The Dynamic Topography of Eastern China Since the Latest Jurassic Period

Abstract

Some changes in the topography of eastern China since Late Jurassic times cannot be well explained by lithospheric deformation. Here we analyze global mantle flow models to investigate how mantle-driven long-wavelength topography may have contributed to shaping the surface topography of eastern China. Paleodrainage directions suggest that a southward tilted topography once existed in eastern north China in the latest Jurassic Period, which is different from that at present day (southeastward tilting). Our model dynamic topography reveals a southward tilting topography between 160 and 150 Ma, followed by southeastward tilting and rapid subsidence, which is compatible with paleodrainage directions and tectonic subsidence of the Ordos Basin. The Cretaceous anomalous subsidence of the Songliao and North Yellow Sea basins, as well as the Cenozoic anomalous subsidence of the East China Sea Shelf Basin, can also be explained by dynamic topography. An apatite fission track study in the Taihang Mountains reveals four stages of evolution: Late Jurassic fast unroofing, Cretaceous slow unroofing, early Cenozoic fast unroofing, and late Cenozoic slow unroofing. We propose that mantle flow influenced this surface unroofing because the model predicts Late Jurassic dynamic uplift, Cretaceous dynamic subsidence, early Cenozoic dynamic uplift, and late Cenozoic dynamic subsidence. Apatite fission track data from northern south China are also in reasonable agreement with predicted dynamic topography between 80 and 30 Ma. The spatial and temporal agreement between geological observations and model dynamic topography indicates that mantle flow has had a significant influence in shaping the surface topography of eastern China.

Landscape Features and Climatic Forces Shape the Genetic Structure and Evolutionary History of an Oak Species (Quercus chenii) in East China

“…The East China Floristic Province is one of the richest regions of plant diversity in the Sino-Japanese Floristic Region (Wu, 1979). The topography here is characterized by numerous plains and basins interspersed between low hills and median-high mountains (Cao et al, 2018). Those ranges, with a group of peaks exceeding 1,500 m in elevation, are scattered from the northeast (e.g., the Tianmu Mountains) to the southeast (e.g., the Wuyi Mountains), and from the northwest (e.g., the Dabie Mountains) to the southwest (e.g., the Luoxiao Mountains).…”

Determination of Paleocurrent Directions Based on Well Logging Technology Aiming at the Lower Third Member of the Shahejie Formation in the Chezhen Depression and Its Implications

“…Our research was carried out in the Chezhen depression, laying at the southeast of the Bohai Bay basin ( Figure 1b) [1]. It is one portion of a series of tectonic combinations of uplifts and depressions arranged in a northwest direction; it is adjacent to the Bohai bay and is bounded by the Tan-Lu strike-slip fault in the east and the Lan-Liao strikeslip fault in the west [41][42][43]. The Chezhen depression is a Cenozoic continental faulted basin developed based on the long-term reconstruction of the cratonic basement [1,3].…”

Petrogenesis of high Ba–Sr plutons with high Sr/Y ratios in an intracontinental setting: evidence from Early Cretaceous Fushan monzonites, central North China Craton

“…Some geochemical studies have suggested that the Mesozoic process could have been similar to the current subduction of the Pacific Plate beneath East Asia, forming a stagnant slab that extended down to the mantle transition zone Xu et al 2018). Recently, reconstructions of the time-dependent dynamic topography of Eastern China have indicated that the slab of the Palaeo-Pacific Plate subducted into the deeper section of the upper mantle beneath East Asia during the Early Cretaceous (Cao et al 2018). Meanwhile, the sinking and roll-back of the Palaeo-Pacific slab happened from the late Early Cretaceous to Late Cretaceous (Cao et al 2018).…”

“…Recently, reconstructions of the time-dependent dynamic topography of Eastern China have indicated that the slab of the Palaeo-Pacific Plate subducted into the deeper section of the upper mantle beneath East Asia during the Early Cretaceous (Cao et al 2018). Meanwhile, the sinking and roll-back of the Palaeo-Pacific slab happened from the late Early Cretaceous to Late Cretaceous (Cao et al 2018). In addition, the lithospheric extensional setting of the eastern NCC during the late Mesozoic is suggested to be related to the possible slab roll-back of the Pacific Plate (Yang et al 2010;Li et al 2018c).…”