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Destruction of North China Craton: Insights from temporal and spatial evolution of the proto-basins and magmatism

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Abstract

Temporal and spatial evolution of proto-basins and magmatism in the North China Craton might provide information of its destruction. Overall, the destruction of the North China Craton is a heterogeneous process of bottom upward and from margin toward interior, related to multiple interactions between the craton and its surrounding plates. The interior of craton would be initially destructed during the Early-Middle Jurassic. Subduction of the Paleo-Asian Ocean Plate may have destructed the northern margin of the North China Craton. Collision of the Yangtze Plate with the North China Craton is significant for the magmatic and tectonic activities during the Late Triassic-Middle Jurassic. Subductions of the Izanagi and Paleo-Pacific plates lead to the ultimate destruction of the North China Craton. Temporal and spatial evolution of the proto-basins and related magmatism in the North China Craton indicate that the dominant mechanism of the cratonic destruction may be thermal mechanical-chemical erosion.

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Li, H. Destruction of North China Craton: Insights from temporal and spatial evolution of the proto-basins and magmatism. Sci. China Earth Sci. 56, 464–478 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-012-4534-9

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