Integration of geology, geophysics and geochemistry: A key to understanding the North China Craton

Menzies, Martin; Xu, Yi–Gang; Zhang, Hongfu; Wu, Fan

doi:10.1016/j.lithos.2006.09.008

Cited by 551 publications

(351 citation statements)

References 87 publications

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“…So far, two extreme models exist: the delamination model (e.g., Wu et al 2000Wu et al , 2003Gao et al 2002Gao et al , 2004Gao et al , 2008Chu et al 2009) and the thermal-mechanical erosion model (e.g., Griffin et al 1998;Menzies and Xu 1998;Xu 2001;Menzies et al 2007). In the delamination model, the thickened eclogitic lower crust, together with the lithospheric mantle below, delaminates into the convection mantle.…”

Section: Geological Background and Petrographymentioning

confidence: 99%

Constraints from melt inclusions and their host olivines on the petrogenesis of Oligocene-Early Miocene Xindian basalts, Chifeng area, North China Craton

Zhang

Qian

et al. 2012

Contrib Mineral Petrol

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The geochemical characteristics of melt inclusions and their host olivines provide important information on the processes that create magmas and the nature of their mantle and crustal source regions. We report chemical compositions of melt inclusions, their host olivines and bulk rocks of Xindian basalts in Chifeng area, North China Craton. Compositions of both bulk rocks and melt inclusions are tholeiitic. Based on petrographic observations and compositional variation of melt inclusions, the crystallizing sequence of Xindian basalts is as follows: olivine (at MgO [ *5.5 wt%), plagioclase (beginning at MgO = *5.5 wt%), clinopyroxene and ilmenite (at MgO \ 5.0 wt%). High Ni contents and Fe/Mn ratios, and low Ca and Mn contents in olivine phenocrysts, combining with low CaO contents of relatively high MgO melt inclusions (MgO [ 6 wt%), indicate that Xindian basalts are possibly derived from a pyroxenite source rather than a peridotite source. In the CS-MS-A diagram, all the high MgO melt inclusions (MgO [ 6.0 wt%) project in the field between garnet ? clinopyroxene ? liquid and garnet ? clinopyroxene ? orthopyroxene ? liquid near 3.0 GPa, further suggesting that residual minerals are mainly garnet and clinopyroxene, with possible presence of orthopyroxene, but without olivine. Modeling calculations using MELTS show that the water content of Xindian basalts is 0.3-0.7 wt% at MgO = 8.13 wt%. Using 20-25 % of partial melting estimated by moderately incompatible element ratios, the water content in the source of Xindian basalts is inferred to be C450 ppm, much higher than 6-85 ppm in dry lithospheric mantle. The melting depth is inferred to be *3.0 GPa, much deeper than that of tholeiitic lavas (\2.0 GPa), assuming a peridotite source with a normal mantle potential temperature. Such melting depth is virtually equal to the thickness of lithosphere beneath Chifeng area (*100 km), suggesting that Xindian basalts are derived from the asthenospheric mantle, if the lithospheric lid effect model is assumed.

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Section: Geological Background and Petrographymentioning

confidence: 99%

Constraints from melt inclusions and their host olivines on the petrogenesis of Oligocene-Early Miocene Xindian basalts, Chifeng area, North China Craton

Zhang

Qian

et al. 2012

Contrib Mineral Petrol

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“…Recent studies show that the NCC was finally destroyed in the Early Cretaceous (Xu 2007). The thickness of the NCC was 1200 km in the Paleozoic, declined to !60 km in the Early Cretaceous, and then increased back to its current ∼80 km (Xu 2001(Xu , 2007Menzies et al 2007). There are currently three major competing models for the destruction of the NCC: delamination of the eclogitic lower continental crust (Gao et al 2004) or postcollisional lithosphere (Wu et al 2002), thermal/ chemical erosion of the lithospheric mantle (Xu 2001(Xu , 2007Menzies et al 2007), and hydration induced by Pacific Plate subduction (Niu 2005).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…Although the destruction of cratons (i.e., decratonization) is rare (Gao et al 2004;Menzies et al 2007;Griffin et al 2009), determining the mechanism behind decratonization is essential to understanding the highly evolved chemical composition of the continental crust (Gao et al 2004). The thickness of the North China Craton (NCC) changed dramatically in the Mesozoic, providing the best example of decratonization (Fan and Menzies 1992;Griffin et al 1992Griffin et al , 1998Menzies et al 1993;Gao et al 2004).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This is not observed in the NCC. Second, magmatism lasted from the Jurassic to the Cenozoic (Zhou and Armstrong 1982;Guo et al 2005;Wu et al 2005;Xu 2007Xu , 2009b, with adakitic rocks formed in three episodes, which is again difficult to explain feasibly in the delamination model (Menzies et al 2007).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…in eastern China (Menzies et al 2007;Xu 2007). This "bottom-up" process, however, requires vast volumes of mafic melt over a long period of time, which have yet to be resolved (Menzies et al 2007).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Destruction of the North China Craton Induced by Ridge Subductions

