Journal of Palaeogeography

2015, 4(2): 189-202

DOI: 10.3724/SP.J.1261.2015.00073

Tectonopalaeogeography and
Palaeogeography
palaeotectonics

Mesozoic basins and associated palaeogeographic

evolution in North China

Yong-Qing Liu*, Hong-Wei Kuang, Nan Peng, Huan Xu, Peng Zhang,
Neng-Sheng Wang, Wei An*
Institute of Geology, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, Beijing 100037, China

Abstract  In North China, the Mesozoic terrestrial basins, sedimentary palaeogeography

and tectonic settings involved five evolutionary stages: (1) the Early-Middle Triassic, (2) the
Late Triassic to Early-Middle Jurassic, (3) the Late Jurassic to early Early Cretaceous, (4) the
middle-late Early Cretaceous and (5) the Late Cretaceous. The regional punctuated tectonic
events occurred during these evolutionary stages.
During the Early-Middle Triassic (stage 1), the Xingmeng Orogenic Belt (XMOB, i.e., east-
ern part of Central Asia Orogenic Belt, CAOB) of the northern North China was settled in the
transition of tectonic environment from syn-orogenic compression to post-orogenic extension
with intensive uplifting. It is a main provenance in the unified Ordos-North China Basin.The
united continental plate of China and the Qinling-Dabie-Sulu Orogenic Belt formed due to
convergence and collision between the North China Plate and the Yangtze Plate along two
suture zones of the Mianlue and the Shangdan in the terminal Middle Triassic.
During the Late Triassic to the Early-Middle Jurassic (stage 2), the Late Triassic mafic or
alkaline rocks and intrusions occurred on the northern and southern margins of North China
Craton (NCC) and XMOB, implying that intensified extension happened all over the North
China (early phase of stage 2). Additionally, in the late phase of stage 2, the basic volcanic-
filling faulted basins were widely distributed in the northeastern North China during the Early-
Middle Jurassic, including a series of small‑ to medium-sized basins with coal-bearing strata
and some volcanic rocks in other areas of North China, which was the result of subduction of
the Palaeo-Pacific Plate during the Early-Middle Jurassic. An active continental margin with
accretionary complex developed in the eastern Heilongjiang of China, Japan and the Far East
of Russia at that time. However, in the end of the Early-Middle Jurassic, because of the Yan-
shanian orogeny characterized by complicated thrust and fold, the previous unified Ordos-
North China Basin was separated by the northeast-oriented Great Xing’an Range and Taihang
Mountain uplifted linearment. The differential evolution of basins and sedimentary palaeoge-
ography between eastern and western North China was initiated, and was interpreted to result
in the closure of Okhotsk Ocean and the subduction of Palaeo-Pacific Plate (late stage 2).
During the Late Jurassic (the early phase of stage 3), a variety of faulted basins occurred
in the Yanshan and Yinshan areas in the northeastern North China. In Yanshan area, basins
were filled with thickened intermediate volcanic rocks and purple-red coarse-grained clastic
rocks. In contrast, only thick layered sedimentary rocks with rare volcanic rocks developed in
the Yinshan faulted basins, the Ordos Basin and basins in sourthern North China. XMOB was

*  Corresponding author. E‑mail: liuyongqing@cags.ac.cn.

  Received: 2014-05-29  Accepted: 2015-01-09
190 JOURNAL OF PALAEOGEOGRAPHY Apr. 2015

the main provenance of the Early Mesozoic basins in the North China, while the Ordos Basin
and the Hefei Basin were partly supplied by the northern Qinling Orogenic Belt.
During the Late Jurassic-early Early Cretaceous (the late phase of stage 3), the north-
ern and northeastern North China experienced extensional movement after the subduction
of the Palaeo-Pacific Plate, the closure of the Mongolia-Okhotsk Ocean and the subsequent
Yanshanian orogeny. At the same time, a NE-oriented, giant rift basin system (NE Asia Rift)
extended from the Yanshan to the western Great Xing’an Range, where rift basins were filled
with the regional, NE-oriented, thick coarse-grained clastic rocks and a belt of volcanic rocks.
In the meantime, the eastern and northeastern China and most areas of NCC were presented
as highland terrains.
During the middle-late Early Cretaceous (stage 4), rift basins developed and accumulated
alluvial sediments and interbedded alkaline volcanic rocks in the western and northern North
China, including Yingen, Ejinaqi and Erlian regions. Basins were formed on both sides of the
Tan-Lu Fault Zone under a striking-slipping force. Furthermore, faulted basins developed in
the Yishu Fault Zone of Shandong (central Tan-Lu Fault Zone) as well, where dinosaur fauna
flourished. Basic volcanic rocks and fluvial-lacustrine sediments were deposited in small- or
medium-sized rift basins in the northeastern China. The Songliao Basin was a typical giant ba-
sin that was mainly filled with late Early Cretaceous lacustrine sediments. A group of rift basins
occurred in the Sanjiang area, central Heilongjiang Province, northeastern China.
From the middle-late Early Cretaceous to the Late Cretaceous (stage 5), depositional and
subsiding center of the basins constantly shifted southeastwards in Heilongjiang Province.
The tectonic setting changed into the Palaeo-Pacific continental margin in north and north-
eastern China.
Besides, during the Late Mesozoic, a huge terrestrial biota, mainly dinosaur fauna, domi-
nated in North China. The Yanliao biota of the Middle-Late Jurassic and the Jehol biota of
the Early Cretaceous are characterized by feathered dinosaurs, primitive birds, mammals,
pterosaur, insects and plants (angiosperms). In northeastern Asia, this Late Mesozoic tectonic
background , palaeogeoraphy and palaeoecology were shared by East China, Korean Penin-
sula, Japan and the Far East of Russia.
Key words  Mesozoic, basin, orogenic belt, tectonic zone, palaeogeography, North China

