Eocene onset and late Miocene acceleration of Cenozoic intracontinental extension in the North Qinling range–Weihe graben: Insights from apatite fission track thermochronology

Uprising period and elevation of the Wenyu granitic pluton in the Xiaoqinling District, Central China

“…After ~45 Ma in the Eocene, the cooling rate increased to a peak value of 16.7°C/Ma because of the fast uprising of the Wenyu granitic pluton. Liu et al [27,62] deduced that this event is related to the collision between the India Block and the Eurasia Block at ~50 Ma. This collision resulted in an initial extension and the formation of the Weihe Graben along the northern margin of the Xiaoqinling area (the southern margin of the Weihe Basin), followed by the uprising of the Qinling and Taibai Mountains [27,62].…”

“…Liu et al [27,62] deduced that this event is related to the collision between the India Block and the Eurasia Block at ~50 Ma. This collision resulted in an initial extension and the formation of the Weihe Graben along the northern margin of the Xiaoqinling area (the southern margin of the Weihe Basin), followed by the uprising of the Qinling and Taibai Mountains [27,62]. Wang et al [63] suggested that corresponding to the remote effect of the collision, the oldest sediments with an age of 49.2±10.2 Ma in the Tianshui and the Huicheng Basins came from the northern margin of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and the episodic denudation of the western Qinling area, with the fast uplifting of Qinling Mountains.…”

Mesozoic intracontinental orogeny in the Qinling Mountains, central China

“…The orogenic collapse resulted in relatively minor and continuous exhumation and erosion of the orogen although major transtensional and strike-slip faults were activated. This is also proved by some low-temperature geothermal ages (Hu et al, , 2006Dong et al, 2008;Liu et al, 2013;Yang et al, 2013;Heberer et al, 2014).…”

“…Since the Middle to Late Triassic collision between the NCB and SCB, the whole QOB had evolved into an intracontinental evolutionary process (Zhang et al, 2001). However, the previous investigations mostly focused on the pre-Mesozoic subduction and collision tectonics, and there are few works (Hu et al, , 2006Dong et al, 2008;Liu et al, 2013;Heberer et al, 2014) concerned about the intracontinential tectonic process of the QOB.…”

Using large dynamite shots to image the structure of the Moho from deep seismic reflection experiment between the Sichuan basin and Qinling orogen

“…The Qinling-Dabie belt is an important regional geological and climatic boundary in Central China. To the west of Qinling-Dabie belt, numerous active strike-slip and thrust faults form the northeastern margin of the Tibetan plateau and continue to the Kunlun and Qilian orogens (Burchfiel et al 1991;Harkins et al 2010;Yin et al 2008;Liu et al 2013). The Dabie orogen and the Sulu terrane lie the east of QinlingDabie belt (Hacker et al 1998) and the north is the Ordos block, bounded by Cenozoic rift basins, which is tectonically stable with very little earthquake.…”