Fission track data from the Bathurst Batholith: Evidence for rapid mid‐Cretaceous uplift and erosion within the eastern highlands of Australia

Apatite fission track thermochronology reveals that uplift and erosion occurred during the mid‐Cretaceous within the Bathurst Batholith region of the eastern highlands, New South Wales. Apatite fission track ages from samples from the eastern flank of the highlands range between ca 73 and 139 Ma. The mean lengths of confined fission tracks for these samples are > 13 μm with standard deviations of the track length distributions between 1 and 2 μm. These data suggest that rocks exposed along the eastern flank of the highlands were nearly reset as the result of being subjected to palaeotemperatures in the range of approximately 100–110°C, prior to being cooled relatively quickly through to temperatures < 50°C in the mid‐Cretaceous at ca 90 Ma. In contrast, samples from the western flank of the highlands yield apparent apatite ages as old as 235 Ma and mean track lengths < 12.5 μm, with standard deviations between 1.8 and 3 μm. These old apatite ages and relatively short track lengths suggest that the rocks were exposed to maximum palaeotemperatures between approximately 80° and 100°C prior to the regional cooling episode. This cooling is interpreted to be the result of kilometre‐scale uplift and erosion of the eastern highlands in the mid‐Cretaceous, and the similarity in timing of uplift and erosion within the highlands and initial extension along the eastern Australian passive margin prior to breakup (ca 95 Ma) strongly suggests these two occurrences are related.     

Low‐temperature thermochronology of the Mt Painter Province,South Australia

Apatite fission track results are reported for 26 outcrop samples from the Mt Painter Inlier, Mt Babbage Inlier and adjacent Neoproterozoic rocks of the northwestern Curnamona Craton of South Australia. Forward modelling of the data indicates that the province experienced variable regional cooling from temperatures >110°C during the Late Palaeozoic (Late Carboniferous to Early Permian). The timing of this cooling is similar to that previously reported from elsewhere in the Adelaide Fold Belt and the Curnamona Craton, suggesting that the entire region underwent extensive Late Palaeozoic cooling most likely related to the waning stages of the Alice Springs or Kanimblan Orogenies. Results from the Paralana Fault Zone indicate that the eastern margin of the Mt Painter Inlier experienced a second episode of cooling (～40–60°C) during the Paleocene to Eocene. The entire region also experienced significant cooling (less than ～40°C) during the Late Cretaceous to Palaeogene in response to unroofing and/or a decrease in geothermal gradient. Regional cooling/erosion during this time is supported by: geomorphological and geophysical evidence indicating Tertiary exhumation of at least 1 km; Eocene sedimentation initiated in basins adjacent to the Flinders and Mt Lofty Ranges sections of the Adelaide Fold Belt; and Late Cretaceous ‐ Early Tertiary cooling previously reported from apatite fission track studies in the Willyama Inliers and the southern Adelaide Fold Belt. Late Cretaceous to Palaeogene cooling is probably related to a change in stress field propagated throughout the Australian Plate, and driven by the initiation of sea‐floor spreading in the Tasman Sea in the Late Cretaceous and the Eocene global plate reorganisation.     

Exhumation of the Neuquén Basin in the southern Central Andes (Malargüe fold and thrust belt) from field data and low-temperature thermochronology

Apatite fission-track analysis performed on eighteen Mesozoic sediment samples of the Neuquén Basin from the Southern Central Andes orogenic front between 35°30′ and 37°S has revealed Campanian-Paleocene (75-55 Ma), late Eocene-early Oligocene (35-30 Ma) and middle Miocene (15-10 Ma) cooling episodes. Each cooling episode corresponds closely with major unconformities observed in the preserved sedimentary sequences, and is associated with kilometer-scale additional burial and subsequent exhumation. A similar degree of cooling is inferred from associated vitrinite reflectance data. Late Eocene-early Oligocene exhumation is recognized only near the eastern orogenic front adjacent to the foreland in the southernmost part of the study area and may be related partly to within-plate magmatism and associated extension in the Palaoco Basin. The Campanian-Paleocene and middle Miocene cooling episodes are recognized more widely in the fold and thrust belt and appear to coincide with periods of eastward arc expansion and mountain building processes.     

