Journal article
Postorogenic rigid behavior of the eastern Songpan-Ganze terrane: Insights from low-temperature thermochronology and implications for intracontinental deformation in central Asia
Y Tian, BP Kohn, S Hu, AJW Gleadow
Geochemistry Geophysics Geosystems | Published : 2014
DOI: 10.1002/2013GC004951
Abstract
The Songpan-Ganze terrane (SGT), formed by Early Mesozoic closure of the Paleo-Tethys Ocean, occupies a large area of the central-eastern Tibetan Plateau. Late Mesozoic and Cenozoic strike-slip deformation has been identified in the surrounding terranes and faults (e.g., western Qinling, Altyn Tagh, and Kunlun faults); however, the coeval evolution of the SGT has not been well explored. We report apatite fission track and apatite and zircon (U-Th)/He data from a >7 km deep borehole and outcrop samples covering an area of >150 × 150 km in the eastern SGT. Thermal history modeling suggests a distinct phase of Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous (∼150-100 Ma) cooling, followed by a prolonged stage o..
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Funding Acknowledgements
The University of Melbourne thermochronology laboratory receives infrastructure support under the AuScope Program of NCRIS. S. H. received support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) (41072186). Y.T. received support from IPRS and MIRS scholarships at the University of Melbourne. Y.T. is grateful to Abaz Alimanovic for assistance with (U-Th)/He dating and to Zhonghua Tian and Zhaokun Yan for their assistance during fieldwork. Constructive reviews from anonymous reviewers clarified points of this work. Editorial work of James Tyburczy is gratefully appreciated.