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Prediction of the paleo-structures of the Tarim Basin prior to the neotectonic movement (The Paleo-Structures mean the structures of Tarim basin formed before neotectonic movement (before Neogene) in this article, and the neotectonic movement from Neogene to present changed the features of the Paleo-Structures whose boundaries are inferred from the balanced section restoration and burial history restoration, etc., and they are different from the present structures in the Tarim Basin).
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The Tarim Basin Craton is located in the center of the Tarim Basin. Since the beginning of the Miocene, the tectonic activity has been weaker in the Tarim Basin Craton than in the marginal depression and the peripheral orogenic belts. This study investigates the tectonic movements in the Tarim Basin Craton by calculating the sedimentation rates and...
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Drill core analysis showed 41 sedimentary cycles in the sedimentary association of the Neogene to Quaternary Fiorina Basin, with a total thickness up to 560m. The lower part is the Base formation with an up to 297m thick, whereas middle part, Vevi formation is up to 127m thick and the upper part which corresponds to Lophon formation is up to 124m t...
Citations
... Wang & Shen, 2020). (b) Cenozoic sediment thickness in Tarim Basin (compiled from Jiang et al., 2018;Tang et al., 2014;Q. Wang & Li, 2007). ...
... (c) Seismic reflection profile across the plume head, shown in map view in (a). (i) uninterpreted profile and (ii) its interpretation, integrated from Jiang et al. (2018), Laborde et al. (2019), C. , Yin et al. (2002). N 2 a: Artux Formation, N 1 p: Pakabulake Formation, N 1 a: Anjuan Formation, N 1 k: Keziluoyi Formation. ...
Plain Language Summary
Tarim Basin is a typical intraplate cratonic basin in northwest China. It is bounded by the West Kunlun Shan to the south and the Tian Shan to the north, respectively. The Cenozoic sediment thickness in the Tarim Basin displays significant lateral variation, which cannot be explained by flexural bending of the Tarim lithosphere under orogenic loads of the West Kunlun Shan and Tian Shan. Recent geophysical data outlined the extent of the Permian plume head, which coincides with the region covered by thinnest Cenozoic sediments. Here, we conduct a series of 2‐D thermo‐mechanical numerical simulations to examine the correlation of the cratonic lithosphere mantle characteristics with cratonic basin's basement geometry. Model results show that a craton with a stronger and density‐depleted northern half of lithosphere mantle in the context of compression matches well with the south‐north differential Cenozoic subsidence and deformation in the Tarim Basin. Accordingly, we suggest that the differential Cenozoic sediment thickness in the Tarim Basin was likely caused by the Permian plume‐modified lithosphere mantle. Our study indicates that the plume‐modified mantle characteristics play a critical role in the basement deformation of the above sediment basin.
... The restoration process for balanced cross-sections, where the mass conservation principle is the basic criterion, is usually inverse, i.e., starting from a current interpreted structural cross section to its predeformed morphology (Dahlstrom, 1969;Zhang and Chen, 1998). The stratum length balance restoration method and the area balance restoration method (Jiang et al., 2018) are used in this study. And the restoration process is carried out in 3D-MOVE software, including three steps: compaction correction, fault displacement restoration and layer leveling. ...
