Palaeomagnetic results from Early Mesozoic strata in the Qaidam Basin and their implications for the formation of the Northern China Domain

SUMMARY The Northern China Domain is located between the Central Asian Orogenic Belts to the north and the Kunlun–Qinling belt to the south, and it comprises the North China, Alxa and Tarim blocks. The relationships among the Northern China domain and the southern tectonic elements such as the Qaidam Basin/Terrane are debated because of the major modification by crustal deformation in the late Mesozoic–Cenozoic. To address this issue, we conducted a palaeomagnetic and high-precision radiometric dating study of Triassic volcanic rocks and Middle Jurassic strata in the Qaidam Terrane. Our objective was to determine the relationship between the Qaidam Terrane with the Tarim Block and the North China Block (NCB) during the late Palaeozoic and early Mesozoic. Four volcanic samples yielded zircon U-Pb ages of 236–243 Ma. The characteristic remanent magnetizations (Middle Triassic: D = 40.2°, I = 54.6°, α95 = 3.4°; Middle Jurassic: D = 27.4°, I = 48.0°, α95 = 7.9°) passed the fold and reversal tests, and yielded Middle Triassic and Middle Jurassic palaeopole positions at 57.6° N, 178.2° E, A95 = 4.0° and 65.8° N, 197.6° E, A95 = 7.8°, respectively. Based on these new poles, combined with other reliable data, we compared the apparent polar wander path (APWP) of the Qaidam Terrane with those of the NCB and Tarim Block. The results show that, from the Carboniferous through Early Cretaceous, the APWP of the Qaidam Terrane resembles that of the Tarim Block, but it is quite different from that of the NCB. Combined with other reported evidence, we conclude that the Qaidam Terrane was an independent dynamic unit during the late Palaeozoic until its connection with the Tarim Block, which was followed by continuous eastward motion. During this process, the connection between the Qaidam Terrane and the NCB–Alxa blocks occurred in the Middle Triassic, and subsequently the Qaidam Terrane underwent multiple tectonic responses to collisions with the Qiangtang Terrane, Lhasa Terrane and the India Plate, before the formation of its modern tectonic configuration.