Sichuan Basin and beyond: Eastward foreland growth of the Tibetan Plateau from an integration of Late Cretaceous‐Cenozoic fission track and (U‐Th)/He ages of the eastern Tibetan Plateau, Qinling, and Daba Shan

Yang, Zhao; Shen, Chuanbo; Ratschbacher, Lothar; Enkelmann, Eva; Jonckheere, Raymond; Wauschkuhn, Bastian; Dong, Yunpeng

doi:10.1002/2016jb013751

Cited by 104 publications

(85 citation statements)

References 130 publications

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“…The HVZ beneath the SNHL dome is flat and shallow, while the HVZ beneath the HNMC dome is compact and deep (Figures a, d, and f). The velocity variances between the HNMC dome and the Dabashan Mountains are much greater than those between the WQL and the HNMC dome (Figure a); these differences were probably caused by compressional forces originating from the eastward growth of the TP during the Late Cenozoic (circa 15 Ma; Tian et al, ; Yang et al, ). The LVZ beneath the Sichuan Basin sharply changes into an HVZ beneath the HNMC dome and QOB (Figures d and e); this LVZ is related to the compressional environment that generated a series of foreland fold‐thrust belts in northeastern Sichuan Basin from the late Middle Jurassic (circa 165 Ma) to the early Late Cretaceous (circa 95 Ma; Dong et al, ; Yang et al, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Flyover Crustal Structures Beneath the Qinling Orogenic Belt and Its Tectonic Implications

et al. 2018

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Determining high‐resolution three‐dimensional (3‐D) crustal structures of the Qinling Orogenic Belt (QOB) can reveal significant evidences to enhance our understanding of its tectonic evolution. By jointly inverting group and phase velocity dispersion curves, we obtain a high‐resolution 3‐D shear wave velocity model for the QOB. According to the obviously layered features, which include an E‐W trending high‐velocity structure in the upper crust (0–10 km), a transitional zone in the middle crust (10–30 km), and an approximately N‐S trending low‐velocity zone in the middle‐lower crust (20–40 km), we elucidate the crustal structure as a flyover model to explain how the crust beneath the QOB was deformed under the perpendicular force systems from the NE‐SW and E‐W directions during the Meso‐Cenozoic. First, the apparent NE‐SW trending low‐velocity zone in the middle‐lower crust indicates that the low‐viscosity crustal materials beneath the northeastern Tibetan Plateau did not flow eastward into the eastern Qinling terrane during the Cenozoic. Second, the extension in the northern Qinling Mountains and Weihe Basin was not largely affected by the lateral crustal growth of the NE Tibetan Plateau, which might be the result of deep mantle upwelling and/or residual effects from the subduction of the western Pacific plate. Third, during the Mesozoic, the high‐velocity structures beneath the Hannan‐Micang and Shennongjia‐Huangling domes served as anchors resisting the northward subduction, rotation, and continuous collision of the Yangtze Block. The eastward extruding Hannan‐Micang dome served as an indenter that eventually shaped the present‐day asymmetric style of the Dabashan Orocline during the Cenozoic.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Flyover Crustal Structures Beneath the Qinling Orogenic Belt and Its Tectonic Implications

et al. 2018

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“…AHe, apatite fission track (AFT), and ZHe age‐elevation plots for samples located between the Huya and Minjiang faults (a, c) and east of the Huya fault (b). In panels a and c, new AHe data from the top two samples, two AHe and ZHe ages from Kirby et al (; reference 1), and two AFT ages from Yang et al (; reference 2) are plotted for comparison. Inserted plots in panels a and c are close‐up views for areas marked by dashed rectangles.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Thermal history modeling, combining these age results with K‐feldspar Ar‐Ar releasing spectrum, indicates a late Mesozoic‐middle Cenozoic phase of slow cooling, followed by enhanced cooling starting at ~5 Ma. The data set reported in Yang et al () includes two AFT ages of 11.4 ± 0.9 Ma and 30.4 ± 2.1 Ma from the Minjiang fault zone (Figure ).…”

Section: Previous Thermochronological Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Thermochronological Constraints on the Late Cenozoic Morphotectonic Evolution of the Min Shan, the Eastern Margin of the Tibetan Plateau

