The Yanshan Movement occurred mainly during the Middle-Late Jurassic, and gave rise to NE trending structures, magmatic events, volcanism and mineral resources. The transformation and evolution of the movement during the Middle-Late Jurassic were investigated from the rock assemblage, geochemistry, and chronology in adamellites which were exposed in the Xingcheng area, western Liaoning. Two types of adamellites were recognized—biotite adamellites with the formation age of 172–168 Ma and garnet-bearing adamellites of 158–152 Ma. All the samples of the two types of adamellites displayed enriched characteristics with high content of SiO₂ (66.86–75.55 wt.%) and total alkali (Na₂O + K₂O = 7.56–8.71 wt.%), high large ion lithophile element (LILE: K, Rb, Sr), and low high field strength element (HFSE: Ce, Ta, P, Ti). The biotite adamellites belong to metaluminous-peraluminous I-type granites, and show volcanic arc granite characteristics, and were formed by partial melting of the ancient crust in the compressional setting that resulting from the subduction of the Paleo-Pacific plate beneath the north margin of the North China Craton (NCC). The garnet-bearing adamellites are also metaluminous-peraluminous I-type granites, with characteristics of both the compressional and extensional regimes, which were formed at the middle-late stages of the continuing subduction of the Paleo-Pacific plate, while simultaneously, the frontal side of the subduction slab began to roll back, leading to an extensional environment. Combining with regional geophysical studies and our petrological and geochemical studies, we propose that the eastern segment of the northern margin of NCC may have been controlled by the Paleo-Pacific tectonic domain at the latest in the Middle Jurassic, while the initiation of the tectonic regime from a compressional to an extensional environment was during the Late Jurassic (158–152 Ma) as a response of the Yanshan Movement. Simultaneously, geochronological statistics of the ore deposits in western Liaoning show that the Mesozoic endogenetic metalliferous deposits formed in a compressive environment influenced by the subduction of the Paleo-Pacific plate, similar to the magma events in ages, and the magmatism provided the thermodynamic condition and the source of metallogenic hydrothermal fluid for mineralization.

The Western Liaoning area, where a large number of Jurassic-Cretaceous volcanic rocks are exposed, is one of the typical areas for studying the Mesozoic Paleo-Pacific and Mongolia-Okhotsk subduction process, and lithospheric destruction of North China Craton. The identification and investigation of Early Jurassic adakitic volcanic rocks in the Xintaimen area of Western Liaoning is of particular significance for exploring the volcanic magma source and its composition evolution, tracking the crust-mantle interaction, and revealing the craton destruction and the subduction of oceanic plates. Detailed petrography, zircon U–Pb dating, geochemistry, and zircon Hf isotope studies indicate that the Early Jurassic intermediate-acidic volcanic rocks are mainly composed of trachydacites and a few rhyolites with the formation ages of 178.6–181.9 Ma. Geochemical characteristics show that they have a high content of SiO₂, MgO, Al₂O₃, and total-alkali, typical of the high-K calc-alkaline series. They also show enrichment of light rare earth elements (LREEs) and large ion lithophile elements (LILEs), depletion of heavy rare earth elements (HREEs) and high field strength elements (HFSEs), and have a high content of Sr and low content of Y and Yb, suggesting that they were derived from the partial melting of the lower crust. The ε_Hf(t) values of dated zircons and two-stage model ages (T_DM2) vary from −11.6 to −7.4 and from 1692 to 1958 Ma, respectively. During the Early Jurassic, the study area was under long-range tectonic effects with the closure of the Mongolia-Okhotsk Ocean and the subduction of the Paleo-Pacific plate, which caused the basaltic magma to invade the lower crust of the North China Craton. The mantle-derived magma was separated and crystallized while heating the Proterozoic lower crust, and part of the thickened crust melted to form these intermediate-acidic adakitic volcanic rocks.

Granulite facies rocks provide important keys to evaluating collisional metamorphism in orogenic belts. The mafic granulites of Baoding in the Fuping Complex of the North China Craton occur within the Trans-North China Orogen (TNCO), a major Paleoproterozoic collisional orogen. Here, we present results from detailed investigations on newly discovered garnet pyroxenite, garnet two-pyroxene granulite, and garnet-bearing-plagioclase amphibolite using petrographic, mineralogical, geochemical, and zircon U-Pb dating methods. Our results show that the Fuping Complex metamorphic evolution in this study evolved in four stages: prograde (M₁), high-pressure granulite facies (M₂), granulite facies (M₃), and retrograde (M₄) stages. The mineral assemblage of the prograde stage (M₁) consists of Amp + Pl + Q within garnet cores. The mineral assemblage of high-pressure granulite facies at the peak stage (M₂) consists of Gt + Cpx + Pl + Q ± Amp, forming the garnet pyroxenite. The granulite facies stage M₃ is characterized by the occurrence of orthopyroxene, with a mineral assemblage of Gt + Cpx + Opx + Amp+ Pl + Q. The early retrograde stage M_4-1 includes clinopyroxenes scattered inside amphiboles, following the breakdown of garnet and clinopyroxene. The mineral assemblage of this stage comprises Amp + Pl + Q + Ilm ± Cpx. Later, in the late retrograde stage M_4-2, the composition of amphiboles changed to actinolite, and epidote and chlorite started to appear in the matrix. Traditional geothermobarometry yielded P-T conditions of 700~706 °C and 6.0~6.2 kbar for prograde stage M₁, 854~920 °C and 13.0~13.8 kbar for high-pressure granulite facies stage M₂, 912~939 °C and 8.1~9.9 kbar for M₃, 661~784 °C and 3.1~4.4 kbar for M_4-1, and 637~638 °C, 1.1~1.3 kbar for M_4-2, along a clockwise P-T path with a nearly isothermal decompression (ITD) and slight heating. Zircon LA-ICP-MS U-Pb dating constrains the timing of the high-pressure granulite facies metamorphic event to be between 1.83 and 1.86 Ga. Geochemical features suggest that the protoliths of the high-pressure granulites may have formed in an island arc environment within a convergent margin setting. Together with results from previous studies, our data suggest that the ~1.85 Ga metamorphic age recorded in the Fuping Complex represents a regional metamorphism in the TNCO, associated with the subduction–collision and assembly of the Eastern and Western Blocks of the NCC.