AbstractThe destruction of the North China Craton (NCC) mainly occurred in the Cretaceous and has been attributed to a “top-down” rapid delamination, “bottom-up” long-term thermal/chemical erosions, or hydration by subduction-released fluids. On the basis of the distribution of one Jurassic and two Early Cretaceous adakite belts and the drifting history of the paleo-Pacific Plate, we propose that three ridge subduction events dominated the large-scale decratonization in the NCC. Both physical erosion and magmatism induced by ridge subduction contributed to the destruction of the NCC; the last ridge subduction, at Ma, was the key driving force in the final destruction. We present mineralogical, geochemical, and isotopic data in support of the ridge subduction model: flat subduction of a spreading ridge resulted in stronger physical erosion on the thick lithosphere mantle of the NCC. Consequently, slab melting occurred during ridge subduction, forming adakites with mantle Mg isotope compositions, followed b...