1 Introduction the extension of Circum Pacific Orogenic Belt from North

The Mesozoic is an important period in the evolution‑
ary history of the Earth which was partially covered by
the broad Tethys Ocean (the Tethys domain) and widely
distributed terrestrial basins. Since the Late Mesozoic, a
number of important geological events had taken place in
the Tethys domain, such as Pangea break-up (Keppie et al.,
2004; Veevers, 2004), Tethys closure (Sone and Metcalfe,
2008), the formation of Mongolia-Okhotsk tectonic zone
in Central Asia Orogenic Belt (Metelkin et al., 2007; Pei et
al., 2011; Donskaya et al., 2013) and the Pacific Ocean ex‑
pansion (Kemkin, 2008; Chough and Sohn, 2010; Zhang
et al., 2012a). Simultaneously, in terrestrial environments,
a series of important geological/tectonic events with glob‑
al-scale implications occurred successively, for example,
and South America to the northeastern Asia, subduction
of the Palaeo-Pacific Plate, the closure of the Mongolia-
Okhotsk Ocean and its subsequent orogeny, the occur‑
rence of Yanshanian Orogeny in the intra-plate of North
China (Davis et al., 2001; Yang et al., 2006), large-scale
volcanic activities and mineralizations in eastern China
(Xu et al., 2013) and the destruction of the North China
Craton (NCC) (Zhai et al., 2007; Li et al., 2012a; Zhang
et al., 2012b; Zhu et al., 2012a, 2012b; Tang et al., 2013).
Then, extensive volcanic-magmatic-orogenic activities
in the Mesozoic terrestrial environments of North China re‑
sulted in the complex and diverse palaeogeography, along
with a rapid evolution of flourishing flora and fauna. For
example, dinosaur fauna was a dominant creature which
lived through the fast radiation during the Late Mesozoic
 Yong-Qing Liu et al.: Mesozoic basins and associated palaeogeographic
Vol. 4 No. 2 evolution in North China
and the mass extinction during the Late Cretaceous (Zhou
et al., 2003). Therefore, the Late Mesozoic of North China
had important implications on terrestrial palaeogeography,
palaeoclimatology and palaeoenvironment, as well as the
complicated global tectonic background, which has been a
research focus for long-term.
In recent years, the authors, supported by the National
Science Foundation of China and China Geological Survey,
carried out systematic investigations and comprehensive
studies of sedimentary-tectonic evolution and associated
palaeogeography, focusing on the Mesozoic sedimentary
basins in North China. Based on the tectonic evolution
stages of the Mesozoic basins, this paper analyzed and
summarized not only the spatial-temporal evolution of the
Mesozoic terrestrial palaeogeography and palaeoenviron‑
ment, but also the tectonic activities in North China.
2  Geological setting
North China includes the Tianshan-Xingmeng Oro‑
genic Belt to the north, the North China Craton (NCC) to
the south and the East Asian continental margin (Figures 1,
2). The Tianshan-Xingmeng Orogenic Belt, which expe‑
rienced a long-term accretive arc-continent collision with
a similar orogenic history as the Tethyan tectonic domain,
Figure 1  A schematic map of the Mesozoic tectonics in North
China.
191
was the world’s largest Paleozoic accretive orogenic belt,
and formed at about 250 Ma along the Solonker suture
(Xiao, 2004, 2009, 2013; Li et al., 2006). The Mongolia-
Okhotsk Ocean closed during the Jurassic-Cretaceous
(Donskaya et al., 2013; Zhou and Wilde, 2013) (Figure 1).
The NCC, as one of the world’s oldest cratons, was
finally cratonized in ca. 1.85 Ga, and then experienced
extension during the Late Paleoproterozoic, stabilizing
as a platform during the Middle Neoproterozoic (Zhai et
al., 2000; Zheng et al., 2013), receiving marine sediments
during the Paleozoic, having depositional hiatus from the
Middle Ordovician to the Carboniferous, and accumu‑
lating terrestrial deposits since the Permian. The Tan-Lu
Fault Zone crosses the eastern part of NCC and the Jilin-
Heilongjiang Provinces (Figure 1).
The southeastern region of NCC hosted the Qinling-
Dabie-Sulu Orogenic Belts which were formed by col‑
lisions of South China Block and North China Craton
during the Early Mesozoic and were symbolized the Pale‑
ozoic-Mesozoic continental collision and ultra high pres‑
sure (UHP) metamorphism (Zhang et al., 2004; Zheng et
al., 2013). The southwestern region of NCC contained the
Qilian Orogenic Belt that recorded the closure of Tethys
Ocean (Zhang et al., 2004). The eastern region of NCC
belonged to the continental margin of East Asia, which
not only was the eastern edge of the Palaeo-Pacific Plate
since the Mesozoic, but also constituted the complex tec‑
tonic setting of the Palaeo-Asia and northwestern Pacific
Ocean since the Paleozoic (Li, 2006; Zheng et al., 2013).
The eastern part of present Heilongjiang was located in the
active continental margin of the Palaeo-Pacific subduction
zone during the Late Jurassic (Kojima, 1989; Kirillova,
2003; Kemkin, 2008).
3  Mesozoic basin evolution, palaeogeo‑
graphy, and tectonics in North China
Mesozoic basins were widely distributed in North China
(Figures 2, 3). On the basis of sedimentary palaeogeogra‑
phy and tectonic settings, five evolutionary stages can be
identified in chronological order, i.e., (1) Early-Middle Tri‑
assic, (2) Late Triassic to Early-Middle Jurassic, (3) Late
Jurassic to early Early Cretaceous, (4) middle-late Early
Cretaceous and (5) Late Cretaceous. Between each indi‑
vidual evolutionary stage, there were regional punctuated
tectonic deformation (event) surfaces (Figure 3).
3.1  Stage 1: Early-Middle Triassic
During stage 1 (Figure 4), the North China was char‑
192 JOURNAL OF PALAEOGEOGRAPHY Apr. 2015

