Late Cenozoic tectonic activity of the Altyn Tagh range: Constraints from sedimentary records from the Western Qaidam Basin, NE Tibetan Plateau

• DOI: 10.1016/j.tecto.2018.04.021
• Publication Date: 2018-05-03T06:25:49Z
• Authors: Tao Zhang; Xiaomin Fang; Yadong Wang; Chunhui Song; Weilin Zhang; Maodu Yan; Wenxia Han; Dawen Zhang
• Keywords: 15. Life on land; 01 natural sciences; 0105 earth and related environmental sciences

Abstract The Altyn Tagh range (ATR) is the northern geological boundary of the Tibetan Plateau and plays a key role in accommodating its Cenozoic lithospheric deformation. However, knowledge of the structural style and age of uplift of the ATR is limited and controversial. The Qaidam Basin, in the southeast side of the ATR, provides an outstanding field laboratory for understanding the history and mechanisms of ATR growth. This study presents a detailed sedimentological analysis of a 1040-m-thick late Cenozoic (~17–5.0 Ma) sedimentary sequence from the western Qaidam Basin, together with the analysis of sedimentological data from nearby boreholes and sections. Our aims were to determine the spatiotemporal evolution of the sedimentary sequences in the study area and to explore their response to late Cenozoic tectonic activity in the ATR. The results show three major intervals of the sedimentary characteristics in the study area: ~>17–16 Ma, 10 Ma and 17–16 Ma, ~16–10 Ma and ~10 Ma, during which the ATR respectively experienced tectonic uplift, fast strike-slip motion and intense uplift.