Gondwana Research 25 (2014) 1644–1659
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Partitioning of the Cretaceous Pan-Yangtze Basin in the central South China Block by exhumation of the Xuefeng Mountains during a transition from extensional to compressional tectonics? Tang Shuang-Li a,b, Yan Dan-Ping a,⁎, Qiu Liang a, Gao Jian-Feng b, Wang Chang-Liang a a b
State Key Laboratory of Geological Processes and Mineral Resources, China University of Geosciences, (Beijing) 100083, China Department of Earth Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
a r t i c l e
i n f o
Article history: Received 3 August 2012 Received in revised form 6 June 2013 Accepted 7 June 2013 Available online 16 July 2013 Handling Editor: T. Kusky Keywords: Cretaceous Pan-Yangtze Basin Xuefeng Mountains Apatite fission track dating Exhumation
a b s t r a c t The formation of a series of intermountain basins is likely to indicate a geodynamic transition, especially in the case of such basins within the central South China Block (CSCB). Determining whether or not these numerous intermountain basins represent a division of the Cretaceous Pan-Yangtze Basin by exhumation of Xuefeng Mountains, is key to understanding the late Mesozoic to early Cenozoic tectonics of the South China Block (SCB). Here we present apatite fission track (AFT) data and time–temperature modeling in order to reconstruct the evolution history of the Pan-Yangtze Basin. Fourteen rock samples were taken from a NE–SW-trending mountain– basin system within the CSCB, including, from west to east, the Wuling Mountains (Wuling Shan), the south and north Mayang basins, the Xuefeng Mountains (Xuefeng Shan) and the Hengyang Basin. Cretaceous lacustrine sequences are well preserved in the south and north Mayang and Hengyang basins, and sporadically crop out in the Xuefeng Mountains, whereas Paleogene piedmont proluvial–lacustrine sequences are only found in the south Mayang and Hengyang basins. AFT results indicate that the Wuling and Xuefeng mountains underwent rapid denudation post-84 Ma, whereas the south and north Mayang basins were more slowly uplifted from 67 and 84 Ma, respectively. Following a quiescent period from 32 to 19 Ma, both the mountains and basins have been rapidly denuded since 19 Ma. Both the AFT data and sedimentary facies changes suggest that the Cretaceous deposits that cover the south–north Mayang and Hengyang basins through to the Xuefeng Mountains define the Cretaceous Pan-Yangtze Basin. Integrating our results with tectonic background for the SCB, we propose that rollback subduction of the paleo-Pacific Plate produced the Pan-Yangtze Basin, which was divided into the south–north Mayang and Hengyang basins by the abrupt uplift and exhumation of the Xuefeng Mountains from 84 Ma to present, apart from a period of tectonic inactivity from 32 to 19 Ma. This late Late Cretaceous to Paleogene denudation resulted from movement on the Ziluo strike–slip fault, which formed due to intra-continental compression most likely associated with the Eurasia–Indian plate subduction and collision. Sinistral transpression along the Ailao Shan–Red River Fault at 34–17 Ma probably transformed this compression to the extrusion of the Indochina Block, and produced the quiescent window period from 32 to 19 Ma for the mountain–basin system in the CSCB. Therefore, the initiation of exhumation of the Xuefeng Mountains at 84 Ma indicates a switch in tectonic regime from Cretaceous extension to late Late Cretaceous and Cenozoic compression. © 2013 International Association for Gondwana Research. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction The genetic relation between intermountain basins and mountain ranges has been a research focus since the 1980s (Wernicke, 1981; Eaton, 1982; Nikishin et al., 1996; Stephenson, 1996; Chen et al., 1999; Stephenson et al., 2003; Shu et al., 2004). Many researchers have examined the basin–range coupling and the dynamic mechanism that underlies the formation of such provinces (DeCelles and Giles, ⁎ Corresponding author at: Tectonic Group, School of Earth Sciences and Resources, China University of Geosciences, Beijing 100083, China. Tel.: +86 1082322589. E-mail address:
[email protected] (D.-P. Yan).
1996; Ellis et al., 1999; Garcia-Castellanos, 2002; Shu et al., 2003; Kuhlemann et al., 2006). Though, the geodynamic processes that result in basin partitioning remain unclear (Shu et al., 2004; Y. Yan et al., 2011). In the central South China Block (CSCB; Fig. 1A), a number of NE– SW-trending mountain ranges separate Cretaceous and Paleogene terrestrial basins and form an alternating mountain–basin system (HBGMR, 1988; Li, 2000). Within this system, the Xuefeng Mountains (Xuefeng Shan) have an elevation of ~1700 m and expose a large outcropping area of Neoproterozoic Banxi Group rocks. The Xuefeng Mountains separate the Mayang Basin (including the south and north Mayang basins) and Wuling Mountains (Wuling Shan) to the west, and from the
1342-937X/$ – see front matter © 2013 International Association for Gondwana Research. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.gr.2013.06.014
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Fig. 1. A: Tectonic map of the South China Block (edited after Yan et al., 2003b). CSCB: central South China Block; LMSTB: Longmen Shan Thrust Belt; AS–RRF: Ailao Shan–Red River Fault; PPSZ: Pacific Plate subduction zone; HZF: Huayuan–Zhangjiajie Fault; AXF: Anhua–Xupu Fault; CLF: Chenzhou–Linwu Fault; ZLF: Ziluo Fault. B: Topographic section a–a′. C: Integrated stratigraphic columns of the Wuling Mountains, south and north Mayang basins, Xuefeng Mountains and Hengyang Basin (edited after HBGMR, 1988; GBGMR, 1987).
