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Tectono-thermal modeling of Cenozoic multiple rift episodes in the Bohai Bay Basin, eastern China and its geodynamic implications

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Abstract

The Bohai Bay Basin (BBB) is the largest Cenozoic rifted basin in eastern China, which exhibited a multi-episodic behavior. A 2D multi-episodic finite extension model is employed to estimate the stretching factor and strain rate for each rift episode along six seismic profiles. The modeling is based on a reconstruction of pre-rift crustal and lithospheric thicknesses, and is calibrated with the present-day heat flow and Moho depth. The pre-rift thicknesses of the crust and lithosphere are determined to be 34–39 and 80–105 km. The stretching factors range from 1.28 to 1.97, with a peak in the middle-to-late Eocene during which the average strain rate reached 1.1 × 10− 15 s− 1. Our analyses show that the centers of stretching migrated generally from south to north and from west to east during the Cenozoic. The results also indicate an inverse relationship between variations of the average strain rate and the relative motion rate between Pacific plate and Eurasian plate. Combining the results of the previous studies with ours, we infer that the changing subduction rate of the Pacific plate accompanied by episodic eastward retreat of the subduction zone plays important roles in the episodic extension of the BBB and eastward migration of the centers of stretching.

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Fig. 1

Modified from Qi and Yang (2010)

Fig. 2

Modified from Tang et al. (2008) and Xie et al. (2007). The lower boundary ages of some strata are different from that shown in the figure in several depressions (Chen et al. 2011; Dong et al. 2012; Qiu et al. 2015; Zuo et al. 2014). The lower boundary ages of the E3 d and E3 s 1 are 33 and 35 Ma in the Linqing–Dongpu depression. The lower boundary age of E2 s 3 is 43 Ma in the Huanghua, Jizhong, and Liaohe depressions, but is 45 Ma in the Linqing–Dongpu depression. In the Liaohe depression, the oldest age of the E2 s 4 is 45.5 Ma and the Fangshenpao Formation (E1 f) was deposited during 65–45.5 Ma

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Modified from Cheng (2011), Guo et al. (2007), Mao (2014), Qi and Yang (2010), Zhang et al. (2014) and Zhao et al. (2016)

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Acknowledgements

We really appreciated the detailed and constructive comments by Prof. Guiting Hou and one anonymous reviewer as well as the editor. This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41574075, 41704087) and the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2016YFC0601005).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Geology, China Earthquake Administration, Beijing, 100029, China

    Qiongying Liu & Lichun Chen

  2. State Key Laboratory of Lithospheric Evolution, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100029, China

    Qiongying Liu & Lijuan He

  3. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Lijuan He

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Correspondence to Lijuan He.

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Liu, Q., He, L. & Chen, L. Tectono-thermal modeling of Cenozoic multiple rift episodes in the Bohai Bay Basin, eastern China and its geodynamic implications. Int J Earth Sci (Geol Rundsch) 107, 53–69 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00531-017-1550-1

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