Late Paleozoic strata in northeastern China are distributed in a zonal pattern around the old-land on the Jiamusi-Mongolia Block. They are composed of active deposits in the regular distributed tectonic lithofacies zo...Late Paleozoic strata in northeastern China are distributed in a zonal pattern around the old-land on the Jiamusi-Mongolia Block. They are composed of active deposits in the regular distributed tectonic lithofacies zones. This indicates that the late Paleozoic strata belong to continental margin deposits. According to the strong conformability of the sedimentary strata in the same continental margin and distinct differences among the three continental margins, three stratigraphical regions of the Jiamusi-Mongolia Stratigraphical Province are recognized along the northern, southern and eastern margins of the Jiamusi-Mongolia Block, named respectively as Xing＇an Stratigraphical Region, Inner Mongolia grass-Songhua River Stratigraphical Region and Baoqing-Hunchun Stra- tigraphical Region. Due to the characteristics of continental margin deposits and active sediments, the strata can be correlated on the level of formation by the methods of analysing the rock association in the same stratigraphic region. Therefore, some revisions of the lithologieal formations of the late Paleozoic strata in northeastern China have been made, and a new chart of lithostratigraphic correlation has been proposed. Furthermore, the present stratigraphic framework is setting on the International Stratigraphic Chart on the level of stage, after comprehen- sive researches to lithostratigraphy, biostratigraphy and chronostratigraphy, especially the conodont biostratigra- phy and isotopic ages of volcanic rocks obtained in recent years.展开更多
The effect of paleo-Pacific subduction on the geological evolution of the western Pacific and continental China is likely complex. Nevertheless, our analysis of the distribution of Mesozoic granitoids in the eastern c...The effect of paleo-Pacific subduction on the geological evolution of the western Pacific and continental China is likely complex. Nevertheless, our analysis of the distribution of Mesozoic granitoids in the eastern continental China in space and time has led us to an interesting conclusion： The basement of the continental shelf beneath East and South China Seas may actually be of exotic origin geologically unrelated to the continental lithosphere of eastern China. By accepting the notion that the Jurassic- Cretaceous granitoids in the region are genetically associated with western Pacific subduction and the concept that subduction may cease to continue only if the trench is being jammed, then the termination of the granitoid magmatism throughout the vast region at -88±2 Ma manifests the likelihood of ＂sudden＂, or shortly beforehand （- 100 Ma）, trench jam of the Mesozoic western Pacific subduction. Trench jam happens if the incoming ＂plate＂ or portion of the plate contains a sizeable mass that is too buoyant to subduct. The best candidate for such a buoyant and unsubductable mass is either an oceanic plateau or a micro-continent. We hypothesize that the basement of the Chinese continental shelf represents such an exotic, buoyant and unsubductable mass, rather than seaward extension of the continental lithosphere of eastern China. The locus of the jammed trench （i.e., the suture） is predictably located on the shelf in the vicinity of, and parallel to, the arc-curved coastal line of the southeast continental China. It is not straightforward to locate the locus in the northern section of the East China Sea shelf because of the more recent （〈20 Ma） tectonic re-organization associated with the opening of the Sea of Japan. We predict that the trench jam at - 100 Ma led to the re-orientation of the Pacific plate motion in the course of NNW direction as inferred from the age-progressive Emperor Seamount Chain of Hawaiian hotspot origin （its oldest unsubdued Meiji and Detroit seamounts are -82 Ma）, making the boundary between the Pacific plate and the newly accreted plate of eastern Asia transform fault at the location east of the continental shelf of exotic origin. This explains the apparent-40 Myr magmatic gap from - 88 to - 50 Ma prior to present-day western Pacific subduction initiation. We propose that basement penetration drilling on well-chosen sites is needed to test the hypothesis in order to reveal the true nature of the Chinese continental shelf basement. This testing becomes critical and cannot longer be neglected in order to genuinely understand the tectonic evolution of the western Pacific and its effect on the geology of eastern China since the Mesozoic, including the cratonic lithosphere thinning, related magmatism/mineralization, and the mechanism of the subsequent South China Sea opening, while also offering novel perspectives on aspects of the plate tectonics theory. We also suggest the importance of future plate tectonic reconstruction of the western Pacific to consider the nature and histories of the Chinese continental shelf of exotic origin as well as the probable transform plate boundary from - 100 to -50 Ma. Effort is needed to reveal the true nature and origin of the - 88 ± 2 Ma granitic gneisses in Taiwan and the 110-88 Ma granitoids on the Hainan Island.展开更多