69° 75° 81° 87° 93° 99° 105° 111° 117° 123° 129°

50°

Xi Great
R anng ’ a n
44°

ge
il ar San jiang
Ha

N
Harbin

Al
44°

ta
Songliao

yM
t.

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R anng ’ a n
Junggar

ge
n

SG
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Er Shenyang
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Bogda Mt.
T i a Turpan-Hami Tianshan –Xingme ng Orogenic Belt

oic
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an Beishan Mt.
Mt. Yinshan Mt. Yanshan Mt.

e
38°

ontin
Tarim Yingen–Ejinaqi
Beijing

Lüliang Mt.

Taihang Mt.

the M
Hexi Corridor Bohai Bay

m a r gt A s i a n c
Mt. Qi
nlun
Yinchuan
lia

a u lt
Ku nM Ordos

in of
Qaidam t . 32°
Xining

F
North China Craton

Ta n - lu
Qili

Eas
32° Lanzhou
an– Zhengzhou
Qin
ling Qin Xi’an
400 km –Da ling Hefei Shanghai
bie Mt.
Oro
gen
ic B
elt Wuhan
87° 93° 99° 105° 111° 117°

Superimposed basin Rift basin Fault City

Figure 2  Distribution map of the Mesozoic basins in North China. Mt. = Mountain; the same below.

