Changes of Late Mesozoic Tectonic Regimes around the Ordos Basin (North China) and their Geodynamic Implications

Abstract: A synthesis is given in this paper on late Mesozoic deformation pattern in the zones around the Ordos Basin based on lithostratigraphic and structural analyses. A relative chronology of the late Mesozoic tectonic stress evolution was established from the field analyses of fault kinematics and constrained by stratigraphic contact relationships. The results show alternation of tectonic compressional and extensional regimes. The Ordos Basin and its surroundings were in weak N‐S to NNE‐SSW extension during the Early to Middle Jurassic, which reactivated E‐W‐trending basement fractures. The tectonic regime changed to a multi‐directional compressional one during the Late Jurassic, which resulted in crustal shortening deformation along the marginal zones of the Ordos Basin. Then it changed to an extensional one during the Early Cretaceous, which rifted the western, northwestern and southeastern margins of the Ordos Basin. A NW‐SE compression occurred during the Late Cretaceous and caused the termination of sedimentation and uplift of the Ordos Basin. This phased evolution of the late Mesozoic tectonic stress regimes and associated deformation pattern around the Ordos Basin best records the changes in regional geodynamic settings in East Asia, from the Early to Middle Jurassic post‐orogenic extension following the Triassic collision between the North and South China Blocks, to the Late Jurassic multi‐directional compressions produced by synchronous convergence of the three plates (the Siberian Plate to the north, Paleo‐Pacific Plate to the east and Lhasa Block to the west) towards the East Asian continent. Early Cretaceous extension might be the response to collapse and lithospheric thinning of the North China Craton.