Element Abundances of China's Continental Crust and Its Sedimentary Layer and Upper Continental Crust

China's continental crust (CCC)has an average thickness of 47km,with the uppercontinental crust (CUCC)being 31 km and the sedimentary layer(CSL)5 km in thickness.The CCC,CUCC and CSL measure 12.437×10^17,8.005×10^17 and 1.146×10^17 metric tons in mass,respectively.The mass ratio of the upper continental crust to the lower one is 1.8:1.The element abundances were calculated for the CCC,CUCC and CSL respectively in terms of the chemical compositions of 2246 samples of various types and some complementary trace element data.The total abundance of 13 major elements accounts for 99.6% of the CCC mass while the other minor elements only account for 0.4%.REE characteristics,the abundance ratios of element pairs and the amounts of ore-forming elements are also discussed in the present paper.

The Weixi High-silica Granitoids in the Central Sanjiang Orogenic Belt,Southwest China:Implications for Growth of the Continental Crust

High-silica granitoids record the formation and evolution of the continental crust.A new intrusive complex has been recognized among silicic volcanic rocks of the Weixi arc,Southwest China.The intrusions consist of granites,granitic porphyries,and granodiorites.Zircon U-Pb age data indicate that the Weixi granitoids formed at 248-240 Ma and were coeval with silicic volcanic rocks of the Weixi arc.The Weixi granitoids are enriched in Rb,Th,and U,depleted in Ba,Sr,Nb,Ta,and Ti,and have high light/heavy rare earth element ratios and slightly negative Eu anomalies.The Weixi granitoids have negative ε_(Nd)(t)values(-9.8 to-7.8)and negative zircon ε_(Hf)(t)values(-12.02 to-5.11).The geochemical and isotopic features suggest the Weixi granitoids were derived by partial melting of ancient crustal material.The Weixi granitoids and silicic volcanic rocks were derived from the same magma by crystal accumulation and melt extraction,respectively,and they record the formation of a continental arc in the central Sanjiang orogenic belt.

Rates of generation and growth of the continental crust

Models for when and how the continental crust was formed are constrained by estimates in the rates o crustal growth. The record of events preserved in the continental crust is heterogeneous in time with distinctive peaks and troughs of ages for igneous crystallisation, metamorphism, continental margin and mineralisation. For the most part these are global signatures, and the peaks of ages tend to b associated with periods of increased reworking of pre-existing crust, reflected in the Hf isotope ratios o zircons and their elevated oxygen isotope ratios. Increased crustal reworking is attributed to periods o crustal thickening associated with compressional tectonics and the development of supercontinents Magma types similar to those from recent within-plate and subduction related settings appear to hav been generated in different areas at broadly similar times before ~3.0 Ga. It can be difficult to put th results of such detailed case studies into a more global context, but one approach is to consider when plate tectonics became the dominant mechanism involved in the generation of juvenile continental crust The development of crustal growth models for the continental crust are discussed, and a number o models based on different data sets indicate that 65%-70% of the present volume of the continental crus was generated by 3 Ga. Such estimates may represent minimum values, but since ~3 Ga there has been reduction in the rates of growth of the continental crust. This reduction is linked to an increase in th rates at which continental crust is recycled back into the mantle, and not to a reduction in the rates a which continental crust was generated. Plate tectonics results in both the generation of new crust and it destruction along destructive plate margins. Thus, the reduction in the rate of continental crustal growth at ~3 Ga is taken to reflect the period in which plate tectonics became the dominant mechanism b which new continental crust was generated.

