Li, J;
Dong, S;
Cawood, PA;
Thybo, H;
Clift, PD;
Johnston, ST;
Zhao, G;
(2023)
Cretaceous long-distance lithospheric extension and surface response in South China.
Earth-Science Reviews
, 243
, Article 104496. 10.1016/j.earscirev.2023.104496.
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Abstract
Lithospheric extension plays a pivotal role in governing the evolution of continents and the birth of oceanic basins on Earth. Despite this, quantifying wide-mode lithospheric extension and its effects on surface uplift remain elusive. The vast (> 800-km-wide) Cretaceous extensional system in South China offers a unique opportunity to study the processes and mechanism(s) of wide-mode extension and their impacts. Here we review the essential constraints from crustal and mantle structures determined from geological, seismic reflection/refraction, and other geophysical data. Our compilation reveals a stratified lithosphere with depth-dependent extension in a magma-poor domain, expressed by normal faulting in the upper crust, ductile stretching in the mid-lower crust, and localized Moho uplift associated with mantle shear zones. From the magma-poor domain to the magma-rich domain, lateral variations in the extensional mode involve increased crustal melting, decreased crust-mantle decoupling, and mantle shear-zone abandonment caused by magmatic underplating. Extension-related strain fields across the South China lithosphere are uniformly NW-SE oriented, indicating vertically coherent deformation. Stress transmission across this coherent system likely occurred via basal traction and localized mantle shearing. Lower-crustal stretching and lithospheric removal accompanied and promoted the tectonic exhumation of extensional domes and mountain ranges. We propose a coupling between slab rollback, mantle flow, and lithospheric extension. Rollback-induced mantle flow likely drove lithospheric extension in South China by imposing shear forces at the lithosphere base.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Cretaceous long-distance lithospheric extension and surface response in South China |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.earscirev.2023.104496 |
| Publisher version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2023.104496 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | This version is the author accepted manuscript. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions. |
| Keywords: | Lithospheric extension, Crustal and mantle processes, Surface response, Cretaceous, South China |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences > Dept of Earth Sciences |
| URI: | https://discovery-pp.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10192008 |
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