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Hengyang Basin to the east (Qiu, 1994; Y. Yan et al., 2011; Liu et al., 2012). Previous studies have proposed a number of different models for the origins of this mountain–basin system. Based on the 40Ar/39Ar dating of phyllonite in the Xuefeng Mountains (244–195 Ma), pre-Cretaceous uplift of the Xuefeng Mountains and the consequent foreland of south and north Mayang basins have been proposed to have been produced by intra-continental deformation (Rowley et al., 1989; Chen et al., 1993; Qiu et al., 1996, 1999; Wang et al., 2005). Zhang et al. (2010) showed that Cretaceous sequences contain cross-beddings consistent with paleocurrent directions from both the east and west, and proposed that the south and north Mayang basins are a single intermountain basin that was separated by the Xuefeng Mountains from the Hengyang Basin during the Cretaceous and Cenozoic. However, detrital zircon studies indicate an identical sediment provenance for both the south–north Mayang and Hengyang basins in the Early Cretaceous, but different sediment sources for these two basins during the Late Cretaceous, suggesting that the Xuefeng Mountains were possibly uplifted in the Late Cretaceous (Y. Yan et al., 2011). In fact, early Late Cretaceous coarse-grained sedimentary sequences with a common provenance not only characterize the south–north Mayang and Hengyang basins, but also the Xuefeng Mountains, implying that a possible Cretaceous deposit once existed throughout the Xuefeng Mountains area and adjacent basins (HBGMR, 1988; Figs. 2 and 3). This controversy is focused on the connection between the south–north Mayang and Hengyang basins, and whether the Xuefeng Mountains were uplifted prior to or after the formation of these terrestrial basins. As such, the nature of the Xuefeng Mountains, including their uplift and denudation history, is key to understanding the formation of this mountain–basin system and the main contributing factors. Therefore, this study investigates the Cretaceous to Paleogene sequence and the depositional facies in the CSCB, and uses apatite fission track (AFT) data with AFTsolve modeling to constrain the exhumation and uplift history of the Xuefeng Mountains and adjacent basins. Base on these data and modeling, we propose a tectonic model of the uplift of the Xuefeng Mountains and partition of the Pan-Yangtze Basin. 2. Geological background The South China Block (SCB) is bounded by the Qinling–Dabie Orogenic Belt to the north, the Longmen Shan Thrust Belt to the west, Ailao Shan–Red River Fault (AS–RRF) to the southwest, and the Pacific Plate subduction zone to the southeast (Fig. 1A). In the CSCB, a series of NE–SW-trending mountains and intervening Meso-Cenozoic basins are bounded by two east–west trending tectonic belts: the Qinling–Dabie Orogenic Belt to the north (Liu et al., 2003) and the Nanling Mountains to the south (Chen et al., 2002; Li et al., 2007). From west to east, the Wuling Mountains, south and north Mayang basins, Xuefeng Mountains, and Hengyang Basin form an evenly spaced mountain–basin system (Fig. 1A and B). 2.1. Qinling–Dabie Orogenic Belt The Qinling–Dabie Orogenic Belt is a ~1000 km WNW–ESE trending continental–continental collision belt that separates the North China Block from the SCB. Within this orogenic belt, Precambrian crystalline basement (amphibolites, granulites, and greenschists) is overlain by a cover sequence of Paleozoic to Middle Triassic carbonate and clastic rocks and, locally, Cretaceous to Cenozoic conglomerates (Meng and Zhang, 2000; Ratschbacher et al., 2003; D.P. Yan et al., 2011). The island arc volcanic and ultrahigh-pressure metamorphic rocks identified within the belt reflect subduction and diachronous collision during the Late Permian to Middle Jurassic (Yin and Nie, 1993; Sun et al., 2002; Liu et al., 2003, 2006; Katsube et al., 2009). Collision resulted in the formation of a foreland thrust belt on the southern side of the Qinling–Dabie Orogenic Belt, which produced listric imbricate thrust faults and a
structural mélange (Dong et al., 1999; Liu et al., 2005). In the Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous, the foreland thrust belt was reactivated by intra-continental deformation associated with clockwise rotation of the SCB, which overprinted the fault-fold belt covering the Wuling Mountains and its western flanks (Liu et al., 2005; Dong et al., 2011; Xiao et al., 2011) (Fig. 1). 2.2. Longmen Shan Thrust Belt The Longmen Shan Thrust Belt, which forms the eastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau, is a ~ 500 km NE–SW-trending thrust belt produced by compression associated with collision of the North and South China blocks, and it separates the SCB to the southeast from the Tibetan Plateau to the northwest (Yan et al., 2003a; Zhang et al., 2004). This thrust belt experienced orogenic compression at ~ 237–208 Ma and post-orogenic extension at 193–159 Ma, and comprises an assemblage of Precambrian complex, Paleozoic to Middle Triassic carbonate sequences and Late Triassic to Neogene clastic sequences (Harrowfield and Wilson, 2005; D.P. Yan et al., 2011). AFT ages, thermal modeling, and a steeply dipping foliation with gently plunging mineral lineations all suggest that three rapid exhumational stages associated with dextral strike–slip faulting took place during the Late Cretaceous, Oligocene, and Miocene to present (D.P. Yan et al., 2011). 2.3. Ailao Shan–Red River Fault The Ailao Shan–Red River Fault (AS–RRF) extends for over 1000 km from the South China Sea to the southeastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau, and represents the present-day boundary between the SCB and the Indochina Block to the southwest (Tapponnier et al., 1990). This NW–SE to E–W-trending fault zone is highly metamorphosed and comprises strongly foliated and lineated mylonitic gneisses (Leloup et al., 1995; Lepvrier et al., 2004, 2008). The steep foliation and sub-horizontal lineation within the gneisses were produced by N500 km of left-lateral motion from ~34 to 17 Ma, based on amphibole and mica 40Ar/39Ar, AFT, and zircon U–Pb dating. Subsequently, right-lateral faulting (total offset: 6–57 km) took place along the AS– RRF during the Late Miocene to Pliocene, as indicated by geological and geomorphic evidence (Leloup et al., 2001, 2007; Schoenbohm et al., 2006; Cao et al., 2011; Liu et al., 2013). 2.4. Pacific Plate subduction zone The SCB, includes the South China and East China seas, and has an eastern boundary as far away as the northern blocks of Borneo (Kalimantan), the Palawan Blocks and Luzon Block, the Ryukyu island arc and the Central Tectonic Line of Japan (Li, 2005; Li et al., 2012). Along this boundary, the paleo-Pacific (Izanagi) Plate was subducted beneath the SCB as a flat slab and formed a Jurassic– Cretaceous NE–SW-trending convergent zone (Zhou and Li, 2000; Whittaker et al., 2007a). Slab foundering and rollback started at ~180 Ma and was responsible for asthenospheric upwelling and coastward migration of Jurassic–Cretaceous post-orogenic and arc-related magmatism (Li, 2000; Li and Li, 2007). Until ~80 Ma, the dip angle of the paleo-Pacific Plate increased to the median angle in geophysical terms, and, as a result, vast back-arc extensional basins developed within the interior of the SCB (Zhou and Li, 2000; Zhou et al., 2006). However, the paleo-Pacific Plate changed its convergence direction from northwestwards to northwards and moved sub-parallel to the subduction zone during 140–100 Ma, and this may have also contributed to the extensional setting and formation of back-arc extensional basins (Okada, 2000; Cao, 2010). Based on seafloor spreading and seamount evidence, the paleo-Pacific Plate continued rapidly subducting beneath Eurasia from 84 to 60 Ma (Stepashko, 2006; Whittaker et al., 2007a; Seton and Müller, 2008; Seton et al., 2012). During 60–55 Ma, the mid-ocean ridge
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Fig. 2. Cretaceous–Eocene sedimentary sequences in the south and north Mayang basins, Xuefeng Mountains and Hengyang Basin. (based on 1:200,000 geological survey data; Qiu et al., 2013). F: Fine-grained sandstones; M: Medium-grained sandstones, C: Coarse-grained sandstones.
