The stratigraphic and structural record of the Cretaceous Jianghan Basin, central China: Implications for initial rifting processes and geodynamics

Abstract

The stratigraphic and structural characteristics of the initial phase of continental rift basins have been widely studied. However, the initial rifting geodynamic processes in many rift basins remain poorly understood because the relevant structures and stratigraphic successions tend to be deeply buried in result of continued rift evolution. Using an extensive database of geological (stratigraphic and structural) and geophysical data we investigate when and how rift initiation occurred in the

Basement Structures Have Crucial Influence on Rift Development: Insights From the Jianghan Basin, Central China

“…Notably, much of the North Jianghan Basin outcrops on the surface with a series of predominantly NNW‐striking grabens and half‐grabens (Figures b and c). In contrast to the North Jianghan Basin, the central Jianghan Basin and South Jianghan Basin are buried by less than 1,100‐m thick postrift sediments (Figures b and a; Wu, Mei, Liu, et al, ). The Jianghan Basin is surrounded by a prerift fold and thrust belt without extensional reactivation (Figures b and c).…”

“…The Late Jurassic thrust faults and folds underwent extensionally reactivated through the Late Cretaceous and Paleogene rifting events, after the Early Cretaceous thermal doming (Mei et al, ; Wu, Mei, Liu, et al, ). The driving mechanism of the rifting events was the active upwelling of upper mantle induced by a combination of the rollback of the Pacific slab and India‐Asia collision (Li et al, , Li, Zhu, et al, ; Liu et al, ; Wu, Mei, Liu, et al, , Wu, Mei, Paton, et al, ). During the Paleogene, the rift‐related faults in the North Jianghan Basin gradually aborted while most faults in the central and South Jianghan Basin were further extensionally reactivated with some newly reactivated faults (Wu, Mei, Liu, et al, , Wu, Mei, Paton, et al, ).…”

“…However, the exact manner in which basement structures reactivate and the degree that basement structures exert their influence on the overlying rift basins remains poorly understood, although some studies have paid attention to the basement structures and their relationship with individual rift‐related faults and subbasins (Bird et al, ; Fazlikhani et al, ; Morley, ; Phillips et al, ). The primary reason is that rift basins mostly evolve on a crystalline basement which is mainly composed of magmatic and metamorphic rocks (Fazlikhani et al, ; Katumwehe et al, ; Morley, ; Mortimer et al, ); therefore, prerift structures are more difficult to identify within crystalline basement than prerift strata (Hou et al, ; Paton et al, ; Su et al, ; Wu, Mei, Liu, et al, ). Their differences are especially noticeable when basement structures are thrusts and/or folds.…”

“…(a) Stratigraphic column for the Jianghan Basin (modified from HBGMR, ; Wu, Mei, Liu, et al, ). (b) Characteristics of basement reflections and seismic units.…”

Deciphering the origin of the Cenozoic intracontinental rifting and volcanism in eastern China using integrated evidence from the Jianghan Basin

“…The East Jianghan Basin consists of a large graben and a series of half-grabens. Rifting in the Jianghan Basin initiated during the Late Cretaceous under the background of widespread extension in eastern China triggered by the rollback of the subducted Pacific slab during the Early Cretaceous (Li et al, 2012a(Li et al, , 2014Wu et al, 2018). The Cretaceous widespread rifting and magmatism in eastern China marked the ultimate destruction of the North China Craton and SCB (Li et al, 2015a;Zhu et al, 2015b).…”