies and alkali basalts (Fig. 2) (Zhouet al., 2003). Meanwhile, a number of drag structures, drag foldsand parallel faults developed along this fault system. TheDunhua-Mishan Fault System in northeastern China is generallya sinistral strike-slip ductile shear zone of Middle Jurassic. A sinis-tral transtensional fault developed during Early Cretaceous, with atransition to a dextral transpressional fault during Late Cretaceous,followed by a dextral transtensional fault during the Cenozoic,although the fault evolution is debated (Sun et al., 2010). However,we consider the fault system as a dextral transpressional fault ofLate Cretaceous during the escape tectonics (Fig. 2). Furthermore,the Dunhua–Mishan Fault System is considered as a segment ofthe Lan-Liao Fault System although it was previously suggestedas a branch fault of the Tan-Lu Fault System.

3.2. The Tan-Lu Fault System

The Tan-Lu Fault System is a magnificent, multi-episode activeNNE-strike deep fault system with a total length of 3600 kmthrough the whole of eastern China (Fig. 1) (Zhu et al., 2001). Itstarts from the southern part of Lujiang, Anhui Province in thesouth and extends northeastward to Tancheng, Shandong Provinceand across the Bohai Bay (Figs. 2 and 3). During Mesozoic, this faultsystem corresponded to the Yilan–Shulan Fault System in LiaoningProvince and shows a conjugate relationship with the Lan-LiaoFault System (Fig. 2).

In terms of the nature, evolution, geophysical characteristics,basin-controlling features, and magmatic activity, the fault systemcan be subdivided into three segments: the southern, middle andnorthern segments.

The southern segment starts from the southern part of Lujiang,Anhui Province, and extends to the vicinity of Tancheng in thenorth, which is the boundary line between the NCC and theDabie–Sulu Orogen or the South China Craton (Fig. 1). The segmentconsists of two major faults: the Wuhe–Shucheng Fault on thewestern side and the Jiashan–Lujiang Fault on the eastern side(Fig. 3, Han, 1996). The late Achaean and Palaeoproterozoic meta-morphic rocks or Sinian–Cambrian strata are continuously exposedalong the faults, defining horst structures. The fault system alsocontrols the Jurassic-Cretaceous and Tertiary grabens or basins.Relatively large differences are noticed in the tectonic frameworkfrom one segment to another. The fault system has commonlycompressive foliated belts as well as tectonic lenses and mylonites.Kinematics studies reveal that the faults experienced intensemultiple-stage thrusting and sinistral shearing (Zhu et al., 2005).

The middle segment is located in the central part of ShandongProvince and east of the Bohai Bay, extending to Shenyang(Fig. 2). In the Cenozoic Liaohe Depression the Tan-Lu Fault Systemis located in the sag in the east (Figs. 2 and 4). Geomagnetic survey,drilling and geochronological data show that the central rise ismade up of Achaean gneisses and migmatites on the western side,while Paleozoic or Proterozoic strata occur on the eastern side. Onthe eastern side of the fault, relatively deep parallel sags formedwith the fault during Mesozoic. On the western side of the fault,some relict Mesozoic strata exist but are relatively thin. Significantdifferences in lithology have been recognized on both sides of thefault. In the Liaodong Bay (Fig. 4), a group of NE-trending

basement-involved faults were developed, which plunge eastwardor westward, controlling the development and distribution of theLiaodong Sag and the Liaozhong Sag (Fig. 4) with throws generallyranging from 2000 to 4000 m. As revealed by geophysics data, inthe Cenozoic Liaohe Depression there are two major basement-involved faults, both being west-dipping normal faults. The faulton the eastern side is referred to as the Tong’erpu–Yingkou Fault(Fig. 4), a main fault in the middle segment of the Tan-Lu FaultSystem.

The Yingkou–Weifang Fault (Fig. 4) is another important fault atthe middle segment of the Tan-Lu Fault System. Although there isno remarkable linear feature on either the gravity or magneticanomaly, the seismic profiles show that there are left-lateral en-echelon Cenozoic grabens and horsts separated by a series of NE-and NNE-trending faults. However, south of the Laizhou Bay(Fig. 4), the tectonic framework gives way to a group of nearlyEW-trending rises and sags, in which Late Jurassic–Early Creta-ceous intermediate to mafic volcanic rocks and pyroclastic rocksare exposed with a thickness up to several thousands of meters.During Early Tertiary, several episodes of basaltic extrusion andintrusion of diabase occurred in the sags.

