Diverse exhumation of the Mesozoic tectonic belt within the Yangtze Plate, China, determined by apatite fission-track thermochronology

Abstract

New and mostly published apatite fission-track (AFT) data are compiled to reveal the exhumation of the Mesozoic tectonic belt (MTB) within the Yangtze Plate, China. New AFT ages ranging from 51 ± 3 to 108 ± 5 Ma with mean measured track lengths between 11.8 ± 1.6 and 12.8 ± 2.0 µm, are obtained for the bedrock samples collected along a southeast to northwest transect across the MTB, including the exceptional Huangling Dome in the northern Yangtze Plate. The diverse, involving the first rapid, following by a slow, and the final accelerating, cooling and inferred exhumation from the Late Mesozoic to the Cenozoic have been identified in the study region based on the AFT data and modeling. The onset of exhumation is earlier in the Huangling Dome than in the southeastern and northwestern MTB, and in the southeastern MTB than in the northwestern MTB. Similarly, the final stage of accelerating exhumation seemed to start earlier in the Huangling Dome than in the southeastern and northwestern MTB, but in the northwestern MTB than in the southeastern MTB. The diverse exhumation of the MTB should have been attributed to the far-field effect of the Pacific plate subduction in the Cretaceous to the east, and to the eastward and southeastward tectonic escape from the Tibetan plateau imposed by the India-Eurasia collision since ~55 Ma to the west.

40Ar/39Ar geochronology of the North China and Yangtze Cratons: New constraints on Mesozoic cooling and cratonic destruction under East Asia

“…Therefore, we prefer to state that the lithospheric thinning of the YTC might have happened after 75 Ma. This is consistent with the observations of the recent thermochronological studies [ Li and Shan , ; Shen et al ., ], which have indicated that the rapid cooling and exhumation events occurred throughout the YTC after ~96 Ma.…”

Sichuan Basin and beyond: Eastward foreland growth of the Tibetan Plateau from an integration of Late Cretaceous‐Cenozoic fission track and (U‐Th)/He ages of the eastern Tibetan Plateau, Qinling, and Daba Shan

“…Denudation in the Sichuan Basin started at ~40 Ma by incision of the Yangtze River, and—likely—due to relief building across the eastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau [ Richardson et al, , ]. Studies along the northern and eastern margins of the Sichuan Basin [ Li et al , ; Deng et al , ] focused on the Hannan‐Micang [ Chang et al, ; Xu et al, ; Tian et al, ; Hu et al, ] and Huangling massifs [ Hu et al, a; Shen et al ., , ; Xiang et al, ; Xu et al, ; Li and Shan , ; Hu et al, ]. Integrated these data, Yang et al [] concluded that the eastward growth of the Tibetan Plateau has triggered exhumation of these massifs since ~13–8 Ma.…”

Duration of the Huangling Dome Activity in the Northern Margin of the South China Continent: Insight From Integration of Zircon (U–Th)/He Dating and Thermal Modeling

“…Low‐temperature thermochronological results have been reported from the core of the Huangling dome (Ge et al., 2013, 2016; S. Hu et al., 2006; X. Li & Shan, 2011; Liu et al., 2009; Richardson et al., 2010; C. B. Shen et al., 2009; C. H. Xu et al., 2010, 2013), the dome sides (Liu et al., 2009), and neighboring synclines (Yu et al., 2017). Published zircon and apatite fission track (ZFT and AFT) and helium (ZHe and AHe) ages, as well as the newly obtained ZHe ages in this study, are plotted in Figure 3.…”

“…During the past few decades, low‐temperature thermochronological methods have been extensively applied to explore the exhumation process of the crystalline basement in the dome core (e.g., Ge et al., 2013; S. Hu et al., 2006; X. Li & Shan, 2011; Liu et al., 2009; C. B. Shen et al., 2009; C. H. Xu et al., 2010; D. Xu et al., 2013). Inverse models integrating apatite and zircon (U–Th)/He and apatite fission track data reflect moderate cooling with rates of ∼1.9–2.7°C/Ma in the Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous (Ge et al., 2013; Liu et al., 2009; C. B. Shen et al., 2009; C. H. Xu et al., 2010) or the Early to early Late Cretaceous (Ge et al., 2016).…”

“…During the past few decades, low-temperature thermochronological methods have been extensively applied to explore the exhumation process of the crystalline basement in the dome core (e.g., Ge et al, 2013;S. Hu et al, 2006;X. Li & Shan, 2011;Liu et al, 2009;C.…”