Research on Destruction of the North China Craton

This book mainly introduces overview of “Destruction of the North China Craton”, a major research plan of NSFC. It summarizes the scientific ideas, core key scientific issues, scientific research objectives, and models of the major research plan of "Destruction of the North China Craton". From the perspective of major national needs and scientific discipline development, the book focuses on the following aspects: the temporal and spatial distribution range, process, and mechanism of the NCC destruction; the properties, structure, and interaction of materials in different spheres in the earth during craton destruction; the shallow effect of craton destruction; and the control mechanism of mineral resources, energy, and disasters. The book also makes a strategic prospect for the study of global dynamics and improves human understanding of the formation and evolution of continents.

Prof. ZHU Rixiang is a geophysicist and a distinguished professor at Institute of Geology and Geophysics (IGG), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). He is involved in the research of paleomagnetism, paleointensity, sedimentary geomagnetism, geomagnetic polarity reversal, magnetostratigraphy, geochronology, as well as their applications to geodynamo, tectonics, geoarcheology, and paleoenvironmental changes. His major achievements include: (1) he experimentally documented that paleointensity variations just prior to the onset of the Cretaceous Quiet Zone exhibit an increasing trend and pointed out that during this time interval, there exists an inverse relationship between the reversal rate and paleointensity; (2) on the basis of robust paleomagnetic investigations at the Loess Plateau of China, he found that the Matuyama-Brunhes polarity transition comprises multiple fast-short-reversals, and the duration of transition is ~5 kyr; (3) he magnetochronologically documented a Paleolithic sequence in the Nihewan Basin, northern China, and extended the earliest definite human occupation at high northern latitudes in northeast Asia back to 1.66 Ma; and (4) he has led and set up a comprehensive and state-of-the-art laboratory incorporated paleomagnetism, rock magnetism, and geochronology (Ar40/Ar39dating).