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Abstract: The northwestern edge of the Tarim Basin, which contains the Kalpin Uplift and the north Bachu Uplift, lies between the South Tianshan and Tarim continental block and its tectonic evolution is closely correlated with the Tianshan. The pre-Mesozoic units are widely exposed in the northwestern edge of the Tarim Basin, which allow detailed geological observation and sample collection. In this paper, the apatite (U–Th)/He thermochronology was used to study the tectono-thermal evolution of the northwestern edge of the Tarim Basin. The sandstone samples from the Upper Neoproterozoic, Silurian, Devonian, Carboniferous and Permian units, etc. on the northwestern edge of the Tarim Basin were collected and used to determine apatite (U–Th)/He ages. The apatite He ages in the Kalpin Uplift reveal the tectonic uplift events during the Late Cretaceous (96–70Ma) and the Miocene (22–20Ma). These uplift events are linked to collisions of the Lhasa Block and the India plate with the southern Eurasian continental margin, respectively. However, apatite He ages in the north Bachu Uplift show only the Eocene event at ∼40Ma because the west Kunlun orogenic belt thrust over the southwestern edge of the Tarim Basin during the Eocene. The thermal modeling results reveal four cooling events in the Kalpin Uplift since the Late Neoproterozoic, corresponding to 460–445Ma, 350–320Ma, 220–210Ma and 20–10Ma but only one episode with 220–210Ma in the north Bachu Uplift since the Devonian. Based on the thermal modeling results, the north Bachu Uplift did not experience the cooling events at 460–445Ma, 350–320Ma and 20–10Ma shown in the Kalpin Uplift. This paper provides a new insight into the tectonic evolution of the Tianshan and the northwestern Tarim Basin. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In Yangtze block (South China), there is a well-developed Mesozoic thrust system extended through the Xuefeng and Wuling mountains in the southeast to the Sichuan basin in the northwest. We present 11 apatite fission-track (AFT) data and 11 (U–Th–Sm)/He ages to unravel the low temperature thermal history of a part of the system located in the eastern Sichuan basin. The fission-track data are interpreted using a grain-age deconvolution algorithm with inverse thermal modeling of track length, grain ages and mineral composition proxy data. Results suggest that apatite fission-track ages range between 99.3 ± 8.1 and 51.0 ± 4.0 Ma, and the apatite (U–Th–Sm)/He ages between 58.3 ± 3.5 Ma and 14.2 ± 0.9. The spatial distribution of these ages shows a trend decreased from SE to NW gradually, which supports the idea of a prolonged, steady-state rock uplift and erosion process across the eastern Sichuan basin. Thermal history modeling of the combined FT and (U–Th–Sm)/He datasets reveal a common three stage cooling history: (1) initial stage of rapid cooling that younger to the east during pre-Cretaceous, (2) following by a period of relative (but not perfect) thermal stability at ∼65–50 °C, (3) and then a new rapid cooling stage that initiated in all samples between ∼15 and 20 Ma. The first rapid cooling at a rate of ⩾1.5 °C/Ma is associated with coeval tectonism in nearby regions, which result in folds and faults of the eastern Sichuan basin. Early-mid Cenozoic thermal stability is contributed to the extension widely occurring in the eastern China continent at which the average cooling rate decreased to ∼0.16 °C/Ma. Causes for speculative accelerated cooling after ca . 20–15 Ma with a rate of ⩾1.2 °C/Ma may be a far-field effect of upward and eastward growth of the Tibetan Plateau but could also be related to climate effects. In a whole, this paper analyzes the several Mesozoic and Cenozoic tectonic events influence to the patters of regional denudation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Despite more than 30 years’ studies in the Yarlung Zangbo Suture Zone (YZSZ), southern Tibet is still a region of discovery and the geological evolution of the Neo-Tethys here remains controversial. In this paper we present the new field observation, petrography, zircon U–Pb dating and geochemistry of the Zhongba mafic rocks in the western segment of the YZSZ. Zircon U–Pb analyses from a diabase using SIMS (Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry) yielded a concordant age of 125.7±0.9Ma. All the Zhongba mafic rocks exhibit LREE enrichment (LaN/YbN =4.7–15.8) without Eu anomalies (δEu=0.97–1.01). Their Primitive-Mantle-normalized trace element patterns are similar to those of the average OIB and Hawaii alkaline basalts, as well as other OIB-type rocks already reported in the central-western YZSZ. These observations lead us to suggest the existence of a series of seamounts within the Neo-Tethys during the Early Cretaceous. These OIB-type rocks could be originated from (1) hotspot mantle; (2) near-ridge seamounts by melting-induced mixing of two distinct mantle sources; (3) late-stage magmatism fed by melts that originated from an asthenospheric window due to slab delamination. Combining literature data from the entire YZSZ, which include studies of the MORB- and IAB-type rocks and mantle peridotites, we prefer the third explanation that the OIB-type rocks represent a late-stage magmatic activity above an intra-oceanic supra-subduction zone within the Neo-Tethys. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The Tongbai orogen in the middle of the Qinling–Tongbai–Dabie–Sulu orogenic belt is one of the most important portions for understanding the tectonic framework and evolution between the Sino-Korean and Yangtze cratons. In this paper, we report new U–Pb and 40Ar/39Ar age data from the Tongbai complex in order to constrain the extensional processes and late exhumation of HP/UHP terranes. Zircon U–Pb dating of different rock types in the Tongbai complex reveals the intrusion of voluminous granitic magmas at 139±2Ma, contact metamorphism and migmatization of the Triassic metamorphic enclaves at 136±2Ma, and syn-deformational emplacement of pegmatite veins at 131±1Ma. 40Ar/39Ar thermochronology on hornblende, muscovite and biotite coupled with available structural data indicates two episodes of deformation (cooling) at ca.135–120Ma and ca. 100–90Ma. The predominant ductile shearing structures, including regional subhorizontal NWW-SEE stretching lineations in the whole Tongbai complex and sinistral and dextral shear senses along its northern and southern boundaries, were formed during the first deformational episode. Regionally, the Cretaceous magmatism, metamorphism, migmatization, deformation and cooling processes in the Tongbai complex are comparable with those in the Dabie–Sulu region, suggesting the evolution of the Tongbai–Dabie–Sulu orogen within the same extensional tectonic regime during this time. The Cretaceous extensional event is thought to have resulted in the lateral eastward extrusion of the Tongbai–Dabie terrene and exhumation and final exposure of the HP/UHP rocks from mid-upper crustal depths. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]