Ordos Block

Map of the Ordos Block showing the active fault systems that form its boundaries

The Ordos Block is a crustal block, that forms part of the larger North China Block (NCB). It is surrounded by active fault systems and has been a distinct block since at least the Mesozoic. It is bordered to the west by the Alxa Block, the westernmost part of the NCB, to the south by the Qinling orogenic belt, to the north by the Yanshan-Yinshan orogenic belt, part of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt and to the east by the Taihangshan mountain range, which forms part of the Trans-North China Orogen.[1] The block is currently stable and large earthquakes are restricted to the bordering fault zones. It has been suggested that the block is currently undergoing anti-clockwise rotation with respect to the Eurasian Plate, as a result of the ongoing eastward spreading of the Tibetan Plateau,[2] although this view has been challenged.[3]

  1. ^ Chen, W.; Liufu, Y.; Wu, L.; Zhang, C.; Zhang, H.; Wang, Y.; Zhang, Q.; Xiao, A. (2021). "Early Cretaceous extensional allochthons in the Taihang Shan associated with destruction of the North China Craton". Journal of Asian Earth Sciences. 232. doi:10.1016/j.jseaes.2021.104933.
  2. ^ Zhao, B.; Zhang, C.; Wang, D.; Huan, Y.; Tan, K.; Du, R.; Liu, J. (2017). "Contemporary kinematics of the Ordos block, North China and its adjacent rift systems constrained by dense GPS observations". Journal of Asian Earth Sciences. 135: 257–267. Bibcode:2017JAESc.135..257Z. doi:10.1016/j.jseaes.2016.12.045.
  3. ^ Hao, M.; Wang, Q.; Zhang, P.; Li, Z.; Li, Y.; Zhuang, W. (2021). ""Frame Wobbling" Causing Crustal Deformation Around the Ordos Block". Geophysical Research Letters. 48 (1). Bibcode:2021GeoRL..4891008H. doi:10.1029/2020GL091008.