The Tarim basin is a large composite and superimposed sedimentary basin that has undergone complex multi-period and polycyclic tectonic movements. Understanding the proto-type basin and tectono-paleogeographic evolution of this complex superimposed basin is important for understanding the basin-mountain coupling and dynamical mechanisms of the Paleo-Asian and Tethys tectonic systems as well as hydrocarbon exploration and development. Based on previous works, together with the recent exploration, and geological evidences, three global plate tectonic pattern maps, four Tarim proto-type basin maps (in present-day geographic coordinates) and four regional tectono-paleogeography maps (in paleogeographic coordinates) during the Late Paleozoic are provided in this paper. Based on these maps, the proto-type basin and tectono-paleogeographic features of the Tarim basin during the Late Paleozoic are illustrated. The Devonian to Permian is an important period of terranes/island-arcs accretion and oceanic closure along the periphery of the Tarim block, and a critical period when the polarity of Tarim basin (orientation of basin long-axis) rotated at the maximum angle clockwise. During the Late Paleozoic, the periphery of the Tarim block was first collisional orogeny on its northern margin, followed by continuous collisional accretion of island arcs on its southern margin: on the Northern margin, the North and South Tianshan Oceans closed from East to West; on the South-Western margin, the Tianshuihai Island Arc gradually collided and accreted. These tectonic events reduced the extent of the seawater channel of the passive continental margin in the Western part of the basin until its complete closure at the end of the Permian. The Tarim basin was thus completely transformed into an inland basin. This is a process of regression and uplift. The Southwest of the Tarim basin changed from a passive to an active continental margin, through back-arc downwarping and eventually complete closure to foreland setting. The intra-basin lithofacies range from shelf-littoral to platform-tidal flat to alluvial plain-lacustrine facies. The tectonic-sedimentary evolution of the Tarim basin is strongly controlled by peripheral geotectonic setting.
... In our current state of knowledge, it is difficult to conclude whether the temporal variations in deformation rate highlighted for the Hotan thrust system could also have occurred laterally on other folds of the foothills. Nevertheless, on a larger scale, the sections available in the Tarim Basin show a contemporaneous slowing down of the thick-skinned deformation of the Bachu uplift during the Neogene (e.g., Jiang et al., 2018;Laborde et al., 2019;Li et al., 2016c;Song et al., 2021;Tong et al., 2012), a structure which also belongs to the Western Kunlun thrust wedge (Laborde et al., 2019;Song et al., 2021). This may point to a regional deceleration of the deformation rates across the WKR and related structures, in agreement with our deductions at the scale of the sole Hotan anticline. ...
Kinematic constraints on the Cenozoic deformation along the northwestern edge of the Tibetan Plateau remain limited. Combining surface geological data and seismic profiles, we document the structural geometry and kinematics of the large‐scale east‐west striking Hotan anticline, along the foothills of the Western Kunlun Range. Four new balanced cross sections are constructed, and the temporal evolution of deformation is deciphered from the exceptionally well‐imaged growth strata at the front of the fold. This anticline results from a broad fault‐bend fold, subsequently deformed by a footwall duplex. The total shortening across the whole structure is relatively constant along strike, from ∼40 to ∼35 km. However, the shortening accommodated by the duplex varies laterally from ∼50–40% to 0% of the total shortening. Two distinct successive patterns of growth strata are recognized and are interpreted to be representative of deformation on the ramp anticline, followed by deformation on the duplex. The onset of deformation initiated by ∼16 Ma. Deformation of the underlying duplex began at ∼12 Ma to the west and subsequently propagated eastward. From these results, we determine a shortening rate of ∼5 mm/yr from ∼16 to ∼8–9 Ma across the Hotan thrust system, followed by a significant decrease in shortening rate, possibly down to <0.5 mm/yr. We explore the significance of this deceleration of deformation at the scale of the Western Kunlun foothills and at a broader regional scale as it may point to a regional kinematic reorganization by the late Miocene.
... The Tarim Basin is the largest basin in mainland China, and has a broad prospect for oil and gas exploration. The long geological evolution history of the Tarim Basin is very complicated, and different zones of the Tarim Basin have various structural deformation forms (He et al., 2016;Zhu et al., 2017;Jiang et al., 2018;Morin et al., 2018;Wu et al., 2018;Laborde et al., 2019), therefore, the Tarim Basin is an ideal region for research on plates convergence and breakup and interaction among them (Dayem et al., 2009;Craig et al., 2012;Calignano et al., 2015). The distribution of basement faults throughout the basin's geological evolutionary history widely controlled the activities of blocks (Xu et al., 2002;Ma et al., 2009;Lin et al., 2015). ...
