Early Cretaceous basalts record the modification of the North China Craton lithospheric mantle: implications for lithospheric thinning

Mesozoic magmatic rocks are widely distributed in the North China Craton (NCC) and are crucial to understanding the timing, location, and geodynamic mechanisms of lithospheric thinning of the NCC. In this study, we report geochronological, petrogeochemical, and Lu–Hf isotopic data for adakitic granitoids from different parts of Xiuyan pluton in the Liaodong Peninsula, aiming to constrain their magma sources, petrogenesis, and tectonic implications. The adakites are metaluminous to weakly peraluminous and are classified as high-K calc-alkaline I-type granite with Early Cretaceous zircon U–Pb ages of 129–126 Ma. They exhibit adakite-like geochemical characteristics, such as high Sr content and low Yb and Y contents, coupled with high Sr/Y and no pronounced Eu anomalies. They are enriched in Rb, U, and light rare-earth elements and are depleted in Ta, Nb, P, and Ti. The adakites from the eastern part of the pluton have low εHf(t) values (–8.5 to –4.0) with old TDM2 ages (1.57–1.31 Ga), indicating they were derived from the lower crust containing juvenile mantle-derived materials. In contrast, adakites from the northern part of the pluton have lower εHf(t) values (–19.7 to –16.6) with older TDM2 ages (2.21–2.03 Ga), indicating that they were derived mainly from an ancient crust. Our results show that both adakitic magmas were derived from partial melting of delaminated lower crust. Their relatively high MgO and Ni contents and Mg# values indicate that the melts interacted with mantle peridotites. The lower crust delamination beneath the Liaodong Peninsula resulted from paleo-Pacific plate subduction during the Early Cretaceous, which resulted in thinning of Mesozoic crust in the Xiuyan area.

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Secular evolution of the lithospheric mantle beneath the northern margin of the North China Craton: Insights from zoned olivine xenocrysts in Early Cretaceous basalts

Geological Society of America Bulletin ◽

10.1130/b35443.1 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 132 (11-12) ◽

pp. 2353-2366

Author(s):

Yao Xu ◽

Hongfu Zhang

Keyword(s):

Early Cretaceous ◽

North China Craton ◽

Lithospheric Mantle ◽

North China ◽

Mantle Xenoliths ◽

Liaoning Province ◽

Northern Margin ◽

Secular Evolution ◽

The North ◽

Peridotitic Mantle

Abstract Abundant zoned olivine xenocrysts from Early Cretaceous basalts of the Yixian Formation in western Liaoning Province, China, contain critical information about the nature and evolution of the lithospheric mantle of the northern North China Craton. These olivine xenocrysts are large (600–1600 µm), usually rounded and embayed, with well-developed cracks. Their cores have high and uniform forsterite (Fo) contents (88–91), similar to the peridotitic olivine entrained by regional Cenozoic basalts. Their rims have much lower Fo contents (74–82), comparable to phenocrysts (72–81) in the host basalts. These characteristics reveal that the zoned olivine has been disaggregated from mantle xenoliths and thus can be used to trace the underlying lithospheric mantle at the time of basaltic magmatism. The olivine cores have high oxygen isotope compositions (δ18OSMOW = 5.9–7.0‰) relative to the normal mantle value, suggesting that the Early Cretaceous lithospheric mantle was enriched and metasomatized mainly by melts/fluids released from subducted oceanic crust that had experienced low-temperature hydrothermal alteration. Preservation of zoned olivine xenocrysts in the Early Cretaceous basalts indicates that olivine-melt/fluid reaction could have been prevalent in the lithospheric mantle as an important mechanism for the transformation from old refractory (high-Mg) peridotitic mantle to young, fertile (low-Mg), and enriched lithospheric mantle during the early Mesozoic.

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The distribution of water in the early Cretaceous lithospheric mantle of the North China Craton and implications for its destruction

Lithos ◽

10.1016/j.lithos.2020.105412 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 360-361 ◽

pp. 105412

Author(s):

Zi-Zhen Wang ◽

Jia Liu ◽

Qun-Ke Xia ◽

Yan-Tao Hao ◽

Qin-Yan Wang

Keyword(s):

Early Cretaceous ◽

North China Craton ◽

Lithospheric Mantle ◽

North China ◽

The North

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The Early Cretaceous Shangzhuang layered mafic intrusion and its bearing on decratonization of the North China Craton

Geological Magazine ◽

10.1017/s0016756817000371 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 155 (7) ◽

pp. 1475-1506 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

XUE-MING TENG ◽

M. SANTOSH ◽

LI TANG

Keyword(s):

