Tectonothermal Evolution of the Eastern Tibetan Plateau Foreland: Fission-Track Thermochronology of the Southern Dabashan Fold-Thrust Belt

Zengbao Zhang; Chuanbo Shen; Chun Shao; Zhaoqian Liu

doi:10.1007/s12583-013-0344-z

Volume 24 Issue 4

Aug 2013

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Journal of Earth Science > 2013 > 24(4): 479-490.

Zengbao Zhang, Chuanbo Shen, Chun Shao, Zhaoqian Liu. Tectonothermal Evolution of the Eastern Tibetan Plateau Foreland: Fission-Track Thermochronology of the Southern Dabashan Fold-Thrust Belt. Journal of Earth Science, 2013, 24(4): 479-490. doi: 10.1007/s12583-013-0344-z

Citation:

Zengbao Zhang, Chuanbo Shen, Chun Shao, Zhaoqian Liu. Tectonothermal Evolution of the Eastern Tibetan Plateau Foreland: Fission-Track Thermochronology of the Southern Dabashan Fold-Thrust Belt. Journal of Earth Science, 2013, 24(4): 479-490. doi: 10.1007/s12583-013-0344-z

Citation:

Zengbao Zhang, Chuanbo Shen, Chun Shao, Zhaoqian Liu. Tectonothermal Evolution of the Eastern Tibetan Plateau Foreland: Fission-Track Thermochronology of the Southern Dabashan Fold-Thrust Belt. Journal of Earth Science, 2013, 24(4): 479-490. doi: 10.1007/s12583-013-0344-z

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Tectonothermal Evolution of the Eastern Tibetan Plateau Foreland: Fission-Track Thermochronology of the Southern Dabashan Fold-Thrust Belt

doi: 10.1007/s12583-013-0344-z

Zengbao Zhang^{1, 2},
Chuanbo Shen^{1, 2
,
,},
Chun Shao^{1, 2},
Zhaoqian Liu^{1, 2}

1.
Key Laboratory of Tectonics and Petroleum Resources of Ministry of Education, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, China
2.
Faculty of Earth Resources, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, China

Funds:

the National Natural Science Foundation of China 40902038

the PetroChina Innovation Foundation 2009D-5006-01-08

the Project of China Geological Survey 12120113094200

More Information

Corresponding author: Chuanbo Shen: cugshen@126.com
Received Date: 17 Sep 2012
Accepted Date: 23 Jan 2013
Publish Date: 01 Aug 2013

Abstract

Abstract

Apatite fission-track dating and thermal-history modeling were carried out on samples from the Dabashan (大巴山), a fold-thrust belt, northeast of the Sichuan (四川) Basin and east of the Tibetan Plateau. A first cooling event in the Late Cretaceous is followed by a prolonged period of thermal stability with exhumation rates of ≤0.025 mm/a, as determined from age vs. elevation relationships. The preservation of age vs. elevations relationships and the lack of distinct age changes across tectonic structures indicate that the Dabashan fold-thrust belt formed prior to the Late Cretaceous, consistent with the current view of Triassic-Early Cretaceous shortening. Relatively short mean track lengths (~12 μm) indicate that the samples remained in the partial annealing zone for a prolonged time. The knick points in the best-fitting temperature-time models suggest that the onset of late-stage accelerated cooling commenced at ≤11 Ma. Related exhumation rates are 0.3–0.2 mm/a assuming geothermal gradients of 20 and 30 ℃/km. We speculate that this late-stage event results from eastward growth of the Tibetan Plateau and overstepping of the Sichuan Basin, it is likely responsible for the youthful morphology of the Dabashan.
- fission-track,
- fold-thrust belt,
- Dabashan,
- tectonothermal evolution,
- eastern Tibetan Plateau

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References(44)

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