The property of the magnetic basement and the faults in the basement is significant for structural evolution, the Phanerozoic deposition, and oil resource exploration of the Tarim Basin. Based on the newly acquired aeromagnetic and industry seismic data, we mapped the distribution of basement faults by applying magnetic gradient-processing methods such as the horizontal gradient derivative, the first vertical derivative, the tilt derivative, and the upward continuation method. The dips of basement faults were confirmed and the susceptibilities of basement blocks were obtained by forward modeling of five profiles using the constraint of sedimentary strata depth and Moho topography. On the basis of comprehensive analysis of the magnetic anomalies, the distribution and inclination of basement faults, and susceptibilities differentiation obtained by forward modeling and field measurement, the property of the basement faults and their implication were discussed and interpreted. Our results show that the origin of the Central Highly Magnetic Anomaly Belt is highly magnetic Archean metamorphic rocks. The weakly magnetic Southeastern Domain and highly magnetic Central Tadong Domain assembled along the Tadong South Fault during the Paleoproterozoic. The Paleozoic Cherchen Fault is just an interior fault in the weakly magnetic Southeastern Domain although it presents a large vertical fault displacement. Considering the prominent variation of strikes of the Tadong North Fault system, and the moderately magnetic anomalies in the Northeastern Mangal Domain corresponding to the center of Neoproterozoic deposition, it is likely that the basement of the Northeastern Mangal Domain modified by the Neoproterozoic rifting could be originally the same as the basement of Central Highly Magnetic Anomaly Belt.
... During the Himalayan period, the area was heavily influenced by settlement of the Hetian paleo-uplift (Fig. 15). Faultpropagation or detachment folds approximately 5 km wide and 10 km long developed within the Cenozoic deposits in the Tarim Basin (Jiang et al., 2018;Laborde et al., 2019). The Cenozoic fold axes in the Yubei 7 and 1 structural belts in Fig. 6 illustrate a northwest-moving trend. ...
The Yubei-Tangbei area in the southern Tarim Basin is one of the best-preserved Early Paleozoic northeast-southwest trending fold-and-thrust belts within this basin. This area is crucial for the exploration of primary hydrocarbon reservoirs in northwestern China. In this study, we constructed the structural geometric morphology of the Yubei-Tangbei area using geophysical logs, drilling, and recent two- and three-dimensional (2-D and 3-D) seismic data. The Early Paleozoic fault-propagation folds, the Tangnan triangle zone, fault-detachment folds, and trishear fault-propagation folds developed with the detachment of the Middle Cambrian gypsum–salt layer. According to a detailed chronostratigraphic framework, the growth strata in the Upper Ordovician–Lower Silurian layer formed by onlapping the back limb of the asymmetric fault-propagation folds, which therefore defines the timing of deformations. The changes in kink band hinges and amplitudes in the Permian–Carboniferous and Cenozoic folding strata suggest that the evolution of the fold-and-thrust belts followed a sequential evolution process rather than a simultaneous one. Above the pre-existing Precambrian basement structure, the Yubei-Tangbei fold-and-thrust belts can be divided into four tectonic evolution stages: Late Cambrian, Late Ordovician to Early Carboniferous, Carboniferous to Permian, and Cenozoic. The northwestern-verging Cherchen Fault is part of the piedmont fold-and-thrust system of the southern Tarim foreland basin. We interpreted its strata as a breakthrough trishear fault-propagation fold that developed in three phases: Mid–Late Ordovician, Silurian to Middle Devonian, and Triassic to present. These tectonic events are responses of the Altyn-Tagh and Kunlun collisional orogenic belts and the Indian-Eurasian collision. The inherited deformation and structural modification in the southern Tarim Basin may be an indicator of the growth and evolution of peripheral orogens.
