The continental lower crust

doi:10.13745/j.esf.sf.2023.12.27

Abstract

Abstract:

The lower crust, linking the lithospheric mantle and the upper crust, is the most active place of energy exchange between the crust and the mantle; and partial melting of the lower crust and upper mantle, and delamination of the lower crust can directly lead to crust/mantle material exchange, re-cycling, recombination. In other words, the lower crust is one of the most important site for mantle-crust interactions where magma underplating, anatexis, delamination, high-grade metamorphism, and other processes take place. However, the lower crust has been largely overlooked by previous studies of the deep Earth. In this paper, the lower crustal profile of the North China Craton is described in detail. On this basis, the craton-type lower crust processes are discussed, and their dynamic significance and important position in the study of continental dynamics are emphasized. Cratonization is the transition of the formerly chaotic crust of the continent to stable upper and lower crust, and thus establishing a stable lithosphere. This unprecedented stable relationship between the crust and the mantle has been maintained from the beginning to the present, and is the basis for continental evolution, ocean-continent interaction, and crust-mantle interaction. The cratonic crust is not static after formation, and the continental boundaries can change during ocean-continental subduction-collisions. Especially during continent-continent collisions, the continental crust that can form different continental blocks is superimposed, thickened, collapsed, disassembled, underpinned and re-stabilized. At the root of the continental orogenic belt, a new lower crust is formed to become the lower crust of the orogenic belt type. We, therefore, suggest in this paper that the craton-type lower crust processes should receive full attention in the study of the deep Earth as well as in the designing of geoscience curricula.

Key words: continental lower crust, geological process, interaction between crust and mantle, craton, orogeny, geodynamics

CLC Number:

P313.2
P541

ZHANG Yanbin, ZHAI Mingguo, ZHOU Yanyan, ZHOU Ligang. The continental lower crust[J]. Earth Science Frontiers, 2024, 31(1): 28-45.

Figures/Tables 13

Fig.1 Metamorphic phases of the lower crust (a) and Poisson ratio vs. P-Velocity diagram (b). Modified after [18,21].

Fig.2 Change of lithospheric thermal thickness with geologic age. (a) General case. (b) NCC by estimation. Adapted from [2,27].

Fig.3 Sketch geological profile of the lower crust beneath Manjinggou-Xiaobazi. Modified after [29].

Fig.4 K-Rb (a), Rb-Sr (b), and U-Th (c) diagrams for lower crust rocks from the NCC. Adapted from [31].

Fig.5 Plot of P-wave velocity vs. temperature at 0.8 GPa for lower crust rocks from the NCC. Adapted from [36].

Fig.6 Sketch wave velocity cross-section through Hunyuan-Yangyuan-Huaian-Hannuoba. Adapted from [37].

Fig.7 Sequence-stratigraphic comparison of the NCC to classic examples. Modified after [38].

Fig.8 Simplified Ivrea section across the Alps. Modified after [47].

Fig.9 p-T conditions during post-metamorphic uplift, Bamble, Norway. Modified after [60]. 1-10: ‘representative isochores’; a to g: estimates from mineral assemblages; a to c: prehnite-pumpelleyite; d to g: peak metamorphic associations. Shaded square at the lower left corner of c: ‘preferred’ for anatexis in Songe amphibolite; Doted line: modeled uplift path; A to E: successive fluid regimes during post-metamorphic uplift.

Fig.10 Phase diagrams for H2O and CO2. Adapted from [61]. × marks the critical conditions of these materials. The short-dashed lines indicate the temperatures below which the “dense” supercritical H2O and CO2 exist.

Fig.11 REE patterns of argillaceous granulite (Khondalite) and anatectic granite (a, adapted from [74] ) and p-T conditions for partial melting of mafic granulite under different depth ranges (b, adapted from [75])

Fig.12 Position of anorthosites in lower crust columnar sections. Adapted from [77].

Fig.13 Sketch crust-mantle section beneath Hannuoba area. Modified after [80,84].

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