Triassic magmatism and its relation to decratonization in the eastern North China Craton

Lithospheric removal and destruction of the North China Craton have been hotly discussed recently. It has been confirmed that the timing of a strong lithospheric removal took place in Late Mesozoic; however, little is known about when the lithospheric removal was initiated and how the Late Permian to Early Triassic deep subduction of Yangtze continental crust affected the cratonic destruction. This paper presents an overview on the temporal and spatial framework and geochemical characteristics of the Triassic intrusive rocks in the eastern North China Craton and use these data to trace their sources and petrogenetic processes, in order to constrain the tectonic setting in which they evolved. It is concluded that the destruction of the North China Craton was initiated in the Late Triassic and induced by delamination of the thickened continental crust by deep subduction of Yangtze continental crust and continent-continent collision. This suggests that the subduction of the continental crust and continent-continent collision are possibly interpreted as the inducement of Late Mesozoic decratonization of the North China Craton.