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Fig. 3. Distribution of sedimentary facies in the CSCB based on geological survey map. The map location is shown in Fig. 1. A: The remanent Cretaceous to Paleogene sedimentary sequences. NMYB: north Mayang Basin; SMYB: south Mayang Basin; HZF: Huayuan–Zhangjiajie Fault; AXF: Anhua–Xupu Fault; HMYF: Huangmaoyuan Fault; CLF: Chenzhou–Linwu Fault. B: The Early Cretaceous sedimentary facies; C: The Late Cretaceous sedimentary facies; D: The Paleogene sedimentary facies; E: The Eocene sedimentary facies.
system between the paleo-Pacific (Izanagi) and Pacific plates was subducted sub-parallel to the Japan Trench. Subsequently, the forces acting on the Pacific Plate changed from ridge push to slab pull, and Pacific Plate motions changed from northwestward to westward (Whittaker et al., 2007b). From 25 Ma through to the present-day, the Philippine Sea Plate grew rapidly, gradually replaced the Pacific Plate from south to north, and was overthrusted onto the Eurasia Plate along the Taipei– Luzon Line (Hall et al., 1995; Hall, 2002). Concurrently, the South China Sea Basin abruptly rifted in a southeast–northwest direction from 32 to 16 Ma (Hall, 2002; Ding et al., 2011; Xu et al., 2012). The East China Sea Shelf Basin produced an extensional tectonism migrated eastwards, from Paleogene rifting of the West Depression Group to Neogene rifting of the East Depression Group (Li, 2005; Li et al., 2012).
China blocks (Yan et al., 2003b, 2009). The Wuling Mountains has a basement of Archean rocks (Ames et al., 1996; Qiu et al., 2000) and Proterozoic low-grade metamorphosed sedimentary rocks (Gupta, 1989; Li and McCulloch, 1996), which crop out as a dome in Fanjing Shan (Qiu, 1994). The basement is overlain by a cover sequence of Lower Paleozoic shallow marine to Upper Paleozoic and Early to Middle Triassic epicontinental terrestrial clastic rocks (GBGMR, 1987). Jurassic, Cretaceous, and Cenozoic sediments only sparsely overlie the older rocks of the Wuling Mountains (Fig. 1C). This incomplete stratigraphy resulted from Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous exhumation of the Wuling Mountains, as is evident from the unconformity between Upper Cretaceous strata and underlying pre-Jurassic strata (Hu et al., 2009; Mei et al., 2010). This exhumation has been dated as having occurred at ~ 137 Ma, based on modeling of AFT data (Yuan et al., 2010).
3. Mountain–basin system in the CSCB 3.1. Wuling Mountains (Wuling Shan)
3.2. Mayang Basin
Geologically, the Wuling Mountains are composed of a NE– SW-trending fold and thrust belt to the southeast of the Sichuan Basin (Fig. 1A). The structures formed during deformation within the Yangtze Block after collision between the North and South
The Mayang Basin, located between the Wuling and Xuefeng mountains, is a NE–SW-trending basin with pre-Triassic basement that is similar to the mountain areas. This basin is fault-controlled by the Huayuan–Zhangjiajie Fault to the west and the Anhua–Xupu
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Fault to the east (Jin et al., 2009; Zhang et al., 2010). Numerous NNE– SSW-trending high-angle normal faults cut the Cretaceous strata and calcite lineations on the fault plane trend perpendicular to the fault strike (Fig. 4G). The E–W striking Huaihua Fault separates the south and north Mayang basins, and is responsible for the paucity of Paleogene deposits in the north Mayang Basin (Fig. 3A). One branch of the Huaihua Fault cuts through Paleogene strata with a dip angle of 79° and azimuth of 161°. Slickenside lineations on the NE-striking fault plane plunge at 12° toward 249°, indicating that the Huaihua Fault experienced sinistral reactivation in the Neogene (Fig. 4H). In both south and north Mayang basins, the sedimentary rocks include Early Triassic epicontinental sea deposits, Late Triassic to Jurassic terrestrial clastic rocks, and Cretaceous and Paleogene sequences. The Cretaceous rock comprise a N5-km-thick sequence of continental clastics that are dark purple massive mudstones, purple thick sandstones with muddy interlayers and massive poorly sorted conglomerates intercalated with minute sandstones, and which all unconformably overlie Jurassic siltstones and sandy mudstones (HBGMR, 1988) (Fig. 1C). The Paleogene rocks are ~700-m-thick piedmont proluvial–lacustrine sequence of sandstones and conglomerates that unconformably overlie Cretaceous rocks (Wang, 1984) (Fig. 4F). Few Neogene deposits are present in the Mayang Basin. 3.3. Xuefeng Mountains (Xuefeng Shan) The ~1700 m elevation Xuefeng Mountains are an intra-continental deformational belt that separates the Mayang from Hengyang basins. The Neo-proterozoic Banxi Group basement rocks are exposed over a large area within the Xuefeng Mountains (Qiu et al., 1999; Y. Yan et al., 2011). Like the Mayang Basin, the basement is covered by shallow marine to terrestrial/epicontinental deposits of Paleozoic age and epicontinental sea to terrestrial clastic deposits of Early to Middle Mesozoic age. Cretaceous strata unconformably overlie Jurassic rocks and consist of a ~2.5-km-thick continental clastic sequence of dark purple massive mudstones, purple thick sandstones with muddy interlayers and massive poorly sorted conglomerates intercalated with minute sandstones. The Cretaceous strata are mainly found at Xupu to the west of the Xuefeng Mountains (Fig. 3A). Limited Paleogene and Neogene deposits are present in the Xuefeng Mountains (HBGMR, 1988). Previous studies have shown that the Xuefeng Mountains experienced multi-stage movement and uplift events, including intra-continental deformation and uplift in the Late Ordovician to Silurian (Qiu et al., 1996, 1999; Zhou and Yang, 2009; Hu et al., 2010) and basal detachment thrusting in the Middle Triassic to Early Jurassic (Wang et al., 2005; Zhang et al., 2010). Recent AFT studies of samples collected from the northeast end of Xuefeng Mountains west of Changsha have revealed exhumations took place during ~165–100 Ma and ~15–0 Ma (Mei et al., 2010; Li and Shan, 2011). 3.4. Hengyang Basin The Hengyang Basin is a Mesozoic–Cenozoic basin to the east of the Xuefeng Mountains, and it has a basement similar to that of the Mayang Basin. Sequences overlying the basement are Lower Paleozoic epicontinental sea and terrestrial clastic deposits, Upper Paleozoic shallow marine carbonates, and Early to Middle Mesozoic terrestrial clastic rocks. The Cretaceous strata that unconformably overlie Jurassic rocks are a 2.5-km-thick continental clastic sequence of dark purple massive mudstones, thick purple sandstones with muddy interlayers and massive poorly sorted conglomerates intercalated with occasional sandstone beds. Paleogene sediments disconformably overlying Cretaceous rocks are N4 km thick, much thicker than Paleogene strata in the south Mayang Basin (HBGMR, 1988).
Fig. 4. Field pictures with sedimentary rocks and fault elements stereographic projections. A: Massive mudstones indicates deep lake deposits in north Mayang Basin; B: Mud-siltstones indicates semi-deep lake deposits in north Mayang Basin; C: Fine-middle grain sandstones indicates shallow lake deposits in south Mayang Basin; D: Coarse grain sandstones and gravels indicates lakeshore deposits in south Mayang Basin; E: Cross bedding sandstones intercalated with gravels indicate river deposits in south Mayang Basin; F: Angular unconformity between the Upper Cretaceous and Paleocene in south Mayang Basin; G: Normal fault in the Upper Cretaceous of south Mayang Basin; H: Strike–slip fault in Paleocene of south Mayang Basin; I: Huangmaoyuan Strike–slip fault within the Xuefeng Mountains.
