Subduction and Modification Patterns at Middle Part of the Solonker-Xar
Moron-Changchun-Yanji Suture: Revealed by Deep Seismic Reflection
Profile
Abstract
In order to study the subduction and modification patterns beneath the
middle part of the Solonker-Xar Moron-Changchun-Yanji Suture, a
160-km-long deep seismic reflection profile was conducted from Naiman to
Ar Horqin Banner, Inner Mongolia. As a result, the profile presents the
reflection characteristics of “longitudinal stratification and
transverse partitioning”, the most distinguished features are large
area of south dipping reflections along with a set of “crocodile-like
reflection” identified beneath the middle part of the profile, which
are considered to be key seismological evidences for the stages of
southward oceanic subduction and continental collision occurred between
the Songliao-Xilinhot Massif and the North China Craton. The former had
a width of dozens of kilometers but the latter had a much smaller scale,
which may represent the unique characteristic of “soft collision
orogeny” in NE China. Meanwhile, some reflection patterns are
identified to represent the extensional structures formed after the
closure of the ancient ocean, such as reflections from Mesozoic
sediments and faults, as well as the relatively flat reflection Moho
which cuts off the oblique reflections from lower crust. Some blank
reflections and near horizontal strong reflection clusters in the crust
are also identified, which may be the reaction of magmatic activities
after the blocks were assembled. This study provides a new perspective
for revealing the pattern of continental proliferative orogeny and
superimposed reconstruction in the eastern part of the Central Asian
Orogenic Belt, as well as discussing the structural background of large
area magmatic activities in this area.