Earth's one‐of‐a‐kind fault: The Tanlu fault

Abstract

Large-scale strike-slip faulting commonly occurs in active tectonic margins, but rarely, if ever, do large faults cut deep into ancient continental nuclei known as cratons. With thick mantle roots, cratons are considered to be the most tectonically stable portions of Earth's continental lithosphere, with an eminent exception being the relatively recent destruction of North China craton. Here, we show that from 240 to 165 Ma ago the roughly coeval continental collisions of South China to the south and Mongolia to the north ruptured the Tanlu fault within the then thick North China craton. A large ~450 km displacement mechanically induced by a ~16° intracratonic rotation along the Tanlu fault reconciles the offsets of geological piercing points and palaeomagnetic data of North China on either side of the fault. Shortly after the displacement of the only large young strike-slip cratonic fault, the cratonic lithosphere of eastern North China collapsed.

Coexisting divergent and convergent plate boundary assemblages indicate plate tectonics in the Neoarchean

“…The geological units have been restored across the sinistral Tanlu fault following ref. 73 . b 2.55–2.51 Ga: Intra-oceanic subduction initiation and arc maturation in the west, paired with a subducting slab that originated from a spreading mid-ocean ridge, and with passive margin sedimentation in the Angou–Dengfeng segment of the Proto-North China Craton.…”

Circum‐Cratonic Triassic Syenite Province of North China Craton Reveals Heterogeneous Lithospheric Mantle Related to Dual Subduction

“…This apparently contradictory observation agrees with the occurrence of scissor‐like subduction along the north and south margins (Figure 12b), where rotational convergence between the SCC and NCC is verified through paleomagnetism (Huang et al., 2018) and stratigraphy (Meng et al., 2005). The scissor‐like collision between the two cratons may have caused the large‐scale left‐lateral strike‐slip movement along the Tanlu Fault crosscutting the entire NCC (Peng et al., 2022) (Figure 12b). The exhumation of UHP rocks in the Dabie–Sulu–Hongseong Orogen indicates deep continental subduction beneath the eastern NCC (Zheng et al., 2009) (Figure 1), which suggests the contribution of melt from ancient continental crust in the SCLM.…”

Northward expansion of the Jiaolai Basin during the Early Cretaceous: Insights from source‐to‐sink reconstruction

“…Geophysical studies reveal that the Tanlu fault and Wulian‐Rongcheng fault are the primary basin‐controlling boundaries that influenced the sedimentation of the Laiyang and Qingshan Groups (Zhang et al., 2008; Zhu, Jiang, et al., 2012; Figure 1a,b). The Tanlu fault, known as the Yishu Fault Zone in Shandong Province, consists of four parallel faults: the Yishui‐Tangtou fault, Tangwu‐Gegou fault, Anqiu‐Juxian fault and Changyi‐Dadian fault (Peng et al., 2022; Zhang et al., 2003; Figure 1b,d). The Wulian‐Rongcheng fault encompasses the southern Wulian fault with a NNE strike and the northern Muping‐Jimo fault zone with a NE strike (Zhang, Li, et al., 2007; Figure 1).…”

“…Initially, it was a part of the Qinling‐Dabie orogenic belt, which formed during the collision of South China and North China in the Triassic period. Subsequently, the Sulu orogenic belt underwent a northward displacement of over 500 km along the Tanlu fault zone, eventually attaining its current location (Li et al., 2019; Peng et al., 2022). The Sulu orogenic belt is mainly composed of UHP units in the north, high‐pressure (HP) units in the south and Neoproterozoic granite gneiss (Zhang et al., 1995; Figure 1b).…”