acterized by differentiated palaeogeographic and tectonic
evolution from south to north. The Junggar-Turpan-Hami
area was a unified basin located in northwestern China in
the Early Trassic, which was under the distance effection
of the Tethys evolution in Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and the
northward compression. The uplifted mountains around the
basin are provenance and result in the purple-red fluvial-
lacustrine sediments of the Early Trassic.
North China was in a syn-orogenic or post-orogenic tec‑
tonic setting, e.g., the Tianshan-Xingmeng accretionary
orogeny or Central Asian Orogeny through the Late Paleo‑
zoic to Early Triassic. The northern margin of NCC and the
Xingmeng Orogenic Belt were strongly compressed which
demonstrated the syn-orogenic and uplift tectonic features.
The Ordos-North China was represented by a giant ba‑
sin with widely-distributed facies assemblages of alluvial
fan-fluvial and shallow lake facies. In Yanshan region, the
Lower-Middle Trassic was dominated by alluvial fan and
fluvial channel deposits of purple-red sandstone and mud
sediments, which were deposited in western Shandong as
well. In southern North China and northern Qinling Moun‑
tain, however, the Lower-Middle Triassic was dominated
by alluvial fan-fluvial and shallow-deep lacustrine facies
assemblages. During the Early-Middle Triassic, the North
China Plate and the Yangtze Plate approached together and
by the end of the Middle Triassic, collision between the
North China Plate and the Yangtze Plate occured along
the Qinling-Dabie-Sulu subduction belt, which caused
uplift and extensive erosion in the southeastern region of
North China and palaeogeographic rising of the southeast‑
ern North China. At that time, palaeogeographic highlands
were widely distributed in eastern and northeastern China,
and in Xingmeng Orogenic Belt (XMOB). Hence, most
areas of XMOB and northeastern China were represented
by the palaeogeographic highlands, which consisted of
the main provenance of Ordos-North China Basin (Li et
al., 2013a, 2013b; Yang et al., 2013). Palaeo-currents and
provenances including detrital zircon analysis of the Low‑
er-Middle Triassic sediments indicated a bidirectional
sedimentary supply pattern from either northern Qinling
Mountain or XMOB and northern North China to the cen‑
tral Ordos-North China Basin (Figure 4).
3.2  Stage 2: Late Triassic to Early-Middle Jurassic
The stage 2 (Figures 5, 6) is characterized by most in‑
tense regional extension in North China in the previous
uplift terrains. In the northern area of the northeastern and
eastern China, highlands collapsed successively. In the
 Yong-Qing Liu et al.: Mesozoic basins and associated palaeogeographic
Vol. 4 No. 2 evolution in North China
XMOB and the northern margin of NCC, during the Late
Triassic, volcanic lavas or alkaline rocks appeared (Xu
et al., 2009, 2013) with small-scale basins that contained
coarse-grained clastics and coal-bearing beds. Two giant
basin systems of the Junggar-Turpan-Hami and the Or‑
dos-North China presented, where regional well-correlat‑
ed fluvial-lacustrine deposits were accumulated (Figure 5).
During the Early-Middle Jurassic (Figure 6), North
China was characterized by the extensive streching of the
Earth crust. A series of faulted basins filled with basic-
intermediate volcanic rocks and coal-beds developed
well in North China and northeastern China. Across the
Junggar-Turpan-Hami Basin in northwestern China, and
in the western areas of the gravity gradient zone from the
Great Xing’an Range to the Taihang Mountain, there de‑
posited thick coal-bearing lacustrine and fluvial sediments,
however, the dominant deposits of the eastern areas were
basic-intermediate lavas at bottom overlied by lacustrine
and coal-bearing fluvial sediments. Besides, the ringlike
depositional facies zones consisting of coarse-grained
sediments of fluvial fans and channels surrounded in the
Hexi Corridor Basin and the Ordos-North China Basin,
and the palaeocurrents towards the central Ordos-North
China Basin, suggested that their sediment provenances
were the uplift mountains around these basins. But, palae‑
ocurrent and provenance analysis of the Jurassic deposits
in West Shandong Province showed that these sediments
came from East Shandong to the East Tan-Lu Fault Zone
and northern North China or Central Asia Orogenic Belt
(Yang et al., 2013).
Furthermore, during the late Early-Middle Jurassic, the
Yanshanian orogeny characterized by complicated thrusts
and folds was widely developed in North China (Davis et
al., 2001; Cope et al., 2007), which led to a differential
basin evolution in western and eastern regions of North
China. Thus, the previously unified Ordos-North China
Basin was split into two sub-basins (the Ordos Basin and
the North China Basin) due to synchronous uplift along the
NE-oriented line from the Great Xing’an Range to Taihang
Mountain (the gravity gradient zone) which was effected
and formed by Palaeo-Pacific Ocean subduction from the
Early-Middle Jurassic. However, Xu (2007) indicated
that this gravity gradient zone was caused by the subduc‑
tion of the Palaeo-Pacific Ocean Plate in the middle Early
Cretaceous.
Thus, the differential evolution of basins and sedimen‑
tary palaeogeography between the eastern and western
North China has initiated since the Early-Middle Jurassic.
In fact, the eastern Heilongjiang Province located in the
193
northeastern side of NE China was in a back-arc setting of
the Palaeo-Pacific Ocean subduction under the East Asia
Continent (Wu, 2007). Basin evolution, palaeogeography
and dynamic mechanism of the Early-Middle Jurassic in
northern North China and northeastern China were associ‑
ated with the closure of the Okhotsk Ocean as well. There‑
fore, current researches suggest that the northern North
China and northeastern China were in a back-arc environ‑
ment of composite subduction of the Palaeo-Pacific Plate
and the Okhotsk oceanic plate during the Early-Middle
Jurassic (Xu et al., 2013; Safonova and Santosh, 2014).
Hence, rising of the gravity gradient zone from Great
Xing’an Range to Taihang Mountain is not only an indica‑
tor of beginning differentiated the palaeogeographic and
tectonic evolution from east to west in North China, but
also a crustal extension across the NCC in a large-scale
and the maximum intensity. The Late Jurassic to the early
Early Cretaceous strata were mainly volcanic-sedimen‑
tary assemblages and were characterized by bimodal-like
volcanic rock associations. They rested on the unconform‑
ity induced by the Middle Jurassic Yanshan Orogeny and
consisted of, in an ascending order, basic-intermediate
volcanic rocks of basalt, basaltic andesite, trachyandesite
and andesite, interbedded with lacustrine deposits of the
Yanliao Biota-bearing Tiaojishan Formation, huge thick
coarse-grained sediments of a combination of alluvial
fan-fluvial conglomerates and sandstones containing local
intermediate-acidic volcanic or volcaniclastic rocks of the
Tuchengzi Formation, and acidic lavas and volcaniclastic
rock associations of dacite and rhyolite and pyroclastic
rocks of the Zhangjiakou Formation (Figure 3). The vast
middle Early Cretaceous rifting volcanic and sedimentary
rocks containing the Jehol Biota of younger than 130 Ma
overlied the Late Jurassic to the early Early Cretaceous
volcanic-sedimentary strata.
3.3  Stage 3: Late Jurassic to early Early Creta-
ceous
During the early stage 3 (the middle Late Jurassic) (Fig‑
ure 7), a variety of faulted basins occupied the Yinshan-
Yanshan areas because of regional extension. Faulted ba‑
sins in the Yanshan Mountain were filled with sedimentary
succession of massive intermediate-basic volcanic rocks
(the Tiaojishan Formation) and the overlying purple-red,
coarse-grained clastic rocks (the Houcheng Formation/
Tuchengzi Formation), which were not in co-occurrence
with thrust faults regionally. Actually, through 154 Ma to
135 Ma, i.e., from the Late Jurassic to the early Early Creta‑
ceous, there was vast thick purple-red coarse-fine-grained
 194
JOURNAL OF PALAEOGEOGRAPHY
Apr. 2015
Figure 3  Stratigraphy and evolution stages of the Mesozoic basins in North China (vertical line areas refer to the missing strata). Fm. = Formation; Gr. = Group; MMB = Manketuoebo-
Manitu-Baiyingaolao; MS = Mingshui; NJ = Neijiang; QSK = Qingshankou; SFT = Sifangtai; SJW = Sunjiawan; YJ = Yaojia; ZJG = Zhongjiangou.
 Yong-Qing Liu et al.: Mesozoic basins and associated palaeogeographic
Vol. 4 No. 2 evolution in North China 195

