台湾东部海域花东盆地的地质特征：位于欧亚板块和太平洋板块之间的新特提斯洋残余?

The Huatung Basin (20°30’-23°30’N/121°30’- 123°E; maximum water depth: 5500 m) locates east off Taiwan. It is bordered by the Coastal Range of Taiwan and the North Luzon Arc to the west, the West Philippine Sea to the east and the Ryukyu Trench to the north. The Huatung Basin was previ-ously regarded as a part of the Cenozoic Philippine Sea Plate (<50 Ma). However, Ar40/Ar39dating on amphibole in two dredged gabbro samples retrieved from the southern part of the Huatung Basin indi-cated that the Basin was early Cretaceous in age (115-121 Ma; Deschamps et al., 2000). This age is further supported by an independent micropaleon-tology study on some red chert xenoliths containing Early Cretaceous radiolarian fossils (115 Ma; Yeh and Cheng, 2001) in the Late Pleistocene volcanic sequences of the Lanyu Volcanic Island of the North Luzon Arc. The North Luzon Volcanic Arc was formed during the eastward subduction of the South China Sea oceanic lithosphere beneath the Huatung Basin since middle Miocene. Accordingly, the Mio-cene Luzon volcanic arc is sitting on the Cretaceous oceanic crust of the Huatung Basin.     

Tectonic Characteristics and Evolution of the Taiwan Strait

The Taiwan Strait is a part of the continental-margin rift of eastern China, which can tectonically be divided into the Taiwan Strait basin, southwestern Taiwan basin and Penhu-Beigang uplift. The basins are structurally semi-graban down-faulted ones in character. The Cretaceous-Cenozoic sedimentary strata in the basins have a maximum thickness of over 10,000 m. The formation and development of the Taiwan Strait rift were not only affected by both the East China Sea basin and South China Sea basin but also closely related to the Central Range collision orogen of Taiwan. In the Cenozoic, the Taiwan Strait area experienced, under the influence of a multiple of tectonic mechanisms, three stages of evolution: poly-centre downfault-ing, down warping-faulting and foreland basin formation. The depositional centres of the basins migrated from west to east during the Tertiary, resulting in the thinning of the Palaeogene strata from west to east but that of the Neogene in the reverse direction. All this determine     

Late Cenozoic Deformation Sequence of a Thrust System along the Eastern Margin of Pamir, Northwest China

A thrust belt formed in the basin along the eastern margin of Pamir. The thrust belt is about 50 km wide, extends about 200 km, and includes three compressive structures from south to north: the blind Qipan structural wedge and Qimugen structural wedge, and the exposed Yengisar anticline. The thrust belt displays a right-stepping en echelon pattern. The Qipan structural wedge dies out northward to the west of the Qimugen structural wedge, and the Qimugen structural wedge dies out northward to the west of the Yengisar anticline. Detailed analysis of seismic reflection profiles of the western Tarim Basin reveal that fan-shaped growth strata were deposited in the shallow part of the thrust belt, recording the deformation sequence of the thrust belt. The depth of the Cenozoic growth strata decreases from south to north. The growth strata of the Qipan structural wedge is located in the middle-lower section of the Pliocene Artux Formation (N2a), the growth strata of the Qimugen structural wedge is close to the bottom of the Pleistocene Xiyu Formation (Q1x), and the growth strata of the Yengisar anticline is located in the middle section of the Xiyu Formation (Q1x). Combined with magnetostratigraphic studies in the western Tarim basin, it can be preliminarily inferred that the deformation sequence of the thrust belt along the eastern margin of Pamir is progressively younger northward. The geometry and kinematic evolution of the thrust belt in the eastern margin of Pamir can be compared with previous analogue modeling experiments of transpressional deformation, suggesting that the thrust belt was formed in a transpressional tectonic setting.     

