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Forming the northwestern branch of the Chinese Tian Shan, the Keguqin mountain located north of the Yili basin is characterized by Mesozoic relict landscapes and active faults, which recorded abundant information of long term tectono-geomorphologic evolution of the Tian Shan mountain range. However, the post-Jurassic deformation history of the Keguqin mountain is unclear. In this study, we applied apatite fission track, apatite (U Th)/He and geomorphologic analyses to reconstruct the landscape evolution of the Keguqin mountain and the northern Yili basin. Our results suggest that this region underwent three stages of accelerated cooling/exhumation in the Permian, Late Triassic-Jurassic and Cretaceous. The Permian cooling event likely reflects post magmatic cooling related to the Paleozoic orogeny of the Tian Shan. Late Triassic-Jurassic exhumation is possibly a far field response of the Qiangtang collision. The Cretaceous differential exhumation in the study area was controlled by activation of the Kashihe fault zone and secondary faults. As the Cretaceous cooling is widely observed in the vast Central Asia region, northern Tibet and Southern Pamir, and coeval with the Mongol-Okhotsk orogeny, Qiangtang collision and Karakorum collision. It is difficult to decipher the tectonic drive of the Cretaceous activation of the Kashihe fault zone. Relict landscapes in the Keguqin mountain were firstly established after the Paleozoic, slightly exhumed during the Cretaceous, and were uplifted and tilted by Late Cenozoic deformation. The latest uplift magnitude of the Keguqin mountain is estimated to be ∼250–500 m and ∼ 380–430 m of the hanging wall of the Kashihe fault zone and the Keguqin fault, respectively. • The Keguqin mountain has experienced three stages of cooling/exhumation in in the Permian, Late Triassic-Jurassic and Cretaceous. • The Late Triassic-Jurassic exhumation of the Keguqin mountain was probably far field reponse of the Qiangtang collision. • The Cretaceous differential exhumation represents the reactivations of the Kashihe fault zone. • The latest uplift magnitude is estimated to be ∼250–500 m and ∼ 380–430 m on the hanging wall of the Kashihe fault zone and the Keguqin fault, respectively, in the Keguqin mountain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The intra-continental uplift initiated at 25–23 Ma in the northern Tian Shan mountain range. • The Borohoro range underwent another episode of uplift at 12–9 Ma. • The Middle-Late Miocene uplift occurred in the whole Tian Shan mountain range. Being one of the largest intra-continental orogens of the world, the Tian Shan orogenic belt was uplifted to its present elevation due to the far-field effect of the India-Asia convergence. In this study, we performed a systematic study on the Upper Oligocene-Quaternary sedimentary rocks from the southern Junggar basin, including conglomerate clast counting and detrital zircon U-Pb dating, to reconstruct the Late Cenozoic uplift history of the northern Tian Shan mountain range. The new detrital zircon U-Pb data provide new constrains on the Late Cenozoic intra-continental deformation of the Borohoro range. The Yili-Central Tian Shan and North Tian Shan were the major sources for the Junggar basin during the Latest Cretaceous-Paleogene period. At that time, the Borohoro range was characterized by low topography and wide drainage pattern. As the uplift of the North Tian Shan commenced at ~25–23 Ma, the high topography of the northern Borohoro range blocked the transport of sediments from the Yili-Central Tian Shan to the north. The North Tian Shan became the primary provenance area of the southern Junggar basin. According to sedimentary provenance analysis and geomorphologic survey, we infer that the Yili-Central Tian Shan started to uplift at 12–9 Ma. Combined with previously published data, our results suggest that the Middle Miocene uplift event most likely occurred in both the hinterland and foreland regions along the whole Tian Shan mountain range. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]