Petrography, geochemistry, and U–Pb detrital zircon dating of early Permian sedimentary rocks from the North Flank of the North China Craton: Implications for the late Palaeozoic tectonic evolution of the eastern Central Asian Orogenic Belt

Based on regional geology, these age data reveal that the following: (1) the sedimentary rocks of the Hugete and Sanmianjing Formations were sourced mainly from the NCC, located to the south; (2) the early Palaeozoic accretionary arc complex at the northern margin of the NCC experienced intense erosion before the early Permian and thus it did not appear as a concurrent hinterland uplift during the deposition of the Hugete and Sanmianjing Formations; and (3) no significant topography was generated between the study area and the NCC by the early Permian island arc and orogen.

Age distribution patterns, as well as geochemical and petrographic data, indicate that the Hugete and Sanmianjing Formations were deposited in a newly opened intra-continental ocean basin formed in an extensional tectonic environment.