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basin current
Marginal
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Figure 4  Basins and sedimentary palaeogeography of North China during the Early-Middle Triassic (stage 1).

clastic deposits in North China. The Shishugou or Wuchai‑ along the Yanshan Mountain to the western Great Xing’an
wan Group in northern Xinjiang, NW China was both pur‑ Range in NE China, the lithology of which mainly consist‑
ple-red tuffaceous clastics with plenty of intercalations of ed of basic-intermediate volcanic rocks, middle-coarse-
conglomerates (165-164 Ma). Rare tuffaceous sediments grained clastic rocks (the Houcheng Formation/Tuchengzi
except for purple-red coarse-fine-grained clastic depos‑ Formation/Emuerhe Group), and acid volcanic rocks with
its occurred in Gansu and Ningxia provinces, NW China. sedimentary rocks at top (the Zhangjiakou Formation and
Faulted basins in the Yinshan Mountain were mainly filled its equivalent) (Wang et al., 2006; Zhang et al., 2008,
with thick-layered alluvial-fluvial-lacustrine clastic sedi‑ 2009, 2010, 2011; Ying et al., 2010).
ments interbedded with freshwater limestone locally (Li et Further, statistics of dating results of the Zhangjiakou
al., 2004). On the other hand, the Ordos Basin was filled Formation showed a minor discordant with previous re‑
with thick lacustrine-fluvial-alluvial fan deposits and fre‑ sults (Wang et al., 2006; Zhang et al., 2008, 2010). Current
quent volcanic rocks, while thick conglomerates (the Fen‑ study indicates that acidic volcanic peak of the Zhangjiak‑
fanghe Formation) consisting mainly of the Paleozoic or ou Formation is not only in an interval of 165-130 Ma but
Triassic limestone dolomites and sedimentary rocks were also in two peak pulses of 160-150 Ma and 140-130 Ma
deposited along the margin of the Ordos Basin. rather than 160-150 Ma and 141-122 Ma (Zhang et al.,
However, the eastern Heilongjiang located at the active 2010) or simply 135 Ma as previously published research
continental margin of the Palaeo-Pacific Plate (Xu et al., results (Wei et al., 2012). However, dating results of vol‑
2013; Safonova and Santosh, 2014) was dominated by the canism of the Zhangjiakou Formation suggest a 150-140
accretionary complex and ocean plate stratigraphy which Ma weak peak being well consistent with the previous
consisted of gabbro, diabase, basic pillow lavas (basalt, results (Zhang et al., 2010), which indicates the transfor‑
spilite) and siliceous rocks, or exotic limestone blocks of mation of the Palaeo-Pacific Plate subduction, i.e., from a
the Late Paleozoic. low angle subduction to slab rollback through the Jurassic
During the late stage 3 (the late Late Jurassic to early to the Early Cretaceous (Wang et al., 2006; Zhang et al.,
Early Cretaceous) (Figure 7), a giant rift system appeared 2008, 2009, 2010; Ying et al., 2010).
196 JOURNAL OF PALAEOGEOGRAPHY Apr. 2015

