Thermotectonic evolution of the western fold-and-thrust belt, southern Uralides, Russia, as revealed by apatite fission track data

The Uralides, a linear N–S trending Palaeozoic fold belt, reveals an intact, well-preserved orogen with a deep crustal root within a stable continental interior. In the western fold-and-thrust belt of the southern Uralides, Devonian to Carboniferous siliciclastic and carbonate rocks overlay Mesoproterozoic to Neoproterozoic sedimentary rocks. Deformation in the Devonian, Carboniferous and Permian caused thick-skinned tectonic features in the western and central parts of the western fold-and-thrust belt. A stack of several nappes characterizes the deformation in the eastern part. Along the E–W transect AC-TS'96 that crosses the western fold-and-thrust belt, apatite fission track data record various stages of the geodynamic evolution of the Uralide orogeny such as basin evolution during the Palaeozoic, synorogenic movements along major thrusts, synorogenic to postorogenic exhumation and a change in the regional stress field during the Upper Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous. The Palaeozoic sedimentary cover and the Neoproterozoic basement of the Ala-Tau anticlinorium never exceed the upper limit of the PAZ since the Devonian. A temperature gradient similar to the recent one (20 °C/km) would account for the FT data. Reactivation of the Neoproterozoic Zilmerdak thrust was time equivalent to the onset of the Devonian and Carboniferous collision-related deformation in the east. West-directed movement along the Tashli thrust occurred in the Lower Permian. The Devonian and Carboniferous exhumation path of the Neoproterozoic siliciclastic units of the Tirlyan synclinorium mirrors the onset of the Uralian orogeny, the emplacement of the Tirlyan nappe and the continuous west-directed compression. The five main tectonic segments Inzer Synclinorium, Beloretzk Terrane, Ala-Tau anticlinorium, Yamantau anticlinorium and Zilair synclinorium were exhumed one after another to a stable position in the crust between 290 and 230 Ma. Each segment has its own t–T path but the exhumation rate was nearly the same. Final denudation of the western fold-and-thrust belt and exhumation to the present surface probably began in Late Tertiary. In Jurassic and Cretaceous, south-directed movements along W–E trending normal faults indicate a change in the tectonic regime in the southern Uralides.