Journal
INTERNATIONAL GEOLOGY REVIEW
Volume 63, Issue 17, Pages 2146-2165Publisher
TAYLOR & FRANCIS INC
DOI: 10.1080/00206814.2020.1827459
Keywords
Western North China Craton; Ordos Basin; Heat flow; Lithospheric thermal structure; Thermal lithospheric thickness; Meso-Cenozoic
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Funding
- National Natural Science Foundation of China [41702117]
- National Major Projects
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The Ordos Basin in the Western North China Craton underwent significant lithospheric thinning in the Late Cretaceous and subsequent vertical thickening during that period. The ratio of mantle to surface heat flow gradually decreased to less than 50% since the Cenozoic.
The Ordos Basin located in the Western North China Craton (WNCC) has been confirmed to have undergone large-scale lithospheric thinning at the end of the Early Cretaceous (130 similar to 90 Ma), but investigations involving its lithospheric thermal structure in the Mesozoic and Cenozoic are limited. In this study, we employed a 1D, steady-state, heat conduction equation to calculate mantle heat flow and its partitioning, the Moho temperature and the thermal lithospheric thickness of different tectonic units in the Ordos Basin based on an analysis of thermal history reconstruction and crustal layering models. The results suggest that the peak of mantle heat flow at the end of the Early Cretaceous varied between 46.65 mW/m(2)and 62.97 mW/m(2), far exceeding 50% of surface heat flow, which shows a typical 'hot mantle and cold crust' type of lithospheric thermal structure, and the lithospheric thinning reached a minimum thickness of 50 similar to 75 km. This was followed by a thermal decay phase in the Late Cretaceous, and a significant vertical thickening of lithosphere occurred during this period, during which the lithospheric thickness increased to 78 similar to 133 km by the end of the Late Cretaceous. Since the Cenozoic, the ratio of mantle to surface heat flow gradually declined to less than or close to 50%. At present, the average mantle heat flow in the Ordos Basin ranges from 22.10 mW/m(2)to 38.76 mW/m(2), the lithospheric thickness is between 81 similar to 158 km, and the Moho temperature entirely surpasses 600 degrees C. In addition, we discuss potential factors and uncertainties in the thermal structure calculation. Combined with previous studies, we suggest that the lithosphere in the WNCC has been thinned locally due to asthenosphere upwelling.
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