In Shandong Province, from southern Weifang to Xinyi, Shuxian,the branch faults of the Tan-Lu Fault System constitute the YishuFault System with 20–60 km in width (wide in the south and nar-row in the north) (Figs. 3 and 4). From west to east the fault systeminclude the Tangwu-Gegou, Yishui-Tangtou, Anqiu-Juxian andChangyi-Dadian faults (Figs. 3 and 4), forming a structural frame-work in which one horst is sandwiched between two grabens, withthe Cretaceous volcanic and red clastic rocks in the grabens. Mag-netic data display a series of alternating positive and negativeanomalies in consistency with the faults. On both sides of the faultsystem, there are a series of NW-trending faults which controlledthe distribution of the Mesozoic half graben basins. In some places,the faults cut across the major fault. The distribution of the Meso-zoic basins is controlled by ENE–EW-trending faults on both sidesof the fault system. The rifts along the fault zone closed since thelate Cretaceous, giving way to intensive compression, resulting inreverse thrust faults which extend as long as several hundred kilo-meters. On both the eastern and western sides of the faults theNW- and EW-trending fault basins were still under development,including the Huangxin Basin on the eastern side, and the Mengy-ing, Pingyi and Laiwu basins on the western side (Figs. 2–4).

The northern segment of the Tan-Lu Fault System, starting fromShenyang, refers to the northeast-striking and northwest-dippingYilan–Shulan Fault (Figs. 2 and 3) with a dip of about 70�. The faultis steeper near the surface than at depths, and dips southeastwardlocally. This fault is imaged in gravity studies with higher gravityanomaly on the eastern side. Aeromagnetic data show NE-trendingalternating positive and negative anomalies. The gravity data showlow and sparse anomalies on the western side of the fault. Differentgeological structures and directions of tectonic lines have been rec-ognized on both sides of the fault system. The eastern side is dom-inated by NE-trending tectonic lines, which may be related to thenorthwestward subduction of the Kula Plate, whereas the westernside is defined by north–northeastward tectonic lines, consistentwith the development of the suture between the NCC and the Mon-golia–Siberia Block (Xiao et al., 2003a,b, 2009, 2010). This suggeststhat the fault has inherited the tectonic characteristics within thePaleozoic basement.

4. Mesozoic deformation and basins in the EB

To better understand the relationship of the deformation of oro-gens and blocks with the spatial distribution of basins in easternChina, we evaluate below the tectonic setting and deformation


characteristics of Mesozoic tectonic units and the spatial distribu-tion and types of the basins in the EB of the NCC in this section.

4.1. Bohai–Luxi Block

This tectonic unit can be further subdivided into four second-order tectonic units: the Mesozoic BBB, the Mengyin Half Grabens,the Luxi Uplift and the Hefei Basin (Li et al., 2000, 2004b, 2008;Figs. 2 and 4).

4.1.1. Mesozoic Bohai Bay BasinInformation about the tectonic framework of the Mesozoic

basement of the Cenozoic BBB was scanty until recently. The devel-opment of oil/gas exploration at deep levels in eastern China hasgenerated a lot of data (Zong et al., 1999). The Mesozoic basementin the BBB can be divided into two major tectonic units with theLan-Liao Fault System as the boundary line (Figs. 2 and 3) (Liet al., 2000).

To the west of the line, the major structural traces of the Yansh-anian deformation is are defined by NNE-trending thrusts, repre-sented by the Taihangshan Thrust (Fig. 3, Wu and Cao, 1999; Liet al., 1999), the East Cangdong Thrust Fault (Qi et al., 2001) andthe NNE-striking en echelon folds. In the BBB, from the line tothe Tan-Lu Fault System, the Middle Yanshanian NWW-trendingnormal faults controlled a series of faulted half grabens, whichare filled with large amounts of volcano-sedimentary rocks. Recentoil/gas exploration has shown that there are almost no Triassicstrata under the Bohai Bay. However, a large amount of Triassicstrata were deposited in the Yanshan Sag to the west of the linementioned above (Fig. 4), and these Triassic strata tend to becomeprogressively thinner from the Ordos Basin to the TaihangshanThrust Fault (Fig. 2) (Wang et al., 1999). Associated with theWNW–ESE-directed compression, large-scale ESE to WNW-trend-ing normal ductile shear zones and a series of SSW to NNE-strikingshort-axis anticlines (Li et al., 2009) have developed in the region,similar to the ‘‘Jura-type’’ folds in the western part of South China(Song and Dou, 1997; Jin et al., 2009; Liu et al., 2010).

4.1.2. Mengyin half grabensThe Mengyin half grabens are located in the Luxi Uplift, and are

subdivided into the Laiwu, Mengyin and Pingyi half grabens (Figs. 3and 4), forming a group of NW-striking curved half grabens charac-terized by faulting in the north and overlapping in the south. Thestructure developed from Late Jurassic, through Early Cretaceous,to Early Tertiary.

