New evidence from seismic imaging for subduction during assembly of the North China craton

Destruction geodynamics of the North China craton and its Paleoproterozoic plate tectonics

“…The image from northern profile exhibits the intriguing characteristic of two low-velocity zones extending 200-300 km in the crust of the western and the central NCC (L1 and L2 shown in Figure 8). Combining with the geological and geo-chemical results, we speculate that the L1 unit represents a remnant of upper-middle crust associated with the westward subduction beneath the western block during the assembly of the NCC, the L2 unit is possibly a slab-like remnant attached to the bottom of the original lower crust during the last stage of this subduction [42] . The final amalgamation of the NCC at ca.1.85 Ga may indicate that plate tectonism had operated with geodynamic features close to the present at least since the late Paleoproterozoic.…”

Geochronology and geochemistry of the Paleoproterozoic Fe-rich mafic sills from the Zhongtiao Mountains: Petrogenesis and tectonic implications

“…(3) Westward subduction with the final collision occurred at ∼2500 Ma, and the ∼1850 Ma metamorphic events may have corresponded to the Columbia supercontinent assembly (Kusky and Li, 2003;Kusky et al, 2007a,b). This model is supported by the questionable existence of a foreland basin on the Eastern Block and seismic imaging across the TNCO (Kusky and Li, 2003;Kusky et al, 2007a,b;Kusky, 2011;Zheng et al, 2009). (4) Several micro-blocks being amalgamated at ∼2500 Ma.…”

Secular Evolution of Lithospheric Mantle Beneath the Central North China Craton: Implication from Basaltic Rocks and Their Xenoliths

“…This event may essentially act as mantle superwelling beneath the Euroasian continent that supply the excess heat to fuse the lithospheric mantle and overlying crust because material contribution of mantle plume hasn't been identified in the contemporaneous igneous rocks from the eastern edge of China continent. On the basis of the above discussion and previous documents (Zhao et al, 2001Zhang et al, 2003;Wang et al, 2004;Faure et al, 2007;Zheng et al, 2009Zheng et al, , 2010, we summarize a tectonic and magmatic model for the secular evolution of the lithospheric mantle beneath the Taihang Mountains (Fig. 8): 1.…”

“…8): 1. In the Late Archean to Paleoproterozoic, the Western Block (Zhao et al, 2001Wang et al, 2004) and/or Eastern Block (Faure et al, 2007;Zheng et al, 2009) was subducted beneath the Central Zone with subduction of old continental and oceanic crustal component to mantle depths. Meanwhile, sedimentary rocks of the Eastern and Western Blocks were thrust over the Central Zone, which caused crustal-scale folding, thrusting and metamorphism, associated with the initial metasomatism of old lithospheric mantle by carbonatitic and silicic agents.…”