Strain partitioning, transfer and implications for the ongoing process of intracontinental graben formation in the northwestern margin of the Ordos block, China: insights from densified GNSS measurements

The northwestern margin of the Ordos block is structurally separated by the Yinchuan–Hetao graben system. As one of the most active intracontinental graben systems within the Eurasian continent, its kinematic pattern of crustal extension is crucial for unraveling the ongoing processes of intracontinental graben formation, while it remains unclear principally due to a lack of geological constraints on crustal deformation. We obtained and analysed a densified GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) velocity field in this region. Our results suggest that the western margin of the Hetao graben exhibits the NW-directed crustal extension (∼ 1.1 mm yr−1), which can be attributed to the conjugate transtension resulting from the left-lateral motion along the E–W-trending northern boundaries of the Alashan and Ordos blocks, as well as the right-lateral motion along the N–S-trending western margin of the Ordos block. Additionally, in response to the NE-directed extrusion of the Tibetan Plateau, the Alashan block undergoes approximately NE-directed contraction (4.9 ± 1.1 nanostrain yr−1) and NW-directed extrusion (2.8 ± 0.8 nanostrain yr−1), which vacates space for the crustal extension of the Yinchuan graben with a rate of 0.9 ± 0.1 mm yr−1. Although it is challenging to determine whether the left-lateral motion (approximately 1 mm yr−1) along the E–W-trending Hetao graben is the far-field effect of western Pacific subduction, the gradual decrease in right-lateral motion from the N–S-trending western margin of the Ordos block toward the north side of the Yinshan Orogen manifests the far-field effect of the Indo-Eurasian plate convergence extending into the Mongolian Plateau.