4.1.3. Luxi upliftThe Achaean rocks in the Luxi uplift are generally referred to as

the Taishan Complex, which, in addition to high-grade orthogneis-ses and supracrustal rocks, is dominated by a late Achaean green-stone assemblage consisting of metasedimentary-volcanic rocksrepresented by the Yanlingguan Formation that contains typicalkomatiites. The high-grade orthogneisses possess WNW-strikingand mainly SE–SSE-dipping gneissosity. Meso- and Neoproterozoicstrata are absent in the sedimentary cover, but a wide Paleozoicstrata has developed unconformably overlying on the Achaeanbasement. During the Early and Middle Yanshanian period, thePaleozoic strata in the Luxi region underwent two episodes ofweak ESE–WNW-trending compression, as reflected by the exten-sive occurrence of residual NNE-striking ‘‘Jura-type’’ folds, whichlink up with the nappes in the southern Liaoning Province to theNNE (Fig. 3, Xu and Cui, 1996) and with the nappes in the Xuzhouto the SSE (Fig. 3, Wang et al., 1998).

To the WNW, a thin-skinned compressional tectonic zonedeveloped in the southern part of the intensely deformed Huang-hua Depression (Fig. 5) (Qi et al., 2001). This zone formed during

the same period, constituting the large fold–thrust belt of theYanshanian period, extending to the EB in eastern China (Fig. 1).

The present-day tectonic framework of the Luxi uplift resultedfrom the normal faulting of two extensional events during theMesozoic and Cenozoic periods following the Early Yanshanianmovement (Fig. 4). The extensional movement led to the formationof three suites of fault systems: the extensional fault system, thetransfer fault system and the detachment fault system. The exten-sional fault system is WNW-striking, south-dipping in the south-central part of the rise, and north-dipping in the northern part ofthe rise. The fault plane is straight or listric, displaying a domino-type fault pattern. The Taishan, Mengshan and Yishan faults con-trol Mesozoic and Cenozoic sedimentation in the half graben aswell as the distribution of the mantle-derived gabbro in Jinan City(Fig. 2). The transfer fault system is NNE-to N-striking, steep-dipping, cutting across the Moho. Thus, Yan et al. (1996) termedit the ‘‘accommodation’’ fault system. In addition to the WujingFault which extends from south to north, the other transfer faultsare separated into the south and north segments by the Taishan,Mengshan and Yishan faults (Fig. 6). The main transfer fault dipswestward and is stair-shaped at the depth of 20 km, and effectedthe Domino-type normal faulting of the detachment faults fromeast to west (Yan et al., 1996). There are two detachment zonesin the Luxi uplift, with the deep one being the décollement alongthe angular unconformity plane between the Ordovician and theCarboniferous or between the Cambrian and the Achaean gran-ite-greenstone terranes. In different regions, the extent of develop-ment of such fault structure is different. Structural studies haveshown that the gravitational décollement along the dip directionof the strata has a displacement of about 2–5 km. The formationof the detachment fault system involved two stages: the earlystage started in the Late Jurassic and ended in the Early Cretaceous,while the late stage started from the Tertiary. Based on balancedprofile and low-velocity and high-conductivity characteristics,the detachment fault is inferred to have developed at depths of20–25 km in the Luxi uplift and 12–17 km in the Jiyang Depression(Figs. 2 and 3) (Yan et al., 1996).

4.1.4. Hefei BasinIn this study, the Hefei Basin is considered as a secondary tec-

tonic unit located in the southern part of the Bohai–Luxi Block(Fig. 2). The basin is a Meso-Cenozoic NWW-trending elongatedforeland-like basin and its Early Jurassic depocenter is close tothe northern slope of the Dabie Orogen. During Early Jurassic–EarlyCretaceous, the depocenter of the basin continued to migratenorthward, and a northward thrust nappe developed under intensecompression, forming a WNW-striking fold–thrust belt (Li et al.,2000, 2004a, 2005, 2009, 2010). Starting from Late Cretaceous, ma-jor changes took place in stress field. The previous thrust faults inthe Hefei Basin were reversed, leading to the formation of a halfgraben basin which is dominated by normal faulting in the southand overlapping in the north. It is deduced that this half graben ba-sin is similar to the Mengyin Half Graben with respect to their ge-netic mechanisms (Figs. 2 and 3).

