Earth-Science Reviews 131 (2014) 49–87 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Earth-Science Reviews journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/earscirev Temporal and spatial variations of Mesozoic magmatism and deformation in the North China Craton: Implications for lithospheric thinning and decratonization Shuan-Hong Zhang a,⁎,YueZhaoa, Gregory A. Davis b,HaoYea,FeiWua a Institute of Geomechanics, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, MLR Key Laboratory of Paleomagnetism and Tectonic Reconstruction, Beijing 100081, China b Department of Earth Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0740, USA article info abstract Article history: Mesozoic (Triassic–Cretaceous) magmatic rocks and structural deformation are widely distributed in the North Received 16 August 2013 China Craton (NCC) and are crucial to understanding the timing, location, and geodynamic mechanisms of Accepted 16 December 2013 lithospheric thinning and decratonization of the NCC. Our new geochronological, geochemical and structural Available online 30 December 2013 data combined with previously published results on Mesozoic magmatic rocks and deformational structures in the NCC indicate a temporal and spatial migration of magmatism and deformation from its margins to its cratonal Keywords: interior. Triassic and Early Jurassic igneous rocks are only distributed along the northern, southern and eastern Magmatism Deformation margins of the NCC. In contrast, Cretaceous magmatic rocks are widely distributed in whole eastern and central Mesozoic parts of the NCC. There is a younging trend for Mesozoic magmatic rocks from the northern and eastern parts Decratonization (Yanshan, Jiaodong Peninsula and Liaodong) to the central part of the NCC (Taihangshan). Mesozoic deformation Lithospheric thinning in the NCC exhibits a similar migration trend from craton margins to its inland areas. Triassic–Early Jurassic North China Craton (NCC) deformation mainly occurred in the margins of the NCC and transformed from compression during the Early– Middle Triassic to extension during the Late Triassic to Early Jurassic in its northern margin. Middle–Late Jurassic to earliest Cretaceous deformation is widely distributed in the NCC and exhibited non-unique contractional direc- tions usually perpendicular to boundaries of the NCC and its Ordos block, indicating that it was likely controlled by multiple tectonic regimes during the Middle–Late Jurassic to earliest Cretaceous. Early Cretaceous deformation was characterized by near unique NW–SE extension that was likely controlled by unique geodynamic regime that probably related to the far-field effect of Cretaceous Paleo-Pacific plate subduction. The above mentioned temporal and spatial migrations of Mesozoic magmatic rocks and deformation indicate that lithospheric thinning and decratonization of the NCC was diachronous and complex. The lithospheric thinning and decratonization of the NCC initially started from its northern and eastern margins as a result of post-collisional/post-orogenic lithospheric delamination during the Middle–Late Triassic, and then spread to the interior of the craton during the Late Mesozoic. Interactions of the surrounding orogenesis and the small size of the NCC may have played important roles on its Late Mesozoic lithospheric thinning and decratonization. © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Contents 1. Introduction............................................................... 50 2. Geologicalsetting............................................................ 51 3. DistributionoftheMesozoicmagmaticrocks................................................ 51 3.1. EarlyTriassicmagmaticrocks.................................................... 51 3.2. Middle–LateTriassicmagmaticrocks................................................ 52 3.3. Early Jurassic–earliestMiddleJurassicmagmaticrocks........................................ 56 3.4. Middle–LateJurassicmagmaticrocks................................................ 61 3.5. EarlyCretaceousmagmaticrocks.................................................. 62 ⁎ Corresponding author at: No. 11 South Minzudaxue Road, Haidian District, Beijing 100081, China. Tel.: +86 10 88815058; fax: +86 10 68422326. E-mail address: [email protected] (S.-H. Zhang). 0012-8252/$ – see front matter © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2013.12.004 50 S.