Uplift and denudation of Mt Sanqingshan Geopark,Jiangxi Province,China

Mt Sanqingshan, a global Geopark and world natural heritage site located in Jiangxi Province, China, is famous for its eroded granite peaks. The uplift and denudation history of the area has been reconstructed using fission track methods for the first time. Apatite fission track ages (AFTAs) cluster into three groups at ca. 25 Ma, 45–55 Ma, and 70 Ma. These ages can be related to ancient multilevel denudation planes at about 900, 1200, and 1500 m above sea level, respectively. The apatite data also reveal four cooling stages for the Mt Sanqingshan region, from ca. 90 to 65–60 Ma, 65–60 to 45 Ma, 45 to 20–15 Ma, and 20–15 Ma to the present, with cooling rates of 1.96°C, 1.18°C, 0.37°C, and 3.78°C per million years, respectively, and an average cooling rate of 1.80°C per million years. Calculated uplift rates are 0.055, 0.034, 0.011, and 0.11 mm year^?1 in the four stages, yielding uplifts of 4140, 570, 290, and 1940 m, respectively. The uplift rate of the last stage was significantly faster than that of the other three preceding stages, reflecting rejuvenation of Mt Sanqingshan, as a result of new tectonism. The average uplift rate at Mt Sanqingshan is 0.053 mm year^?1, and the average denudation rate is 0.048 mm year^?1, resulting in 3550 m of uplift and 2540 m of denudation relative to eustatic sea level. The 1010 m difference is very close to the average elevation of about 1000 m at present. A comparison of uplift–denudation histories for Mt Sanqingshan and Mt Huangshan shows that fission track results can be useful for defining geomorphological development stages.     

南黄海中部隆起晚白垩世以来地层剥蚀的磷灰石裂变径迹分析

南黄海中部隆起自印支期以来经历显著的构造隆升及剥蚀过程.基于大陆架科学钻探CSDP-2井的钻井岩心,应用磷灰石裂变径迹技术研究了南黄海中部隆起晚白垩世以来的剥蚀过程及响应特征.所获得的8个磷灰石样品的裂变径迹年龄显示出两个年龄组,除单个样品为38±3 Ma外,其余样品都集中在（52±4）~（65±5）Ma范围内,基本反映了同一期构造热事件年龄,并且均远小于样品所处的二叠纪年龄,表明样品完全退火并记录了晚白垩世以来的热历史.样品热史模拟结果表明,基于泥岩镜质体反射率计算的最高古地温处于样品退火带温区范围内,各样品从晚白垩世早期（约100 Ma）以来经历持续的降温过程,在约80~75 Ma开始进入部分退火带.南黄海中部隆起第一期快速冷却降温过程出现在晚白垩世末期,并持续至古新世早期,随后进入古近纪表现为持续相对缓慢的降温过程,降温幅度约30 ℃,渐新世末期到中新世早期存在另一期快速冷却过程.热史模拟结果较好地指示了南黄海中部隆起晚白垩世以来的地层剥蚀响应特征.      

Late Cretaceous reactivation of major crustal shear zones in northern Namibia: constraints from apatite fission track analysis

Namibia's passive continental margin records a long history of tectonic activity since the Proterozoic. The orogenic belt produced during the collision of the Congo and Kalahari Cratons in the Early Proterozoic led to a zone of crustal weakness, which became the preferred location for tectonism during the Phanerozoic. The Pan-African Damara mobile belt forms this intraplate boundary in Namibia and its tectonostratigraphic zones are defined by ductile shear zones, where the most prominent is described as the Omaruru Lineament–Waterberg Thrust (OML–WT). The prominance of the continental margin escarpment is diminished in the area of the Central and Northern Zone of the Damara belt where the shear zones are located. This area has been targeted with a set of 66 outcrop samples over a 550-km-long, 60-km-broad coast-parallel transect from the top of the escarpment in the south across the Damara sector to the Kamanjab Inlier in the north. Apatite fission track age and length data from all samples reveal a regionally consistent cooling event. Thermal histories derived by forward modelling bracket this phase of accelerated cooling in the Late Cretaceous. Maximum palaeotemperatures immediately prior to the onset of cooling range from ca. 120 to ca. 60 °C with the maximum occurring directly south of the Omaruru Lineament. Because different palaeotemperatures indicate different burial depth at a given time, the amount of denudation can be estimated and used to constrain vertical displacements of the continental crust. We interpret this cooling pattern as the geomorphic response to reactivation of basement structures caused by a change in spreading geometry in the South Atlantic and South West Indian Oceans.     

