Tectono-thermal evolution of the northwestern edge of the Tarim Basin in China: Constraints from apatite (U–Th)/He thermochronology

The northwestern edge of the Tarim Basin, which contains the Kalpin Uplift and the north Bachu Uplift, lies between the South Tianshan and Tarim continental block and its tectonic evolution is closely correlated with the Tianshan. The pre-Mesozoic units are widely exposed in the northwestern edge of the Tarim Basin, which allow detailed geological observation and sample collection. In this paper, the apatite (U–Th)/He thermochronology was used to study the tectono-thermal evolution of the northwestern edge of the Tarim Basin. The sandstone samples from the Upper Neoproterozoic, Silurian, Devonian, Carboniferous and Permian units, etc. on the northwestern edge of the Tarim Basin were collected and used to determine apatite (U–Th)/He ages. The apatite He ages in the Kalpin Uplift reveal the tectonic uplift events during the Late Cretaceous (96–70 Ma) and the Miocene (22–20 Ma). These uplift events are linked to collisions of the Lhasa Block and the India plate with the southern Eurasian continental margin, respectively. However, apatite He ages in the north Bachu Uplift show only the Eocene event at ∼40 Ma because the west Kunlun orogenic belt thrust over the southwestern edge of the Tarim Basin during the Eocene. The thermal modeling results reveal four cooling events in the Kalpin Uplift since the Late Neoproterozoic, corresponding to 460–445 Ma, 350–320 Ma, 220–210 Ma and 20–10 Ma but only one episode with 220–210 Ma in the north Bachu Uplift since the Devonian. Based on the thermal modeling results, the north Bachu Uplift did not experience the cooling events at 460–445 Ma, 350–320 Ma and 20–10 Ma shown in the Kalpin Uplift. This paper provides a new insight into the tectonic evolution of the Tianshan and the northwestern Tarim Basin.