The Early Cretaceous sedimentary‐tectonic attributes of Lingshan Island Basin, East Shandong Province, China: Constraints from the chemical compositions of detrital heavy minerals

North China Craton experienced significant lithospheric destruction or delamination during the Late Mesozoic, accompanied with the emergence of numerous basins and intensive volcanism. Extensional basins also formed in East Shandong Province. Even though they have been studied for decades, the relationship between basin development and tectonic processes still remains obscure. Recently, a set of Early Cretaceous strata has been found in Lingshan Island. It is characterized by translating from turbidite deposits to terrestrial strata units and ending up with a unique volcaniclastic layer within a relatively short time span. Previous studies have reached an agreement that Lingshan Island strata are formed in a distinct sedimentary background compared with the coeval sedimentary units in Jiaolai Basin. Essential information about basin development and its tectonic setting in this region during Early Cretaceous are preserved in Lingshan Island strata. In this study, it shows the characteristics of heavy mineral assemblage and the characteristics of detrital minerals' chemical component in the two representative samples. Based on these studies, it indicates that Lingshan Island Basin was developed in a transpressional tectonic setting with complex source materials, mainly from Qianliyan Uplift during the period ca. 123–120 Ma. Then, the basin evolved within an extensional setting and was filled with locally derived clastics during 120 to 105 Ma. In addition, the basin evolved during the process of progressive lithospheric thinning and asthenosphere upwelling.