Jurassic Tectonics of North China: A Synthetic View

This paper gives a synthetic view on the Jurassic tectonics of North China, with an attempt to propose a framework for the stepwise tectonic evolution history. Jurassic sedimentation, deformation and magmatism in North China have been divided into three stages. The earliest Jurassic is marked by a period of magmatism quiescence （in 205-190 Ma） and regional uplift, which are considered to be the continuation of the “Indosinian movement” characterized by continent-continent collision between the North and South China blocks. The Early to Middle Jurassic （in 190-170 Ma） was predominated by weak lithospheric extension expressed by mantle-derived plutonism and volcanism along the Yanshan belt and alongside the Tan-Lu fault zone, normal faulting and graben formation along the Yinshan- Yanshan tectonic belt, depression and resuming of coal-bearing sedimentation in vast regions of the North China block （NCB）. The Middle to Late Jurassic stage started at 165y.5 Ma and ended up before 136 Ma; it was dominated by intensive intraplate deformation resulting from multi-directional compressions. Two major deformation events have been identified. One is marked by stratigraphic unconformity beneath the thick Upper Jurassic molasic series in the foreland zones of the western Ordos thrust-fold belt and along the Yinshan-Yanshan belt; it was predated 160 Ma. The other one is indicated by stratigraphic unconformity at the base of the Lower Cretaceous and predated 135 Ma. During this last stage, two latitudinal tectonic belts, the Yinshan-Yanshan belt in the north and the Qinling-Dabie belt in the south, and the western margin of the Ordos basin were all activated by thrusting; the NCB itself was deformed by the NE to NNE-trending structural system involving thrusting, associated folding and sinistral strike-slip faulting, which were spatially partitioned. Foliated S-type granitic plutons aged 160-150 Ma were massively emplaced in the Jiao-Liao massif east of the Tan-Lu fault zone and indicate important crustal thicken     

STRUCTURAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE NIUSHOU MOUNTAIN AND ITS GEOLOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE IN CENTRAL NINGXIA

There are many thrust-related structures occurring in the Paleozoic strata of the Niushou Mountain in the central part of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. The fault-related folds are the typical structures in this area. Based on the analysis about these structures and their relationships, the processes by which these structures of the Miboshan Formation were formed are reconstructed, and the strata underwent about three stages of deformation: (1) horizontal shortening, (2) folding, and (3) thrusting. And the fact that the Niushou Mountain is the leading edge of an old thrust sheet was proved, the Niushou Mountain, the Daluo Mountain and the Xiaoluo Mountain together constitute the front part of this old thrust zone, so the Niushou Mountain and the Ordovician strata in the central and southern parts of Ningxia now are likely allochthons. In the period from middle Ordovician to Devonian, the areas of the central and southern Ningxia belonged to the back-arc foreland basin of North Qilianshan orogen, which was adjacent to the continent in the north. In the later part of the early Paleozoic period, the Niushou Mountain was formed after the closure of the back-arc foreland basin.     

Late Cretaceous Foraminiferal Faunas from the Saiqu “mélange” in Southern Tibet

As one of the mélanges in the southern side of the Yarlung-Zangbo suture zone, the Saiqu mélange in southern Tibet is important for understanding the evolution of the Neo-Tethys ocean. The age of the Saiqu mélange, however, has been debated due to the lack of reliable fossil evidence in matrix strata. Based on lithological similarities with platform strata in southern Tibet and limited fossils from exotic blocks, previous studies variously ascribed the Saiqu mélange to be Triassic in general, Late Triassic, or Late Cretaceous. Here we reported planktonic foraminiferal faunas from the matrix strata of the Saiqu mélange. The new fossils yield a Late Cretaceous age, which is so far the best age constraint for the mélange. Regional stratigraphic correlation indicates that the Cretaceous Oceanic Red Beds (CORBs) in Saiqu may be time equivalent to the CORBs of the Zongzhuo Formation in neighboring regions. Thus the Saiqu mélange should be correlated to the Upper Cretaceous Zongzhuo Formation rather than the Triassic Xiukang Group, as previously suggested.     

