Regional Exhumation and Tectonic History of the Shanxi Rift and Taihangshan, North China

Abstract

The Cenozoic structural geology of Asia comprises a continental-scale region of interacting strike-slip, thrust, and extensional faults (Figure 1a and 1b; e.g., Tapponnier & Molnar, 1977; Taylor & Yin, 2009). Cenozoic faulting is largely dictated by the India-Asia continental collision, the gravitational spreading of the Tibetan Plateau, and subduction along the eastern margin of Eurasia (e.g., A. Yin, 2010). In the circum-Ordos region of North China, more than 2,000 km from the nearest active plate boundary, Cenozoic deformation has produced intracontinental rifts that define the periphery of the Ordos block (Figure 1c). Along the eastern margin of the Ordos block is the ∼1,000 km long late Miocene-Quaternary Shanxi Rift characterized by NE-SW-striking basins and uplifts linked by ∼ N-S-striking accommodation zones (e.g., X. Xu & Ma, 1992) (Figure 2). Rifting is attributed to NW-SE extension associated with the propagation of left-lateral strike-slip faults emanating from the northern Tibetan Plateau (e.g., Peltzer et al., 1985; Tapponnier & Molnar, 1977), and the timing and mode of extension appears similar to other late Miocene and younger rift systems in the southern Himalayan-Tibetan orogen and the interior of Asia (e.g., Baikal Rift; A. Yin, 2000) (Figure 1a). The left-stepping en-echelon and sigmoid-shaped geometry of the Shanxi Rift suggests a transtensional origin, which is broadly attributed to the counterclockwise rotation of the Ordos block relative to the adjacent Alxa block and North China Plain (e.g.,

Reactivated Margin of the Western North China Craton in the Late Cretaceous: Constraints From Zircon (U‐Th)/He Thermochronology of Taibai Mountain

“…88–74 Ma by AFT; X. Zhao et al., 2016) on the southwestern margin; Zhongtiao Mountain (ca. 110–70 Ma by AFT; Clinkscales et al., 2021) on the southeastern margin; and the east Qinling (ca. 100–60 Ma by AFT; Hu et al., 2006) near the southern margin.…”

“…80–70 Ma to represent the time of the synchronous margin reactivation in the Late Cretaceous. Whereas climate‐induced erosion tends to sculpt the landforms and induce near‐surface deformation (e.g., Molnar, 2004; Whipple, 2009), tectonically induced exhumation is associated with internal geological processes, such as crustal deformation and mantle upwelling (e.g., Clinkscales et al., 2020, 2021; Cogné et al., 2016; Flowers et al., 2012; Kohn & Gleadow, 2019; Reiners et al., 2003). As one tectonic process, lithospheric delamination played a significant role in modifying the eastern NCC (e.g., Chen et al., 2014; Gao et al., 2004; Gao et al., 2009; Z. Wang, Kusky, et al., 2018).…”

“…On the southeastern margin, Zhongtiao Mountain records one rapid cooling event at ca. 110–70 Ma (AFT: Figure 1a; Clinkscales et al., 2021). In east Qinling, AFT thermochronology indicates rapid cooling from ca.…”

“…(2016); (7) Zhongtiao Mountain, Clinkscales et al. (2021); (8) East Qinling, Hu et al. (2006); (9) Dabie Shan, Reiners et al.…”

Multi‐Stage Growth in the North Margin of the Qinling Orogen, Central China, Revealed by Both Low‐Temperature Thermochronology and River Profile Inversion

“…The early Cenozoic cooling was suggested to be the reactivation of the Qinling fault system under a far-field response to the India-Asia collision. Recently, Clinkscales et al (2021) carried out AFT analysis along another vertical profile in the east Huashan and found a clear period of rapid exhumation during the Oligocene, which was suggested to be driven by the oblique subduction of Pacific plate along the margin of East Asia.…”