Cenozoic deformation of the Tarim Basin and surrounding ranges (Xinjiang, China): A regional overview

Laborde, Amandine; Barrier, Laurie; Simões, Martine; Li, H.; Coudroy, T.; Woerd, J. van der; Tapponnier, Paul

doi:10.1016/j.earscirev.2019.102891

Cited by 72 publications

(120 citation statements)

References 260 publications

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“…It is an almond-shaped basin with an area up to 50 × 10 4 km 2 (Figure 1A). The Tarim Basin is the largest intracontinental petroliferous basin in China (Jia and Wei, 2002;Laborde et al, 2019) that is surrounded by the South Tienshan Mountains to the north, the West Kunlun Mountains to the southwest, and the Altyn Mountains to the southeast (Figure 1A). Its stratigraphic record spans the Proterozoic through the Cenozoic and reflects its long Phanerozoic tectonic history (Jia et al, 2004).…”

Section: Geological Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The inferred timing of the amalgamation of the Qiangtang and Lhasa terranes ranges from Middle Jurassic to Late Cretaceous (Fan et al, 2015;Li S. et al, 2019), which makes the Jurassic-Cretaceous tectonic setting of the northern Tibetan Plateau somewhat enigmatic. Finally, the indentation of India into Asia since approximately 65-50 Ma resulted in a northward propagation of deformation across the Tibetan Plateau and forming the large intracontinental foreland basin in the Tarim (Figure 1D; Laborde et al, 2019).…”

Section: Geological Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Tectonic Switch From Triassic Contraction to Jurassic-Cretaceous Extension in the Western Tarim Basin, Northwest China: New Insights Into the Evolution of the Paleo-Tethyan Orogenic Belt

Cheng

Chen

et al. 2021

Front. Earth Sci.

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We use stratigraphic, sedimentological, and borehole data and seismic profiles from the western Tarim Basin to document its Mesozoic tectonic evolution. A nearly 60-km-wide, Triassic fold-and-thrust belt along the southwestern margin of Tarim Basin is unconformably overlain by a Jurassic-Cretaceous sedimentary sequence along a regional angular unconformity. The Lower-Middle Jurassic strata consist mainly of an upward-fining sequence ranging from terrestrial conglomerates to turbidite deposits, which represent the products of an initial rift stage. Palaeocurrent analyses show that sediments for these rift deposits were derived from the paleo-Kunlun and paleo-Tienshan Mountains to the southwest and northern, respectively. The overlying Upper Jurassic-Cretaceous series consist of coarse-grained, alluvial fan to braided river deposits in the lower stratigraphic member, and lagoonal mudstones and marine carbonates in the upper member. These finer-grained rocks were deposited in a subsiding basin, indicating that a significant change and reorientation in the drainage system should have occurred within the basin during the Early Cretaceous. The western Tarim Basin evolved from a syn-rift stage to a post-rift stage during the Jurassic-Cretaceous. A post-orogenic stretch developed due to the evolution of the Paleo-Tethyan orogenic belt in Central Asia is a likely geodynamic mechanism for this major tectonic switch from a contractional episode in the Triassic to an extensional deformation phase in the Jurassic-Cretaceous.

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Section: Geological Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Geological Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tectonic Switch From Triassic Contraction to Jurassic-Cretaceous Extension in the Western Tarim Basin, Northwest China: New Insights Into the Evolution of the Paleo-Tethyan Orogenic Belt

Cheng

Chen

et al. 2021

Front. Earth Sci.

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“…The much stronger anelastic attenuation (low Q) verified in our study may be majorly attributed to the enormous scattering from the prominent interaction of seismic wave propagation with the highly inhomogeneous crust. The high heterogeneity in the crust beneath the junction of the southwest Tian Shan and the Tarim Basin has been globally recognized, e.g., the well-developed imbricate structures and complex tectonic activity (Allen and Vincent, 1999;Gao et al, 2013;Laborde et al, 2019).…”

Section: Figure 4 | (A)mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The 2020 Jiashi seismic sequence occurred on the western segment of the frontal Kepingtage thrust fault, which is exposed west of the north-northwest to south-southeast trending Piqiang fault ( Figure 1). The Kepingtage thrust fault is the southernmost margin of the Kepingtage fold-and-thrust zone, Cenozoic compressive structures neoformed above a Paleozoic basal decollement level at a depth of 4-6 km, predominantly thrusting toward the interior of the northwest Tarim Basin to the south (Allen and Vincent, 1999;Turner et al, 2010;Yang et al, 2018;Laborde et al, 2019). Much deeper focal depths implied that this sequence was more likely to occur in the basement structures below the decollement level, rather than the thrust sheets that grew above the decollement level (Gao et al, 2013;Laborde et al, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The high seismic activity in the junction of the northwest Tarim Basin and Kepingtage fold-and-thrust zone was majorly driven by the compressive stresses transmitted by the undeformed rigid Tarim block far to the north from the continental collision of the Indian and Eurasian plates (Buslov et al, 2007;Laborde et al, 2019). Consequently, this region has suffered frequently from moderate-to-large earthquakes, e.g., the 1996 M s 6.9 Atushi earthquake, the 1997-1998 Jiashi earthquake swarm, the 2003 M s 6.8 Bachu-Jiashi earthquake, the 2011 M s 5.8 Atushi earthquake, and the 2018 M s 5.5 Jiashi earthquake (highlighted by stars in Figure 1).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Earthquake Source Characteristics and S-Wave Propagation Attenuation in the Junction of the Northwest Tarim Basin and Kepingtage Fold-and-Thrust Zone