The trinity of depositional phase of foreland basins: An example from the western Taiwan foreland basin

Due to oblique arc-continent collision, the west-ern Taiwan foreland basin has evolved into three dis-tinct subbasins: an over-filled basin proximal to the Taiwan orogen, mainly distributed in the Western Foothhils and Coastal Plain provinces, a filled basin occupying the shallow Taiwan Strait continental shelf west of the Taiwan orogen and an under-filled basin distal to the Taiwan orogen in the deep marine Kaop-ing Slope offshore southwest Taiwan, respectively. The over-filled depositional phase is dominated by fluvial environments across the structurally controlled piggy-back basins. The filled depositional phase in the Taiwan Strait is characterized by shallow marine en-vironments and is filled by Pliocene-Quaternary sedi-ments up to 4,000 m thick derived from the Taiwan orogen with an asymmetrical and wedge-shaped cross section. The under-filled depositional phase is charac-teristic of deep marine environments in the wedge-top basins accompanied by active structures of thrust faults and mud diapers.     

Numerical Modeling of Basin-Range Tectonics Related to Continent-Continent Collision

Continent-continent collision is the most important driving mechanism for the occurrence of various geological processes in the continental lithosphere. How to recognize and determine continent-continent collision,especially its four-dimensional temporal-spatial evolution, is a subject that geological communities have long been concerned about and studied. Continent-continent collision is mainly manifested by strong underthrnsting (subduction) of the underlying block along an intracontinental subduction zone and continuous obduction (thrusting propagation) of the overlying block along the intracontinental subduction zone, the occurrence of a basin-range tectonic framework in a direction perpendicular to the subduction zone and the flexure and disruption of the Moho. On the basis of numerical modeling, the authors discuss in detail the couplings between various amounts and rates of displacement caused by basin subsidence, mountain uplift and Moho updoming and downflexure during obduction (thrusting propagation) and subduction and the migration pattern of basin centers. They are probably indications or criteria for judgment or determination of continent-continent collision.     

Tectono–sedimentary Evolution of the Late Triassic Xujiahe Formation in the Sichuan Basin

The early stage of Sichuan Basin formation was controlled by the convergence of three major Chinese continental blocks during the Indosinian orogeny that include South China,North China,and Qiangtang blocks.Although the Late Triassic Xujiahe Formation is assumed to represent the commencement of continental deposition in the Sichuan Basin,little research is available on the details of this particular stratum.Sequence stratigraphic analysis reveals that the Xujiahe Formation comprises four third-order depositional sequences.Moreover,two tectono-sedimentary evolution stages,deposition and denudation,have been identified.Typical wedge-shaped geometry revealed in a cross section of the southern Sichuan Basin normal to the Longmen Shan fold-thrust belt is displayed for the entire Xujiahe Formation.The depositional extent did not cover the Luzhou paleohigh during the LST1 to LST2 （LST,TST and HST mean Iowstand,transgressive and highstand systems tracts,1,2,3 and 4 represent depositional sequence 1,2,3 and 4）,deltaic and fluvial systems fed sediments from the Longmen Shan belt,Luzhou paleohigh,Hannan dome,and Daba Shan paleohigh into a foreland basin with a centrally located lake.The forebulge of the western Sichuan foreland basin was located southeast of the Luzhou paleohigh after LST2.According to the principle of nonmarine sequence stratigraphy and the lithology of the Xujiahe Formation,four thrusting events in the Longmen Shan fold-thrust belt were distinguished,corresponding to the basal boundaries of sequences 1,2,3,and 4.The northern Sichuan Basin was tilted after the deposition of sequence 3,inducing intensive erosion of sequences 3 and 4,and formation of wedge-shaped deposition geometry in sequence 4 from south to north.The tilting probably resulted from small-scale subduction and exhumation of the western South China block during the South and North China block collision.     

