Cenozoic Uplift of the Central Yunnan Fragment, Southwestern China, Revealed by Apatite (U-Th)/He Dating

Abstract

The age of central Yunnan fragment uplift has long been debated, with estimates ranging from the Late Eocene to about 1 Ma. To determine the central Yunnan fragment uplift time in the Cenozoic, apatite (U-Th)/He (AHe) was used to analyze the low-temperature thermochronology of samples from the Jiaozi Mountain area of the eastern central Yunnan fragment. The sampling area is located in the Dongchuan District of Kunming, Yunnan Province, near the Xiaojiang fault zone. The results show that AHe ages from the eastern part of central Yunnan fragment were mainly concentrated around 25.7–37.9 Ma, and intensive uplift had happened before 36.5 Ma. Together with previous low-temperature thermochronology research on the western and eastern central Yunnan fragment, we concluded that the Yunnan Plateau uplifted prior to 36.5 Ma, in a west to east sequence. The uplift caused a change in paleo-geographical terrain, which may have altered the ancient river systems of the southeast Tibetan Plateau.

Keywords

central Yunnan fragment / (U-Th)/He dating / uplift / Cenozoic

References

Avouac J P, Tapponnier P. Kinematic Model of Active Deformation in Central Asia. Geophysical Research Letters, 1993, 20(10): 895-898

Bertrand G, Rangin C. Tectonics of the Western Margin of the Shan Plateau (central Myanmar): Implication for the India-Indochina Oblique Convergence since the Oligocene. Journal of Asian Earth Sciences, 2003, 21(10): 1139-1157

Bird P. Lateral Extrusion of Lower Crust from under High Topography in the Isostatic Limit. Journal of Geophysical Research, 1991, 96(B6): 10275

Brookfield M E. The Evolution of the Great River Systems of Southern Asia during the Cenozoic India-Asia Collision: Rivers Draining Southwards. Geomorphology, 1998, 22 3/4 285-312

Chen X Y, Liu J L, Wu W B. The Exhumation and Uplift of the Southern Shigu Complex since Early Cretaceous Evidenced by Zircon and Apatite Fission Track. Geological Bulletin of China, 2016, 35(5): 727-737

Chen Y, Yan M D, Fang X M, . Detrital Zircon U-Pb Geochronological and Sedimentological Study of the Simao Basin, Yunnan: Implications for the Early Cenozoic Evolution of the Red River. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 2017, 476: 22-33.

Clark M K, House M A, Royden L H, . Late Cenozoic Uplift of Southeastern Tibet. Geology, 2005, 33(6): 525-528

Clark M K, Royden L H, Whipple K X, . Use of a Regional, Relict Landscape to Measure Vertical Deformation of the Eastern Tibetan Plateau. Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface, 2006, 111(F3): F3002

Clark M K, Schoenbohm L M, Royden L H, . Surface Uplift, Tectonics, and Erosion of Eastern Tibet from Large-Scale Drainage Patterns. Tectonics, 2004, 23 1 1-20

Clift P D, Blusztajn J, Nguyen A D. Large-Scale Drainage Capture and Surface Uplift in Eastern Tibet-SW China before 24 Ma Inferred from Sediments of the Hanoi Basin, Vietnam. Geophysical Research Letters, 2006, 33(19): 027772

Copley A. Kinematics and Dynamics of the Southeastern Margin of the Tibetan Plateau. Geophysical Journal International, 2008, 174 3 1081-1100

DeCelles P G, Quade J, Kapp P, . High and Dry in Central Tibet during the Late Oligocene. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 2007, 253(3/4): 389-401

Dodson M H. Closure Temperature in Cooling Geochronological and Petrological Systems. Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology, 1973, 40: 259-274.

Ehlers T A, Farley K A. Apatite (U-Th)/He Thermochronometry: Methods and Applications to Problems in Tectonic and Surface Processes. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 2003, 206: 1-14.

England P, Houseman G. Finite Strain Calculations of Continental Deformation: 2. Comparison with the India-Asia Collision Zone. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 1986, 91(B3): 3664-3676

Farley K A. (U-Th)/He Dating: Techniques, Calibrations, and Applications. Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry, 2002, 47(1): 819-844

Farley K A, Wolf R A, Silver L T. The Effects of Long Alpha-Stopping Distances on (U-Th)/He Ages. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 1996, 60: 4223-4229.