0 250 500 km
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current
Remnant
basin City

Figure 5  Basins and sedimentary palaeogeography of North China during the Late Triassic (early stage 2).

Pa
lae
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ang

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ilia
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basin Provenance elt
Rifting City
volcanics

Figure 6  Basins and sedimentary palaeogeography of North China during the Early-Middle Jurassic (late stage 2). The previously
unified Ordos-North China Basin was split into the two sub-basins of Ordos Basin and North China Basin during the late Early-
Middle Jurassic.
 Yong-Qing Liu et al.: Mesozoic basins and associated palaeogeographic
Vol. 4 No. 2 evolution in North China
Stratigraphic framework of Late Jurassic-early Early
Cretaceous displays a regular variation from Yinshan-
Yanshan Orogenic Belt to Great Xing’an Range, however,
the Tiaojishan Formation is either missing or decreasing
in thickness in western and northern Great Xing’an Range.
On the contrary, the contemporary strata of the Tuchengzi
Formation reaches a great depositional thickness in north‑
ern Great Xing’an Range. In southern Great Xing’an Range
and Yinshan-Yanshan Orogenic Belt, both the Tiaojishan
Formation and the Tuchengzi Formation present a huge
thick succession. However, thickness of the Zhangjiakou
Formation and its contemporary strata in the whole Great
Xing’an Range and western Yinshan-Yanshan Orogenic
Belt is larger than those somewhere in North China.
At the same time, most of the eastern region of North
China, in spite of giant rift systems, was a palaeogeograph‑
ic highland named as the “East North China Highland”,
which indicated a common geographic uplift and erosion.
This study suggests that during stage 3, the regional tec‑
tonic setting, volcanics and magmas, sedimentary basins,
and palaeogeographic evolution are not related to the com‑
posite subduction. In contrast, the North China was under
post-orogenic extension which caused the collapse of the
Mangolia-Okhotsk Orogenic Belt and the Yinshan-Yan‑
shan Orogenic Belt (Fan et al., 2003).
3.4  Stage 4: middle-late Early Cretaceous
Furthermore, in North China, after intensive thrust and
fold events at the end of stage 3, widespread extension
reached its peak during stage 4 (Figures 8, 9) correspond‑
ing to lithospheric thinning and destruction of the NCC
(Zhu et al., 2012a, 2012b). In sedimentary basins, the
volcanic-sedimentary deposits accumulated either uncon‑
formably or conformably on the previous orogenic belts.
Those medium‑ or large-scale basins were common on
XMOB, which were mainly filled with fluvial and lacus‑
trine deposits under hot and arid environments. Regional
faulted basins with fluvial-lacustrine sediments and alka‑
line volcanic intercalations were, however, developed in
the Beishan Mountain, Hexi Corridor, and Yingen-Ejina‑
qi areas in northwestern China and Erlian regions on the
northern side of North China. But, rift basins filled with
intermediate volcanic rocks which were interbedded with
fluvial-lacustrine sediments containing well-preserved
fossils of the Jehol Biota were widely developed in the
northern and northeastern China, the Far East of Russia,
Mongolia, South Korea and Japan (Zhou et al., 2003; Mat‑
sukawa et al., 2006; Figure 8).
At the same time, the Tan-Lu striking-slipping fault led
197
to basin formation within fault zone (i.e., in Hefei, eastern
and western Shandong, northeastern Songliao and the San‑
jiang Region). Typical pull-apart basins filled with thick
volcanic-sedimentary rocks (the Qingshan and Dasheng
Groups) appeared in the Yishu rift fault zone. Dinosaur
bones and trace fossils were well preserved in shallow-
lake sediments of the Dasheng Group. At that time, NE
China was of the middle Early Cretaceous in age. Small‑ to
middle-scale faulted basins were filled with basic volcan‑
ics and fluvial-lacustrine sediments. The Songliao Basin
was a late Early Cretaceous giant lacustrine basin filled
with deep-water lake (shale)-river facies sediments (Ren
et al., 2002; Feng et al., 2010; Li et al., 2012b). Rift basins
of the middle-late Early Cretaceous were characterized by
marine-terrigenous sediments and interbedded with calc-
alkaline volcanic rocks in Sanjiang Region as well. Here,
the river system connected with the Palaeo-Pacific Ocean
and palaeoclimate was mainly warm and humid (Sha,
2007; Figure 9).
3.5  Stage 5: Late Cretaceous
During stage 5 (the Late Cretaceous), a series of broad
basins with fluvial to shallow lacustrine facies occurred
in the Hexi Corridor, including the Yingen-Ejinaqi Ba‑
sin which was located in NW China and the Erlian Basin
which was located in the northern region of North China
(Figure 10). The Songliao Basin and the Sanjiang faulted
(rift) basin groups continued their spreading. At this pe‑
riod, basins and palaeogeography of North China and its
northeastern region were obviously effected by the strik‑
ing-slipping movement of the Tan-Lu Fault.
Actually, since the Late Mesozoic, from the western
side of Great Xing’an Range through the Songliao Basin to
the Sanjiang Region of Heilongjiang, sedimentary basins
distributed gradually towards the southeast of NE China,
which reflected the influence of the Palaeo-Pacific conti‑
nental margin evolution (Wang et al., 2006). In addition,
during the Late Mesozoic, terrestrial biota represented by
flourishing dinosaur fauna prevailed in North China and
the North-East Asia, including the Middle-Late Jurassic
Yanliao Biota and the middle-late Early Cretaceous Je‑
hol Biota characterized by terrestrial plants and animals,
feathered dinosaurs, primitive birds, mammals, insects,
and angiosperms (Zhou et al., 2003; Liu et al., 2012).
In general, during the Late Mesozoic, the eastern China
and the northeastern Asia, South Korea, Japan and the Far
East of Russia all shared the same tectonic, palaeogeo‑
graphic and palaeoecological environments, which was
habitable for terrestrial vertebrate and invertebrate faunas
198 JOURNAL OF PALAEOGEOGRAPHY Apr. 2015