... The Eurasia-India collision shaped the present topography of northwest China (Lu et al. 1994;Kao et al. 2001;Jiang et al. 2017). The Tarim Basin is located where intense regional compression has dominated since the Cenozoic (Molnar and Tapponnier 1977;Sobel and Dumitru 1997) (Fig. 1). ...
... The stratum length balance restoration method and the area balance restoration method are used in this study. In this study, the area balance restoration method (Jiang et al. 2017) is used to recover the balanced cross section, and hand drawing on calculating papers is performed during the whole process. The interpreted seismic profile is transferred from time to depth first, and every detail about the evolution of each fault and strata deformation is planned. ...
This paper addresses the Phanerozoic tectonic evolution of the western Tarim Basin based on an integrated stratigraphic, structural and tectonic analysis. P-wave velocity data show that the basin has a stable and rigid basement. The western Tarim Basin experienced a complex tectonic evolutionary history, and this evolution can be divided into six stages: Neoproterozoic to Early Ordovician, Middle Ordovician to Middle Devonian, Late Devonian to Permian, Triassic, Jurassic to Cretaceous and Paleogene to Quaternary. The western Tarim Basin was a rift basin in the Neoproterozoic to Early Ordovician. From the Middle Ordovician to Middle Devonian, the basin consisted of a flexural depression in the south and a depression that changed from a rift depression to a flexural depression in the north during each period, i.e., the Middle-Late Ordovician and the Silurian to Middle Devonian. During the Late Devonian to Permian, the basin was a depression basin early and then changed into a flexural basin late in each period, i.e., the Late Devonian to Carboniferous and the Permian. In the Triassic, the basin was a foreland basin, and from the Jurassic to Cretaceous, it was a downwarped basin. After the Paleogene, the basin became a rejuvenated foreland basin. Based on two cross sections, we conclude that the extension and shortening in the profile reflect the tectonic evolution of the Tarim Basin. The Tarim Basin has become a composite and superimposed sedimentary basin because of its long-term and complicated tectonic evolutionary history, highly rigid and stable basement and large size.
... accommodated by these duplexes, the details of their structural geometry are not well imaged on seismic profiles. Various contradictory interpretations are thus proposed for these structures (e.g., Matte et al., 1996;Jiang et al., 2013;Wei et al., 2013;Wang et al., 2013;Tang et al., 2014;Wang et al., 2014;Li et al., 2016a;Lu et al., 2016;Wang and Wang, 2016;Guilbaud et al., 2017;Jiang et al., 2018;this study). Our interpretation mainly differs from some of the previous ones regarding two main features: (1) the location of the decollement level at the base of the duplexes, and (2) the number and location of the duplex horses. ...
... In contrast, in many previous studies, the location of the basal decollement is not specified (e.g., Wei et al., 2013;Wang et al., 2014;Wang and Wang, 2016;Jiang et al., 2018) or is placed at the base of the Paleozoic sedimentary series without more precision (e.g., Jiang et al., 2013;Tang et al., 2014;Li et al., 2016aLi et al., , 2018. However, in the western part of the Tarim Basin, the sedimentary series contains an upper Cambrian interval of gypsiferous shales (e.g., Allen et al., 1999;Lin et al., 2012bLin et al., , 2012aLi et al., 2016bLi et al., , 2016dLu et al., 2016;Yang et al., 2018), which 2 has an appropriate lithology for a decollement level. ...
... The second issue about the Western Kunlun duplexes lies in the details of their internal structure, and in particular in the number and geometry of the duplex horses (e.g., Matte et al., 1996;Jiang et al., 2013;Wei et al., 2013;Wang et al., 2013;Tang et al., 2014;Wang et al., 2014;Li et al., 2016aLi et al., , 2018Lu et al., 2016;Wang and Wang, 2016;Guilbaud et al., 2017;Jiang et al., 2018; this study). The overall external envelope of these duplexes is indeed the only part of their geometry that is well visible on seismic profiles ( Fig. S2A and S2B). ...
