Tectonic evolution of the North China Block: from orogen to craton to orogen

Kusky, Timothy M.; Windley, B. F.; Zhai, M.-G.

doi:10.1144/sp280.1

Cited by 263 publications

(182 citation statements)

References 149 publications

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“…For example, intracratonic orogenic activity up to 1300 km inboard of the inferred plate margin occurred in the mid-Palaeozoic and Permo-Triassic in the Terra Australis orogen in eastern Australian and South African segments, respectively (Trouw & De Wit 1999;Collins 2002a), in China in the Mesozoic (Kusky et al 2007b;) and along South America in the Tertiary (e.g. Kay & Mpodozis 2002).…”

Section: Classification Of Orogens In Space and Timementioning

confidence: 99%

Accretionary orogens through Earth history

et al. 2009

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Accretionary orogens form at intraoceanic and continental margin convergent plate boundaries. They include the supra-subduction zone forearc, magmatic arc and back-arc components. Accretionary orogens can be grouped into retreating and advancing types, based on their kinematic framework and resulting geological character. Retreating orogens (e.g. modern western Pacific) are undergoing long-term extension in response to the site of subduction of the lower plate retreating with respect to the overriding plate and are characterized by back-arc basins. Advancing orogens (e.g. Andes) develop in an environment in which the overriding plate is advancing towards the downgoing plate, resulting in the development of foreland fold and thrust belts and crustal thickening. Cratonization of accretionary orogens occurs during continuing plate convergence and requires transient coupling across the plate boundary with strain concentrated in zones of mechanical and thermal weakening such as the magmatic arc and back-arc region. Potential driving mechanisms for coupling include accretion of buoyant lithosphere (terrane accretion), flat-slab subduction, and rapid absolute upper plate motion overriding the downgoing plate. Accretionary orogens have been active throughout Earth history, extending back until at least 3.2 Ga, and potentially earlier, and provide an important constraint on the initiation of horizontal motion of lithospheric plates on Earth. They have been responsible for major growth of the continental lithosphere through the addition of juvenile magmatic products but are also major sites of consumption and reworking of continental crust through time, through sediment subduction and subduction erosion. It is probable that the rates of crustal growth and destruction are roughly equal, implying that net growth since the Archaean is effectively zero.Classic models of orogens involve a Wilson cycle of ocean opening and closing with orogenesis related to continent-continent collision. These imply that mountain building occurs at the end of a cycle of ocean opening and closing, and marks the termination of subduction, and that the mountain belt should occupy an internal location within an assembled continent (supercontinent). The modern Alpine -Himalayan chain exemplifies the features of this model, lying between the Eurasian and colliding African and Indian plates (Fig.

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Section: Classification Of Orogens In Space and Timementioning

confidence: 99%

Accretionary orogens through Earth history

et al. 2009

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“…After the Middle and Late Ordovician, the North China platform was overall uplifted due to the Caledonian crustal movements, which resulted in unconformity in the sedimentary record from the Late Ordovician to the Early Carboniferious (Kusky et al, 2007). Subsidence began again in the Middle Carboniferious due to the Hercynian crustal movements and the Permo-Carboniferious coal-bearing strata were deposited during this stage Before the Yanshanian orogeny movement, the XCF was a craton basin with a slightly lower geothermal gradient of 2.…”

Section: Geologic Evolution Historymentioning

confidence: 99%

Geologic Structural Controls on Coalbed Methane Content of the No. 8 Coal Seam, Gujiao Area, Shanxi, China