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The Hengyang Basin is fault related and associated with the Chenzhou–Linwu Fault (Wang et al., 2003). This fault was reactivated in an intraplate active rift setting in response to the asthenospheric upwelling, as indicated by the petrogenesis of Mesozoic mafic rocks that intruded along this fault during ~ 175–80 Ma (Wang et al., 2008).
The Ziluo Fault is parallel to the AS–RRF (Wang et al., 1998; Wang and Yin, 2009) (Fig. 1A).
4. Cretaceous–Paleogene sedimentary rocks in the CSCB 4.1. Cretaceous and Paleogene sequences
3.5. Major faults Numerous faults in the mountain–basin system have controlled the tectonic framework during different stages in the late Mesozoic and Cenozoic. For example, the Huayuan–Zhangjiajie Fault lies between the Wuling Mountains and the Mayang Basin (Fig. 1A), and was a normal fault during 132–86 Ma, based on electron spin resonance (ESR) dating of quartz, and thus became the western boundary of the south and north Mayang basins in the Cetaceous (Xie et al., 2006). The Anhua– Xupu Fault, between the Mayang Basin and the Xuefeng Mountains underwent a transition from compression (157–136 Ma) to extension (120–91 Ma), as shown by stages of intense fluid movement dated by ESR of quartz veins in the fault rocks (Yang et al., 2004). The N–S-striking Huangmaoyuan Fault in the Xuefeng Mountains produced 5–7 km of right-lateral slip from 55 to 25 Ma, based on slickenside lineations on the fault plane and the displaced geological features (Figs. 4I and 5) (Zhang et al., 2010). The ages and petrogenesis of the Mesozoic mafic rocks intruded along the Chenzhou–Linwu Fault beneath the Hengyang Basin show that the fault was reactivated during 175–125 and 93–80 Ma (Wang et al., 2008). The NW–SE striking Ziluo Fault, bounded the southwestern end of Wuling and Xuefeng Mountains, was active in the Early Paleogene and Late Neogene, producing a 50–100 km sinistral displacement.
In the CSCB, Cretaceous sediments are divided into the Lower Cretaceous Dongjing and Shenhuangshan formations and the Upper Cretaceous Daijiaping Formation. The Paleogene lacustrine sequence is divided into the Paleocene Dongtang Formation and the Eocene Gaoling Formation (Fig. 2) (HBGMR, 1988; Cao, 2010; Y. Yan et al., 2011). The Dongjing, Shenhuangshan, and Daijiaping formations are well preserved in the south and north Mayang basins, the Xuefeng Mountains and the Hengyang Basin, whereas the Dongtang Formation is restricted to the south and north Mayang and Hengyang basins, and the Gaoling Formation is limited to the south Mayang and Hengyang basins. Based on the detailed sequence stratigraphy shown in Fig. 2, five types of sedimentary deposits can be identified: (1) central deep-lake deposits of massive mudstones; (2) semi-deep lake deposits of muddy siltstones; (3) shallow lake deposits of fine- to medium-grained sandstones; (4) lakeshore deposits of coarse-grained sandstones and conglomerates; and (5) river deposits of cross-bedded sandstones intercalated with gravels (Fig. 4A–E). The distributions of Cretaceous and Paleogene sediments of the mountain–basin system in the CSCB are shown in Fig. 3A, which are based on ages of the sedimentary sequence, previous studies (Wang, 1985), and a 1:200,000 geological survey published by the Guizhou and Hunan Bureau of Geology (GBGMR, 1987; HBGMR, 1988). In Fig. 3,
Fig. 5. Geological map of the CSCB with sampling locations. The map location is shown in Fig. 1. The section b–b′–b″ is a geological section cut through the Wuling Mountains, north Mayang Basin and Xuefeng Mountains with interpretation of the structural relationship of variable tectonic units. FSD: Fanjing Shan dome; NMYB: north Mayang Basin; SMYB: south Mayang Basin; HZF: Huayuan–Zhangjiajie Fault; AXF: Anhua–Xupu Fault; HMYF: Huangmaoyuan Fault.
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the distributions of sedimentary facies are shown for the Early Cretaceous (K1), Late Cretaceous (K2), Paleocene (E1), and Eocene (E2). 4.2. K1 sedimentary facies The Dongjing and Shenhuangshan formations in the south and north Mayang basins are fluvial and shore-shallow lake deposits that were deposited at the edge of a lake. However, in the Xuefeng Mountains and Hengyang Basin these formations sediments are shallow and semi-deep deposits that formed in the central area of a lake and are much thicker than in the south and north Mayang basins. The semi-deep facies is found in the eastern part of the Mayang Basin in an “L” shape that connects the Mayang and Hengyang basins and extends to cover the Xuefeng Mountains. The shallow lake and lakeshore facies surrounding the semi-deep facies also have the same shape distribution that delineates a large “L”-shaped paleo-lake. The nature of these sediments to the northeast is unknown because few Lower Cretaceous sequences crop out in this region (Figs. 2 and 3B). 4.3. The K2 sedimentary facies The Daijiaping Formation in the south and north Mayang basins comprises a transgressional sequence from lakeshore to deep lake deposits, whereas a very thin sequence of shallow lake deposits is present in the Xuefeng Mountains. This formation records a relatively small transgression from shallow lake to semi-deep lake deposits in the Hengyang Basin. The deep lake facies in the south and north Mayang basins extends as a narrow belt that trends NE–SW (Figs. 2 and 3C). The semi-deep lake facies connects the south and north Mayang and Hengyang basins in an “n” shape, and is absent from the northern Xuefeng Mountains. The outer shallow lake and lakeshore facies surround the semi-deep lake facies in an inverse “N” shaped distribution and cover the northeastern part of the Xuefeng Mountains (Figs. 2 and 3C). 4.4. E1 sedimentary facies The Dongtang Formation comprises lakeshore to semi-deep lake deposits in the south Mayang Basin, and lakeshore to shallow lake deposits in the north Mayang Basin. This formation only covers the south Mayang Basin and extends to the southern margin of the north Mayang Basin. In the Hengyang Basin, the Dongtang Formation includes a relatively complete transgressive sequence from shallow to deep lake deposits. The deep facies in the northeast of the Hengyang Basin is surrounded by the semi-deep facies, which extends to the northern Xuefeng Mountains. The shallow lake and lakeshore facies bordering the semi-deep facies have a “Z”-shaped distribution and are absent in the Xuefeng Mountains, indicating that formation of the separate basins was produced by northeast-ward uplift of the Xuefeng Mountains (Figs. 2 and 3D). 4.5. E2 sedimentary facies The Gaoling Formation comprises semi-deep to shallow lake facies in the Hengyang Basin and lakeshore facies in both the Hengyang and south Mayang basins, separated by the uplifted Xuefeng Mountains (Figs. 2 and 3E). The much smaller lake area as compared with that of the Paleocene lake indicates a rapid shrinking in lake size during the time of deposition of E2. 4.6. K–E lacustrine regression In general, the south and north Mayang and Hengyang basins experienced three transgressions: (1) lakeshore to semi-deep lake facies in the Early Cretaceous; (2) lakeshore to deep lake facies in the Late Cretaceous; and (3) shore to shallow lake to deep lake facies in the Paleocene. A small transgression from shallow to semi-deep lake
