Author(s)

Yi Ding, Yunxia Wu, Zheng Hou

Hebei GEO University, Shijiazhuang, China.

In the northern part of the Ordos Basin, there is a 325 km long arc-shaped Langshan uplift and a 15 km-deep Linhe Trench in front of Langshan, which are rare geological phenomena for which origins no one has explained. This article comprehensively analyzes the research achievements over the past 40 years of geology, geomorphology, seismic exploration, paleogeography, and oil and gas exploration in the Ordos Basin and Langshan. It recognizes that the northern part of the Ordos Basin experienced a meteorite impact in the Late Cretaceous period. The impact pushed the block northwest ward, subducting after colliding with igneous rocks in the north. This sudden event formed a clear arc-shaped mountain zone in the north and a wedge-shaped trench in front of the mountain. The chaotic layers, prolonged and continuous faults, and numerous thrust layers in the Langshan, a negative anomaly area in the center of the northern Ordos, abnormal orientation of crystalline basement structures in the north of Ordos, Moho uplift, and distribution of meteorite fragments in the northwest of Langshan, all of these geological phenomena support the occurrence of the meteorite impact event, forming the arc-shaped Langshan and the Trench.

Meteorite Craters, Linhe, Ordos, Arc-Shaped Langshan, Trench

Ding, Y. , Wu, Y. and Hou, Z. (2024) The Origins of the Arc-Shaped Langshan Uplift and Linhe Trench. Open Journal of Geology, 14, 117-125. doi: 10.4236/ojg.2024.141007.