The latest Neoproterozoic basaltic and siliciclastic rocks and tectonic implications in the Tarim Craton, NW China

First Identification of the Ediacaran Yukengou Formation in the Western Kuruktag Block, Northeastern Tarim, and Its Implications for Neoproterozoic Rift Basin Evolution

“…On the other hand, the detrital zircon age spectra also suggest that before the initiation of Cryogenian rifting in the Kuruktag region along the northern margin of the Tarim Craton, substantial volcanic activity occurred (culminating at ~720-810 Ma), supplying detritus for the sandstones. This volcanic activity persisted from the pre-Cryogenian until the onset of rift deposition (the Beiyixi Formation), exhibiting geochemical features consistent with subduction to some extent [17]. Consequently, it is plausible that this volcanic activity resulted from marginal subduction, implying that the origin of the continental rifting in the northeastern margin of Tarim could be the subduction-induced extension.…”

“…The 591-730 Ma detrital zircons are relatively close to the depositional ages of the Cryogenian-Ediacaran strata, potentially deriving directly from the erosion of the Cryogenian-Ediacaran strata and contemporaneous magmatic activities, such as the late Neoproterozoic granodiorites and potassium-rich granites [53,54], quartz syenites [49], and the Cryogenian-Ediacaran basalts, andesites, dacites, and andesitic tuffs [3,6,15,20]. Moreover, a series of magmatic events nearly coeval with the Yukengou Formation also developed across the entire Tarim Craton (620-600 Ma) [17]. These geological units can all serve as potential sources for the Yukengou Formation and could be further corroborated by the volcanic and sedimentary lithics in the sandstone (Figure 3).…”

“…An aulacogen has been delineated as a failed rift that experienced subsequent structural inversion, typically intersecting a rifted continental margin at a high angle [69]. Seismic profiles from the Tarim basin indicate that the entire Cryogenian-Ediacaran strata emerged within a confined belt that penetrated into the Tarim Basin, its boundaries determined by normal faults with exceptional thicknesses exceeding 6000 meters in the basin's interior [12,16,17,72]. Furthermore, the reverse faults present within the Cryogenian-Ediacaran and Early Paleozoic strata potentially represent the inverted structure during the rift filling phase [15].…”

“…Numerous scholars suggest that the strata were deposited in a continental rift-passive margin or continental rift-aulacogen basin [2,4,[9][10][11][12][13][14]. However, recent investigations, leveraging structural-sedimentary patterns and contemporaneous magmatism, propose that the Cryogenian-Ediacaran strata might have been deposited in a subduction environment on the supercontinent's periphery, signifying active rift sedimentation [15][16][17]. Consequently, it is essential to identify new Cryogenian-Ediacaran sections in the Kuruktag block to furnish supplementary evidence, facilitating the constraint of the tectonic evolution of Tarim and the elucidation of supercontinent breakup dynamics.…”

Mechanism Study and Performance Evaluation of Nano-Materials Used to Improve Wellbore Stability

“…Tarim Oilfield [1,2] is rich in oil and natural gas reserves and plays a pivotal role in China's energy reserves [3,4]. In recent years, with the deepening of the strata encountered, the drilling of ultra-deep wells [5] has become a major and difficult technical problem [6].…”