Magnetostratigraphy of the Yaha section, Tarim Basin (China): 11 Ma acceleration in erosion and uplift of the Tian Shan mountains
- Julien Charreau*1,
- Stuart Gilder2,
- Yan Chen3,
- Stéphane Dominguez4,
- Jean-Philippe Avouac5,
- Sevket Sen6,
- Marc Jolivet7,
- Yongan Li8 and
- Weiming Wang9
- 1Institut des Sciences de la Terre d'Orléans; Bâtiment Géosciences, BP 6759, 45067 Orléans Cedex 2, France
- 2Laboratoire de Paléomagnétisme, Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, 4 place Jussieu, 75252 Paris Cedex 05, France
- 3Institut des Sciences de la Terre d'Orléans, Bâtiment Géosciences, BP 6759, 45067 Orléans Cedex 2, France
- 4Laboratoire Dynamique de la Lithosphère, UMR Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique 5573, 22 Place Bataillon, 34095 Montpellier Cedex, France
- 5Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Mail Code 100-23, Pasadena, California 91125, USA
- 6Museum of Natural History, 43 rue Buffon, 75005 Paris Cedex 5, France
- 7Laboratoire Dynamique de la Lithosphère, UMR Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique 5573, 22 Place Bataillon, 34095 Montpellier Cedex, France
- 8Institute of Geology and Mineral Resources, Urumqi 83000, People's Republic of China
- 9Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 39 East Beijing Road, Nanjing 210008, People's Republic of China
Abstract
We report a magnetostratigraphic and rock magnetic study of the Yaha section, located on the southern flank of the central Tian Shan mountains, Asia. Our results show a two-fold increase in sedimentation rate as well as marked changes in rock magnetic characteristics ca. 11 Ma. After 11 Ma, sedimentation rate remained remarkably constant until at least 5.2 Ma. These findings are consistent with sedimentary records from other sections surrounding the Tian Shan. We conclude that uplift and erosion of the Tian Shan accelerated ca. 11 Ma, long after the onset of the collision between India and Asia, and that the range rapidly evolved toward a steady-state geometry via a balance between tectonic and erosion processes.
Footnotes
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↵*Corresponding author Julien.Charreau{at}univ-orleans.fr
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↵GSA Data Repository item 2006034, Figures DR1–DR3 and Table DR1, is available online at www.geosociety.org/pubs/ft2006.htm, or on request from editing{at}geosociety.org or Documents Secretary, GSA, P.O. Box 9140, Boulder, CO 80301, USA.
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- Accepted 16 November 2005.
- Received 27 July 2005.
- Revision received 14 November 2005.
- Geological Society of America