Mt. n
one sha
in z an
A

bas ge–Y
lta
y
M NE China
t. Highland

n
rift an Ra
0 250 500 km

Palaeo-Pacific Ocean
Ju

ing
ng Harbin
ga

'
ing
r – T Urumqi

Ka
Ba urp

at X
ra
sin an

m
NT s -Ha

ay

Gre
ian mi

M
sh

t.
an
Mt Beishan Mt. and central Inner
. Mongolia Highland
Yinshan–Yanshan
Sea

Ko
of
Hohhot Beijing Japan

rea
Hexi Corridor–Ordos Basin

nP
Bohai Bay

en
W North China Taiyuan
Highland

ins
Jinan

ula
Yinchuan
E North China

Mt.
Qi Highland Yellow Sea
Tethys nli
ng

ang
–Q Zhengzhou
Highland Fault ilia

h
nO

Ta i
rog
Remnant Palaeo- en
basin current ic B Hefei
elt
Rifting City
volcanics

Figure 7  Basins and sedimentary palaeogeography of North China from the Late Jurassic to the early Early Cretaceous (stage 3).

one e

A
in z ang

lta
y
bas n R

M
t.
ing g'a

0 250 500 km NE China

rift t Xin

Junggar Highland
Basin Harbin
a
Gre

Urumqi
Ka

Tu
ra

rpa
m

NT Ba n-Ha
ay

ian sin m
i
M

sh
an Beishan Mt. and central Inner
t.

Palaeo-Pacific Ocean

Mt
. Mongolia Highland
Sea
Ko

Hohhot of
Japan
rea

Beijing
nP

Qi Yinchuan Bohai Bay

en

nli Taiyuan
ng Hexi Corridor–Ordos Basin
ins

–Q W North China
ilia
ula

Jinan
nO Highland
ro E North China
Mt.

Tethys ge
nic Highland Yellow Sea
ang

Be
Highland lt Zhengzhou
h
Ta i

Protobasin Fault Hefei

Remnant Palaeo-
basin current
Rifting City
volcanics

Figure 8  Basins and sedimentary palaeogeography of North China during the middle Early Cretaceous (early stage 4).
 Yong-Qing Liu et al.: Mesozoic basins and associated palaeogeographic
Vol. 4 No. 2 evolution in North China 199

nd
hla
A

Hig
lta
y
M

nge
e
t.

sin ng

Ra
ba Ra
s
0 250 500 km

n
Junggar

res ift
'an
ing 'an

sio
ep o r
Basin

ing
Harbin

rift Xing
Ka

d d lia
ra

at X

an ong
Urumqi

t
Tu

ns
ea
ay
rpa

S
Gre
NT

si
Gr
M
ian Ba n-Ha

ba
t.
sha sin m

g
nM

Palaeo-Pacific Ocean
i

tin
t.

