Late Cenozoic Xianshuihe-Xiaojiang, Red River, and Dali Fault Systems of Southwestern Sichuan and Central Yunnan, China

Wang, E.; Burchfiel, B. C.; Royden, L.; Liangzhong, Chen; Ji-shen, Chen; Li, Wenxin; Chen, Zhiliang

doi:10.1130/0-8137-2327-2.1

Cited by 250 publications

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“…(SBGMR, 1991;Spurlin et al, 2005). These basins were rearranged by extrusion of the Indochina Block (Wang and Burchfiel, 1998), as evidenced by palaeomagnetic studies indicating that NW Yunnan has undergone ~90-45° of clockwise rotation (relative to the South China Block) since the Oligocene (Sato et al, 2007). (3) Recent studies reported several late Oligocene -early Miocene transpressional structures in the southeastern Tibetan Plateau (Tapponnier et al, 2001;Wang et al, 2012)…”

Section: Oligocene To Early Miocene Tectonicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Oligocene-Early Miocene river incision near the first bend of the Yangze River: Insights from apatite (U-Th-Sm)/He thermochronology

Shen¹,

Tian

Li³

et al. 2016

Tectonophysics

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The southeastern Tibetan Plateau is deeply incised by three parallel rivers, the Salween, the Mekong and the Yangtze. The river incision and surface uplift histories of this landscape are hotly debated. This study presents bedrock apatite (U-Th-Sm)/He data from a ~1800m vertical profile, located near the first bend of the Yangtze River. Ages range from 20 to 30Ma, indicating an Oligocene -early Miocene phase of moderate river incision at a rate of 0.10-0.18 mm/yr. This is considerably older than elsewhere in the region, but consistent with a previously proposed phase of Eocene surface uplift inferred from stable isotope geochemistry. We consider the implications of the new data under two different tectonic models. If the surface uplift and river incision resulted from lower crustal flow, the new results require such flow to have commenced at Oligocene -Early Miocene time rather than during the previously proposed Late Miocene. Alternatively, Oligocene to Early Miocene plateau growth might have resulted from transpressional deformation in the southeastern Tibetan Plateau. Highlights:Oligocene -early Miocene river incision Diachronous onset of river incision in the southeastern Tibetan Plateau Oligocene to Early Miocene lower crustal flow or transpressional deformation

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Section: Oligocene To Early Miocene Tectonicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Oligocene-Early Miocene river incision near the first bend of the Yangze River: Insights from apatite (U-Th-Sm)/He thermochronology

Shen¹,

Tian

Li³

et al. 2016

Tectonophysics

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“…Not surprisingly the 700-1,000 Ma grains associated with the Yangtze Craton dominate in all these samples. Some variations with time since 23 Ma are to be expected because of active tectonics in the headwaters (32,33) and changing monsoon intensities since that time, which changes the patterns of erosion within the basin. Nonetheless, it is apparent that all of the Yangtze gravel samples have received zircons from the same array of sources as the modern river and that although the proportion of any particular age group varies, the extent of that variation is limited.…”

Section: Ta Nl U Fa Ul T Ta Nl U Fa Ul T Ta Nl U Fa Ul T a Lt Y N -T mentioning

confidence: 99%

Pre-Miocene birth of the Yangtze River

Zheng

Clift

Wang

et al. 2013

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

258

208

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The development of fluvial systems in East Asia is closely linked to the evolving topography following India-Eurasia collision. Despite this, the age of the Yangtze River system has been strongly debated, with estimates ranging from 40 to 45 Ma, to a more recent initiation around 2 Ma. Here, we present 40 Ar/ 39 Ar ages from basalts interbedded with fluvial sediments from the lower reaches of the Yangtze together with detrital zircon U-Pb ages from sand grains within these sediments. We show that a river containing sediments indistinguishable from the modern river was established before ∼23 Ma. We argue that the connection through the Three Gorges must postdate 36.5 Ma because of evaporite and lacustrine sedimentation in the Jianghan Basin before that time. We propose that the present Yangtze River system formed in response to regional extension throughout eastern China, synchronous with the start of strike-slip tectonism and surface uplift in eastern Tibet and fed by strengthened rains caused by the newly intensified summer monsoon.Asian monsoon | drainage capture | provenance | Subei Basin | Yangtze gravel