Composition and evolution of the continental crust:Retrospect and prospect

Until the middle of the 20th century,the continental crust was considered to be dominantly granitic.This hypothesis was revised after the Second World War when several new studies led to the realization that the continental crust is dominantly made of metamorphic rocks.Magmatic rocks were emplaced at peak metamorphic conditions in domains,which can be defined by geophysical discontinuities.Low to medium-grade metamorphic rocks constitute the upper crust,granitic migmatites and intrusive granites occur in the middle crust,and the lower crust,situated between the Conrad and Moho discontinuities,comprises charnockites and granulites.The continental crust acquired its final structure during metamorphic episodes associated with mantle upwelling,which mostly occurred in supercontinents prior to their disruption,during which the base of the crust experienced ultrahigh temperatures(>1000℃,ultrahigh temperature granulite-facies metamorphism).Heat is provided by underplating of mantle-derived mafic magmas,as well as by a massive influx of low H_(2)O activity mantle fluids,i.e.high-density CO_(2) and highsalinity brines.These fluids are initially stored in ultrahigh temperature domains,and subsequently infiltrate the lower crust,where they generate anhydrous granulite mineral assemblages.The brines can reach upper crustal levels,possibly even the surface,along major shear zones,where granitoids are generated through brine streaming in addition to those formed by dehydration melting in upper crustal levels.

Classification and Source Materials of Continental Crust Transformation Series Granitoids in South China

The granitoids of the continental crust transformation series in South China may be divided into threetypes: (1) synorogenic migmatic and magmatic type. (2) anorogenic continental crust anatexis type, and (3)syncollision type. Based on the results of Sr and Nd isotopic determinations, the source material compositionof the three types of granitoids is calculated with crust-mantle binary mixing simulation. The calculations indi-cate that the granitoids of the first type consist of 78.6-89.7% upper crust endmember materials and15.0-10.3% depleted mantle endmember materials, the granitoids of the second type are composed of 63.7%upper crust endmember materials and 36.3% depleted mantle endmember materials, and those of the third type100% upper crust endmember materials. Hence. the source material composition of the granitoids of all thethree types is dominated by upper crust endmembers.

Potential mechanisms of pore-fluid movement from continental lithospheric mantle into upper continental crust

Through integrating the state of the art scientific knowledge in different research fields, some potential mechanisms of large-scale movements of underground pore-fluids such as H2O and CO2 in the continental lithosphere were presented and discussed. The results show that the generation and propagation of porosity waves are important mechanisms to transport mass and heat fluxes from the continental lithospheric mantle into the lower continental crust; the generation and propagation of porosity waves, pore-fluid flow focusing through lower and middle crustal faults, advection of pore-fluids through the lower and middle crust, and whole-crust convection in some particular cases are important mechanisms to transport mass and heat fluxes from the lower into the upper continental crust; heat and mass transport through convective pore-fluid flow is the most effective mechanism of ore body formation and mineralization in hydrothermal systems; due to heat and mass exchange at the interface between the earth surface, hydrosphere and atmosphere, it is very important to consider the hydro-geological effect of the deep earth pore-fluids such as H2O and CO2 on the global warming and climate change in future investigations.

Petroleum geology controlled by extensive detachment thinning of continental margin crust: A case study of Baiyun sag in the deep-water area of northern South China Sea

The relationships between crustal stretching and thinning,basin structure and petroleum geology in Baiyun deep-water area were analyzed using large area 3D seismic,gravity,magnetic,ocean bottom seismic(OBS),deep-water exploration wells and integrated ocean drilling program(IODP).During the early syn-rifting period,deep-water area was a half-graben controlled by high angle faults influenced by the brittle extension of upper crust.In the mid syn-rifting period,this area was a broad-deep fault depression controlled by detachment faults undergone brittle-ductile deformation and differentiated extension in the crust.In the late syn-rifting period,this area experienced fault-sag transition due to saucer-shaped rheology change dominated by crustal ductile deformation.A broad-deep fault depression controlled by the large detachment faults penetrating through the crust is an important feature of deep-water basin.The study suggests that the broad-deep Baiyun sag provides great accommodation space for the development of massive deltaic-lacustrine deposition system and hydrocarbon source rocks.The differentiated lithospheric thinning also resulted in the different thermal subsidence during post-rifting period,and then controlled the development of continental shelf break and deep-water reservoir sedimentary environment.The high heat flow background caused by the strong thinning of lithosphere and the rise of mantle source resulted in particularities in the reservoir diagenesis,hydrocarbon generation process and accumulation of deep-water area in northern South China Sea.