4.2. Jiaobei–Liaodong–Jinan Block

The region of the Jiaobei–Liaodong–Jinan Block is equivalent tothat of the Precambrian Jiaoliao Block (Fig. 2), which consistsmainly of Achaean complexes and Paleoproterozoic granitic gneis-ses and strata, and Mesozoic granites. A number of the IndosinianI-type granitic plutons are present in the Liaodong Peninsula whichwere recognized only in the eastern part of North China (Fig. 4).The Yanshanian granitic plutons are aligned in a NE direction.The Indosinian deformation of strata is reflected chiefly in thesouthern and central Liaoning Province, but the main folds of


Paleozoic strata occur along the EW direction (Zhao et al., 2000). Atthe end of the Middle Yanshanian, the deformation of the strata inthe southern part of Liaoning Province is represented by awestward thrust nappe (Xu and Cui, 1996). However, during LateJurassic–Early Cretaceous, the entire Jiaobei–Liaodong–Jinan Blockexperienced NNE–SSW-directed extension, giving rise to a series ofWNW-striking half graben basins with faults occurring in thesouth and overthrust faults in the north, including the Jiaolai Basin,Rongcheng Basin, North Yellow Sea Basin (Figs. 2 and 3).

4.3. Qinling–Dabie–Sulu Orogen

The Qinling–Dabie Orogen contains two sutures: the southMianlue Suture and the north Shangdan Suture (Meng and Zhang,1999; Sun et al., 2002; Xu et al., 2002; Zhang et al., 2001b, 2004; Liet al., 2002, 2007a,b; Dong et al., 2011a,b) (Figs. 2 and 3), which re-sulted from the late Triassic closure of the Shangdan and MianlueOceans, respectively. Continuous large-scale compression duringthe Yanshanian period led to the formation of two large-scale tec-tonic belts: the south and north positive flower-like tectonic belts,with distinct strike-slip characteristics. Intercalated with the twotectonic belts is the Qinling–Dabie Microplate (Zhang et al.,1996; Li et al., 2002, 2007a; Wang et al., 2003). Detailed tectonicdata indicate that the Shangdan and Mianlue Oceans subductedbeneath the NCC and the Qinling–Dabie Microplate during the Tri-assic, respectively. Subsequently, the NCC subducted beneath theQinling–Dabie Microplate during the Late Jurassic–Early Creta-ceous, the latter experiencing large-scale intercontinental subduc-tion and extrusion, leading to the northward thrusting at thesouthern margin of the Hefei Basin. The Hefei Basin is a half grabencharacterized by faulting in the south and overlapping in the northuntil Late Cretaceous, with its formation age close to that of theMengyin Half Grabens in the Luxi Uplift (Fig. 2).

4.4. Yinshan–Yanshan Orogen

The Yinshan–Yanshan Orogen is an intraplate orogen, generallyEW-striking except for its eastern segment which shows a north-east strike (Fig. 2) (Zhao et al., 1994, 2004a,b; Zhang et al., 1997,2002). The orogen is cut across by a series of NNE left-lateralstrike-slip fault offsets, but the most recent data suggest that thereis no such structural offset. Its northern boundary is generally re-garded as the northern marginal fault of the NCC (Li et al., 1990;Ren et al., 1998), the southern boundary is still unknown. It isdeduced that the southern boundary is represented by theCongli–Chicheng–Pingquan Fault. The belt is characterized by thedevelopment of thrusts and related structures, among which theNW- or N-striking thrusts dominate the EW striking segment ofthe belt (Zhang, 1997; Davis et al., 1998; Zhang and Song,1997a,b). The general tectonic pattern in Mesozoic was character-ized by large-scale imbricated thrust tectonics in the basement.The peak thrusting started at some time before Middle Jurassicand ended during late Jurassic. To the west of Liaoning, theNE-striking Mesozoic thrust nappes resulted from this tectonictransition caused by the change of the tectonic direction of macro-scopic left-lateral strike-slip process in the E–W-striking YanshanFault (Zhang and Song, 1997a,b) (Fig. 2).

5. Mesozoic tectonic setting within and around the EB

During Early–Middle Triassic, the Ordos Basin formed in theareas west of the Taihangshan Thrust Fault in the NCC (Fig. 2). Itis an open, intracontinental, depressional lake basin, and the sedi-ments in the northern part of the basin are coarser and thinnerthan those in the southern part, and also show thinning in the east

as compared to the west. Its depocenter has a slight bias towardsouth. The triangular Late Triassic Alax Block (Fig. 3) escaped east-wards under the S–N compression resulting from collision be-tween the NCC and the Mongolia–Siberia Block along theSolonker Suture in the north (Fig. 3) and the South China Cratonalong the Mianlue and Shangdan Sutures in the south (Fig. 3)(Zhang et al., 1996; Wu et al., 1997; Liu, 1998; Xiao et al.,2003a,b; Li et al., 2007a, b). The foreland basin formed initially atthe western margin of the Ordos Basin as the eastern margin ofthe Taihangshan Mountains progressively uplifted, and the basinrange was reduced southwestwards (Zhao, 1984).

