Late Mesozoic transformation from the compressive to extensional tectonic regime of the Eastern North China Craton: Sedimentary records from the North Yellow Sea Basin

During the Mesozoic, the Eastern North China Craton experienced a transformation from the compressive to extensional tectonic setting. The Middle Jurassic-Lower Cretaceous sedimentary rocks of the North Yellow Sea Basin in the Eastern North China Craton may contain information about possible changes of sources of sediments. Based on the detrital zircon U-Pb ages of sedimentary rocks and the statistics of detritus of clastic rocks, this paper deal with the provenances of these rocks from the Middle Jurassic-Early Cretaceous in the North Yellow Sea Basin. The Middle Jurassic detritus of clastic rocks were from the basement of the basin and the Sulu Orogenic Belt in the Jiaodong Peninsula. In the Late Jurassic, the detrital particles from the Jiaobei Uplift and Sulu Orogenic Belt increased, and the detritus of clastic rocks from the Liaodong Peninsula also flowed into the basin. In the Early Cretaceous, the detritus of clastic rocks from the Jiaodong Peninsula decreased, while detritus of clastic rocks from the Liaodong Peninsula dominated. The provenances of the Middle-Upper Jurassic sedimentary rocks in the basin were controlled by multiple directions, while the provenance of the Lower Cretaceous sedimentary rocks changed from multiple directions to single direction. Obviously, with the passage of time (from Middle Jurassic to Early Cretaceous), the spatial transformation of the provenances in the North Yellow Sea Basin was a response to the transformation of regional tectonic setting. In the Early Cretaceous, the Eastern North China Craton completed transformation from the Paleo-Asian tectonic domain to the marginal Pacific tectonic domain.