Denudation history of the Snowy Mountains: Constraints from apatite fission track thermochronology

Apatite fission track thermochronology from Early Palaeozoic granitoids centred around the Kosciuszko massif of the Snowy Mountains, records a denudation history that was episodic and highly variable. The form of the apatite fission track age profile assembled from vertical sections and hydroelectric tunnels traversing the mountains, together with numerical forward modelling, provide strong evidence for two episodes of accelerated denudation, commencing in Late Permian—Early Triassic (ca 270–250 Ma) and mid‐Cretaceous (ca 110–100 Ma) times, and a possible third episode in the Cenozoic. Denudation commencing in the Late Permian—Early Triassic was widespread in the eastern and central Snowy Mountains area, continued through much of the Triassic, and amounted to at least ～2.0–2.4 km. This episode was probably the geomorphic response to the Hunter‐Bowen Orogeny. Post‐Triassic denudation to the present in these areas amounted to ～2.0–2.2 km. Unambiguous evidence for mid‐Cretaceous cooling and possible later cooling is confined to a north‐south‐trending sinuous belt, up to ～15 km wide by at least 35 km long, of major reactivated Palaeozoic faults on the western side of the mountains. This zone is the most deeply exposed area of the Kosciuszko block. Denudation accompanying these later events totalled up to ～1.8–2.0 km and ～2.0–2.25 km respectively. Mid‐Cretaceous denudation marks the onset of renewed tectonic activity in the southeastern highlands following a period of relative quiescence since the Late Triassic, and establishes a temporal link with the onset of extension related to the opening of the Tasman Sea. Much of the present day relief of the mountains resulted from surface uplift which disrupted the post‐mid‐Cretaceous apatite fission track profile by variable offsets on faults.     

Interplay of intraplate tectonics and surface processes in the Sierra de Guadarrama (central Spain) assessed by apatite fission track analysis

Apatite fission track analysis is used as a tectonic tool to unravel the evolution of the Sierra de Guadarrama, an mountain range in central Spain, and the far-field effects of the Alpine plate tectonics, expressed by reactivation of NE-SW trending lineaments in the Hercynian basement. 18 basement samples were analysed, and 4 sediments of Mesozoic and Tertiary age. Thermal histories were modelled for most samples and conversion to resultant amounts of denudation and rock uplift was possible for the Tertiary history, because of constraints on the paleo-topography and -elevation in Upper Cretaceous to Paleocene times. Accelerated cooling (up to 100 °C in 5 Ma) occurred around 100 Ma in the entire Sierra de Guadarrama. In the northern part, this cooling was preceded by reheating of Lower Triassic sediments up to 110 °C, suggesting sedimentation of about 3 km of, now eroded, Upper Triassic to Jurassic. The period of greatest erosion occurred in the Pliocene and Quaternary and affected almost the entire Sierra de Guadarrama. It was preceded by a Middle-Miocene cooling event that correlates with the beginning of the neo-tectonic setting of central Spain. The greatest Tertiary rock uplift occurred in the central part of the Sierra de Guadarrama: 5.9 ± 11.6 km. The Pliocene to recent event constitutes most of the Tertiary denudation. It is accommodated by active NE-SW trending reverse faults, and attended by about 3.2 km of denudation. These data fit as far-field effects in the plate tectonic setting of ongoing NW-SE oriented convergence between the European and African plate.     

