Structural relationships along a Neoarchean arc-continent collision zone, North China craton

Research Article| January 01, 2017 Structural relationships along a Neoarchean arc-continent collision zone, North China craton Junpeng Wang; Junpeng Wang 1State Key Laboratory of Geological Processes and Mineral Resources, Center for Global Tectonics, School of Earth Sciences, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, China Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Timothy Kusky; Timothy Kusky † 1State Key Laboratory of Geological Processes and Mineral Resources, Center for Global Tectonics, School of Earth Sciences, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, China2Three Gorges Research Center for Geo-hazards, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, China †Corresponding author: tkusky@gmail.com. Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Lu Wang; Lu Wang 1State Key Laboratory of Geological Processes and Mineral Resources, Center for Global Tectonics, School of Earth Sciences, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, China Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Ali Polat; Ali Polat 1State Key Laboratory of Geological Processes and Mineral Resources, Center for Global Tectonics, School of Earth Sciences, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, China3Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Windsor, Windsor, ON N9B 3P4, Canada Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Hao Deng; Hao Deng 1State Key Laboratory of Geological Processes and Mineral Resources, Center for Global Tectonics, School of Earth Sciences, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, China Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Chen Wang; Chen Wang 1State Key Laboratory of Geological Processes and Mineral Resources, Center for Global Tectonics, School of Earth Sciences, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, China Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Songjie Wang Songjie Wang 1State Key Laboratory of Geological Processes and Mineral Resources, Center for Global Tectonics, School of Earth Sciences, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, China Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Author and Article Information Junpeng Wang 1State Key Laboratory of Geological Processes and Mineral Resources, Center for Global Tectonics, School of Earth Sciences, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, China Timothy Kusky † 1State Key Laboratory of Geological Processes and Mineral Resources, Center for Global Tectonics, School of Earth Sciences, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, China2Three Gorges Research Center for Geo-hazards, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, China Lu Wang 1State Key Laboratory of Geological Processes and Mineral Resources, Center for Global Tectonics, School of Earth Sciences, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, China Ali Polat 1State Key Laboratory of Geological Processes and Mineral Resources, Center for Global Tectonics, School of Earth Sciences, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, China3Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Windsor, Windsor, ON N9B 3P4, Canada Hao Deng 1State Key Laboratory of Geological Processes and Mineral Resources, Center for Global Tectonics, School of Earth Sciences, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, China Chen Wang 1State Key Laboratory of Geological Processes and Mineral Resources, Center for Global Tectonics, School of Earth Sciences, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, China Songjie Wang 1State Key Laboratory of Geological Processes and Mineral Resources, Center for Global Tectonics, School of Earth Sciences, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, China †Corresponding author: tkusky@gmail.com. Publisher: Geological Society of America Received: 28 Dec 2015 Revision Received: 13 Jun 2016 Accepted: 18 Jul 2016 First Online: 02 Jun 2017 Online Issn: 1943-2674 Print Issn: 0016-7606 © 2016 Geological Society of America GSA Bulletin (2017) 129 (1-2): 59–75. https://doi.org/10.1130/B31479.1 Article history Received: 28 Dec 2015 Revision Received: 13 Jun 2016 Accepted: 18 Jul 2016 First Online: 02 Jun 2017 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Search Site Citation Junpeng Wang, Timothy Kusky, Lu Wang, Ali Polat, Hao Deng, Chen Wang, Songjie Wang; Structural relationships along a Neoarchean arc-continent collision zone, North China craton. GSA Bulletin 2017;; 129 (1-2): 59–75. doi: https://doi.org/10.1130/B31479.1 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Refmanager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentBy SocietyGSA Bulletin Search Advanced Search Abstract The Archean North China craton is composed of the Western block, Eastern block, and the intervening Central orogenic belt. A 4–10-km-wide and 85-km-long tectonic mélange belt informally called the Zanhuang tectonic mélange is documented in the Zanhuang Massif of the Central orogenic belt, separating the Eastern block from an Archean arc terrane in the Central orogenic belt. The mélange belt contains a structurally complex tectonic mixture of metapelites, metapsammites, marbles, and quartzites mixed with exotic tectonic blocks of volcanic, mafic, and ultramafic rocks, metabasalts that locally include relict pillow structures, and tonalite-trondhjemite-granodiorite (TTG) gneisses. The Zanhuang tectonic mélange marks the suture of an arc-continent collisional zone between the Western Zanhuang Massif in the Central orogenic belt and the Eastern block of the North China craton, and it is one of the best-preserved Archean tectonic mélanges in the world. Here, using zircon U-Pb dating of various types of blocks from the Zanhuang mélange, we show that the formation and associated deformation of the Zanhuang mélange occurred in the Neoarchean (ca. 2.5 Ga). High-precision (1:20–1:200) lithostructural mapping of three key outcrops reveals details of the internal fabrics and kinematics of the mélange and regional structural relationships along the arc-continent collisional zone. A synthesis of studies on the tectonic evolution of the North China craton, coupled with our new fabric and kinematic analysis of the Zanhuang mélange, further constrains the initial amalgamation timing and geometry of the arc-continent collision between the Fuping arc terrane in the Central orogenic belt and the Eastern block with a northwest-dipping subduction polarity. The asymmetric structures and mixture of different blocks and matrices with folding and thrusting events in the Zanhuang mélange record kinematic information that is consistent with the tectonic setting of an accretionary wedge that was thrust over the passive margin of the Eastern block by 2.5 Ga. Lithostructural mapping shows that the classic mélange and fold-and-thrust structures along the Neoarchean arc-continent collisional zone are broadly similar to Phanerozoic collisional belts. You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.