During early Early Jurassic, southwest China was characterizedby two oceans which are now represented by the Bangonghu–Nujiang and Yalong Zangbo sutures (Fig. 3). In northeast China,however, the Nadan-Hadaling Trough had become obviously shal-low as compared with its nature in Triassic, when the Yinshan–Yanshan Orogen (Figs. 2–4) in the northern part of North Chinaunderwent intense compression. The NCC underwent furtherdeformation induced from northward intracontinental subductionof the South China Craton under the joint action of the Tethys Tec-tonic Domain to the southwest and the Pacific Tectonic Domain tothe southeast (Fig. 7) (Zhang et al., 1996). Such a tectonic scenariois similar to the indentation of the Indian Plate into the EurasianPlate which led to the extrusion of the Anatolia Block and theIndosinian Block (Fig. 3) (Tapponnier et al., 1982; Sengör et al.,1985). Under such a tectonic setting, some triangular blocks inthe North and South China Cratons escaped northeastward andsouthwestward under the action of NW–SE-directed compression.This process led to the formation, axial direction and distributionof the Meso- and Cenozoic escape-related basins controlled by theLan-Liao and Tan-Lu strike-slip Fault Systems in the study area(Fig. 2).

Some of these basins are composed of genetically related pull-apart basins, half graben basins, flexural-basins and foreland ba-sins in different parts of the continental blocks developed underthe same tectonic setting. The flexural or foreland basins alwaysformed in the front of a triangular block, such as the Hefei Basin,the Ordos Basin and the Sichuan Basin, which developed till theEarly Cretaceous (Fig. 3). The Lower and Middle Jurassic strata inthe former two basins are thicker in the south than in the north,overlapping from south to north. The latter basin was separatedinto the small Sichuan, Chuxiong and Lanping-Simao basins(Fig. 3) (Wu et al., 1997). Strike-slip pull-apart basins were typi-cally formed on both sides of a triangular block or at its center,including the early Hailar–Er’lian Basin and the Songliao Basin, aswell as the Kailu, Sanjiang, Boli and Jixi basins (Figs. 2 and 3).The former two basins are foreland basins. Similar type of basinscan be found in west China, such as the Illy, Kumish, Yanqi, Tuha,Santang Lake and Yabulai basins (Fig. 3) along the Tianshan Moun-tains, forming a string of Early–Middle Jurassic pull-apart basins,and the left-lateral en echelon Kash, Daofengshan, Suo’erkuri, Dun-huang and Aksai small basins along the Altyn-Tagn Fault (Fig. 3).All of these experienced right-lateral strike-slip pull-apart of theAltyn-Tagn Fault, indicating that during Early and Middle Jurassictime, the Altyn Mountain did not experience uplift through dextralshearing-compression (Wu et al., 1997). The half grabens typicallyformed at the rear margins of triangular blocks, in their pre-existing tectonic belts or pre-existing rises, represented by theShiguaizi, Jingxi, Luanping, Chifeng and Beipiao buckling basinsand Bohai Half Graben and other small-sized ones (Figs. 3 and 5).

The Middle–Late Jurassic is a tectonic transitional stage in east-ern China. At the end of the Middle Jurassic, intense deformationand large-scale NE-striking structures formed. The Middle–LateJurassic sedimentation was generally concentrated around theYanshan region and on the northern part of the Dabie orogen, asreflected by intermountain and piedmont sedimentation and

Fig. 7. North China Craton located at the center of three global tectonic domain and surrounded by orogens developed at different periods.


intense volcanic activity. Basins of this type on both sides are char-acterized by syn-orogenic or post-orogenic extension in the hinter-land, and the pre-existing basins were strongly deformed. In thenorthern part of North China, the basins mostly extend northeast-ward along the long axes, covering and destroying the Triassic-Early Jurassic basins. South of North China, the distribution of thebasins is consistent with the strike of the Qinling–Dabie Orogen(Figs. 2 and 3), and the Cretaceous and Jurassic basins were super-imposed on the basement tectonic zone resulting from northwardthrusting in the Middle–Late Jurassic.