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facies also occurred in the Eocene (Fig. 2). In contrast, the Xuefeng Mountains experienced one transgression of lakeshore to shallow lake to semi-deep facies in the Early Cretaceous, has one river deposit sequence in Late Cretaceous, and no deposit in Paleogene. These observations indicate that three transgressions formed a large single regressive cycle related to the uplift of the Xuefeng Mountains. As a result, the basin depocenter moved from the Xuefeng Mountains area to the south and north Mayang and Hengyang basins during the Late Cretaceous, and then moved again to the eastern of Hengyang Basin in Paleogene. In summary, the transgressive cycles of the south and north Mayang and Hengyang basins constitute a large, Cretaceous to Paleogene, lacustrine regressive cycle for the mountain– basin system in the CSCB (excluding the Wuling Mountains). 5. Samples and methods for apatite fission track dating 5.1. Samples Apatite separates were obtained from rock samples (0.5–3.0 kg each) using standard heavy liquid and magnetic separation techniques. Fourteen samples contained sufficient apatite grains for AFT analysis, including two pyroclastic rocks (FJS-16 and FJS-39) from the Wuling Mountains (elevation = 1880 to 2009 m), nine sandstone and siltstone from the south and north Mayang basins (elevation = 177 to 375 m), and three diorites (HH27-5, HH28-3, and HH29-5) from the Xuefeng Mountains (elevation = 549 to 723 m) (Fig. 5; Table 1). The nine sandstone and siltstone samples include three sandstone (BXCS20-1, HH49-2, and HH04-1) and three siltstone (HH53-2, HH38-1, and HH43-1) samples from the north Mayang Basin, and two sandstone (HH02-1 and HH14-1) samples and one siltstone (HH03-1) sample from the south Mayang Basin. 5.2. AFT methods Apatite separates were mounted in epoxy resin and polished to expose internal grain surfaces. Spontaneous tracks were revealed by etching in 7% HNO3 for 30 s at 25 °C. Low-uranium muscovite placed in close contact with the grains was used as an external detector during irradiation. After irradiation in the 492 Light Water Reactor in Beijing, China, the muscovite external detectors were removed and etched in 40% HF for 20 min at 25 °C. Track densities for both natural and induced fission-track populations were measured with a dry objective at a magnification of 1500×. The neutron fluence was determined by using the dosimeter glass CN5. Fission track ages were measured using the IUGS-recommended Zeta calibration approach. The Zeta values used in this study have been determined from repeated measurements of standard apatites (Hurford and Green, 1982; Hurford, 1990). The weighted mean Zeta value obtained in this study is 322.1 ± 3.6 (1σ). Only the length of horizontal confined fission tracks were measured in prismatic apatite crystals, given the well-documented anisotropy of annealing of fission tracks in apatite (Green et al., 1986, 1989). 5.3. AFT results and time–temperature (t–T) modeling Fission track central ages are adopted in this study, as they take into account the different precision of each grain age, unlike the pooled ages which only use an arithmetic mean of all counts. These central ages should integrate the whole thermal history of each sample through the partial annealing zone (PAZ; 60–110 °C) (Wagner et al., 1989; Vassallo et al., 2007). However, a sample that does not reach the bottom of the PAZ, and therefore that does not reset after deposition, may retain the thermal history of the sediment source region (Ruiz et al., 2004; Richardson et al., 2008); and a sample that has been later heated after exhumation by advection of hot fluids along faults would have a younger central age (Ketcham et al., 1999). Partially reset samples should contain a proportion of individual apatite
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Table 1 Results of the apatite fission track dating. Sample
Stratum Lithology
FJS-16 FJS-39 BXCS20-1 HH53-2 HH49-2 HH04-1 HH03-1 HH02-1 HH14-1 HH38-1 HH43-1 HH27-5 HH28-3 HH29-5
Pt Pt K1 K2 K2 K1 K2 J2 K2 J2 K1 T3 T3 T3
Altitude Apatite ρs (10*5/cm2) (m) grains number (Ns)
Pyroclastic rocks 2009 Pyroclastic rocks 1880 Sandstones 375 Siltstones 181 Sandstones 219 Sandstones 223 Siltstones 238 Sandstones 263 Sandstones 309 Siltstones 198 Siltstones 177 Diorite 657 Diorite 723 Diorite 549
29 28 29 20 30 27 24 12 28 29 28 26 28 25
4.007(512) 4.129(722) 4.546(362) 3.34(175) 4.635(426) 8.143(1869) 2.746(278) 3.438(169) 5.205(920) 5.817(788) 6.948(1370) 7.328(1870) 8.217(1277) 6.196(1399)
ρi (10*5/cm2) (Ni)
Length (μm) (N) Pooled ρd P (χ2) (%) Central (10*5/cm2)(N) age (Ma) age (Ma) (±1σ) (±1σ)
Age GOF
K–S test
17.404(2224) 10.236(1790) 11.919(949) 9.505(498) 13.598(1249) 21.444(4922) 11.536(1168) 13.896(683) 22.677(4008) 13.798(1869) 19.803(3905) 23.367(5963) 28.878(4488) 22.724(5153)
7.945(5867) 8.234(5867) 9.014(5688) 9.151(5867) 8(5867) 7.945(5867) 7.945(5867) 9.488(5867) 7.945(5867) 8.717(5867) 8.813(5867) 8.041(5867) 8.138(5867) 8.283(5867)
0.97 0.89 0.99 1 0.98 0.94 0.92 1 0.98 0.92 0.92 0.98 0.89 0.94
0.93 0.9 0.98 1 0.99 0.94 0.93 1 0.94 0.86 0.9 0.81 0.8 0.86
82.9 66.6 98.4 96.3 65.7 40.7 91.5 85.2 42.8 99.9 92.6 27.4 7.2 0.5
35 64 67 62 52 58 37 46 35 71 60 49 44 43
± ± ± ± ± ± ± ± ± ± ± ± ± ±
3 5 5 6 4 3 3 5 2 5 4 3 3 3
36 64 66 62 53 59 37 46 35 71 60 49 45 44
± ± ± ± ± ± ± ± ± ± ± ± ± ±
3 4 5 6 4 3 3 5 2 5 4 3 3 3
12.0 12.0 13.2 12.1 12.5 11.7 12.3 11.8 12.4 12.2 12.1 12.3 12.5 12.0
± ± ± ± ± ± ± ± ± ± ± ± ± ±
2.1 (28) 1.4 (54) 2.3 (57) 2.2 (14) 1.9 (45) 2 (114) 1.9 (44) 2.4 (10) 2.1 (105) 1.8 (99) 1.9 (109) 2 (117) 1.7 (106) 2.1 (101)
ρs and ρi represent sample spontaneous and induced track densities; ρd represent sample standard track density. P(χ2) is the probability of χ2 for ν degrees of freedom (where ν is the number of crystals). The pooled age is a mean age calculated as if all the counts had come from a single apatite. The central age is a weighted mean age calculated from the individual crystal ages using the inverse variance as the weighting factor, based on the experiment results showed in the radar plots of Fig. 6. Length is the arithmetic mean track length of fission tracks; (N) is the number of fission tracks accounted. Age GOF is Goodness-of-fit between the model and data ages; K–S test is Kolmogorov–Smirnov statistic.