Early Cretaceous ◽

North China Craton ◽

Lithospheric Mantle ◽

North China ◽

Layered Intrusion ◽

Parent Magma ◽

Spinel Lherzolite ◽

The North ◽

Layered Mafic Intrusion ◽

Lithospheric Destruction

AbstractThe North China Craton (NCC) is one of the classic examples of decratonization through extensive lithospheric destruction during Mesozoic time. Among the various pulses of magmatism associated with cratonic erosion are the rare mafic intrusions in the Yanshan Belt. Here we investigate the Shangzhuang layered intrusion belonging to this suite, which is characterized by compositional layering with troctolite, noritic gabbro and gabbro/gabbroic anorthosite/gabbrodiorite from the bottom to top. The different lithologies of this intrusion exhibit close field relationships, similar chemical patterns and overall identical Lu–Hf isotopes indicating a co-magmatic nature. The fine-grained gabbros occurring near the margin of the intrusion display U–Pb ages similar to those of the other rocks and are considered to represent the composition of the parent magma, characterized by Fe, Mg and Ti enrichment. The magma was sourced from low-degree partial melting of spinel lherzolite sub-continental lithospheric mantle, which had been enriched by crust–mantle interaction and metasomatic fluids derived from the Mongolian oceanic slab subduction beneath the NCC during Late Palaeozoic time. In addition, limited asthenospheric or deeper-mantle materials were also locally mixed with the enriched mantle as the final source component. Our zircon U–Pb data constrain the emplacement age of this intrusion as c. 128–123 Ma in Early Cretaceous time, and correlates with the regional extensional tectonics between c. 135 and 115 Ma in the eastern and central NCC. Mantle upwelling associated with this event resulted in the thermal and chemical erosion of the lithospheric mantle, and emplacement of the parent magma of this layered intrusion.

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Water content in the early Cretaceous lithospheric mantle beneath the south-central Taihang Mountains: implications for the destruction of the North China Craton

Chinese Science Bulletin ◽

10.1007/s11434-014-0203-z ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 59 (13) ◽

pp. 1362-1365 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Shaochen Liu ◽

Qunke Xia

Keyword(s):

Water Content ◽

Early Cretaceous ◽

North China Craton ◽

Lithospheric Mantle ◽

North China ◽

The South ◽

The North ◽

South Central

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Petrogenesis of the Early Cretaceous Hongshan Complex in the Southern Taihang Mountains: Constraints from Element Geochemistry, Zircon U-Pb Geochronology and Hf Isotopes

Minerals ◽

10.3390/min11101111 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (10) ◽

pp. 1111

Author(s):

Xiaolei Chu ◽

Jinggui Sun ◽

Fanting Sun ◽

Yanxiong Mei ◽

Yang Liu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Early Cretaceous ◽

North China Craton ◽

Lithospheric Mantle ◽

Lower Crust ◽

North China ◽

Coarse Grained ◽

Geochemical Data ◽

Fine Grained ◽

The North ◽

T Values

The Hongshan complex, located in the southern part of the Taihang Mountains in the central part of the North China Craton, consists of syenite stocks (including fine-grained biotite aegirine syenite, medium-grained aegirine gabbro syenite, coarse-grained aegirine gabbro syenite, syenite pegmatite, and biotite syenite porphyry), with monzo-diorite and monzo-gabbro dikes. This paper presents zircon U-Pb ages and Hf isotope data and whole-rock geochemical data from the Hongshan complex. LA–ICP-MS zircon U–Pb age from the fine-grained biotite aegirine syenite, monzo-diorite, and monzo-gabbro are 129.3 ± 2.0Ma, 124.8 ± 1.3Ma, and 124.1 ± 0.9Ma, respectively, indicating their emplacement in the Early Cretaceous when the North China Craton was extensively reactivated. The monzo-diorite and monzo-gabbro have low SiO2 contents (48.94–57.75 wt%), total alkali contents (5.2–9.4 wt%), and εHf (t) values of −22.3 to −18.4 and are enriched in MgO (4.0–8.2 wt%), Al2O3 (14.3–15.8 wt%), light rare earth elements (LREEs) and large ion lithophile elements (LILEs). Interpretation of elemental and isotopic data suggests that the magma of monzo-diorite and monzo-gabbro were derived from partial melting of the enriched lithospheric mantle metasomatized by slab-derived hydrous fluids. Syenites with high alkali (K2O + Na2O = 9.4–13.0 wt%) and Sr contents (356–1737 ppm) and low Yb contents (0.94–2.65 ppm) are enriched in Al (Al2O3 = 16.4–19.1 wt%), but depleted in MgO (0.09–2.56 w%), Cr (Avg = 7.16 ppm), Co (Avg = 6.85 ppm) and Ni (Avg = 9.79 ppm), showing the geochemical features of adakitic rocks associated with thickened lower crust. Combining zircon 176Hf/177Hf ratios of 0.282176 to 0.282359, εHf(t) values of −18.3 to −11.8 and εNd (t) values of −11.1 to −8.2, we conclude that the syenite magma was derived from the mixing of the thickened lower crust and the enriched lithospheric mantle magma. These magma processes were controlled by Paleo-Pacific plate subduction and resulted in the destruction and thinning of the central North China Craton.

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