... The Indian Plate moved northward and collided with the Eurasian Plate in the Eocene. Because of the intense regional compression, the Tianshan Mountains, the West Kunlun Mountains and the Altyn Mountains were again uplifted following planation during Jurassic to Eocene times, and the Tarim Basin became an intermountain basin ( Jiang et al. 2017). A-type subduction occurred beneath the surrounding mountains following the earlier subduction tracks ( Kao et al. 2001;Li et al. 2002;Gao et al. 2013) 4. Structural evolution of TLM-Z50 ...
As the largest inland oil-bearing basin in China, the Tarim Basin is a large-scale composite basin that has experienced a complex tectonic evolutionary history from the Ediacaran to the Cenozoic. From the Ediacaran to the Ordovician, the Tarim Basin was in an extensional tectonic environment. From the Silurian to the Devonian, the Tarim Block switched from the presence of passive margins to active margins along its northern and southern edges, eventually colliding with the North Kunlun Terrane in the Silurian. From the Carboniferous to the Triassic, the transition of the Tarim Block from an independent landmass to an internal component of the Eurasian Plate resulted from collisions with the Yili-Central Tianshan Terrane to the north during the Late Carboniferous and the Qiangtang Terrane to the south during the Triassic. From the Jurassic to the Paleogene, several unconformities developed because of the subduction of the Meso-Tethys oceanic plate during the Late Jurassic and the Neo-Tethys oceanic plate during the Paleogene. After the Neogene, as a rejuvenated foreland basin, the Tarim Basin was activated along its margins and became an intermountain basin due to the intense regional compression induced by the Indian Plate. Based on a seismic profile cross-section of the basin, we conclude that the extension and shortening in the profile reflects the block amalgamation history and the structural evolution of the Tarim Basin. The structural-sedimentary evolution of this basin is closely related to the movement of the peripheral plates.
... Among these basins, the Tarim Basin occupies a remarkable central position within the orogenic system, between the Tibetan Plateau and the Tian Shan Range (Fig. 1). With a continuous Proterozoic to Present sedimentation, this wide basin is thus a first-class repository for the geological history of the Asian continent (e.g., Li et al., 1996;Métivier et al., 1999;Yin et al., 2002;Kent-Corson et al., 2009;Sun et al., 2009b;Lin et al., 2012c;Bosboom et al., 2014a;Tang et al., 2014;Lin et al., 2015a;Liu et al., 2015a;He et al., 2016;Zhu et al., 2017;Morin et al., 2018;Wu et al., 2018;Jiang et al., 2018). Furthermore, the Tarim Basin seems to be a key element in the Cenozoic Asian deformation. ...
... For these reasons, numerous studies have been performed on the Cenozoic deformation and sedimentation along the margins or within the centre of this basin (e.g., Matte et al., 1996;Wittlinger et al., 1998Wittlinger et al., , 2004Allen et al., 1999;Burchfiel et al., 1999;Yin et al., 2002;Scharer et al., 2004;Sun et al., 2005Sun et al., , 2009bHeermance et al., 2007;Hubert-Ferrari et al., 2007;Fu et al., 2010;Turner et al., 2010;Jiang et al., 2013;Wei et al., 2013; Thompson Jobe et al., 2017;Izquierdo-Llavall et al., 2018;Jiang et al., 2018). However, they were mainly undertaken to characterize tectonic structures and their activity at a local scale. ...
... However, they were mainly undertaken to characterize tectonic structures and their activity at a local scale. Moreover, the few studies conducted at a regional scale remain schematic or imprecise in terms of hierarchy and relationships between the structures, with sometimes no detail about which ones were activated or not during the Cenozoic (e.g., Wei et al., 2013;Tang et al., 2014;Lin et al., 2015a;Li et al., 2016e;Jiang et al., 2018). Nevertheless, it is clear that the original Proterozoic Tarim block is not totally rigid, with deformation along the margins and even in the center of the Tarim Basin (e.g., Matte et al., 1996;Allen et al., 1999;Wittlinger et al., 2004;Guo et al., 2005;Heermance et al., 2007;Tong et al., 2012;Chang et al., 2014a;Tang et al., 2014;Fig. ...
