Surface Processes Driving Intracontinental Basin Subsidence in the Context of India–Eurasia Collision: Evidence from Flexural Subsidence Modeling of the Cenozoic Southern Tarim Basin along the West Kunlun Foreland, NW Tibetan Plateau

Abstract

The India‐Eurasia collision has produced a number of Cenozoic deep intracontinental basins, which bear important information to reveal the far‐field response of the remote collision. Despite significant, their subsiding mechanism remains debatable, with end‐member models attributing to either orogenic or sedimentary load. In this study, we conduct flexural subsidence modeling with a two‐dimensional finite elastic plate model on the Hotan‐Mazatagh section along the southern Tarim Basin which defines a key region in the foreland of the West Kunlun Orogen along the NW margin of the Tibetan Plateau. The modeling results indicate that the orogenic load of West Kunlun triggers the southern Tarim Basin to subside by up to less than ~6 km, with its impact weakening toward the basin interiors until ~230 km north away the Karakax fault. The sedimentary load, consisting of the Cenozoic strata, forces the basin to subside by ~2 to ~7 km. In combination with retreat of the proto‐Paratethys Sea and paleogeographic reorganization of the Tarim Basin, we propose that surface processes, in particular shift from an exorheic to an endorheic drainage system, and consequently the thick sedimentary load, play a decisive role in forming the deep intracontinental basins in the context of the Inida‐Eurasia collision.