Thermochronology of the highest central Asian massifs (Khan Tengri - Pobedi, SE Kyrgyztan): Evidence for Late Miocene (ca. 8 Ma) reactivation of Permian faults and insights into building the Tian Shan

Abstract

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Mesozoic building of the Eastern Tianshan and East Junggar (NW China) revealed by low-temperature thermochronology

“…The lack of younger apatite grains probably indicates a period of tectonic quiescence following the collision of the Qiangtang block. This is in agreement with the hypothesis that an extensive peneplanation surface was developed in the Tianshan belt and the surrounding areas during the Middle to Late Jurassic (e.g., Dumitru et al, 2001;Jolivet et al, 2010;De Grave et al, 2011;Morin et al, 2019;Rolland et al, 2020;He et al, 2021b).…”

“…Mid-to Late Cretaceous cooling events have been widely recognized in the Tianshan belt (e.g., Dumitru et al, 2001;Wang et al, 2009b;De Pelsmaeker et al, 2015;Tang et al, 2015;Nachtergaele et al, 2018;Glorie et al, 2019;Rolland et al, 2020), and were generally interpreted as a response to the farfield effects of the Lhasa-Qiangtang collision (120-90 Ma) and/ or Kohistan-Dras Arc collision (90-70 Ma) (Yin and Harrison, 2000;Rolland, 2002;Rehman et al, 2011;Kapp and DeCelles, 2019). A compressional regime in the mid-Cretaceous (120-100 Ma) is documented by coeval tectonic inversion of the Turpan-Hami Basin (e.g., Zhu et al, 2004Zhu et al, , 2006b.…”

“…The CAOB was formed by Neoproterozoic-Paleozoic amalgamation of a number of continental terranes, island arcs, seamounts and accretionary wedges (e.g., Sengör et al, 1993;Jahn et al, 2000;Xiao et al, 2003;Windley et al, 2007;Wilhem et al, 2012). Following its amalgamation, the CAOB was reactivated several times during the Meso-Cenozoic in response to accretion and collision at the southern Eurasian margin (e.g., Molnar and Tapponnier, 1975;Avouac et al, 1993;Dumitru et al, 2001;De Grave et al, 2007;Jolivet et al, 2013;Glorie and De Grave, 2016;Käßner et al, 2017;Rolland et al, 2020). As a consequence, the CAOB basement was subjected to large-scale intra-continental deformation.…”

Late Miocene (10.0∼6.0 Ma) Rapid Exhumation of the Chinese South Tianshan: Implications for the Timing of Aridification in the Tarim Basin

“… (a) Apatite fission‐track (AFT) and (U‐Th)/He (AHe) single‐grain age histograms for sample P‐01. (b) AHe single‐grain histograms for the granite basement near the Peak Pobedi (Rolland et al., 2020). …”

“…Abundant low‐temperature thermochronological studies have indicated that the Tianshan experienced punctuated denudation during the Meso‐Cenozoic and accelerated exhumation since ∼10 Ma (e.g., Glorie et al., 2011; Jepson et al., 2018a; Lü et al., 2020; Macaulay et al., 2014; Rolland et al., 2020). While low to moderate relief study areas predominantly record the Mesozoic denudation history of the Tianshan (e.g., De Grave et al., 2013; Gillespie et al., 2017; Glorie & De Grave, 2016; Glorie et al., 2010; Jolivet et al., 2010), recent studies have revealed that the granitic basement near fault zones in the highest mountains of the Tianshan (e.g., Peak Pobedi in Kyrgyzstan) as well as granitic clasts from modern moraines of the Tomor Glacier in China record younger apatite (U‐Th)/He (AHe) ages within the range of 5.0∼7.1 Ma (Jia et al., 2020; Rolland et al., 2020). Latter cooling ages correspond with the modelled timing of rapid deformation and exhumation (7∼5.5 Ma) of the South Tianshan as revealed by magnetostratigraphy (J. M. Sun et al., 2009) and tectonic deformation studies of the Kuqa Fold‐and‐Thrust Belt (KFTB) (Hubert‐Ferrari et al., 2007).…”