Late- and post-Variscan cooling and exhumation history of the northern Rhenish massif and the southern Ruhr Basin: new constraints from fission-track analysis

Apatite fission-track analyses were carried out on outcrop and core samples from the Rhenish massif and the Carboniferous Ruhr Basin/Germany in order to study the late- and post-Variscan thermal and exhumation history. Apatite fission-track ages range from 291±15 Ma (lower Permian) to 136±7 Ma (lower Cretaceous) and mean track lengths vary between 11.6 m and 13.9 m, mostly displaying unimodal distributions with narrow standard deviations. All apatite fission-track ages are younger than the corresponding sample stratigraphic age, indicating substantial post-depositional annealing of the apatite fission-tracks. This agrees with results from maturity modelling, which indicates 3500–7000 m eroded Devonian and Carboniferous sedimentary cover. Numerical modelling of apatite fission-track data predicts onset of exhumation and cooling not earlier than 320 Ma in the Rhenish massif and 300 Ma in the Ruhr Basin, generally followed by late Carboniferous–Triassic cooling to below 50–60°C. Rapid late Variscan cooling was followed by moderate Mesozoic cooling rates of 0.1–0.2°C/Ma, converting into denudation rates of <1 mm/a (assuming a stable geothermal gradient of 30°C/km). Modelling results also give evidence for some late Triassic and early Jurassic heating and/or burial, which is supported by sedimentary rocks of the same age preserved at the rim of the lower Rhine Basin and in the subsurface of the Central and Northern Ruhr Basin. Cenozoic exhumation and cooling of the Rhenish massif is interpreted as an isostatic response to former erosion and major base-level fall caused by the subsidence in the lower Rhine Basin.     

New information on the thermal history of the southwestern Lower Saxony Basin, northern Germany, based on fission track analysis

The southwestern part of the Lower Saxony Basin (LSB) is characterized by gravity and magnetic anomalies and by an extremely high thermal maturity of organic matter. This was for many years attributed to a Late Cretaceous intrusion, but actually deep burial is being debated. The complex thermal history of the area has been studied by fission track analysis. Zircon data provide evidence for widespread (hydro)thermal activity during the Permian and Upper Jurassic/Lower Cretaceous. Apatite ages indicate a major cooling event in the mid Cretaceous (∼89–72 Ma) reflecting the time of inversion of the LSB. During the Cretaceous, the cooling of the basin centre was rapid compared to the basin margins. Apatite fission track ages from borehole samples which are recently within the upper part of the APAZ indicate a young heating of the sedimentary sequences until present.     

Mesozoic exhumation history and palaeolandscape of the Iberian Massif in eastern Galicia from apatite fission-track and (U+Th)/He data

Apatite fission-track (AFT) and (U+Th)/He (AHe) data, combined with time–temperature inverse modelling, reveal the cooling and exhumation history of the Iberian Massif in eastern Galicia since the Mesozoic. The continuous cooling at various rates correlates with variation of tectonic boundary conditions in the adjacent continental margins. The data provide constraints on the 10⁷ timescale longevity of a relict paleolandscape. AFT ages range from 68 to 174 Ma with mean track lengths of 10.7 ± 2.6 to 12.6 ± 1.8 μm, and AHe ages range from 73 to 147 Ma. Fastest exhumation (≈0.25 km/Ma) occurred during the Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous main episode of rifting in the adjacent western and northern margins. Exhumation rates have decreased since then and have been approximately one order of magnitude lower. Across inland Galicia, the AFT data are consistent with Early Cretaceous movement on post-Variscan NE trending faults. This is coeval with an extensional episode offshore. The AHe data in this region indicate less than 1.7 km of denudation in the last 100 Ma. This low exhumation suggests the attainment of a mature landscape during Late Cretaceous post-rift tectonic stability, whose remains are still preserved. The low and steady rate of denudation prevailed across inland Galicia despite minor N–S shortening in the northern margin since ≈45 Ma ago. In north Galicia, rock uplift in response to NW strike-slip faulting since Early Oligocene to Early Miocene has caused insufficient exhumation (<3 km) to remove the Mesozoic cooling signal recorded by the AFT data.     

Apatite fission track and (U-Th)/He thermochronology from the Archean Tanzania Craton: Contributions to cooling histories of Tanzanian basement rocks