With its central position between the Tibetan Plateau and the Tian Shan Range, the Tarim Basin is a key element of the Cenozoic Asian orogenic system. However, a comprehensive regional study, and more particularly the quantification of shortening through this basin and its margins, are still needed to understand its role in the Cenozoic deformation of Asia. From a compilation of previous works, together with an extensive dataset of satellite, field, seismic and well data, we provide a tectonic map of the Cenozoic structures and four balanced geological transects of the Tarim Basin and its surrounding ranges. Based on this map and these cross-sections, we characterize the Cenozoic deformation of the original Proterozoic Tarim block. From structural restorations and crustal budgets, we also quantify the compressive component of this deformation. Most of the Cenozoic compressive deformation (from ~94% to 100%) is concentrated in the ranges along the block margins. To the west, up to 78 ± 23 km and 54 + 24/−18 km of crustal shortening are accommodated across the compressive Western Kunlun and Southwestern Tian Shan ranges, while to the east, up to 38.6 ± 18 km and 15 + 20/−15 km are accommodated across the transpressive Altyn Tagh and Southeastern Tian Shan ranges. A non-negligible amount of compressive deformation (up to ~6%) is also accommodated within the Tarim Basin by large basement-cored uplifts with a vergence synthetic to the deformation of the Tibetan Plateau edge. To the west, the Bachu uplift absorbs ~5 km of the total crustal shortening of the Western Kunlun thrust system, while to the south, the Tanan uplift accumulates ~0.6 km of the Altyn Tagh strike-slip system. Structural inheritance has a major influence on the Cenozoic deformation since ~33.3% to 100% of the total shortening is accommodated by reactivated basement structures inherited from the Protero-Paleozoic history of the Tarim block. Finally, we argue that the basement-cored uplifts in the centre of the basin imply a deformation transfer from the Tibetan Plateau to the Tian Shan, above a deep crustal decollement decoupling the deforming crust from an underlying rigid mantle.
During the early Cenozoic, the collision and convergence between India and Eurasia resulted in the uplift of the Tibetan Plateau and continuous northward compression, forming the Circum‐Tibetan Plateau Basin and Orogen System (CTPBOS). The Tarim Basin, located between the Tibetan Plateau and the Tianshan Mountains, plays a crucial role for studying the convergence‐driving strain propagation mechanism intra‐Asian continent during the growth processes of the Tibetan Plateau. Owing to the lack of accurate geophysical information on the deep structure of the Tarim crust，the mechanism of Cenozoic deformation in the Tarim Basin has been under debate. In this paper, the teleseismic data acquired by the broadband seismic profile across the Tarim Basin from south to north and the S‐wave receiver function method were used to obtain the depth of the Moho and the discontinuities in the lithosphere beneath the Tarim Basin. The SRF result shows that the Moho geometry has an abrupt relief under the Bachu Uplift, and Moho offset under the fault zone between the Kalashayi Fault and the Tumuxiuke Fault. The regional dip of the Moho under the Bachu area can be explained by the root of the Bachu basement‐involved uplift cutting across the whole crust and locally penetrating into the mantle lithosphere. The Bachu Uplift, located in the central Tarim terrane, has a relatively weak lithosphere. In the process of forming the Tarim large igneous province during the early Permian, the crust beneath the Bachu area was weakened and thinned by the thermo‐mechanical erosion from upwelling mantle plume. As the collision and convergence of India and Eurasia since the early Cenozoic, the convergence‐driving strain was propagated into the Tarim Basin. The pre‐existing weak Bachu Uplift was reactivated. The Tarim Basin absorbs Cenozoic compressional deformation through the crustal shortening and Moho offset of the Bachu Uplift.