Ling

Li²,

Ding

et al. 2013

The Journal of Geology

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A B S T R A C TThe destruction of the North China Craton (NCC) mainly occurred in the Cretaceous and has been attributed to a "top-down" rapid delamination, "bottom-up" long-term thermal/chemical erosions, or hydration by subductionreleased fluids. On the basis of the distribution of one Jurassic and two Early Cretaceous adakite belts and the drifting history of the paleo-Pacific Plate, we propose that three ridge subduction events dominated the large-scale decratonization in the NCC. Both physical erosion and magmatism induced by ridge subduction contributed to the destruction of the NCC; the last ridge subduction, at Ma, was the key driving force in the final destruction. We present 130 ‫ע‬ 5 mineralogical, geochemical, and isotopic data in support of the ridge subduction model: flat subduction of a spreading ridge resulted in stronger physical erosion on the thick lithosphere mantle of the NCC. Consequently, slab melting occurred during ridge subduction, forming adakites with mantle Mg isotope compositions, followed by A-type granites as a result of asthenosphere upwelling. Delaminated lower continental crust was also partially melted after reacting with hydrous magmas, as indicated by eclogite xenoliths, resulting in a zircon age spectrum similar to that of the NCC and some adakitic samples with chemical characteristics similar to those of the Dabie adakites. The final decratonization was triggered by the last ridge subduction, with both physical erosion (flat subduction) and thermal erosion (adakitic and A-type magmatisms). Given that ridge subduction has occurred throughout Earth's history, the associated decratonization processes are presumably a common phenomenon that modified the chemical compositions of the continental crust.

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Numerical modeling of convective erosion and peridotite‐melt interaction in big mantle wedge: Implications for the destruction of the North China Craton

2014

JGR Solid Earth

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The deep subduction of the Pacific Plate underneath East Asia is thought to have played a key role in the destruction of the North China Craton (NCC). To test this hypothesis, this paper presents a new 2-D model that includes an initial stable equilibrated craton, the formation of a big mantle wedge (BMW), and erosion by vigorous mantle convection. The model shows that subduction alone cannot thin the cold solid craton, but it can form a low-viscosity BMW. The amount of convective erosion is directly proportional to viscosity within the BMW (η 0bmw ), and the rheological boundary layer thins linearly with decreasing log 10 (η 0bmw ), thereby contributing to an increase in heat flow at the lithospheric base. This model also differs from previous modeling in that the increase in heat flow decays linearly with t 1/2 , meaning that the overall thinning closely follows a natural log relationship over time. Nevertheless, convection alone can only cause a limited thinning due to a minor increase in basal heat flow. The lowering of melting temperature by peridotite-melt interaction can accelerate thinning during the early stages of this convection. The two combined actions can thin the craton significantly over tens of Myr. This modeling, combined with magmatism and heat flow data, indicates that the NCC evolution has involved four distinct stages: modification in the Jurassic by Pacific Plate subduction and BMW formation, destruction during the Early Cretaceous under combined convective erosion and peridotite-melt interaction, extension in the Late Cretaceous, and cooling since the late Cenozoic.

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Integration of geology, geophysics and geochemistry: A key to understanding the North China Craton

Cited by 551 publications

References 87 publications

Constraints from melt inclusions and their host olivines on the petrogenesis of Oligocene-Early Miocene Xindian basalts, Chifeng area, North China Craton

Constraints from melt inclusions and their host olivines on the petrogenesis of Oligocene-Early Miocene Xindian basalts, Chifeng area, North China Craton

Destruction of the North China Craton Induced by Ridge Subductions

Numerical modeling of convective erosion and peridotite‐melt interaction in big mantle wedge: Implications for the destruction of the North China Craton

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