Two-Stage Extensional Pattern in the North China–Mongolian Tract During Late Mesozoic: Insights from the Spatial and Temporal Distribution of Magmatic Domes and Metamorphic Core Complexes

Differentiating magmatic doming and metamorphic core complex (MCC) remains critical for fully understanding the thermal, mechanical, and chemical evolution of continental landmasses under extension. This review summaries spatially overlapping but temporally distinct magmatic domes and MCCs across the north China–Mongolian tract during late Mesozoic. Typical dome instances are developed at the Daqinshan and Maanshan of southern Inner Mongolia, Yunmengshan and Western Hills of Beijing, Yiwulushan of western Liaoning and Liaodong Peninsula during middle–late Jurassic to earliest Cretaceous, while well-documented Early Cretaceous MCCs include the Hohhot MCC, the Kalaqin MCC, the Yunmengshan MCC, the Yiwulushan MCC, the Liaonan MCC and others. Besides building extensional doming, the constituent plutonic complexes in the domes tend to encapsulate multi-level crust–mantle interactions, whereas the MCC-style detachment faulting typically accommodates upper crustal architectural reorganization. They collectively constitute concomitant crustal-continuum expressions of Mesozoic decratonization in the North China Craton (NCC). Near-synchronization of two-stage extensional pattern in the north China–Mongolian tract accords well with gravitational collapse and convective removal of lithospheric mantle within an evolved post-collisional to within-plate extensional regime.