Burial and exhumation history of the Xigaze forearc basin,Yarlung suture zone. Tibet

The Cretaceous-Eocene Xigaze forearc basin is a crucial data archive for understanding the tectonic history of the Asian continental margin prior to and following collision with India during the early Cenozoic Era. This study reports apatite and zircon(U-Th)/He thermochronologic data from fourteen samples from Albian-Ypresian Xigaze forearc strata to determine the degree and timing of heating(burial) and subsequent cooling(exhumation) of two localities along the Yarlung suture zone(YSZ) near the towns of Saga and Lazi. Thirty-seven individual zircon He ages range from 31.5 ± 0.8 Ma to6.06 ± 0.18 Ma,with the majority of grains yielding ages between 30 Ma and 10 Ma. Twenty apatite He ages range from 12.7 ± 0.5 Ma to 3.9 ± 0.3 Ma,with the majority of grains yielding ages between 9 Ma and 4 Ma. These ages suggest that the Xigaze forearc basin was heated to 140-200 ℃ prior to cooling in Oligocene-Miocene time. Thermal modeling supports this interpretation and shows that the samples were buried to maximum temperatures of ～140-200 0 C by 35-21 Ma, immediately followed by the onset of exhumation. The zircon He and apatite He dataset and thermal modeling results indicate rapid exhumation from ～21 Ma to 15 Ma, and at ～4 Ma. The 21-15 Ma thermochronometric signal appears to be regionally extensive, affecting all the lithotectonic units of the YSZ, and coincides with movement along the north-vergent Great Counter Thrust system. Thrusting, coupled with enhanced erosion possibly related to the paleo-Yarlung River, likely drove Early Miocene cooling of the Xigaze forearc basin.In contrast, the younger phase of rapid exhumation at ～4 Ma was likely driven by enhanced rock uplift in the footwall of north-striking rifts that cross-cut the YSZ.     

PETROGRAPHY, SEDIMENTARY ENVIRONMENT, SEQUENCE STRATIGRAPHY OF CHANG 6 MEMBER, JINGAN OILFIELD

1. Introduction The Ordos basin is a remnant inland basin on the western margin of the North China Plate and underwent several tectonic movements during its formation. There developed several assemblages of oil formation-reservoir-cover since Paleozoic. Of these, the Yanchang Formation (Upper Triassic) has important oil and gas reservoirs, especially in the Jingan Oilfield. Regional geology shows that, during the deposition of the Yanchang Formation (Upper Triassic), a huge inland lake …     

Silurian Sedimentation in the South Qilian Belt: Arc-Continent Collision-related Deposition in the NE Tibet Plateau?

The South Qilian belt mainly comprises an early Paleozoic arc-ophiolite complex, accretionary prism, microcontinental block, and foreland basin. These elements represent accretion-collision during Cambrian to Silurian time in response to closure of the Proto-Tethyan Ocean in the NE of the present-day Tibet Plateau. Closure of the Proto-Tethyan Ocean between the Central Qilian block and the Oulongbuluke block and the associated collision took place from NE to SW in a zipper-like style. Sediment would have been dispersed longitudinally SW-ward with a progressive facies migration from marginal alluvial sediments toward slope deep-water and deep-sea turbidites. This migration path indicates an ocean basin that shrank toward the SW. The Balonggongga'er Formation in the western South Qilian belt represents the fill of a latest Ordovician-Silurian remnant ocean basin that separated the Oulongbuluke block from the Central Qilian block, and records Silurian closure of the Proto-Tethyan Ocean and subduction beneath the Central Qilian block. However, alluvial deposits in the Lajishan area were accumulated in a retro-foreland basin, indicating that continent-continent collision in the eastern South Qilian belt occurred at c. 450–440 Ma. These results demonstrate that the Proto-Tethyan Ocean closed diachronously during early Paleozoic time.     