Evolution of the 3.65-2.58 Ga Mairi Gneiss Complex,Brazil:Implications for growth of the continental crust in the São Francisco Craton

The composition and formation of the Earth’s primitive continental crust and mantle differentiation are key issues to understand and reconstruct the geodynamic terrestrial evolution,especially during the Archean.However,the scarcity of exposure to these rocks,the complexity of lithological relationships,and the high degree of superimposed deformation,especially with long-lived magmatism,make it difficult to study ancient rocks.Despite this complexity,exposures of the Archean Mairi Gneiss Complex basement unit in the São Francisco Craton offer important information about the evolution of South America’s primitive crust.Therefore,here we present field relationships,LA-ICP-SFMS zircon U-Pb ages,and LA-ICP-MCMS Lu-Hf isotope data for the recently identified Eoarchean to Neoarchean gneisses of the Mairi Complex.The Complex is composed of massive and banded gneisses with mafic members ranging from dioritic to tonalitic,and felsic members ranging from TTG(Tonalite-Trondhjemite-Granodiorite)to granitic composition.Our new data point to several magmatic episodes in the formation of the Mairi Gneiss Complex:Eoarchean(ca.3.65–3.60 Ga),early Paleoarchean(ca.3.55–3.52 Ga),middle-late Paleoarchean(ca.3.49–3.33 Ga)and Neoarchean(ca.2.74–2.58 Ga),with no records of Mesoarchean rocks.Lu-Hf data unveiled a progressive evolution of mantle differentiation and crustal recycling over time.In the Eoarchean,rocks are probably formed by the interaction between the pre-existing crust and juvenile contribution from chondritic to weakly depleted mantle sources,whereas mantle depletion played a role in the Paleoarchean,followed by greater differentiation of the crust with thickening and recycling in the middle–late Paleoarchean.A different stage of crustal growth and recycling dominated the Neoarchean,probably owing to the thickening of the continental crust by collision,continental arc growth,and mantle differentiation.

Generation and preservation of continental crust in the Grenville Orogeny

Detrital zircons from modern sediments display an episodic temporal distribution of U-Pb crystallization ages forming a series of ＇peaks＇ and ＇troughs＇. The peaks are interpreted to represent either periods of enhanced generation of granitic magma perhaps associated with mantle overturn and superplume events, or preferential preservation of continental crust during global collisional orogenesis. The close association of those peaks with the assembly of supercontinents implies a causal relationship between collisional orogenesis and the presence of zircon age peaks. Here these two end-member models （episodic periodicity of increased magmatism versus selective preservation during collisional orogenesis） are assessed using U-Pb, Hf, and 0 analysis of detrital zircons from sedimentary successions deposited during the - 1.3-1.1 Ga accretionary, -1.1-0.9 Ga collisional, and 〈 0.9 Ga extensional collapse phases of the Grenville orogenic cycle in Labrador and Scotland. The pre-collisional, accretionary stage provides a baseline of continental crust present prior to orogenesis and is dominated by Archean and Paleoproterozoic age peaks associated with pre-1300 Ma Laurentian geology. Strata deposited during the Grenville Orogeny display similar Archean and Paleoproterozoic detrital populations along with a series of broad muted peaks from - 1500 to 1100 Ma. However, post-collisional sedimentary successions display a dominant age peak between 1085 and 985 Ma, similar to that observed in modern North American river sediments. Zircons within the post-orogenic sedimentary successions have progressively lower EHf and higher -lSO values from - 1800 to - 1200 Ma whereupon they have higher EHf and -3180 within the dominant 1085-985 Ma age peak. Furthermore, the Lu-Hf isotopic profile of the Grenville-related age peak is consistent with significant assimilation and contamination by older crustal material, The timing of this dominant age peak coincides with the peak of metamorphism and magmatism associated with the Grenville Orogeny, which is a typical collisional orogenic belt. The change from broad muted age peaks in the syn-orogenic strata to a single peak in the post-orogenic sedimentary successions and in the modern river sediments implies a significant shift in provenance following continental collision. This temporal change in provenance highlights that the source（s）, from which detrital zircons within syn-orogenic strata were derived, was no longer available during the later stages of the accretionary and collisional stages of the orogenic cycle. This may reflect some combination of tectonic burial, erosion, or possibly recycling into the mantle by tectonic erosion of the source（s）. During continental collision, the incorporated continental crust is isolated from crustal recycling processes operative at subduction margins. This tectonic isolation combined with sedimentary recycling likely controls the presence of the isotopic signature associated with the Grenville Orogeny in the modern Mississippi and Appalachian river sed- iments. These results imply that zircon age peaks, which developed in conjunction with supercontinents, are the product of selective crustal preservation resulting from collisional orogenesis.