基金Supported by Project of China Geological Survey (No. 1212011120153 - 3)
文摘Late Paleozoic strata in northeastern China are distributed in a zonal pattern around the old-land on the Jiamusi-Mongolia Block. They are composed of active deposits in the regular distributed tectonic lithofacies zones. This indicates that the late Paleozoic strata belong to continental margin deposits. According to the strong conformability of the sedimentary strata in the same continental margin and distinct differences among the three continental margins, three stratigraphical regions of the Jiamusi-Mongolia Stratigraphical Province are recognized along the northern, southern and eastern margins of the Jiamusi-Mongolia Block, named respectively as Xing＇an Stratigraphical Region, Inner Mongolia grass-Songhua River Stratigraphical Region and Baoqing-Hunchun Stra- tigraphical Region. Due to the characteristics of continental margin deposits and active sediments, the strata can be correlated on the level of formation by the methods of analysing the rock association in the same stratigraphic region. Therefore, some revisions of the lithologieal formations of the late Paleozoic strata in northeastern China have been made, and a new chart of lithostratigraphic correlation has been proposed. Furthermore, the present stratigraphic framework is setting on the International Stratigraphic Chart on the level of stage, after comprehen- sive researches to lithostratigraphy, biostratigraphy and chronostratigraphy, especially the conodont biostratigra- phy and isotopic ages of volcanic rocks obtained in recent years.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(41130314,91014003)Chinese Academy of Sciences Innovation(Y42217101L),grants from Regional and Local Authorities(Shandong Province and City of Qingdao)+1 种基金supported by National Oceanography Laboratory in Qingdaosupported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(NSFC)
文摘The effect of paleo-Pacific subduction on the geological evolution of the western Pacific and continental China is likely complex. Nevertheless, our analysis of the distribution of Mesozoic granitoids in the eastern continental China in space and time has led us to an interesting conclusion： The basement of the continental shelf beneath East and South China Seas may actually be of exotic origin geologically unrelated to the continental lithosphere of eastern China. By accepting the notion that the Jurassic- Cretaceous granitoids in the region are genetically associated with western Pacific subduction and the concept that subduction may cease to continue only if the trench is being jammed, then the termination of the granitoid magmatism throughout the vast region at -88±2 Ma manifests the likelihood of ＂sudden＂, or shortly beforehand （- 100 Ma）, trench jam of the Mesozoic western Pacific subduction. Trench jam happens if the incoming ＂plate＂ or portion of the plate contains a sizeable mass that is too buoyant to subduct. The best candidate for such a buoyant and unsubductable mass is either an oceanic plateau or a micro-continent. We hypothesize that the basement of the Chinese continental shelf represents such an exotic, buoyant and unsubductable mass, rather than seaward extension of the continental lithosphere of eastern China. The locus of the jammed trench （i.e., the suture） is predictably located on the shelf in the vicinity of, and parallel to, the arc-curved coastal line of the southeast continental China. It is not straightforward to locate the locus in the northern section of the East China Sea shelf because of the more recent （〈20 Ma） tectonic re-organization associated with the opening of the Sea of Japan. We predict that the trench jam at - 100 Ma led to the re-orientation of the Pacific plate motion in the course of NNW direction as inferred from the age-progressive Emperor Seamount Chain of Hawaiian hotspot origin （its oldest unsubdued Meiji and Detroit seamounts are -82 Ma）, making the boundary between the Pacific plate and the newly accreted plate of eastern Asia transform fault at the location east of the continental shelf of exotic origin. This explains the apparent-40 Myr magmatic gap from - 88 to - 50 Ma prior to present-day western Pacific subduction initiation. We propose that basement penetration drilling on well-chosen sites is needed to test the hypothesis in order to reveal the true nature of the Chinese continental shelf basement. This testing becomes critical and cannot longer be neglected in order to genuinely understand the tectonic evolution of the western Pacific and its effect on the geology of eastern China since the Mesozoic, including the cratonic lithosphere thinning, related magmatism/mineralization, and the mechanism of the subsequent South China Sea opening, while also offering novel perspectives on aspects of the plate tectonics theory. We also suggest the importance of future plate tectonic reconstruction of the western Pacific to consider the nature and histories of the Chinese continental shelf of exotic origin as well as the probable transform plate boundary from - 100 to -50 Ma. Effort is needed to reveal the true nature and origin of the - 88 ± 2 Ma granitic gneisses in Taiwan and the 110-88 Ma granitoids on the Hainan Island.