-H. Zhang et al. / Earth-Science Reviews 131 (2014) 49–87 3.6. LateCretaceousmagmaticrocks...................................................62 4. New zircon U–PbagesoftheMesozoicmagmaticrocks...........................................62 4.1. Yinshan..............................................................62 4.2. Yanshan–Liaoxi(WesternLiaoningProvince).............................................62 4.3. Liaodong.............................................................62 4.4. Southern Yanbian–Liaobei.....................................................64 4.5. WesternHillsofBeijingandnorthernTaihangshan..........................................64 4.6. Luxi(westernShandongProvince).................................................64 4.7. JiaodongPeninsula(NCCpart)...................................................64 4.8. NorthernKoreanPeninsula.....................................................64 4.9. SouthernTaihangshan.......................................................64 4.10.Xiaoqinling............................................................64 4.11. Xuhuai–Bengbu..........................................................64 4.12.SouthernSongliaoBasin......................................................64 5. Petrological,geochemicalcharacteristicsandoriginoftheMesozoicmagmaticrocks..............................64 5.1. EarlyTriassicmagmaticrocks....................................................64 5.2. Middle–LateTriassicmagmaticrocks................................................65 5.3. Early Jurassic–earliestMiddleJurassicmagmaticrocks.........................................65 5.4. Middle–LateJurassicmagmaticrocks................................................65 5.5. EarlyCretaceousmagmaticrocks..................................................68 5.6. LateCretaceousmagmaticrocks...................................................69 6. TemporalandspatialdifferencesoftheMesozoicdeformationpatternsintheNCC...............................69 6.1. Early–MiddleTriassicdeformation..................................................69 6.2. Late Triassic–EarlyJurassicdeformation...............................................71 6.3. Middle–LateJurassictoearliestCretaceousdeformation........................................72 6.4. EarlyCretaceousdeformation....................................................72 7. TemporalandspatialvariationsoftheMesozoicmagmatismanddeformationintheNCC............................72 7.1. Temporalandspatialvariationsofmagmatism............................................72 7.2. Temporalandspatialvariationsofdeformation............................................75 8. Implicationsforcratoniclithosphericthinninganddecratonization.......................................75 9. Concludingremarks...........................................................77 Acknowledgments...............................................................77 AppendixA. Methodsandanalyticalprocedures................................................77 A.1. Samplepreparationandimaging..............................................77 A.2. SHRIMP and LA-ICP-MS U–Pbanalysis...........................................77 A.3. Majorandtraceelementgeochemistry...........................................7779 A.4. Rb–Sr and Sm–Ndisotopicanalyses............................................7779 A.5. In-situ Lu–Hfisotopeanalysesofzircons..........................................7780 AppendixB. Supplementarydata.......................................................7780 References..................................................................7780 1. Introduction 2009a; J.H. Yang et al., 2010; Zhang et al., 2012a), Late Jurassic (Gao et al., 2004), Early Cretaceous (Wu et al., 2003, 2005b, 2008; R. X. Zhu The North China Craton (NCC) has become famous in geological et al., 2012), or as young as Late Cretaceous–Cenozoic (Lu et al., 2006; research in recent years due to its significant lithospheric thinning and Li et al., 2012a,b). Although the Late Mesozoic is believed to be the decratonization (or destruction) during the Mesozoic and Early Cenozoic most important period for lithospheric thinning and decratonization of eras (e.g., Fan and Menzies, 1992; Menzies et al., 1993; Griffin et al., the NCC (e.g., Wu et al., 2008, and references therein; R.X. Zhu et al., 1998; Fan et al., 2000; Xu, 2001; Gao et al., 2002; H.F. Zhang et al., 2012), some evidence suggests that decratonization of the NCC is 2002; Wilde et al., 2003; Gao et al., 2004; Rudnick et al., 2004; Zhai diachronous (Xu, 2007; J.H. Yang et al., 2010). Lithospheric thinning of et al., 2004a,b; Wu et al., 2006a; Deng et al., 2007; Kusky et al., 2007; its eastern and northern parts started most likely during the Early Meso- Menzies et al., 2007; T. Wang et al., 2007; Zhai et al., 2007; Zheng et al., zoic (Han et al., 2004; Yang et al., 2007c; Yang and Wu, 2009; Zhang 2007; Dong et al., 2008a,b; J.L. Liu et al., 2008; Ji et al., 2008; Wu et al., et al., 2009a; J.H. Yang et al., 2010; Zhang et al., 2012a), and lithospheric 2008; Yang et al., 2008a; Zhou, 2009; J.H. Yang et al., 2010; Xu et al., thinning and decratonization