Borehole and surface samples from the Archean Tanzania Craton were analysed for apatite fission track(AFT) and(U-Th)/He data with the aim of deciphering cooling histories of the basement rocks. Fission track dates from borehole and outcrop samples are Carboniferous-Permian(345± 33.3 Ma to271±31.7 Ma) whereas(U-Th)/He dates are Carboniferous-Triassic(336±45.8 Ma to 213±29 Ma) for outcrop grains and are consistently younger than corresponding AFT dates. Single grain(U-Th)/He dates from the borehole are likely to be flawed by excessive helium implantation due to their very low effective uranium contents, radiation damage and grain sizes. All AFT and(U-Th)/He dates are significantly younger than the stratigraphic ages of their host rocks, implying that the samples have experienced Phanerozoic elevated paleo-temperatures. Considerations of the data indicate removal of up to 9 km overburden since the Palaeozoic.Thermal modelling reveals a protracted rapid cooling event commencing during the early Carboniferous(ca. 350 Ma) at rates of 46 m/Ma ending in the Triassic(ca. 220 Ma). The model also suggests minor cooling during the Cretaceous of the samples to surface temperatures. The suggested later cooling event remains to be tested. The major cooling phase during the Carboniferous is interpreted to be associated with compressional tectonics during the Variscan Orogeny sensu far field induced stresses. Coeval sedimentation in the Karoo basins in the region suggests that most of the cooling of cratonic rocks during the Carboniferous was associated with denudation.     

Mesozoic exhumation of the southern Cape, South Africa, quantified using apatite fission track thermochronology

Southern Africa's topography is distinctive. An inland plateau of low relief and high average elevation is separated from a coastal plane of high relief and low average elevation by a steeply dipping escarpment. The origin and evolution of this topography is poorly understood because, unlike high plateaus elsewhere, its development cannot be easily linked to present day compressional plate boundary processes. Understanding the development of this regional landscape since the break-up of Gondwana is a first order step towards resolving regional epeirogenesis. We present data that quantifies the timing and extent of exhumation across the southern Cape escarpment and coastal plane, using apatite fission track analysis (AFTA) of 25 outcrop samples and 31 samples from three deep boreholes (KW1/67, SA1/66, CR1/68). Outcrop fission track (AFT) ages are Cretaceous and are significantly younger than the stratigraphic ages of their host rocks, indicating that the samples have experienced elevated paleotemperatures. Mean track lengths vary from 11.86 to 14.23 μm. The lack of Cenozoic apatite ages suggests that major cooling was over by the end Cretaceous. The results for three boreholes, situated seaward (south) of the escarpment, indicate an episode of increased denudation in the mid-late Cretaceous (100–80 Ma). An earlier episode of increased denudation (140–120 Ma) is identified from a borehole north of the escarpment. Thermal modelling indicates a history involving 2.5–3.5 km of denudation in the mid-late Cretaceous (100–80 Ma) at a rate of 175 to 125 m/Ma. The AFT data suggest that less than 1 km of overburden has been eroded regionally since the late Cretaceous (< 80 Ma) at a rate of 10 to 15 m/Ma, but do not discount the possibility of minor (in relative amplitude) episodes of uplift and river incision through the Cenozoic. The reasons for rapid denudation in these early and mid-Cretaceous episodes are less clear, but may be related to epeirogenic uplift associated with an increase in mantle buoyancy as reflected in two punctuated episodes of alkaline intrusions (e.g. kimberlites) across southern Africa and contemporaneous formation of two large mafic igneous provinces (~ 130 and 90 Ma) flanking its continental margins. Because Cenozoic denudation rates are relatively minimal, epeirogenic uplift of southern Africa and its distinct topography cannot be primarily related to Cenozoic mantle processes, consistent with the lack of any significant igneous activity across this region during that time.     

Meso‐Cenozoic Tectonothermal History of Permian Strata,Southwestern Weibei Uplift: Insights from Thermochronology and Geothermometry