Wang

Wen

2020

Front. Earth Sci.

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We separated the propagation path attenuation and source spectra from the S-wave Fourier amplitude spectra of the observed ground motions recorded during 46 small-to-moderate earthquakes in the junction of the northwest Tarim Basin and Kepingtage fold-and-thrust zone, mainly composed of two Jiashi seismic sequences in 2020 and 2018. Slow seismic wave decay was observed as the distance increased, while the quality factor regressed as 60.066 f0.988 for frequency f = 0.254–30 Hz reflects the strong anelastic attenuation in the study region. We estimated the stress drops for the 46 earthquakes under investigation from the preferred corner frequencies and seismic moments by fitting the inverted source spectra and the theoretical ω-square model. The relationship between seismic moment and corner frequency and the dependence of the stress drop on the moment magnitude reveal the breakdown of earthquake self-similar scaling for the events in this study. The temporal variation in stress drops indicates that the mainshock plays a short-term role in the source characteristics of the surrounding earthquakes. Aftershocks immediately following the mainshock show a low stress release and then gradually recover in a short time. The healing process for the fractured fault in the mainshock may be one reason for the stress drop recovery of the aftershock. The foreshock with the low stress release occurring in the high-heterogeneity fault zone may motivate the following occurrence of the largest magnitude mainshock with a high stress drop. We inferred that the foreshock-mainshock behavior, including several moderate events, may be predisposed to occur in our study region characterized by an inhomogeneous crust.

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A study of Mesozoic–Cenozoic tectonic evolution of the Tarim Basin with S‐wave receiver functions

Qu,

Shen,

et al. 2024

Geological Journal

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During the early Cenozoic, the collision and convergence between India and Eurasia resulted in the uplift of the Tibetan Plateau and continuous northward compression, forming the Circum‐Tibetan Plateau Basin and Orogen System (CTPBOS). The Tarim Basin, located between the Tibetan Plateau and the Tianshan Mountains, plays a crucial role for studying the convergence‐driving strain propagation mechanism intra‐Asian continent during the growth processes of the Tibetan Plateau. Owing to the lack of accurate geophysical information on the deep structure of the Tarim crust，the mechanism of Cenozoic deformation in the Tarim Basin has been under debate. In this paper, the teleseismic data acquired by the broadband seismic profile across the Tarim Basin from south to north and the S‐wave receiver function method were used to obtain the depth of the Moho and the discontinuities in the lithosphere beneath the Tarim Basin. The SRF result shows that the Moho geometry has an abrupt relief under the Bachu Uplift, and Moho offset under the fault zone between the Kalashayi Fault and the Tumuxiuke Fault. The regional dip of the Moho under the Bachu area can be explained by the root of the Bachu basement‐involved uplift cutting across the whole crust and locally penetrating into the mantle lithosphere. The Bachu Uplift, located in the central Tarim terrane, has a relatively weak lithosphere. In the process of forming the Tarim large igneous province during the early Permian, the crust beneath the Bachu area was weakened and thinned by the thermo‐mechanical erosion from upwelling mantle plume. As the collision and convergence of India and Eurasia since the early Cenozoic, the convergence‐driving strain was propagated into the Tarim Basin. The pre‐existing weak Bachu Uplift was reactivated. The Tarim Basin absorbs Cenozoic compressional deformation through the crustal shortening and Moho offset of the Bachu Uplift.

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Cenozoic deformation of the Tarim Basin and surrounding ranges (Xinjiang, China): A regional overview

Cited by 72 publications

References 260 publications

Tectonic Switch From Triassic Contraction to Jurassic-Cretaceous Extension in the Western Tarim Basin, Northwest China: New Insights Into the Evolution of the Paleo-Tethyan Orogenic Belt

Tectonic Switch From Triassic Contraction to Jurassic-Cretaceous Extension in the Western Tarim Basin, Northwest China: New Insights Into the Evolution of the Paleo-Tethyan Orogenic Belt

Earthquake Source Characteristics and S-Wave Propagation Attenuation in the Junction of the Northwest Tarim Basin and Kepingtage Fold-and-Thrust Zone

A study of Mesozoic–Cenozoic tectonic evolution of the Tarim Basin with S‐wave receiver functions

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