grains that are older than or equal to the depositional age of the host sediments and can be observed in a histogram of single-grain ages. A sample overprinted by hot fluids may contain two groups of single-grain ages, which can be distinguished in an age histogram or generally indicated by a chi-square probability (P(χ2)) of b5% (Galbraith, 1981). 5.3.1. AFT results The fourteen sample locations are illustrated in Fig. 5, and AFT data results are listed in Table 1. Two apatite samples from the Wuling Mountains are dated at 64–35 Ma. Nine apatite samples from the south and north Mayang basins are dated at 71–35 Ma. Three samples from the Xuefeng Mountains are dated at 49–43 Ma. However, six of the fourteen AFT results (FJS-16, HH29-5, BXCS20-1, HH53-2, HH49-2 and HH03-1) failed to provide valid central ages and t–T paths. Two groups of single apatite grain ages in Fig. 6 (arrow point) indicate that, sample FJS-16 was probably overprinted by hot fluids, and has a false central age of 35 ± 3 Ma which is much younger than the 64 ± 5 Ma age of nearby sample FJS-39. Sample HH29-5 contains two groups of single apatite grain ages, as its P(χ2) is b 5% (Ketcham et al., 2000) (Table 1), which may result from the recent movement of the nearby Huangmaoyuan Fault. AFT results of three samples from the north Mayang Basin (BXCS20-1, HH53-2, HH49-2) and one sample from the south Mayang Basin (HH03-1) yield at least one single-grain ages equal to or older than their depositional ages respectively (Fig. 6), indicating that the maximum depositional depth of these samples did not exceed the PAZ. The Lower Cretaceous sample (BXCS20-1) has one single-grain dated at 105 Ma, which is equal to the depositional age, suggesting that the maximum depth of burial was just at the limits of PAZ. Similarly, the Upper Cretaceous samples (HH53-2 and HH49-2) each has two single-grain ages older than the depositional age, indicating that their maximum burial depths were not close to the bottom of the PAZ. Clearly, the samples from the northwest of the north Mayang Basin (BXCS20-1, HH53-2, and HH49-2) are poorly reset due to limited burial depths, whereas the samples from the southeast (HH04-1, HH38-1 and HH43-1) are completely reset. Sample HH03-1 from the Upper Cretaceous in the south Mayang Basin yields two single-grains dated at 65 and 78 Ma that are the same as depositional age, suggesting that the maximum depth of burial was just at the limit of PAZ (Fig. 6). Therefore, the Lower Cretaceous strata at the sampling site of HH03-1 were more deeply buried than that at other places within the Mayang Basin. The remaining eight samples are FJS-39 from the Wuling Mountains, HH02-1 and HH14-1 from the south Mayang Basin, HH04-1, HH38-1, and HH43-1 from the north Mayang Basin, and HH27-5
and HH28-3 from the Xuefeng Mountains. AFT results are plotted as altitude versus central age, mean track length versus central age and altitude versus mean track length (Fig. 7A, B and C, respectively). The only sample from Wuling Mountains has an age of 64 Ma at an altitude of 1880 m with a mean track length of 12 μm, and provides no clear information regarding cooling rate or the PAZ in the crust. Two samples from the south Mayang Basin collected at similar altitudes (263 and 309 m) have different central ages (35 and 46 Ma) and mean track lengths (11.8 and 12.4 μm), suggesting that they experienced different cooling histories (Fig. 7A). These samples show a decreasing trend of mean track length against central ages (Fig. 7B), which probably indicate slow cooling for the earlier uplift sample and rapid cooling for the later uplift sample. These samples also exhibit an increase in altitude with increasing mean track length (Fig. 7C), indicating that the PAZ in the crust was stable, and that the samples may have been uplifted through the PAZ during different periods, thereby producing mean track lengths that correlate with altitude (Lisker et al., 2009). Three samples from the north Mayang Basin collected from similar altitudes (177–223 m) have different central ages (58–71 Ma) and mean track lengths (11.7–12.1 μm), suggesting that they experienced different uplift histories (Fig. 7A). These samples show an increase in mean track length with central ages (Fig. 7B), which probably indicates a similar cooling rate for all three samples. The samples also show a decrease in altitude with mean track length (Fig. 7C), suggesting that the PAZ was complexly developed in the crust. Two samples from the Xuefeng Mountains collected from similar altitudes (657 and 723 m) have similar central ages (44 and 49 Ma) and mean track lengths (12.3 and 12.5 μm), suggesting that they share similar cooling histories. Both samples show trends of decreasing altitude and mean track length versus central age (Fig. 7A and B), suggesting that the mountain may have been tilted slightly during uplift resulting in the higher altitude samples having younger ages. The positive correlation between altitude and mean track length (Fig. 7C) indicates that the PAZ was stable in crust. 5.3.2. Modeling of t–T histories AFT data encompassing spontaneous fission tracks, induced fission tracks, fission track ages, standard deviations of the fission track ages and track lengths, were used to model specific hypothetical t–T paths with the AFTsolve program (Ketcham et al., 2000). The AFT modeling requires user-defined geological constraints as follows: (1) the starting conditions are inferred from geological information about the strata depositional age or time of magma emplacement; and (2) a present-day surface temperature of ~20 °C for samples collected from the Earth's
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Fig. 6. Radar plots and histogram of the single-grain ages for samples FJS-16, BXCS20-1, HH53-2, HH49-2 and HH03-1. Left: Radar plots for single-grain ages. The Y-axis is the standard error (sigma); the X-axis records the uncertainty of individual age estimates (%); and the radial scale shows the same age (Ma). Right: Histogram of the single-grain ages.
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Fig. 7. Diagrams of the apatite fission track data showing the relationships between altitude, central age and mean track length.
