scholarly journals Northward Growth of the West Kunlun Mountains: Insight From the Age–Elevation Relationship of New Apatite Fission Track Data

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dongliang Liu ◽  
Haibing Li ◽  
Chenglong Ge ◽  
Mingkun Bai ◽  
Yadong Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Low Temperature ◽  
Fission Track ◽  
Published Data ◽  
Mountain Range ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Apatite Fission Track ◽  
Provenance Analysis ◽  
The West ◽  
Kunlun Mountains ◽  
West Kunlun

The Cenozoic collision between India and Asia promoted the widespread uplift of the Tibetan Plateau, with significant deformation documented in the Pamir Plateau and West Kunlun Mountains. Low-temperature thermochronology and basin provenance analysis have revealed three episodes of rapid deformation and uplift in the Pamir–West Kunlun Mountains during the Cenozoic. However, there is very little low-temperature thermochronology age–elevation relationship (AER) data on fast exhumation events in this area—especially in the West Kunlun Mountains— leading to uncertainty surrounding how these events propagated within and around the mountain range. In this study, we produced an elevation profile across granite located south of Kudi, Xijiang Province, China, to reveal its exhumation history. Apatite fission track AER data show that a rapid exhumation event occurred at ∼26 Ma in the southern West Kunlun Mountains. When combined with published data, we interpret that the initial uplift events related to the India–Asia collision began in the central Pamir, southern West Kunlun, and northern West Kunlun regions during the Late Eocene, Oligocene, and Middle Miocene periods, respectively. Therefore, the Cenozoic northward growth process occurred from south to north around West Kunlun.

scholarly journals Glacier Changes in the West Kunlun Mountains Revealed by Landsat Data from 1994 to 2016

2017 ◽  
Vol 74 ◽  
pp. 012002
Author(s):  
J Zhang ◽  
B H Fu ◽  
L M Wang ◽  
A Maimaiti ◽  
Y X Ma ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Landsat Data ◽  
The West ◽  
Kunlun Mountains ◽  
Glacier Changes ◽  
West Kunlun

Accretion and Collision Orogeneses in the West Kunlun Mountains, China

2001 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 843-844 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wang Zong-Qi ◽  
Chun-Fa Jiang ◽  
Quan-Ren Yan ◽  
Zhen Yan
Keyword(s):  
The West ◽  
Kunlun Mountains ◽  
West Kunlun

Resolving thermal histories via multi-kinetic apatite fission track data: A case study from Phanerozoic strata within the Peel Plateau NWT, Canada

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Spalding ◽  
Jeremy Powell ◽  
David Schneider ◽  
Karen Fallas
Keyword(s):  
Low Temperature ◽  
Thermal History ◽  
Fission Track ◽  
Sedimentary Basins ◽  
Source Rocks ◽  
Apatite Fission Track ◽  
Petroleum Systems ◽  
History Of ◽  
Thermal Histories ◽  
Peel Plateau

<p>Resolving the thermal history of sedimentary basins through geological time is essential when evaluating the maturity of source rocks within petroleum systems. Traditional methods used to estimate maximum burial temperatures in prospective sedimentary basin such as and vitrinite reflectance (%Ro) are unable to constrain the timing and duration of thermal events. In comparison, low-temperature thermochronology methods, such as apatite fission track thermochronology (AFT), can resolve detailed thermal histories within a temperature range corresponding to oil and gas generation. In the Peel Plateau of the Northwest Territories, Canada, Phanerozoic sedimentary strata exhibit oil-stained outcrops, gas seeps, and bitumen occurrences. Presently, the timing of hydrocarbon maturation events are poorly constrained, as a regional unconformity at the base of Cretaceous foreland basin strata indicates that underlying Devonian source rocks may have undergone a burial and unroofing event prior to the Cretaceous. Published organic thermal maturity values from wells within the study area range from 1.59 and 2.46 %Ro for Devonian strata and 0.54 and 1.83 %Ro within Lower Cretaceous strata. Herein, we have resolved the thermal history of the Peel Plateau through multi-kinetic AFT thermochronology. Three samples from Upper Devonian, Lower Cretaceous and Upper Cretaceous strata have pooled AFT ages of 61.0 ± 5.1 Ma, 59.5 ± 5.2 and 101.6 ± 6.7 Ma, respectively, and corresponding U-Pb ages of 497.4 ± 17.5 Ma (MSWD: 7.4), 353.5 ± 13.5 Ma (MSWD: 3.1) and 261.2 ± 8.5 Ma (MSWD: 5.9). All AFT data fail the χ<sup>2</sup> test, suggesting AFT ages do not comprise a single statistically significant population, whereas U-Pb ages reflect the pre-depositional history of the samples and are likely from various provenances. Apatite chemistry is known to control the temperature and rates at which fission tracks undergo thermal annealing. The r<sub>mro</sub> parameter uses grain specific chemistry to predict apatite’s kinetic behaviour and is used to identify kinetic populations within samples. Grain chemistry was measured via electron microprobe analysis to derive r<sub>mro</sub> values and each sample was separated into two kinetic populations that pass the χ<sup>2</sup> test: a less retentive population with ages ranging from 49.3 ± 9.3 Ma to 36.4 ± 4.7 Ma, and a more retentive population with ages ranging from 157.7 ± 19 Ma to 103.3 ± 11.8 Ma, with r<sub>mr0</sub> benchmarks ranging from 0.79 and 0.82. Thermal history models reveal Devonian strata reached maximum burial temperatures (~165°C-185°C) prior to late Paleozoic to Mesozoic unroofing, and reheated to lower temperatures (~75°C-110°C) in the Late Cretaceous to Paleogene. Both Cretaceous samples record maximum burial temperatures (75°C-95°C) also during the Late Cretaceous to Paleogene. These new data indicate that Devonian source rocks matured prior to deposition of Cretaceous strata and that subsequent burial and heating during the Cretaceous to Paleogene was limited to the low-temperature threshold of the oil window. Integrating multi-kinetic AFT data with traditional methods in petroleum geosciences can help unravel complex thermal histories of sedimentary basins. Applying these methods elsewhere can improve the characterisation of petroleum systems.</p>