This study provides an integrated interpretation for the Mesozoic-Cenozoic tectonothermal evolutionary history of the Permian strata in the Qishan area of the southwestern Weibei Uplift, Ordos Basin. Apatite fission-track and apatite/zircon(U-Th)/He thermochronometry, bitumen reflectance, thermal conductivity of rocks, paleotemperature recovery, and basin modeling were used to restore the Meso-Cenozoic tectonothermal history of the Permian Strata. The Triassic AFT data have a pooled age of ～180±7 Ma with one age peak and P(χ2)=86%. The average value of corrected apatite(U-Th)/He age of two Permian sandstones is ～168±4 Ma and a zircon(U-Th)/He age from the Cambrian strata is ～231±14 Ma. Bitumen reflectance and maximum paleotemperature of two Ordovician mudstones are 1.81%, 1.57% and ～210°C, ～196°C respectively. After undergoing a rapid subsidence and increasing temperature in Triassic influenced by intrusive rocks in some areas, the Permian strata experienced four cooling-uplift stages after the time when the maximum paleotemperature reached in late Jurassic:(1) A cooling stage(～163 Ma to ～140 Ma) with temperatures ranging from ～132°C to ～53°C and a cooling rate of ～3°C/Ma, an erosion thickness of ～1900 m and an uplift rate of ～82 m/Ma;(2) A cooling stage(～140 Ma to ～52 Ma) with temperatures ranging from ～53°C to ～47°C and a cooling rate less than ～0.1°C/Ma, an erosion thickness of ～300 m and an uplift rate of ～3 m/Ma;(3)(～52 Ma to ～8 Ma) with ～47°C to ～43°C and ～0.1°C/Ma, an erosion thickness of ～500 m and an uplift rate of ～11 m/Ma;(3)(～8 Ma to present) with ～43°C to ～20°C and ～3°C/Ma, an erosion thickness of ～650 m and an uplift rate of ～81 m/Ma. The tectonothermal evolutionary history of the Qishan area in Triassic was influenced by the interaction of the Qinling Orogeny and the Weibei Uplift, and the south Qishan area had the earliest uplift-cooling time compared to other parts within the Weibei Uplift. The early Eocene at ～52 Ma and the late Miocene at ～8 Ma, as two significant turning points after which both the rate of uplift and the rate of temperature changed rapidly, were two key time for the uplift-cooling history of the Permian strata in the Qishan area of the southwestern Weibei Uplift, Ordos Basin.     

Postmagmatic cooling and late Cenozoic denudation of the North Patagonian Batholith in the Los Lagos region of Chile, 41°−42°15′S

Zircon and apatite fission track (FT) thermochronology was applied to investigate the history of cooling and denudation of the Southern Andes between 41° and 42°15′S in relation to the late Cenozoic activity of the Liquiñe-Ofqui fault zone (LOFZ) and the northward migration of the Chile Triple Junction (CTJ). Fifty-six zircon and 51 apatite FT ages, plus 37 apatite confined track-length distributions were obtained mainly from plutonic rocks of the North Patagonian Batholith (NPB) in the main Andean Cordillera. Apatite FT ages and track lengths indicate a stage of rapid cooling at ∼5--3 Ma along both sides of the LOFZ, whereas older Miocene ages with monotonous cooling histories were obtained further away from the fault. Zircon FT ages range from Cretaceous to Pliocene, with marked differences observed along and across the LOFZ. Three different types of temperature-time histories characterise the post-magmatic cooling of the NPB in the region: deep intrusions with moderate and steady cooling rates, intrusions in the upper crust with very slow cooling rates following a stage of initial rapid cooling, and rapidly cooled and exhumed shallow intrusions, the latter with younger ages towards the fault zone. The most prominent denudation episode along the LOFZ is late Miocene to Pliocene, coeval with plate tectonic reconstructions for the arrival and subduction of the Chile Rise beneath the Taitao Peninsula.     

Denudation history and landscape evolution of the northern East-Brazilian continental margin from apatite fission-track thermochronology

We reconstruct the history of denudation and landscape evolution of the northern East- Brazilian continental margin using apatite fission-track thermochronology and thermal history modeling. This part of the Brazilian Atlantic margin is morphologically characterized by inland and coastal plateaus surrounding a wide low-lying inland region, the Sertaneja Depression. The apatite fission track ages and mean track lengths vary from 39 ± 4 to 350 ± 57 Ma and from 10.0 ± 0.3 to 14.2 ± 0.2 μm, respectively, implying a protracted history of spatially variable denudation since the Permian at relatively low rates (<50 m My⁻¹). The Sertaneja Depression and inland plateaus record Permian-Early Jurassic (300–180 Ma) denudation that precedes rifting of the margin by > 60 Myrs. In contrast, the coastal regions record up to 2.5 km of Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous (150–120 Ma) denudation, coeval with rifting of the margin. The samples from elevated coastal regions, the Borborema Plateau and the Mantiqueira Range, record cooling from temperatures above 120 °C since the Late Cretaceous extending to the Cenozoic. We interpret this denudation as related to post-rift uplift of these parts of the margin, possibly resulting from compressional stresses transmitted from the Andes and/or magmatism at that time. Several samples from these areas also record accelerated Neogene (<30 Ma) cooling, which may record landscape response to a change from a tropical to a more erosive semi-arid climate during this time. The inferred denudation history is consistent with the offshore sedimentary record, but not with evolutionary scenarios inferred from the recognition of “planation surfaces” on the margin. The denudation history of the northeastern Brazilian margin implies a control of pre-, syn- and post-rift tectonic and climatic events on landscape evolution.     