Upper Cretaceous strata are absent in the large region of NorthChina, with an exception of only a few basins such as the BBB. Forexample, the Upper Cretaceous strata of the Yican-5 Well in Qiux-ian, Hebei Province, has 1915–2055 m in thickness, and those ofthe Well Lin-6 are 3032–2190 m in thickness. The main rockassemblage is brick red fine sandstone and medium-grained sand-stone intercalated with mudstone. The Upper Cretaceous is river-and lacustrine-facies sedimentary rocks, also found in some halfgrabens of the Luxi Uplift (Fig. 4) (Li, 1980; Zhou et al., 2003; Liet al., 2008). The above features suggest that the crust began to

cool and subside, entering a thermal subsidence phase markingthe extinction of pull-apart basins.

The Cretaceous is a short period of sedimentation of red beds,but the possibility cannot be excluded that some of the basins(e.g. the Hefei Basin) possess oil-bearing strata. Consistent redbed deposition also occurred on the basement of the BBB. On thewhole, sedimentation and denudation at that time reflect the upliftof the North China region and the overall uplift of the marginal tec-tonic zones, such as the Taihangshan Mountain (Fig. 4), the Dabie–Sulu and Yinshan–Yanshan orogens (Fig. 2).

6. Mesozoic extrusion tectonics: Implication for the destructionof the NCC

As discussed in the foregoing section, the structures of the ba-sins range from compression through strike-slip to extension,mutually connected through a complex array of discontinuities.Not only did discrete pieces of lithosphere move coherently alongstrike-slip faults, but they also deformed internally producing large


bulk strains related in a very complex fashion to the velocities ofthe bounding major plates (Sengör et al., 1985). Different kindsof basins of various sizes and locations may have formed as a resultof these strains. These basins are perhaps the most importantescape-related structures not only because they contain significanthydrocarbon reservoirs, but also because they commonly preservethe only stratigraphic record of events associated with escape, andthus offer a window to the critical temporal aspects of the pro-cesses in a response of lithosphere thinning.

Studies have shown that during the Indosinian orogeny, theTan-Lu Fault System had not yet linked up with the Yilan–ShulanFault (Fig. 3), and therefore, the Bohai–Luxi Block and theJiaobei–Liaodong–Jinan Block were still a unified block during theIndosinian (Fig. 2) (Zhang, 1997; Li et al., 2000, 2007b). Here it isreferred to as the Jiaoliao-Bolu Block and is separated from theJinyi-Ordos Block by the Lan-Liao Fault in the NCC (Fig. 2). Duringthe Indosinian period, when the South China Craton collided withthe NCC, the Indosinian deformation in the Jinyi-Ordos Block wascharacterized by an NNE-trending fold–thrust belt. In theJiaoliao-Bolu Block, there are signs of ENE- or nearly EW-trendingdeformation, especially in the southern part of North Korea (Liet al., 2000; Zhang, 1997). However, coeval structures along thenorthern margin of the South China Craton are also dominatedby the ENE-trending foreland fold–thrust belt.

From the Late Triassic to Early Jurassic, the Sanjiang Basin waslocated at the northeastern margin of the Jiaoliao-Bolu Block(Figs. 2 and 3) which is a marginal sea toward an open space(Song and Dou, 1997). During Early and Middle Triassic time,there were large quantities of Triassic sediments in the southernpart of the Shangdan and Mianlue sutures in the eastern andwestern Qinling orogens (Figs. 1–3). The Qinling–Dabie Microplatewas still located under sea level at this segment at that time(Wang et al., 2001; Liu et al., 2005), following intense foldingand compression. Furthermore, the present-day exhumed regionof the Sulu–Dabie HP–UHP metamorphic rocks was an intenselydeformed belt resulting from the Late Triassic to Early Jurassicintracontinental subduction of the South China Craton beneaththe NCC. Under such a tectonic setting, the Jiaoliao-Bolu Blockon the northern side of the collisional belt could escape northeast-ward, and the Qinling Microplate could escape south–south-west-ward. These can be deduced from the NW–SE compressive stressfield on the northern side of the South China Craton at that time.The Qinling Microplate and the Jiaoliao-Bolu Block are the micro-blocks intercalated among the main collision plates that couldaccommodate deformation. Their escapes led to the blocks risingabove the water surface, and thus the Middle–Upper Triassic stra-ta are absent in the Jiaoliao-Bolu Block and Upper Triassic strataare absent on the Qinling Microplate, but no collisional plateauhad formed until this time.