scholarly journals Energy and mass balance characteristics of the Guliya ice cap in the West Kunlun Mountains, Tibetan Plateau

2019 ◽  
Vol 159 ◽  
pp. 71-85 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shenghai Li ◽  
Tandong Yao ◽  
Wusheng Yu ◽  
Wei Yang ◽  
Meilin Zhu
Keyword(s):  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Mass Balance ◽  
The West ◽  
Ice Cap ◽  
Kunlun Mountains ◽  
West Kunlun

scholarly journals Snow-Cover Area and Runoff Variation under Climate Change in the West Kunlun Mountains

Water ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 2246 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ma ◽  
Yan ◽  
Zhao ◽  
Kundzewicz
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Snow Cover ◽  
River Basin ◽  
River Flow ◽  
Initial Increase ◽  
Runoff Generation ◽  
The West ◽  
Snow Cover Area ◽  
Kunlun Mountains ◽  
West Kunlun

In recent years, the climate in the arid region of Northwest China has become warmer and wetter; however, glaciers in the north slope of the West Kunlun Mountains (NSWKM) show no obvious recession, and river flow is decreasing or stable. This contrasts with the prevalent response of glaciers to climate change, which is recession and initial increase in glacier discharge followed by decline as retreat continues. We comparatively analyzed multi-timescale variation in temperature–precipitation–snow cover-runoff in the Yarkant River Basin (YRK), Karakax River Basin (KRK), Yurungkax River Basin (YUK), and Keriya River Basin (KRY) in the NSWKM. The Mann–Kendall trend and the mutation–detection method were applied to data obtained from an observation station over the last 60 years (1957–2017) and MODIS snow data (2001–2016). NSWKM temperature and precipitation have continued to increase for nearly 60 years at a mean rate of 0.26 °C/decade and 5.50 mm/decade, respectively, with the most obvious trend (R2 > 0.82) attributed to the KRK and YUK. Regarding changes in the average snow-cover fraction (SCF): YUK (SCF = 44.14%) > YRK (SCF = 38.73%) > KRY (SCF = 33.42%) > KRK (SCF = 33.40%). Between them, the YRK and YUK had decreasing SCA values (slope < −15.39), while the KRK and KRY had increasing SCA values (slope > 1.87). In seasonal variation, the SCF of the three of the basins reaches the maximum value in spring, with the most significant performance in YUK (SCF = 26.4%), except for YRK where SCF in spring was lower than that in winter (−2.6%). The runoff depth of all river basins presented an increasing trend, with the greatest value appearing in the YRK (5.78 mm/decade), and the least value in the YUK (1.58 mm/decade). With the runoff response to climate change, temperature was the main influencing factor of annual and monthly (summer) runoff variations in the YRK, which is consistent with the runoff-generation rule of rivers in arid areas, which mainly rely on ice and snow melt for water supply. However, this rule was not consistent for the YUK and KRK, as it was disturbed by other factors (e.g., slope and slope direction) during runoff generation, resulting in disruptions of their relationship with runoff. This research promotes the study of the response of cold and arid alpine regions to global change and thus better serve regional water resources management.

scholarly journals Glacial and lake fluctuations in the area of the west Kunlun mountains during the last 45 000 years

1992 ◽  
Vol 16 ◽  
pp. 79-84 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liu Chaohai ◽  
Li Shijie ◽  
Shi Yafeng
Keyword(s):  
Lacustrine Sediments ◽  
Southern Slope ◽  
Lake Levels ◽  
Humid Climate ◽  
The West ◽  
Kunlun Mountains ◽  
West Kunlun ◽  
High Lake Levels ◽  
The Last Glacial Maximum ◽  
The Last Glacial

There appear to have been several important glacial advances on the southern slope of the west Kunlun mountains, Tibetan Plateau, since 45 000 a BP. Based on the record of alternating till and lacustrine sediments and 14C determinations, these advances are dated to 23 000–16 000, 8500–8000, and 4000–2500 a BP, and to the 16th–19th century AD, with regional variations occurring during each of the advances. The glaciation of 23 000–16 000 a BP is equivalent to the last glacial maximum (LGM) and its scope and scale were much larger than any of the others. Lake changes are a response to both tectonic uplift of the plateau and global climatic change. With regard to the latter, both changes in precipitation and changes in the extent of glaciation can affect lake levels. High lake levels occurred during interstadial conditions between 40 000 and 30 000 a BP, when the area experienced a relatively warm and humid climate, and during the LGM, between 21 000 and 15 000 a BP. During the Holocene, lakes have been shrinking gradually, coincident with the dry climate of this period of time.

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