Exhumation history of the Peake and Denison Inliers: insights from low-temperature thermochronology

Multi-method thermochronology applied to the Peake and Denison Inliers (northern South Australia) reveals multiple low-temperature thermal events. Apatite fission track (AFT) data suggest two main time periods of basement cooling and/or reheating into AFT closure temperatures (～60–120°C); at ca 470–440 Ma and ca 340–300 Ma. We interpret the Ordovician pulse of rapid basement cooling as a result of post-orogenic cooling after the Delamerian Orogeny, followed by deformation related to the start of the Alice Springs Orogeny and orocline formation relating to the Benambran Orogeny. This is supported by a titanite U/Pb age of 479 ± 7 Ma. Our thermal history models indicate that subsequent denudation and sedimentary burial during the Devonian brought the basement rocks back to zircon U–Th–Sm/He (ZHe) closure temperatures (～200–150°C). This period was followed by a renewal of rapid cooling during the Carboniferous, likely as the result of the final pulses of the Alice Springs Orogeny, which exhumed the inlier to ambient surface temperatures. This thermal event is supported by the presence of the Mount Margaret erosion surface, which indicates that the inlier was exposed at the surface during the early Permian. During the Late Triassic–Early Jurassic, the inlier was subjected to minor reheating to AFT closure temperatures; however, the exact timing cannot be deduced from our dataset. Cretaceous apatite U–Th–Sm/He (AHe) ages coupled with the presence of contemporaneous coarse-grained terrigenous rocks suggest a temporally thermal perturbation related with shallow burial during this time, before late Cretaceous exhumation cooled the inliers back to ambient surface temperatures.     

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1674987115000973

Tarim Precambrian bedrocks are well exposed in the Kuluketage and Aksu areas,where twenty four samples were taken to reveal the denudation history of the northern Tarim Craton.Apatite fission track dating and thermal history modeling suggest that the northern Tarim experienced multi-stage cooling events which were assumed to be associated with the distant effects of the Cimmerian orogeny and India-Eurasia collision in the past.But the first episode of exhumation in the northern Tarim,occurring in the mid-Permian to Triassic,is here suggested to be induced by docking of the Tarim Craton and final amalgamation of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt.The cooling event at ca.170 Ma may be triggered by the Qiangtang-Eurasia collision.Widespread Cretaceous exhumation could be linked with docking of the Lhasa terrane in the late Jurassic.Cenozoic reheating and recooling likely occurred because of the northpropagating stress,however,this has not affected the northern Tarim much because the Tarim is characterized by rigid block-like motion.     

西藏羌塘盆地白垩纪中期构造事件的磷灰石裂变径迹证据

拉萨与羌塘地块于白垩纪中期的碰撞造山对羌塘原型盆地的热体制和构造演化有着重要影响.运用磷灰石裂变径迹方法,对羌塘盆地隆鄂尼夏里组和托纳木雪山组砂岩分析表明,裂变径迹年龄集中在120～ 80Ma之间,表明在白垩纪中期,羌塘盆地普遍发生了一次构造抬升事件,该期构造事件的年龄与盆地内早白垩世的岩浆热事件、主要构造变形作用发生在晚白垩世以及雪山组和阿布山组角度不整合的时代(125～75Ma)较一致,是拉萨与羌塘地块碰撞造山事件的记录.热历史模拟表明,白垩纪中期构造事件对羌塘盆地南部和北部的热演化历史有着差异影响,羌塘盆地南部降温速率相对不大,抬升剥蚀厚度约1500m,而北部古地温迅速降温到近地表温度,抬升剥蚀厚度近4000m.这种差异抬升剥蚀可能与班公湖-怒江洋壳向南俯冲使得因拉萨地块构造负载而导致羌塘地块的挠曲有关.