surface. To model realistic cooling histories, only samples that yield single-grain ages younger than the age of the host sediment are used (Ruiz et al., 2004; Richardson et al., 2008). Before using these constraints in the inverse modeling, a wide range of possible geological t–T paths was examined by forward modeling and the optimal model was selected to refine the constraints (Ketcham, 2005). The model results were examined with the Kolmogorov–Smirnov test (K–S test) for fission-track length distributions and age goodness of fit (age GOF) (Ketcham et al., 2000). For each of these statistical tests, a value of ≥0.5 indicates a “good-fit”. K–S and age GOF tests, yield values of ≥0.8, demonstrating that the modeling results shown in Fig. 8 are reliable (Table 1). However, even when the results are assessed as being reliable, the uncertainty of apatite resistance to annealing may raise the potential error of the modeled t–T path by up to 10 °C (Ketcham et al., 2000). Furthermore, given that the initial point of the available t–T path records is no deeper than the bottom of the PAZ, the modeling results presented here provide no information for the Early Cretaceous. The AFT modeling results are shown in Fig. 8. The Wuling Mountains experienced rapid cooling from 84 to 74 Ma, a quiescent period from 74 to 15 Ma, and rapid cooling from 15 to 0 Ma. The south Mayang Basin underwent cooling at intermediate rates during 67–32 Ma, quiescence during 32–19 Ma, and fast cooling during 19–0 Ma. The north Mayang Basin experienced rapid cooling during 84–61 Ma, a quiescent period during 61–19 Ma, and fast cooling during 19–0 Ma. The Xuefeng Mountains had a rapid cooling episode from 60 to 44 Ma, a quiescent period from 44 to 21 Ma, and fast cooling episode from 21 Ma to present. Therefore, during 84–60 Ma, samples from the Wuling Mountains, north and south Mayang basins, and Xuefeng Mountains exhumed and then entered the PAZ successively. Prior to 32 Ma, exhumation ceased for all four areas in succession. After a quiescent period, all four areas experienced rapid cooling from ~ 19 Ma through to the present day. 6. Discussion 6.1. Timing of denudation The sum of surface denudation and surface uplift is equal to crustal uplift. The amount of denudation can be obtained from
modeled t–T paths by assuming a value for the local geothermal gradient (Lisker et al., 2009). When 1) PAZ is horizontal and uninfluenced by surface topography; and 2) the PAZ remains at a constant depth with respect to the surface regardless of uplift rate; and 3) the surface uplift is negligible, the derived denudation will strictly equal the true crustal uplift and erosion (Parrish, 1983). Given the stable PAZ identified in the south Mayang Basin and Xuefeng Mountains and the reported stable geothermal gradient within the CSCB, we assume that PAZ was horizontal and stable for all the areas (Yuan et al., 2006). Therefore, the cooling histories delineated by the modeled t–T paths are approximations of denudation. We further assume that surface uplift is the excess part of crustal uplift after denudation, which means that, the rapid denudation derived from AFT modeling should represent the corresponding surface and crustal uplift. The sedimentary sequence and facies changes provide reliable constraints on the timing of denudation consistent with the t–T paths obtained from AFT modeling for various mountains and basins (Figs. 2, 3 and 8). Although no sedimentary constraints are available for the Wuling Mountains, the AFT modeling results reveal an early exhumation episode during 84–74 Ma and a later event at 15–0 Ma. The south Mayang Basin was characterized by river to semi-deep to deep lake facies in the Cretaceous, which became semi-deep lake facies in the Paleocene and shallow to lakeshore facies in the Eocene. However, the AFT modeling results identified an early exhumation episode during 67–32 Ma and a later episode during 19–0 Ma. The initiation of exhumation at 67 Ma is ~ 30 Myr older than the time of final Eocene sediment deposition. The north Mayang Basin was in lakeshore and shallow to deep lake facies in the Cretaceous, shallow lake facies in the Paleocene, and was characterized by no deposition in the Eocene. However, the AFT modeling results identified an early exhumation episode during 84–61 Ma and later exhumation during 19–0 Ma. Similarly, the initiation of exhumation at 84 Ma also is also ~ 30 Myr older than the final Paleocene deposition in the basin. It is notable that the samples that record the oldest exhumation ages are HH02-1 from south Mayang Basin and HH38-1 from north Mayang Basin, which were both collected from the eastern margins of the basins (Fig. 5). These ages indicate that uplift time was earlier
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Fig. 8. Modeled time–temperature path results using AFTsolve program. Frq: Frequency of track length; TL: Track length (μm); PAZ: Partial Annealing Zone; Black line: Best time–temperature history line; Red envelop: Good time–temperature histories; Green envelop: Acceptable time–temperature histories. Discussion details see text.
than the final deposition in the sedimentary depocenter, which resulted from earlier denudation of the higher basin rims than the lower central part of the basin. This successive denudation, from the basin margin to center, also explains why sample HH14-1 from the central south Mayang Basin yields a much younger age for the initiation of exhumation (45 Ma) (Figs. 5 and 8). The Xuefeng Mountains were in lakeshore and shallow to semi-deep lake facies in the Early Cretaceous and shallow lake facies in the Late
Cretaceous, and lack any Cenozoic lacustrine deposits. AFT modeling results indicate that the Xuefeng Mountains experienced an early exhumation during 60–44 Ma and a later event during 21–0 Ma. The initiation of exhumation of the Xuefeng Mountains is 7 Myr later than that of the eastern margin of the south Mayang Basin, and 24 Myr later than that of the north Mayang Basin. This lag might be attributable to the nature of the eroded overlying rocks, which influence the denudation and erosion rate. The results from the eastern margins of the
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south and north Mayang basins, where erosion rates were relatively slow, best represent the timing of the onset of uplift of the Xuefeng Mountains at 84 Ma. At this time, a significant intra-continental deformation event is recorded by the angular unconformity on Upper Cretaceous sediments in the south Mayang Basin (Fig. 4F), and by reactivation of the Huangmaoyuan Fault (Zhang et al., 2010). The Hengyang Basin was in lakeshore and shallow to semi-deep lake facies in the Early Cretaceous, shallow to semi-deep lake facies in the Late Cretaceous, shallow to deep lake facies in the Paleocene, and semi-deep lake facies in the Eocene. Therefore, the present-day Hengyang Basin was the depocenter since the Early Cretaceous and up until the rapid shrinking of the original large lake in the Eocene, followed by cessation of deposition in the Oligocene. These observations may indicate a rapid uplift episode of Hengyang Basin during the Eocene. The initiation of rapid denudation first occurred in the Wuling and Xuefeng mountains at 84 Ma and, synchronously, the north Mayang Basin also began to be uplifted at its margins, whereas the south Mayang and Hengyang basins were experiencing deposition. Immediately following the onset of basin marginal denudation of the north Mayang Basin, the south Mayang and Hengyang basins began to be uplifted and denuded at 67 Ma and in the Eocene, respectively. 