Niobium-tantalum Fractionation During Slab Subduction:Implications for the Formation of Continental Crust

Compared with the oceanic crust, knowledge about the formation of the continental crust (CC) is relatively poor. Although melting of subducted slabs in the early history of the Earth has been considered as the major way that shaped the chemical characteristics of the CC by most geologists, as the CC shares many characteristics with modern adakites, some geologists argued that Archean TTG was formed in the same way as modern arcs rather than slab melting, whereas others proposed that melting at the bottom of the thickened oceanic crust was more important. Recently,the debate is mainly focused on the unique subchondritic Nb/Ta value of the CC, and particularly, how Nb and Ta fractionated from each other and consequently how, in detail, the CC was built.……

Coupling between fluids and rock deformation in the continental crust:Preface

1.Introduction Fluids are essential and widespread components of the Earth crust.They regulate the main process of mass and energy transport,conditioning the geochemical and geophysical evolution of the crust(Bredehoeft and Norton.1990)and,consequently,its properties and mechanical behavior.The coupling between fluids,rock deformation,and heat are crucial engines for plate tectonics,playing a leading role in the rheology and evolution of the lithosphere(e.g.Jamtveit et al.,2000;Kennedy and van Soest,2007;Thompson,2010;Miller.2013;Yardley and Bodnar,2014:Hirauchi et al.,2016:Menzies et al.,2016;Plümper et al.,2017;Vizán et al.,2017).

Secular evolution of continental crust: recorded from massif-type charnockites of Eastern Ghats belt, India

It is reasonably well established that the Earth has substantially cooled from the Archean to the pre-sent and hence the sites, rates and pro- cesses of crust formation must have changed through geo-logic time. Archean and Proterozoic granitic rocks are the principal record of such changes. Massif-type charnockites in the Eastern Ghats granulite belt, India, of Archean and Proterozoic ages mirror the changing conditions and/or processes of continental crust for- mation. Though both can be explained by dehydration melting of mafic rocks, the conditions differ. Potasium and rubidium rich Proterozoic charnockites have significant negative Eu ano- maly indicating melting at shallow depths in the stability field of plagioclase. In contrast, sodium and strontium rich Archean charnockites with less LREE enrichment and less depletion in Eu indicate melting at greater depths in the stability field of garnet or amphibole.

Geochronology of the Guyang Granite-Greenstone Terrene and the Implications for Continental Crust Growth

The North China Craton （NCC） is the largest and oldest one among the worldwide cratons. It preserves important imprints of the Earth＇s early history, including crust formation, stabilization and reworking. The Yinshan Block （YB） constitutes the northwestern part of NCC, and contains extensive exposure of Archean rocks （Fig. 1）.

Petrological Model for the Structure of Continental Crust in the Eastern Hebei Province

The precambrian metamorphic complex in the eastern Hebei Province may be considered as an exposed part of the transect of the continental crust.Based on the estimated depth of the metamorphic complex deduced from metamorphic facies and subfacies,geothermomctry and geobarometry in combination with geophysical data,previous and our measurements of wave velocities of rocks under high pressure,a petrological model for the crustal structure in eastern Hebei Province is suggested(Fig.3).The lower crust consists of granulite facies,with the intermediate amphiboie granulite subfacies and the mafic pyroxene granulite subfacies respectively in the upper and lower parts,and with the leuslike serpentinized peridotite and charnockite interbedded in the bottom.The middle crust consists mainly of the intermediate-acidic high temperature amphibolite facies gneiss and schist,with the low temperature amphibolite facies gneiss and schist on the top.The tonalite and granodiorite intrusions with high-temperature