Foeken J P T, Stuart F M, Dobson K J, . A Diode Laser System for Heating Minerals for (U-Th)/He Chronometry. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 2006, 7(4): Q4015

Fu C L. Analysis of Present Geothermal Field Characteristics and Restoration of Thermal Evolution History of Source Rocks in Chu Xiong Basin, Tibet, 2005, Xi’an: Northwest University, 1-76

Gilley L D, Harrison T M, Leloup P H, . Direct Dating of Left-Lateral Deformation along the Red River Shear Zone, China and Vietnam. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 2003, 108(B2): 2127

Gourbet L, Leloup P H, Paquette J L, . Reappraisal of the Jianchuan Cenozoic Basin Stratigraphy and Its Implications on the SE Tibetan Plateau Evolution. Tectonophysics, 2017, 700/701: 162-179

Hoke G D, Jing L Z, Hren M T, . Stable Isotopes Reveal High Southeast Tibetan Plateau Margin since the Paleogene. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 2014, 394 270-278.

Huangfu P P, Wang Y J, Li Z H, . Effects of Crustal Eclogitization on Plate Subduction/Collision Dynamics: Implications for India-Asia Collision. Journal of Earth Science, 2016, 27(5): 727-739

Jiang L, Deng B, Liu S G, . Differential Uplift and Fragmentation of Upper Yangtze Basin in Cenozoic. Earth Science, 2018, 43(6): 1872-1886

Jing L Z, Zhang J Y, McPhillips D, . Multiple Episodes of Fast Exhumation since Cretaceous in Southeast Tibet, Revealed by Low-Temperature Thermochronology. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 2018, 490: 62-76.

Lee T Y, Lawver L A. Cenozoic Plate Reconstruction of Southeast Asia. Tectonophysics, 1995, 251(1/2/3/4): 85-138

Leloup P H, Arnaud N, Lacassin R, . New Constraints on the Structure, Thermochronology, and Timing of the Ailao Shan-Red River Shear Zone, SE Asia. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 2001, 106(B4): 6683-6732

Leloup P H, Lacassin R, Tapponnier P, . The Ailao Shan-Red River Shear Zone (Yunnan, China), Tertiary Transform Boundary of Indochina. Tectonophysics, 1995, 251(1/2/3/4): 3-84

Li C H. Uplift-Geodynamic Model of the Southeastern Margin of Tibetan Plateau (Shangrila): Geochemistry and Thermochronology, Tibet, 2012, Chengdu: Chengdu University of Technology, 1-72

Liu J, Zeng L S, Ding L, . Tectonic Geomorphology, Active Tectonics and Lower Crustal Channel Flow Hypothesis of the Southeastern Tibetan Plateau. Chinese Journal of Geology, 2009, 44(4): 1227-1255

Liu L J, Zhang J, McPhillips D, . Multiple Episodes of Fast Exhumation since Cretaceous in Southeast Tibet, Revealed by Low-Temperature Thermochronology. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 2018, 490: 62-76.

Meesters A G C A, Dunai T J. Solving the Production-Diffusion Equation for Finite Diffusion Domains of Various Shapes. Chemical Geology, 2002, 186(3/4): 333-344

Molnar P, Stock J M. Slowing of India’s Convergence with Eurasia since 20 Ma and Its Implications for Tibetan Mantle Dynamics. Tectonics, 2009, 28(3): TC3001

Pan G T, Xiao Q H, Lu S N. Geology in China, 2009, 36 1 1-28

Peltzer G, Tapponnier P. Formation and Evolution of Strike-Slip Faults, Rifts, and Basins during the India-Asia Collision: An Experimental Approach. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 1988, 93(B12): 15085-15117

Reiners P W, Farley K A. Influence of Crystal Size on Apatite (U-Th)/He Thermochronology: An Example from the Bighorn Mountains, Wyoming. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 2001, 188(3/4): 413-420

Rowley D B, Pierrehumbert R T, Currie B S. A New Approach to Stable Isotope-Based Paleoaltimetry: Implications for Paleoaltimetry and Paleohypsometry of the High Himalaya since the Late Miocene. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 2001, 188(1/2): 253-268

Royden L H, Burchfiel B C, King R W, . Surface Deformation and Lower Crustal Flow in Eastern Tibet. Science, 1997, 276(5313): 788-790

Royden L. Coupling and Decoupling of Crust and Mantle in Convergent Orogens: Implications for Strain Partitioning in the Crust. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 1996, 101(B8): 17679-17705

Schoenbohm L M, Burchfiel B C, Chen L Z. Propagation of Surface Uplift, Lower Crustal Flow, and Cenozoic Tectonics of the Southeast Margin of the Tibetan Plateau. Geology, 2006, 34(10): 813-816

