Summary of Northeast Asia geodynamics and tectonics*

Abstract

† deceased * Prepared in memory of Leonid M. Parfenov, the leader of the geodynamics map team for the International collaborative project on NE Asia tectonics and metallogenesis.Abstract. The compilation, synthesis, description, and interpretation of regional geology and tectonics of major regions, such as Northeast Asia (Eastern Russia, Mongolia, Northern China, South Korea, and Japan) and the Circum-North Pacific (the Russian Far East, Alaska, and Canadian Cordillera), requires a complex methodology that includes: (1) definitions of key terms; (2) compilation of a regional geodynamics map that can be constructed according to modern tectonic concepts and definitions; and (3) formulation of a comprehensive tectonic model. This article presents a summary of the regional dynamics and tectonics of Northeast Asia as developed for a new summary geodynamics map of the region. This article also describes how a high-quality summary geodynamics map and companion tectonic analysis substantially aids in the understanding of the origin of major rock units, major structures, and contained mineral and fuel resources, and provides important guidelines for new research.

The Cenozoic Cooling – continental signals from the Atlantic and Pacific side of Eurasia

“…The Sikhote-Alin Range, located to the NE of the study area represents a continental-margin arc including late Cretaceous to Paleogene volcanites and intrusives (Parfenov et al, 2009). From this area, palaeofloras from volcanic complexes, possibly existing at an elevation of several hundred meters were reported (Akhmetiev et al, 2009), while for the localities in the extensional basins of Southern Primory'e considered here we assume near sea-level elevation.…”

Reconstruction of Subduction and Back‐Arc Spreading in the NW Pacific and Aleutian Basin: Clues to Causes of Cretaceous and Eocene Plate Reorganizations

“…The belts of central Hokkaido associated with subduction below the Asian margin continue northward on the 1,000 km‐long, 25–170 km‐wide island of Sakhalin (e.g., Nokleberg et al, ; Parfenov et al, ; Ueda, ; Zharov, ; Figures , , and ), although different names are used for the Sakhalin terranes. Aptian‐Paleocene turbidite units of the West Sakhalin terrane are correlated with the forearc deposits of the Sorachi‐Yezo belt (Ando, ; Zharov, ; Figure ).…”

“…The Merei suture zone is the northward continuation of the Idonnappu suture zone (Zharov, ). The Tonin‐Aniva terrane, composed of Aptian‐Cenomanian turbidites and olistostromes with lenses of Middle Triassic to Lower Cretaceous oceanic tholeiites and (sub)alkaline basalts, forms a subduction‐related trench‐fill terrane similar to the Hidaka belt (Nokleberg et al, ; Parfenov et al, ; Zharov, ). To the north, the East Sakhalin terrane forms a middle Cretaceous to Paleocene accretionary complex, hosting Upper Cretaceous‐Paleocene metamorphic rocks and an ophiolitic mélange with tectonic slices of Permian‐Late Cretaceous rocks (Khanchuk, ; Liao et al, ; Zhao et al, ; Zharov, ; Zyabrev, ; Figure ).…”

Reconstruction of tectonic events on the northern Eurasia margin of the Arctic, from U-Pb detrital zircon provenance investigations of late Paleozoic to Mesozoic sandstones in southern Taimyr Peninsula

“…198 Ma age peak that consisted of ~4% of the total analyses in the detrital zircon data from Ob' River sediments and linked zircons with this age to the Triassic-Jurassic rifting-related granitoid magmatism in the Russian Altai. In the Yenisei-Transbaikalian region, subduction of the Mongol-Okhotsk oceanic crust beneath the southern margin of the Siberia craton generated magmatism spanning 230-96 Ma (Donskaya et al, 2013;Parfenov et al, 2009), which covers the 220-175 Ma detrital zircon age range in the Taimyr Jurassic sample. Consequently, the Jurassic source(s) remains problematic: The older ages (Carboniferous to Permian) are likely derived from the northwest, the PermianTriassic ages are likely derived from Siberian Trap-related rocks either to the northwest or the south, and the ca.…”