The Geochemical Evolution of the Proterozoic Continental Crust in Northwestern Jiangxi and Western Zhejiang,China

The pertochemistry and Sm-Nd isotopic compositions and the geochemical characteristics of REE,U,Th,etc..in the Late Proterozoix and Early Palaeozoic strata in northwestern Jiangxi and western Zhejiang provinces are described in this paper.It seems to be sure that the middle Proterozoic strata of southeastern China are low in the degree of matrration .The strata contain much mantle-derived material.At the end of Late Proterozoic there was an abrupt turn with respect to the crustal geochemical evolution of the eastern part of South China .Since then ,the geochemical environment has undergone a change from a simple reducing environment to a complex oxidizing-reducing environ-ment, which would be geochemically beneficial to the formation of Late Sinian to Early Cambrian U-bearing formations.

FORMATION OF THE CRUSTAL MELTING LAYER AND ITS RELATIONS TO THE DEFORMATION OF CONTINENTAL CRUST:AN EXAMPLEFROM SOUTHEAST CHINA

Unlike the magma intrusion model,the in- situ melting hypothesis advanced in the lastdecade regards the upper crustas a closed system,and granite as the resultof the materialswithin system changing from order (protolith) to disorder (melts) and to new order(granite) with the variations of entropy of the system.The various geological and geochemi-cal data from the Mesozoic granitesof southeast China are explained logically and systemical-ly by the hypothesis,concluding that they should be originated from the melting of pro-toliths.According to the hypothesis,melts generated from in- situ melting are of layer- likewithin the crustand batholithsare the protruding parts of the uppersurface of the layer (de-fined as the Melting Interface,MI for short) .On the basis the author tries to discuss thesource of heatfor the Mesozoic crustal melting in southeast China.

Stagnant lids and mantle overturns:Implications for Archaean tectonics, magmagenesis,crustal growth, mantle evolution, and the start of plate tectonics

The lower plate is the dominant agent in modern convergent margins characterized by active subduction,as negatively buoyant oceanic lithosphere sinks into the asthenosphere under its own weight.This is a strong plate-driving force because the slab-pull force is transmitted through the stiff sub-oceanic lithospheric mantle.As geological and geochemical data seem inconsistent with the existence of modernstyle ridges and arcs in the Archaean,a periodically-destabilized stagnant-lid crust system is proposed instead.Stagnant-lid intervals may correspond to periods of layered mantle convection where efficient cooling was restricted to the upper mantle,perturbing Earth's heat generation/loss balance,eventually triggering mantle overturns.Archaean basalts were derived from fertile mantle in overturn upwelling zones(OUZOs),which were larger and longer-lived than post-Archaean plumes.Early cratons/continents probably formed above OUZOs as large volumes of basalt and komatiite were delivered for protracted periods,allowing basal crustal cannibalism,garnetiferous crustal restite delamination,and coupled development of continental crust and sub-continental lithospheric mantle.Periodic mixing and rehomogenization during overturns retarded development of isotopically depleted MORB(mid-ocean ridge basalt)mantle.Only after the start of true subduction did sequestration of subducted slabs at the coremantle boundary lead to the development of the depleted MORB mantle source.During Archaean mantle overturns,pre-existing continents located above OUZOs would be strongly reworked;whereas OUZOdistal continents would drift in response to mantle currents.The leading edge of drifting Archaean continents would be convergent margins characterized by terrane accretion,imbrication,subcretion and anatexis of unsubductable oceanic lithosphere.As Earth cooled and the background oceanic lithosphere became denser and stiffer,there would be an increasing probability that oceanic crustal segments could founder in an organized way,producing a gradual evolution of pre-subduction convergent margins into modern-style active subduction systems around 2.5 Ga.Plate tectonics today is constituted of:(1)a continental drift system that started in the Early Archaean,driven by deep mantle currents pressing against the Archaean-age sub-continental lithospheric mantle keels that underlie Archaean cratons;(2)a subduction-driven system that started near the end of the Archaean.