6.2. Cretaceous Pan-Yangtze Basin Both the sedimentology and AFT data suggest that a large lake, Pan-Yangtze Basin, covers the region encompassing the south and north Mayang basins, the Xuefeng Mountains and Hengyang Basin in the Cretaceous. As Fig. 3A and B showed, Lower Cretaceous siltstone and sandstone sequences near Shaoyang connect the shallow to semi-deep lake facies at Xupu and Hengyang. From southeast to northwest, the Hengyang Basin shallow to semi-deep lake sequence, the Xuefeng Mountains shallow to semi-deep lake sequence, the north Mayang Basin lakeshore to shallow lake sequence, and the south Mayang Basin river sequence form a lake center to margin transitional facies association of an “L” shaped lake that was not present in the northeast around the region of Yiyang. This absent of deposition in the Yiyang region may have been caused by its early exhumation during 165–100 Ma (Mei et al., 2010; Li and Shan, 2011) (Fig. 3A and B). The existence of a large Cretaceous Pan-Yangtze Basin is also supported by the common sedimentary provenance of sediments from both the Mayang and Hengyang basins, as revealed by detrital zircon U–Pb age data (Y. Yan et al., 2011). At 84 Ma, uplift of the Xuefeng Mountains began in the southwest of the Cretaceous Pan-Yangtze Basin at the same time as uplift was initiated in the north Mayang Basin (Fig. 8). The Cretaceous Pan-Yangtze Basin was then seperated into the Mayang and Hengyang basins by the Tertiary/Cretaceous boundary, when the Xuefeng Mountains extended continuously to the northeast and formed an uplifted topographic boundary (Fig. 3B). The restored Cretaceous Pan-Yangtze Basin is related to three NE– SW-trending faults: the Huayuan–Zhangjiajie Fault (active during 132–86 Ma), the Anhua–Xupu Fault (157–136 Ma and 120–91 Ma), and the Chenzhou–Linwu Fault (175–125 Ma and 93–80 Ma) (Yang et al., 2004; Xie et al., 2006; Wang et al., 2008). These faults were activated in an extensional setting that resulted from the foundering and rollback of a flat subducting paleo-Pacific Plate beneath the SCB since the Middle Jurassic (Zhou et al., 2006; Li and Li, 2007). As such, in our new model, the Cretaceous Pan-Yangtze Basin appears to have been a fault related extensional basin covering the Xuefeng Mountains and the Mayang and Hengyang basins (Fig. 9A–D). 6.3. Uplift of the Xuefeng Mountains Previous studies have proposed two models for Mesozoic uplift of the Xuefeng Mountains: uplift as an intra-continental deformation belt due to Indosinian compression (Qiu et al., 1996; Wang et al.,
2005), and uplift as a basin-and-range type province that resulted from rollback subduction of the paleo-Pacific Plate (Zhou and Li, 2000; Li and Li, 2007; Shu et al., 2007; Wang and Shu, 2012). However, sedimentary evidence and AFT modeling results, combined with the E1/K2 angular unconformity and strike–slip faults (Fig. 4F, H, and I) indicate that a compressional setting has existed since the onset of uplift at 84 Ma. The mountain–basin system of the CSCB has open folds and highangle thrust and strike–slip faults within the basin parts, which were produced in a compressional setting during 84–32 Ma (Zhang et al., 2010). This is fundamentally different to the Basin and Range Province in the western USA, which is characterized by low-angle normal faults, large-scale listric detachment faults, and evenly spaced intervening basins linked to the thrust faults of the thin-skinned compressional orogen (Wernicke, 1981; Eaton, 1982). 6.4. Implications for the change in tectonic setting Evidence for the late Late Cretaceous to Eocene (84–32 Ma) SW–NE compression is provided by the sinistral strike–slip faults in the south Mayang Basin (Fig. 4H) and the dextral strike–slip Huangmaoyuan Fault (Fig. 4I), which are consistent with NE–SW-trending uplift of the Xuefeng Mountains (Fig. 3B). This intra-continental mountain uplift occurred simultaneously with sinistral strike–slip motion on the Ziluo Fault in the Early Tertiary, probably indicating a compressional stress originating from the west (Fig. 9B) (Wang et al., 1998; Wang and Yin, 2009). This stress was most likely originated from collision of the Qiangtang–Lhasa blocks (within Tibet) in the Late Cretaceous, followed by Cenozoic subduction and collision between the Eurasian and Indian plates (Tapponnier et al., 1982; Patriat and Achache, 1984; Yin and Harrison, 2000; Wang et al., 2002; Aitchison et al., 2007; Zhang et al., 2012). This model might also explain the rapid exhumation of the Longmen Shan Thrust Belt in the Late Cretaceous, Oligocene, and Miocene through to the present (Fig. 9B) (D.P. Yan et al., 2011). During these times, extension in the CSCB, which resulted from paleo-Pacific Plate rollback, weakened along with coastward migration of arc-related magmatism and faulted basins (Zhou et al., 2006; Li and Li, 2007). Until the Cenozoic, this effect was rather weak because subduction of the paleo-Pacific/Pacific mid-ocean ridge resulted in a change in the forces acting on the Pacific Plate from ridge-push to slab pull (Whittaker et al., 2007b). After the Jurassic to Early Cretaceous extension, the CSCB was dominated by compression from 84 Ma, associated with Eurasia– India subduction and collision. The modeled t–T paths (Fig. 8) indicate that the mountain–basin system was not uplifted during 32–19 Ma, suggesting that only weak east– west compression characterized Oligocene and Early Miocene and that this was insufficient to continue to uplift the Xuefeng Mountains (Fig. 9C). It is also notable that the NW–SE-trending AS–RRF underwent N500 km of left-lateral motion between Indochina and South China blocks during 34–17 Ma, which is coincident with this window period of no uplift (Leloup et al., 2001, 2007; Schoenbohm et al., 2006). Thus, we propose that the compression due to the Eurasia–India collision was probably accommodated at this time by the extrusion of the Indochina Block along the AS–RRF (Tapponnier et al., 1982) and resulted in the weak compressional setting of the CSCB (Fig. 9C). Furthermore, the subduction of the Pacific Plate migrated to the southeastern margin of the SCB, as indicated by the rapid SE–NW opening of the South China Sea Basin during 32–16 Ma and the migration of Tertiary rifts within the East China Sea Shelf depressional basins, resulting in an extension setting in CSCB in the Oligocene and Early Miocene (Hall, 2002; Li, 2005, Li et al., 2012; Xu et al., 2012). From 19 Ma to the present, the model t–T paths indicate that the mountain–basin system in the CSCB again began to be rapidly exhumed (Fig. 8). This is consistent with a 15–0 Ma uplift event inferred from previous AFT studies in the Xuefeng Mountains (Mei et al., 2010; Li and Shan, 2011). This stage of rapid denudation is the continuation of
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Fig. 9. Diagram showing the Cretaceous-Cenozoic tectonic evolution of the CSCB (edited after Li and Li, 2007). A: A Pan-Yangtze extensional basin was produced by the rollback subduction of the Pacific Plate; B: The Xuefeng Mountains northeastwards uplifted and partitioned the Pan-Yangtze Basin as a result of compression from west; C: A weak-compression due to the left-lateral movement of AS–RRF; D: The mountain–basin system uplifted under a compression comes from west.
the 84–32 Ma exhumation event and was restarted when the AS–RRF ceased to undergo sinistral strike–slip motion and compressional stress was again transmitted to the CSCB (Fig. 9D). At this time, the Philippine Sea Plate was rapidly forming, gradually replaced the Pacific Plate from south to north, and was over-thrusted onto the Eurasia Plate along the Taipei–Luzon Line (Hall et al., 1995; Hall, 2002). Therefore, the initiation of uplift of the Xuefeng Mountains at 84 Ma represents a transition in the CSCB from Cretaceous extensional to the late Late Cretaceous and the Cenozoic compressional tectonics.
SW–NE compression initiated at 84 Ma. This late Late Cretaceous to Eocene uplift divided the Pan-Yangtze Basin into the Mayang and Hengyang basins, and produced the mountain–basin system in the CSCB. Sinistral strike–slip movement on the AS–RRF weakened this compression which related to collision of the Eurasia–India plates and resulted in a quiescent period of no uplift during 32–19 Ma. Therefore, the NE–SW-trending uplift of the Xuefeng Mountains and subsequent breakup of the Pan-Yangtze Basin represent a switch from extensional tectonics driven by paleo-Pacific Plate rollback in the Cretaceous to compressional tectonics during late Late Cretaceous and Cenozoic in the CSCB.
7. Conclusions Acknowledgments We have identified a Cretaceous Pan-Yangtze Basin covering the Xuefeng Mountains and the south-north Mayang and Hengyang basins, which was bounded by the Wuling Mountains to the west. The Xuefeng Mountains were rapidly uplifted and denuded by the
This research was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 41172191), Specialized Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education (Grand
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