Tian

Tang

et al. 2018

Tectonics

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Strain distribution inferred from rock exhumation history could provide significant insights into the geodynamic models proposed for explaining late Cenozoic outward growth of the Tibetan Plateau. In this work, we present a new thermochronological data set to constrain the exhumation history of the eastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau (i.e., the Min Shan and adjacent areas) and the long-term dip-slip rates of boundary faults, including the Huya fault in the plateau margin and the Minjiang fault in the hinterland. The data set shows evident age diachroneity between different sides of the faults, with dramatically younger ages in their hanging walls than footwalls, suggesting differential exhumation across the faults. Age-elevation plots and inverse thermal history modeling for a vertical profile data set from the plateau margin (west of the Huya fault) indicate the differential exhumation started at late Miocene time (~10 Ma), synchronous with the timing at other sites of the eastern Tibetan Plateau. The magnitude of the differential exhumation is constrained as >0.6 and~0.2 km/m.y. across the Huya and Minjiang faults, as estimated from age-elevation relationships and one-dimensional modeling of exhumation, providing unique constraints for the dip-slip rates along the faults. These two N-S striking faults, together with the Tazang fault (NWW-striking and left-lateral slipping) to the north and Longmen Shan faults (a set of NE-striking reverse faults with right-lateral components) to the south, forms a large-scale fault system to accommodate the late Cenozoic northeastward upper crustal shortening along a deep-seated hinterland-ward dipping detachment.

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“…AFT PAZ = apatite fission track partial annealing zone; ASRR = Ailao Shan‐Red River shear zone; CD = Chuandian block; CHT = Chenghai thrust; CSSZ = Chongshan shear zone; JQTB = Jinhe‐Qinghe thrust belt; RRF = Red River fault; YTB = Yulong thrust belt. White stars denote accelerated exhumation phases constrained by thermochronology in southeastern Tibet, with black numbers indicating the duration: 0 = This study, 1 = E. Wang, Kirby, et al (), 2 = Tian et al (), 3 = Clark, House, et al () and Ouimet et al (), 4 = Godard et al (), 5 = Xu and Kamp (), 6 = Zhang et al (), 7 = S. Wang, Jiang, et al (), 8 = Tian et al (), 9 = Zhang et al (), 10 = Lacassin et al (), 11 = Yang et al (), and 12 = Wilson and Fowler (). Blue numbers indicate paleoaltimetry estimates: 13 = Hoke et al (), 14 = Li et al (), 15 = Gourbet et al (), 16 = Tang et al ().…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Oligocene‐Early Miocene Topographic Relief Generation of Southeastern Tibet Triggered by Thrusting

et al. 2019

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The timing and mechanisms of uplift in southeastern Tibet remain disputed. To address this debate, we conducted structural and morphological analyses of the Yulong thrust belt; we also reconstruct the cooling and exhumation history of the Jianchuan basin in the hanging wall of the thrust system using inverse thermal modeling of apatite fission-track and (U-Th)/He thermochronology data. Our results provide evidence for 2.3-3.2 km of rapid exhumation in the Jianchuan basin between~28 and~20 Ma, followed by limited exhumation of less than 0.2 km since then. The magnitude of basin exhumation is consistent with the present-day topographic step of 1.8-2.4 km across the Yulong and Chenghai thrust belts, as shown by morphometric analysis. We thus infer that the present-day morphology of the southeastern margin of Tibet results partly from thrusting along the Yulong thrust belt during the Late Oligocene-Early Miocene. This structure may be the southwest continuation of the Longmen Shan thrust belt, offset by the Xianshuihe fault in the Late Miocene. On a regional scale, the approximate synchronicity of exhumation in the hanging walls of the Yalong-Yulong and Longmen Shan thrust systems indicates that widespread crustal shortening and thickening took place in southeastern Tibet during the Late Oligocene-Early Miocene. Plain Language SummaryThe timing and mechanisms for the high-elevation, low-relief landscape in southeastern Tibet remain at the center of debate. Using apatite fission track and apatite (U-Th)/He thermochronology and thermal modeling, this study sheds new lights on this issue by reconstructing the cooling and exhumation history of the Jianchuan basin, western Yunnan. One major finding is that the Jianchuan basin experienced rapid exhumation during~28-20 Ma at a rate of 0.57-0.80 km/Myr, coinciding with the absence of coeval sedimentation within the basin. Furthermore, morphometric and structural analyses point out a reasonable causal link between production of the topographic relief in the SE Tibet, exhumation of the Jianchuan basin, and thrusting of the Yalong thrust belt. These results allow us to propose a regional-scale tectonic scenario of widespread crustal shortening and thickening took place in southeastern Tibet during the Late Oligocene-Early Miocene.

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Sichuan Basin and beyond: Eastward foreland growth of the Tibetan Plateau from an integration of Late Cretaceous‐Cenozoic fission track and (U‐Th)/He ages of the eastern Tibetan Plateau, Qinling, and Daba Shan

Cited by 104 publications

References 130 publications

Flyover Crustal Structures Beneath the Qinling Orogenic Belt and Its Tectonic Implications

Flyover Crustal Structures Beneath the Qinling Orogenic Belt and Its Tectonic Implications

Thermochronological Constraints on the Late Cenozoic Morphotectonic Evolution of the Min Shan, the Eastern Margin of the Tibetan Plateau

Oligocene‐Early Miocene Topographic Relief Generation of Southeastern Tibet Triggered by Thrusting

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