Five-Stage Model of the Palaeozoic Crustal Evolution in Xinjiang

Abstract: The great majority of the Palaeozoic orogenic belts of Central Asia are of the intercontinental type, whose evolution always follows a five-stage model, i.e. the basal continental crust-extensional transitional crust-oceanic crust-convergent transitional crust-new continental crust model. The stage for the extensional transitional crust is a pretty long, independent and inevitable phase. The dismembering mechanism of the basal continental crust becoming an extensional continental crust is delineated by the simple shear model put forward by Wernike (1981). The continental margins on the sides of a gently dipping detachment zone and moving along it are asymmetric: one side is of the nonmagmatic type and the other of the magmatic type with a typical bimodal volcanic formation. In the latter case, however, they were often confused with island arcs. This paper discusses the five-stage process of the crustal evolution of some typical orogenic belts in Xinjiang.

Continental- Margin Structure of Northeast China and Its Adjacent Areas

The continental margin of Northeast China and its adjacent areas is composed of two tectonic belts. The inner belt is a collage made up of fragments resulting from breakup of an old land with the north part related to the evolution of the Palaeo-Asian Ocean and the south part to the evolution of the Palaeo - Pacific Ocean. The outer belt is a Mesozoic terrane, which is a melange made up of fragments of the Late Palaeozoic to Early Mesozoic oceanic crust and the Late M esozoic trench accumulations.There existed another ocean-the Palaeo - Pacific Ocean during the period from the closing of the Palaeo-Asian Ocean to the opening of the modern Pacific Ocean or from the Devonian to Jurassic, and the ocean-floor spreading of the Palaeo - Pacific Ocean led to the formation of the above-mentioned tectonic belts. The development of the strike-slip fault system after the Late Jurassic and the formation of an epicontinental volcano -plutonic rock belt in the Late Cretaceous to Early Tertiary are attributed to the interaction between the modern Pacific plate and the Eurasian plate.

Crust-Mantle Interaction in Dabie Orogenic Belt, Central China: Geochemical Evidence from Late Cretaceous Basalts

It has been suggested that eclogites in the Dabie orogenic be lt are exhumation products, which had subducted into the deep-seated mantle and undergone ultra-high pressure metamorphism during the Triassic. But no direct evidence supports this process except the calculated p-T conditions from mineral thermobarometers. The Late Cretaceous basalts studied in the prese nt paper, however, have provided some geochemical evidence for crust-mantle int eraction in the area. These basalts are distributed in Mesozoic faulted basins i n central and southern Dabie orogenic belt. Since little obvious contamination f rom continental crust and differentiation-crystallization were observed, it is suggested, based on a study of trace elements, that the basalts are alkaline and resultant from batch partial melting of the regional mantle rocks, and share th e same or similar geochemical features with respect to their magma source. In th e spider diagram normalized by the primitive mantle, trace element geochemistry data show that their mantle sources are enriched in certain elements concentrate d in the continental crust, such as Pb, K, Rb and Ba, and slightly depleted in s ome HFSE such as Hf, P and Nb. Pb-Sr-Nd isotopic compositions further suggest the mantle is the mixture of depleted mantle and enriched one . T his interaction can explain the trace element characteristics of basaltic magmas , i.e., the enrichment of Pb and the depletion of Hf, P and Nb in basalts can be interpreted by the blending of the eclogites in DOB (enriched in Pb and deplete d in Hf, P and Nd) with the East China depleted mantle (As compared to the primi tive mantle, it is neither enriched in Pb nor depleted in Hf, P and Nb). It is a lso indicated that the eclogites in the Dabie orogenic belt were surely derived from the exhumation materials, which had delaminated into the deep-seated mantl e. Moreover, the process subsequently resulted in compositional variation of the mantle (especially in trace elements and isotopes), as revealed by the late man tle-derived basalts in the Dabie orogenic belt.