Late Oligocene-Early Miocene Thrusting in Southern East Kunlun Mountains, Northern Tibetan Plateau

Southward thrusting occurred in Late Oligocene-Early Miocene in southern East Kunlun (昆仑) Mountains formed the South Kunlun thrust (SKT). Permian strata and Triassic rocks were thrusted over the Paleocene-Eocene red-beds of Fenghuoshan (风火山) Group and Oligocene brownish red conglomerate and sandstone of Yaxicuo (雅西错) Group along SKT faults, formed tectonic slices, low-angle thrust faults, multi-scaled outliers, and nappe structures in south of Middle Kunlun fault (MKF). In addition, SKT displacement or shortening is estimated to be ～(30-35) km across Dongdatan (东大滩) valley and East Wenquan (温泉) basin. 39Ar-40Ar dating of chlorite of ductile shear zone along front thrust fault indicates that SKT thrusting occurred at 26.5±2.7 Ma, and fission track dating of apatite from mylonitic granite in SKT gives the age 26±2 Ma, corresponding to initial time of rapid uplift of East Kunlun Mountains. Thrust faults and folds of SKT were covered unconformably by Late Miocene lacustrine strata, and major thrusting of SKT ended before 13.5-14.5 Ma according to regional chronological data in northern Tibetan plateau.     

Thrusting and Exhumation Processes of a Bounding Mountain Belt: Constraints from Sediment Provenance Analysis of the Hefei Basin

Lithic (or gravel) composition analyses of the Jurassic Sanjianpu Formation and Fenghuangtai Formation in the Hefei basin show that the sediment provenance consists mainly of four kinds of rock units: the basement metamorphic complex, granitic rocks, medium- and low-grade metamorphic rocks, and sandy and muddy sedimentary rocks, which are distributed along the bounding thrust belt. The whole stratigrapnic section can be divided into 2 lithic sequences and 7 subsequences. The regular distribution and changes of lithic fragments and gravels in lithic (or gravel) sequences reflect that the bounding thrust belt of basin has undergone 2 thrusting cycles and 7 thrusting events. Lithic (or gravel) composition analyses of the basin fully reveal that the northern Dabie basement metamorphic complex was exhumed on the earth's surface in the Middle and Late Jurassic, and extensive intermediate and acid intrusive rocks were developed in the southern North Huaiyang or northern Dabie Mountains during the basin's synde     

Neoproterozoic–Early Paleozoic Tectonic Evolution of the South China Craton: New Insights from the Polyphase Deformation in the Southwestern Jiangnan Orogen

A >1500–km–long northeast–southwest trending Neoproterozoic metamorphic belt in the South China Craton (SCC) consists of subduction mélange and extensional basin deposits. This belt is present under an unconformity of Devonian–Carboniferous sediments. Tectonic evolution of the Neoproterozoic rocks is crucial to determining the geology of the SCC and further influences the reconstruction of the Rodinia supercontinent. A subduction mélange unit enclosed ca.1000–850–Ma mafic blocks, which defined a Neoproterozoic ocean that existed within the SCC, is exposed at the bottom of the Jiangnan Orogen (JO) and experienced at least two phases deformation. Combined with new (detrital) zircon U–Pb ages from metasandstones, as well as igneous rocks within the metamorphic belt, we restrict the strongly deformed subduction mélange as younger than the minimum detrital age ca. 835 Ma and older than the ca. 815 Ma intruded granite. Unconformably overlying the subduction mélange and the intruded granite, an intra–continental rift basin developed <800 Ma that involved abundant mantle inputs, such as mafic dikes. This stratum only experienced one main phase deformation. According to our white mica 40Ar/30Ar data and previously documented thermochronology, both the Neoproterozoic mélange and younger strata were exhumed by a 490–400–Ma crustal–scale positive flower structure. This orogenic event probably induced the thick–skinned structures and was accompanied by crustal thickening, metamorphism and magmatism and led to the closure of the pre–existing rift basin. Integrating previously published data and our new results, we agree that the SCC was located on the periphery of the Rodinia supercontinent from the Neoproterozic until the Ordovician. Furthermore, we prefer that the convergence and dispersal of the SCC were primarily controlled by oceanic subduction forces that occurred within or periphery of the SCC.     

