4.6 Article

Reactivated Margin of the Western North China Craton in the Late Cretaceous: Constraints From Zircon (U-Th)/He Thermochronology of Taibai Mountain

Journal

TECTONICS
Volume 41, Issue 2, Pages -

Publisher

AMER GEOPHYSICAL UNION
DOI: 10.1029/2021TC007058

Keywords

zircon; (U-Th); He thermochronology; craton margin; back-arc extension; Late Cretaceous

Funding

  1. National Key R&D Program of China [2018YFC1504101]
  2. National Natural Science Foundation of China [41930106]

Ask authors/readers for more resources

The study of Taibai Mountain on the southern margin of the western North China Craton reveals a rapid exhumation phase around 78-71 Ma, indicating the possible Late-Cretaceous margin reactivation. This reactivation may have been driven by WNW-ESE extension in East Asia related to thermo-tectonic events, basin subsidence, and volcanism.
The western North China Craton (NCC) entered a stage of craton thinning concentrated on its margin in the Cenozoic, but its Late-Cretaceous conditions were previously deduced to be relatively quiescent. Therefore, whether the Late-Cretaceous tectonic reactivation existed on the margin of this block is critical to understanding how the craton evolved into a thinned one. To investigate this possible margin reactivation in the Late Cretaceous, we apply zircon (U-Th)/He thermochronology to Taibai Mountain on the southern margin of the western NCC. From an similar to 3-km-high vertical profile with ages decreasing from 98 +/- 5 Ma at the peak to 52 +/- 7 Ma at the foot, the age-elevation relationship suggests the rapid exhumation at ca. 78-71 Ma bracketed by two slow exhumation phases. This interpretation is confirmed by 1D half-space modeling and QTQt inverse modeling, with the rapid exhumation stage having an exhumation rate of 0.1-0.6 km/Myr and a cooling rate of similar to 10 degrees C/Myr. Together with previously reported thermochronological data from the margin of the western NCC, the rapid exhumation at ca. 78-71 Ma implies a reactivated margin in the Late Cretaceous before widespread Cenozoic thinning of the craton margin. This Late-Cretaceous reactivation likely resulted from WNW-ESE extension expressed by thermo-tectonic events, basin subsidence, and volcanism in East Asia. Excluding impacts from climate change, lithospheric delamination, and India subduction beneath Eurasia, we infer that the Late-Cretaceous reactivation on the margin of the western NCC was driven by the far-field effect of Izanagi Plate subduction beneath the Eurasian Plate during slab rollback of the subducted plate.

Authors

I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.

Reviews

Primary Rating

4.6
Not enough ratings

Secondary Ratings

Novelty
-
Significance
-
Scientific rigor
-
Rate this paper

Recommended

No Data Available
No Data Available