Subsequently, at the beginning of Early Jurassic, half grabensappeared in parallel to the maximum principal stress axis in theJiaoliao-Bolu Block, in a manner similar to that of the present-day S–N-trending half grabens on the Tibet Plateau (Xu et al.,1993). For example, the WNW-trending Jixi, Boli basins and othersfrom north to south formed at the northern and eastern margins ofthis block (Yu, 2000). Foreland-like compressive and extensionalbasins formed in the range of from the north of the Dabie Orogento the BBB, including the WNW- or EW-trending Hefei Basin andthe extensional basin such as the Mengyin Half Graben, the JiaolaiHalf Graben, etc. This is because during the Early Yanshanian Song-pan–Ganzi Orogen (Fig. 3) (Xu et al., 1993) and the LongmenshanOrogen (Fig. 3) (Yu, 2000) had formed and the Mianlue Oceanhad closed (Ren et al., 1998), which, in combination with nearlyS–N-trending compression in the north, constrained the movementof the Qinling Microplate. In the Late Yanshanian, the NE-trendingTan-Lu Fault System formed, which divided the block into two mir-

rored triangular small blocks, i.e., the small Bohai–Luxi Block andthe small Jiaobei–Liaodong–Jinan Block (Fig. 2). On the basis ofindentation experiments, the forces applied at the boundaries ofmoving lithospheric wedges would be the main cause of escapetectonics (Tapponnier et al., 1982). As long as the rheological prop-erties of lithospheric rocks at given depths remain conjectural, theonly way to test the models to account for the sideways expulsionof continental material during convergence is to understand thegeological evolution with special reference to the temporal rela-tionships between different structures that constitute a tectonicescape system and to the evolution of associated strain geometry(Sengör et al., 1985).

The compressive structure of the Yanjiang Foreland Basin(Shang et al., 1997) clearly indicate that the small Jiaobei–Lia-odong–Jinan Block (Fig. 2) was just under the compression of theSouth China Craton so that the Sulu Orogen was cut and migratednorthward, because at that time the northeastern margin of thesmall Jiaobei–Liaodong–Jinan Block was still a free boundary. TheBohai–Luxi Block (Fig. 2), however, was rotated under the sinsitralshearing. Simultaneously the compressive structures within theblock changed into the NNE-trending structures, consistent withthe deformation pattern of the Jinyi-Ordos Block to the west, show-ing eastward retrograde tectonic migration. During Middle Creta-ceous time, basins such as the Boli Basin in northeast China werecharacterized by continental facies sedimentation, reflecting thatthe northern marginal boundary of the Jiaobei–Liaodong–JinanBlock was constrained and the strike-slip tectonics was most activein this period. However, compression still remained until the earlyCretaceous (K1). Subsequently, a thickened collisional plateau ineastern China formed by upward extrusion. The range of the colli-sional plateau should be in accordance with those of the originalJiaoliao-Bolu Block, but excluding the Liaoxi region defined by Geet al. (2002). For this reason, the Mesozoic plateau range in theeastern part of the NCC as proposed by Ge et al. (2002) may not ex-ist. Extensive magmatic activities in the early Middle Cretaceous(K2) indicate that the delamination of the lithospheric mantle be-neath the Bohai–Luxi Block and the Jiaobei–Liaodong–Jinan Blockoccurred (Fig. 8; Xu and Zhao, 2009), leading to extensive exten-sion and collapse of shallow structural level and intensive volcaniceruptions.

Deng et al. (1996) considered that the Mesozoic volcanic rockswith the absence of negative Eu anomaly in the Yanshan and Lia-oning ranges are indicative of a thickened continental crust. It isdeduced that the crust was approximately 60–70 km thick, justlike the present-day Tibet Plateau, which is an orogen with a thickroot (e.g., Xia et al., in press; Zhang et al., 2011, in press). Thus, thevolcanic rocks of Middle Jurassic Formation were formed under anintense compression environment (Fig. 8). Recently, it has beenproposed that the Plateau existed in the whole eastern China.Ren et al. (1998) suggested that in the Late Jurassic–Early Creta-ceous a ‘‘magnificent Mesozoic plateau-mountain range system’’existed in East Asia, located in eastern Asia east of the LakeBaikal-Ordos Basin–Sichuan Basin (Fig. 3). It is inferred that theprocess resulted from the collision between the extinct West Paci-fic Continent and the previous Asian Continent. Dong et al. (2001)also put forward the problem of Mesozoic East Asian Plateau. Intheir investigations in the eastern part of China, Zhang et al.(2001a) have found that part of magmatic rocks formed duringthe Middle–Late Yanshanian are similar to adakite with respectto their chemical characteristics. The adakite came from a deepersource, even as deep as more than 50 km. Based on this it isinferred that a plateau may have formed in eastern China duringthe Middle–Late Yanshanian, but its range was smaller than whatwas expected by previous researchers. The western Liaoning andTaihangshan ranges generally belong to the same tectonic zone,which is located on the western side of the Bohai–Luxi Block.

