New Apatite Fission‐Track Ages of the Western Kuqa Depression: Implications for the Mesozoic–Cenozoic Tectonic Evolution of South Tianshan, Xinjiang

Researchers have identified four distinct pulses of tectonic exhumation in the South Tianshan region, spanning from the Early Cretaceous to the late Miocene. Using apatite fission-track dating on 12 sandstone samples from the Kapushaliang section in the western Kuqa Depression, the study reveals peak exhumation events at 112 and 105 Ma (Early Cretaceous), 67 Ma (Late Cretaceous), 60, 53, and 36 Ma (Paleocene–Eocene), and 23 and 14 Ma (early Oligocene to late Miocene). These findings challenge previous reconstructions by highlighting a differential uplift in the Kuqa Depression during the late Cenozoic, with exhumation in the western segment occurring later than in the eastern segment. The study links these tectonic events to significant geological processes, including the docking of the Lhasa block and the far-field effects of the India–Eurasia collision.

YANG, W., LI, J., GUO, Z., JOLIVET, M., & HEILBRONN, G. (2017). New Apatite Fission‐Track Ages of the Western Kuqa Depression: Implications for the Mesozoic–Cenozoic Tectonic Evolution of South Tianshan, Xinjiang. Acta Geologica Sinica - English Edition, 91(2), 396–413. Portico. https://doi.org/10.1111/1755-6724.13107