Multistage Deformation in the Northeastern Segment of the Jiangshao Fault (Suture) Belt: Constraints for the Relationship between the Yangtze Plate and the Cathaysia Old Land

Multistage deformation events have occurred in the northeastern Jiangshao Fault (Suture) Belt. The earliest two are ductile deformation events. The first is the ca. 820 Ma top-to-the-northwest ductile thrusting, which directly resulted from the collision between the Cathaysia Old Land and the Chencai Arc (?) during the Late Neoproterozoic, and the Jiangnan Orogenic Belt that formed as the ocean closed between the Yangtze Plate and the jointed Cathaysia Old Land and the Chencai Arc due to continuous compression. The second is the ductile left-lateral strike-slipping that occurred in the latest Early Paleozoic. Since the Jinning period, all deformation events represent the reactivation or inversion of intraplate structures due to the collisions between the North China and Yangtze plates during the Triassic and between the Philippine Sea and Eurasian plates during the Cenozoic. In the Triassic, brittle right-lateral strike-slipping and subsequent top-to-the south thrusting occurred along the whole northeastern Jiangshao Fault Zone because of the collision between the North China and Yangtze plates. In the Late Mesozoic, regional extension took place across southeastern China. In the Cenozoic, the collision between the Philippine Sea and Eurasian plates resulted in brittle thrusts along the whole Jiangnan Old land in the Miocene. The Jiangshao Fault Belt is a weak zone in the crust with long history, and its reactivation is one of important characteristics of the deformation in South China; however, late-stage deformation events did not occur beyond the Jiangnan Old Land and most of them are parallel to the strike of the Old Land, which is similar to the Cenozoic deformation in Central Asia. In addition, the Jiangnan old Land is not a collisional boundary between the Yangtze Plate and Cathaysia Old Land in the Triassic.     

Indosinian Foreland Fold-and-Thrust Belt Bordering Yunnan and Guangxi, China

Recent discoveries of ophiolites indicate that there must be a Palaeotethyan geosuture zone bordering China and Vietnam, which separates the Vietbac block from the South China subcontinent. The Indosinian foreland fold-and-thrust belt bordering Yunnan and Guangxi provided further evidence for the palaeotethysides. The oceanic crust was subducted southwestwards while the magmatic arc migrated northeastwards, and the continent-arc collision occurred in the Late Triassic with the thrusting being extended towards the north or northeast. The features of thrust-nappe structure are discussed, which proved the continental margin of the Palaeotethyan ocean there to be a complicated one. A face-to-face collision occurred first along the NW-striking segment and then along the ENE-striking segment accompanied by transpression or oblique thrusting occurring along the NW-striking one.     

The Late Triassic Sequence-Stratigraphic Framework of the Upper Yangtze Region, South China

In the transitional period between the Middle and the Late Triassic, the Indochina orogeny caused two tectonic events in South China: (1) the formation and uplift of the Qinling-Dabie orogenic belt along the northern margin of the South China Plate, due to its collision with the North China Plate; and 2) the development of a 1300-km-wide intra-continental orogen in the southeastern part of the South China Plate, which led to a northwestward movement of the foreland thrust-fold zone. These tectonic events resulted in the ending of the Yangtze Platform, and were a stable paleogeographic factor from the Eidacaran to the end of the Middle Triassic. This platform was characterized by the widespread development of shallow-water carbonates. After the end of the Yangtze Platform, the upper Yangtze foreland basin (or Sichuan foreland basin) was formed during the Late Triassic and became a accumulation site of fluvial deposits that are composed of related strata of the Xujiahe Formation. In western Sichuan Province, the Xujiahe Formation overlies the Maantang Formation shallow-water carbonate rocks of the Xiaotangzi Formation siliciclastic rocks (from shelf shales to littoral facies). The sequence-stratigraphic framework of the Upper Triassic in the upper Yangtze foreland basin indicates a particular alluvial architecture, characterized by sequences composed of (1) successions of low-energy fluvial deposits of high-accommodation phases, including coal seams, and (2) high-energy fluvial deposits of low-accommodation phases, including amalgamated river-channel sandstones. The spatial distribution of these fluvial deposits belonging to the Xujiahe Formation and its relative strata is characterized by gradual thinning-out, overlapping, and pinching-out toward both the east and south. This sedimentary record therefore expresses a particular sequence-stratigraphic succession of fluvial deposits within the filling succession of the foreland basin. The sequence-stratigraphic framework for the Upper Triassic in the Upper Yangtze region provides a record of the end of the Yangtze Platform and the formation of the upper Yangtze foreland basin.     