rif
Western Gansu and central InnerYinshan–Yanshan

i
he
Mongolia rifting basins Sea

Ji

Ko
of

E
Hohhot Japan

rea
Beijing

nP
Qi Hexi Corridor–Ordos Basin Bohai Bay
nli

en
ng Yinchuan Taiyuan
–Q E Shandong

ins
ilia rifting basins

ula
nO
Tethys ro Jinan

Mt.
ge
nic Yellow Sea
Highland

ang
Be
lt

h
Protobasin Fault Zhengzhou
Ta i
Remnant Palaeo- N Hefei
basin current rifti Dabie
ng M
bas t.
Rift ing City ins
volcanics

Figure 9  Basins and sedimentary palaeogeography of North China during the late Early Cretaceous (late stage 4).

d
lan
igh
ge H

A
Ran

lta
y Palaeo-
M
t. Pacific
'an

0 250 500 km Ocean

sio
ing

res

Junggar
at X

Basin Harbin
ep
oD
Gre
Ka

Urumqi
ra

lia

Turpan-Hami
m

ng
ay

NT Basin NE China
So

ian
l a n d Highland
M

sh i ns h
t.

an a s H i g
Mt nb hina
. ssio rth C
epre
nt ral d N No
d ce Sea
rn an
Yinshan–Yanshan
Ko

te of
Wes Hohhot Japan
rea

Beijing
nP

Bohai Bay
en

Taiyuan
Ordos Highland
ins

Qi
Mt.

ula

nli
ng an
Jinan ce
ang

–Q Lanzhou O
ilia Yellow Sea c
ifi
h

nO
ac
Ta i

Tethys ro Zhengzhou -P
ge o
nic ae
Highland Fault Be al
lt P
Protobasin Palaeo- Hefei
current
Remnant
basin City

Figure 10  Basins and sedimentary palaeogeography of North China during the Late Cretaceous (stage 5).
200 JOURNAL OF PALAEOGEOGRAPHY
and floras (Matsukawa et al., 2006).
4 Conclusions
In North China, terrestrial sedimentary palaeogeogra‑
phy and tectonic settings can be classified as five evolu‑
tionary stages for the Mesozoic basins. During the Early
Mesozoic, the XMOB was in a post-orogenic setting;
afterwards it was uplifted and supplied sediments to the
Ordos-North China Basin.
Following the initial extension of the Middle Triassic,
more intensive expansion and a series of faulted basins
occurred during the period from the Late Trassic to the
Early-Middle Jurassic. In addition, small-scale, basic-
intermediate volcanic rocks and clastic rocks associated
with coal-bearing sediments were widely distributed in the
northeastern region of North China at that period. How‑
ever, to the west, volcanic rock interclations were rare. An
active continental margin with accretionary prism devel‑
oped on the eastern side of Heilongjiang due to subduction
of the Palaeo-Pacific Plate.
At the end of the Early-Middle Jurassic, the Yansha‑
nian orogeny occurred, which was characterized by com‑
plicated thrusts and folds and led to differential basin
evolutions and sedimentary palaeogeography between the
eastern and western regions of North China.
During the transitional period of the Late Jurassic-
Early Cretaceous, the northern and northeastern regions
of North China were in an extensional tectonic setting ac‑
companied with vast collapse of both the Okhotsk Oro‑
genic Belt and the Yanshan tectonic belt. A tectonic zone
which was filled with basic-acidic lavas, pyroclastic rocks
and thick-layered, coarse-grained sediments related to the
northeastern Asia rift system was extended from the Yan‑
shan Mountain to the Great Xing’an Range.
Furthermore, from the Middle to Late Cretaceous, rift‑
ing basins in North China developed regionally, especially
along the Tan-Lu Fault Zone. The northeastern region of
North China was characterized by the occurrence of the
Songliao Basin and the Sanjiang Basin groups, both of
which were in a lacustrine environment.
In addition, terrestrial biotas (i.e., the Yanliao Biota
of the Middle-Late Jurassic) and the Jehol Biota of the
middle-late Early Cretaceous (which mainly consists of
feathered dinosaurs, primitive birds, mammals, reptiles,
pterosaurs, insects and plants/angiosperms, etc.) dominat‑
ed in North China and northeastern Asia during the Late
Mesozoic. At this period, the East China, Korean Penin‑
sula, Japan and the Far East of Russia shared same palaeo‑
Apr. 2015
geographic and palaeoecologic environments, which were
habitable for terrestrial vertebrate and invertebrate faunas
and floras.
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank Prof. Zeng-Zhao Feng, whose
advice was invaluable and we also appreciate the editors
for helpful comments in general. This project was support‑
ed by the National Natural Science Foundation of China
(grants No. 41372109, 90914003 and 41272021), and the
China Geology Survey (grants No. 1212011085477 and
12120114064301).
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 (Edited by Yuan Wang, Min Liu, Xiu‑Fang Hu)