Fig. 8. Tectonic setting and model of volcanic rocks in the Yanshanian North China Plateau and its adjacent areas in eastern China. A: Alps Orogen; B: Himalayan Orogen; C:Yanshanian Orogen in eastern China. A and B after Kearey and Vine (1990); C from this summary.


Recently, Ge et al. (2002) considered that the Yanshanian plu-tonic rocks in the Liaoxi range were derived from a depth of 30–45 km, implying crustal thickening in the Mesozoic. This indicatesthat the North China Plateau was restricted to east of the Lan-LiaoFault System, while within the crust to the west of the fault, thethin-skinned thrust faults well developed, and thus it was hardto cause further thickening of the crust. This situation is similarto the Cenozoic tectonic system in Tibet Plateau, where the crustal-ly thickened region became narrow in the southeast, the strike-slip-extrusion tectonic zone became wider in the central part(crustal thickening did not necessarily occur, but it should belongto part of the plateau), and the East Asian region to the east ofthe northern Baikal Lake -Ordos Basin- Sichuan Basin (Fig. 3) wasa thinned crustal region (not belonging to the plateau, but probablycorresponding to the ‘‘magnificent Mesozoic plateau-mountainrange system’’) (Kearey and Vine, 1990).

Similarly, Mesozoic kinematics and basin-forming processes be-tween the Middle–Upper Yangtze Block and the Lower Yangtze-South Yellow Sea Block in the South China Craton show an oppositevergence under the same tectonic setting (Fig. 2). The Middle–Upper Yangtze Block, on the whole as a triangular block, escapedsouth-west-westward (Fig. 2). The NEE-trending part is an exten-sional basin formed in the extensional region, and the middle partis a buckling region where strike-slip faults are well developed andthe WSW-trending part is the eastern margin of the Sichuan Basinof the frontal compression. The triangular Lower Yangtze-SouthYellow Sea block flanked by the strike-slip faults in the southand north, escaped north-eastward (Fig. 2) (Shang et al., 1997).In the southwest of the extruded block is a compressive region,in the central part of the extruded block is a transitional regionand in the east of the extruded block is an extensional region.

The Songliao Basin (Figs. 2 and 3) in the north was generallyconsidered as a series of small separated faulted basins during LateJurassic, a depression during the Early Cretaceous, and a com-pressed basin during the Late Cretaceous. At the end of Late Creta-ceous, the Songliao Basin in northeast China was a flexural andthermal-depressional basin, with the depo-center and sedimentarysequence migrating northwestward. Similarly the Sanjiang Basin inthe northeast China of the Tan-Lu Fault System was a reversedhalf-graben basin (Fig. 2), in the eastern part of which are a seriesof west-dipping or almost vertical bedding, marking a front of athrust-fold belt. In addition, linear molasse sediments accumu-lated. In the study area the Late Cretaceous basin in the Tan-LuFault System formed a compressional fold belt, while the JiaolaiBasin is a SN-trending flexural basin (Fig. 2), marking a shrinkageof lacustrine basin. Regional structural analysis indicates that thesubduction of the Pacific Plate played an important role in theshrinkage of these basins.

7. Conclusions

The deconstruction of the Eastern Block of the NCC is related tothe delamination and underplating at depth. This study examineshow the Mesozoic evolution of the NCC influenced these processesand shows that many of the related structural events are typicallyrecorded in the EB rather than in the WB. The EB experienced moreintense deformation under the surrounding plate motions than theWB, including the subduction of the Pacific Plate since Jurassic.

The basins in eastern China are mainly of Mesozoic and Ceno-zoic age and are located within or around the EB of the NCC. Thebasins mark the central region of the destruction of the NCC. Based


on their architecture and basin-controlling fault systems, our studymakes the following conclusions:

(1) The architectures and structures of the Mesozoic basins ineastern China record structural processes of destruction ofthe craton in Meso-Cenozoic.

(2) During the Mesozoic destruction of the NCC, shallow tecto-nism in eastern China is manifested by Mesozoic extrusiontectonics resulting in the formation of several basins.

(3) The Mesozoic deep-seated tectonic processes in easternChina are characterized by local delamination and magmaunderplating.

Acknowledgements

The reviews of JAES referees, Profs. Yongjiang Liu and YunpengDong were very helpful in improving and earlier version of thismanuscript. This research was financially supported by Project(1212011120103) of China Geological Survey Bureau, S863(2009AA093401), the NSFC (Grants 41072152, 90814011). Writingof this manuscript was done when Sanzhong Li was a Guest Inves-tigator at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI). Wethank Prof. Lin Jian help us improve our initial manuscript.

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