Tectonic Constraints on the Transformation of Paleozoic Framework of Uplift and Depression in the Ordos Area

During the Paleozoic, the Ordos area in the western North China Plate was located at the intersecting position of microplates and controlled by their interaction. The structural framework in the Ordos area, which underwent transformations in the Ordovician, the Carboniferous and the Permian respectively, was dominated by the alternation of uplift and depression. The transformations of structural framework are utilized as the clues to investigate the microplates＇ interacting type and its response in the Ordos area. According to the regional structural evolution, the Ordos area is simplified into an isopachous, isotropic and elastic shell model, and under proposed various boundary conditions, three series of numerical simulations corresponding to the three structural transformations are carried out to determine the detailed tectonic constraints. Numerical simulations reveal that the structure of the uplift and depression, which is similar to the actual pattern, develops only under one special boundary condition in each of the three series, indicating that the structural framework responds to the unique tectonic background. The simulation results show that in the Early Paleozoic, the L-shaped paleouplift formed nearby the southwestern corner of the Ordos area because the intensity of the compressions in the southern and western boundaries resulting from the ocean-continent collisions was similar. In the Late Paleozoic, it evolved into continent-continent （or arc-continent） interaction in the southern and northern boundaries; in the preliminary stage of the interaction, since the interface between the North China Plate and the plates on the south and north was narrow, the relative acting force was little and the regional western boundary immobile, and the structural framework in the basin was characterized by the N-S trending slender-waist-shaped uplift; as the interface between the plates expanded gradually, the extrusive force in the southern and northern boundaries of the North China Plate increased, resulting in the paleogeographic divisions showing E-W trending, and, the western boundary of the basin was extruded westward due to the intense compression inducing the local NE trending of paleogeographic division in the central area. The simulation results further reflect that the symmetry of the uplift-depression pattern is restricted by that of the boundary conditions, suggesting that the Paleozoic structural transformations of the Ordos area under boundary constraints accord with the universal physical symmetrical principle.     

Cenozoic Exhumation and Thrusting in the Northern Qilian Shan, Northeastern Margin of the Tibetan Plateau: Constraints from Sedimentological and Apatite Fission-Track Data

Abstract: The Qilian Shan lies along the northeastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau. To constrain its deformation history, we conducted integrated research on Mesozoic–Cenozoic stratigraphic sections in the Jiuxi Basin immediately north of the mountain range. Paleocurrent measurements, sandstone compositional data, and facies analysis of Cenozoic stratigraphic sections suggest that the Jiuxi Basin received sediments from the Altyn Tagh Range in the northwest, initially in the Oligocene (~33 Ma), depositing the Huoshaogou Formation in the northern part of the basin. Later, the source area of the Jiuxi Basin changed to the Qilian Shan in the south during Late Oligocene (~27 Ma), which led to the deposition of the Baiyanghe Formation. We suggest that uplift of the northern Qilian Shan induced by thrusting began no later than the Late Oligocene. Fission-track analysis of apatite from the Qilian Shan yields further information about the deformation history of the northern Qilain Shan and the Jiuxi Basin. It shows that a period of rapid cooling, interpreted as exhumation, initiated in the Oligocene. We suggest that this exhumation marked the initial uplift of the Qilian Shan resulting from the India–Asia collision.