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Numerical modeling of convective erosion and peridotite‐melt interaction in big mantle wedge: Implications for the destruction of the North China Craton
Author(s) -
He Lijuan
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
journal of geophysical research: solid earth
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.983
H-Index - 232
eISSN - 2169-9356
pISSN - 2169-9313
DOI - 10.1002/2013jb010657
Subject(s) - geology , peridotite , craton , mantle wedge , subduction , mantle (geology) , mantle convection , lithosphere , geophysics , geochemistry , convection , petrology , paleontology , mechanics , tectonics , physics
The deep subduction of the Pacific Plate underneath East Asia is thought to have played a key role in the destruction of the North China Craton (NCC). To test this hypothesis, this paper presents a new 2‐D model that includes an initial stable equilibrated craton, the formation of a big mantle wedge (BMW), and erosion by vigorous mantle convection. The model shows that subduction alone cannot thin the cold solid craton, but it can form a low‐viscosity BMW. The amount of convective erosion is directly proportional to viscosity within the BMW ( η 0bmw ), and the rheological boundary layer thins linearly with decreasing log 10 ( η 0bmw ), thereby contributing to an increase in heat flow at the lithospheric base. This model also differs from previous modeling in that the increase in heat flow decays linearly with t 1/2 , meaning that the overall thinning closely follows a natural log relationship over time. Nevertheless, convection alone can only cause a limited thinning due to a minor increase in basal heat flow. The lowering of melting temperature by peridotite‐melt interaction can accelerate thinning during the early stages of this convection. The two combined actions can thin the craton significantly over tens of Myr. This modeling, combined with magmatism and heat flow data, indicates that the NCC evolution has involved four distinct stages: modification in the Jurassic by Pacific Plate subduction and BMW formation, destruction during the Early Cretaceous under combined convective erosion and peridotite‐melt interaction, extension in the Late Cretaceous, and cooling since the late Cenozoic.