Socquet A, Pubellier M. Cenozoic Deformation in Western Yunnan (China-Myanmar Border). Journal of Asian Earth Sciences, 2005, 24(4): 495-515

Tapponnier P, Molnar P. Slip-Line Field Theory and Large-Scale Continental Tectonics. Nature, 1976, 264(5584): 319-324

Tapponnier P, Peltzer G, Armijo R. On the Mechanics of the Collision between India and Asia. Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 1986, 19(1): 113-157

Tapponnier P, Peltzer G, Le Dain A Y, . Propagating Extrusion Tectonics in Asia: New Insights from Simple Experiments with Plasticine. Geology, 1982, 10(12): 611-616

Tapponnier P, Xu Z Q, Roger F, . Oblique Stepwise Rise and Growth of the Tibet Plateau. Science, 2001, 294(5547): 1671-1677

Wang C S, Zhao X X, Liu Z F, . Constraints on the Early Uplift History of the Tibetan Plateau. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2008, 105(13): 4987-4992

Wang G Z, Liu S G, Zou C. Thermochronologic Constraints on Uplifting Events since the Early Cretaceous in the North Margin of the Luxi Rise, Eastern China. Journal of Earth Science, 2013, 24(4): 579-588

Wang G, Wan J L, Wang E, . Late Cenozoic to Recent Transtensional Deformation across the Southern Part of the Gaoligong Shear Zone between the Indian Plate and SE Margin of the Tibetan Plateau and Its Tectonic Origin. Tectonophysics, 2008, 460(1/2/3/4): 1-20

Wang G, Wang E. Extensional Tructures within the Compressionaior Ogenic Belt and Its Mechanism: A Case Study for the Late Cenozoic Deformation in Central Yunnan. Seismology and Geology, 2005, 27(2): 188-199

Wang S F, Fang X M, Zheng D W, . Initiation of Slip along the Xianshuihe Fault Zone, Eastern Tibet, Constrained by K/Ar and Fission-Track Ages. International Geology Review, 2009, 51(12): 1121-1131

Wang S Y, Lu S G. A Rock Magnetic Study on Red Palaeosols in Yun-Gui Plateau (Southwestern China) and Evidence for Uplift of Plateau. Geophysical Journal International, 2014, 196(2): 736-747

Wu J, Zhang K X, Xu Y D, . Paleoelevations in the Jianchuan Basin of the Southeastern Tibetan Plateau Based on Stable Isotope and Pollen Grain Analyses. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 2018, 510: 93-108.

Wu Y W, Li C, Xu M J, . Zircon U-Pb Age, Geochemical Data: Constraints on the Origin and Tectonic Evolution of the Metamafic Rocks from Longmuco-Shuanghu-Lancang Suture Zone, Tibet. Journal of Earth Science, 2017, 28(3): 422-432

Xu H, Su T, Zhang S T, . The First Fossil Record of Ring-Cupped Oak (Quercus L. Subgenus Cyclobalanopsis (Oersted) Schneider) in Tibet and Its Paleoenvironmental Implications. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 2016, 442: 61-71.

Yang D Y, Li L P, Huang D, . Uplift Characteristics of the Yunnan Plateau. Quaternary Sciences, 2010, 5: 864-871.

Yunnan Provincial Bureau of GeologyMineral Resources Regional Geology Records of Yunnan Province, 1990, Beijing: Geological Publishing House

Zhang L, Ye Y, Qin S, . Water in the Thickened Lower Crust of the Eastern Himalayan Orogen. Journal of Earth Science, 2018, 29(5): 1040-1048

Zhang P Z. Current Tectonic Deformation, Strain Distribution and Deep Dynamic Process in the Western Sichuan of the Eastern Margin of the Tibetan Plateau. Science in China (Series D), 2008, 38(9): 1041-1056

Zhang Y Z, Replumaz A, Leloup P H, . Cooling History of the Gongga Batholith: Implications for the Xianshuihe Fault and Miocene Kinematics of SE Tibet. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 2017, 465: 1-15.

Zheng H B. Birth of the Yangtze River: Age and Tectonic-Geomorphic Implications. National Science Review, 2016, 2(4): 438-453

Zheng H B, Clift P D, Wang P, . Pre-Miocene Birth of the Yangtze River. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2013, 110(19): 7556-7561

Zhong D L, Ding L. Discovery of High-Pressure Basic Granulite in Namjagbarwa Area, Tibet, China. Chinese Science Bulletin, 1996, 41(1): 87-88