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“…[51] The apparent absence of large magnitude Cenozoic shortening of the upper crust in eastern Tibet [Burchfiel et al, 1995;Wang et al, 1998; suggests that crustal thickening may have been accomplished by ductile flow in a weak lower crust [Royden, 1996;Royden et al, 1997]. A recent analysis of the regional topography in eastern Tibet [Clark and Royden, 2000] suggests that the morphology of the plateau margins may be a consequence of the strength of the foreland region; adjacent to the Sichuan Basin the margin is steep because weak lower crust ponds against a strong foreland region, while in southeastern Tibet a weak foreland allows the development of a diffuse topographic transition between the plateau and the foreland.…”

Section: Processes Of Plateau Formationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Late Cenozoic evolution of the eastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau: Inferences from⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar and (U‐Th)/He thermochronology

et al. 2002

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[1] High topography in central Asia is perhaps the most fundamental expression of the Cenozoic Indo-Asian collision, yet an understanding of the timing and rates of development of the Tibetan Plateau remains elusive. Here we investigate the Cenozoic thermal histories of rocks along the eastern margin of the plateau adjacent to the Sichuan Basin in an effort to determine when the steep topographic escarpment that characterizes this margin developed. Temperaturetime paths inferred from 40 Ar/ 39 Ar thermochronology of biotite, multiple diffusion domain modeling of alkali feldspar 40 Ar release spectra, and (U-Th)/He thermochronology of zircon and apatite imply that rocks at the present-day topographic front of the plateau underwent slow cooling (<1°C/m.y.) from Jurassic times until the late Miocene or early Pliocene. The regional extent and consistency of thermal histories during this time period suggest the presence of a stable thermal structure and imply that regional denudation rates were low (<0.1 mm/yr for nominal continental geotherms). Beginning in the late Miocene or early Pliocene, these samples experienced a pronounced cooling event (>30°-50°C/m.y.) coincident with exhumation from inferred depths of $8 -10 km, at denudation rates of 1 -2 mm/yr. Samples from the interior of the plateau continued to cool relatively slowly during the same time period ($3°C/m.y.), suggesting limited exhumation (1 -2 km). However, these samples record a slight increase in cooling rate (from <1 to $3°C/m.y.) at some time during the middle Tertiary; the tectonic significance of this change remains uncertain. Regardless, late Cenozoic denudation in this region appears to have been markedly heterogeneous, with the highest rates of exhumation focused at the topographic front of the plateau margin. We infer that the onset of rapid cooling at the plateau margin reflects the erosional response to the development of regionally significant topographic gradients between the plateau and the stable Sichuan Basin and thus marks the onset of deformation related to the development of the Tibetan Plateau in this region. The present margin of the plateau adjacent to and north of the Sichuan Basin is apparently no older than the late Miocene or early Pliocene ($5 -12 Ma).

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Late Cenozoic Xianshuihe-Xiaojiang, Red River, and Dali Fault Systems of Southwestern Sichuan and Central Yunnan, China

Cited by 250 publications

References 0 publications

Oligocene-Early Miocene river incision near the first bend of the Yangze River: Insights from apatite (U-Th-Sm)/He thermochronology

Oligocene-Early Miocene river incision near the first bend of the Yangze River: Insights from apatite (U-Th-Sm)/He thermochronology

Pre-Miocene birth of the Yangtze River

Late Cenozoic evolution of the eastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau: Inferences from⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar and (U‐Th)/He thermochronology

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Late Cenozoic Xianshuihe-Xiaojiang, Red River, and Dali Fault Systems of Southwestern Sichuan and Central Yunnan, China

Cited by 250 publications

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Oligocene-Early Miocene river incision near the first bend of the Yangze River: Insights from apatite (U-Th-Sm)/He thermochronology

Oligocene-Early Miocene river incision near the first bend of the Yangze River: Insights from apatite (U-Th-Sm)/He thermochronology

Pre-Miocene birth of the Yangtze River

Late Cenozoic evolution of the eastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau: Inferences from40Ar/39Ar and (U‐Th)/He thermochronology

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Late Cenozoic evolution of the eastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau: Inferences from⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar and (U‐Th)/He thermochronology