Meso-Cenozoic Evolution of Earth Surface System Under the East Asian Tectonic Superconvergence

East Asia has suffered for a long duration under the superconvergence system of the Paleo-Asian, Tethyan and Paleo-Pacific tectonic domains. The Indosinian Movement for the first time made an unified passive continental margin in East Asia. The intrusion of ophiolites and Ⅰ-type granites associated with the subduction of the Paleo-Pacific Plate in Late Triassic suggests a transition from passive to active continental margins. In the process of the westward migration of the Paleo-Pacific Subduction Zone, the sinistral transpressional stress field dominated the intraplate deformation during the period from Late Triassic to Middle Jurassic. The E-W-trending structural system controlled by Tethys and Paleo-Asian oceans started changing to the N-E-trending structural system caused by the Paleo-Pacific Ocean subduction. The continuously westward migration of the subduction zones resulted in the transpressional stress field in East Asia marked by the emergence of the Eastern North China Plateau and the formation of the Andean-type of active continental margin from Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous (160~135 Ma), accompanied by the development of a small amount of adakites. In Late Cretaceous (135~90 Ma), due to the eastward retreat of the Paleo-Pacific Subduction Zone, the regional stress field was changed from sinistral transpression to transtension. Since a large amount of late-stage adakites and metamorphic core complexes was developed, the Andean-type of active continental margin was destroyed and the Eastern North China Plateau started to collapse. In Late Cretaceous, the extension in East Asia gradually decreased eastward with the retreat of the Paleo-Pacific subduction zones. Futhermore, a significant topographic inversion took place in Cenozoic resulted from a rapid uplift of the Tibet Plateau owing to the India-Eurasian collision and the formation of the Bohai Bay Basin and other basins in the East Asian continental margin. The inversion has a remarkable eastward migration of deformation, basin formation and magmatism. Meanwhile, the basins mainly developed in Paleogene which caused the formation of the three-stepping topography with dropping altitude eastward. In Neogene, most of the basins underwent rapid subsidence under the control of faulting, as well as the intracontinental extension in East Asia, which also made substantial contribution to the uplifting of the Tibet Plateau.