Xia¹

2017

Appl Ecol Env Res

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Abstract. Gas contents are highly heterogeneous in coalbed methane (CBM) reservoirs of the Gujiao area, Shanxi province, China. Diverse geologic data and stimulate methods were used to provide insight into the origin of this variability and the consequences of gas content in the No. 8 coal seam. The results show that the No. 8 coal seam experienced two gas-generating periods and one fluctuant period, and has stepped into migration period since the Late Cretaceous. The distribution of gas content of the No. 8 coal seam in the Gujiao area is mainly dominated by structural form, water level and burial depth, all of which are structural related parameters. The gas content in the subarea A is much lower than that in the subarea B because the subarea A is deformed severely and the subarea B is a gentle monocline. The gas content first increases and then decreases with increasing burial depth, and the turning burial depth is about 600.0 m. Strong runoff area is harmful for preserving gas due to the washing effect in it. The analyzing results show that: gentle and simple monocline blocks with burial depth ranges from 500.0 m to 800.0 m, water level lower than 900.0 m is the most important "sweet spots" for CBM development in the Gujiao area.

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“…in southeast Canada, Boyce et al 2016). Sometimes the rock chemistry can be altered so dramatically that the root weakens and sinks into the Kusky et al 2007). Alternatively, weakness in the cratonic root can be exploited by convection in the mantle.…”

Section: Recent Modificationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Porritt et al 2015). Kusky et al 2007). Alternatively, weakness in the cratonic root can be exploited by convection in the mantle.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Peering beneath the Canadian crust

Gilligan

Bastow

Boyce

et al. 2016

A&G

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Earth's oldest rocks are found in the interior of continents in regions geologists call cratons. They are underlain by thick continental "roots" extending to more than 250 km depth, in contrast to the oceans and younger continents, where the tectonic plates are much thinner, less than 100 km. Cratonic roots are strong, cold, buoyant and chemically depleted in heavy elements such as iron (figure 1). These characteristics enhance their ability to resist modification and destruction during super-continent (Wilson) cycles, such as the formation and break up of Pangea.Cratons form the cores of most of Earth's continental plates: the Canadian Shield in North America, the Congo Craton in Africa and the São Francisco Craton in South America. Cratons are rich in diamonds and other economically valuable minerals, so they are often regions where mining companies focus exploration work. But to blue-skies research scientists, cratons are the only place where rocks are preserved from the early Earth; they thus provide a unique window into the processes that took place deep in geological time.It was once thought that cratonic roots formed during Archean times, more than 2.5 billion years ago, when the style of plate tectonics seen today may not have operated. A consensus is now emerging, however, that these thick roots also extend below younger regions, with the implication that their formation may have been more drawn out. The roots beneath cratons are now thought to have formed in multiple stages (Yuan & Romanowicz 2010, Darbyshire et al. 2013. First came an Archean-age, chemically distinct layer, that remained highly depleted in heavy elements. Later, a deeper thermal layer formed gradually as a result of the Earth's cooling. This two-stage formation is thought to be responsible for the discontinuity observed in the middle of tectonic plates in some cratonic regions (e.g. Porritt et al. 2015). Recent modificationRecent studies have also suggested that cratonic regions can be modified by relatively recent tectonic processes. Modification often involves a subducting plate descending beneath the craton: water expelled from the subducting slab can migrate into the cratonic root and alter rock chemistry (e.g. in southeast Canada, Boyce et al. 2016). Sometimes the rock chemistry can be altered so dramatically that the root weakens and sinks into the Kusky et al. 2007). Alternatively, weakness in the cratonic root can be exploited by convection in the mantle. This pulls the edge of the root downwards (e.g. the Canadian Cordillera, Bao et al. 2014) into the convecting mantle.Key to understanding the formation and evolution of cratonic roots is detailed knowledge of their deep structure, but this cannot be achieved easily with traditional field geology alone. A crucial tool in unravelling the evolutionary history of cratonic roots is seismology. Seismic waves from distant earthquakes can be used to probe deep Earth structure en route to networks of recording stations (seismometers) at the surface, sometimes thousands of kilo metres...

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Tectonic evolution of the North China Block: from orogen to craton to orogen

Cited by 263 publications

References 149 publications

Accretionary orogens through Earth history

Accretionary orogens through Earth history

Geologic Structural Controls on Coalbed Methane Content of the No. 8 Coal Seam, Gujiao Area, Shanxi, China

Peering beneath the Canadian crust

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