Abstract:

The tectonodepositional coupling relationship between the Tarim Basin and the South Tianshan Mountains has become one of the hotspots for geological research in China. This paper applies the (UTh)/He ages of apatite and zircon from the drilling samples in the basin to study the coupling relationship between the Tarim Basin and the South Tianshan Mountains. The apatite and zircon of the Tabei Uplift, whose He ages fall into the range of 15 Ma to 3 Ma, are from the South Tianshan Mountains. The thermal modeling results reveal that the South Tianshan Mountains uplifted rapidly from ~15 Ma to ~5 Ma in Late Miocene. Based on the results, the evolution model is proposed to show the tectonicssedimentation coupling relationship between the North Tarim Basin and the South Tianshan Mountains. During Late Miocene, the South Tianshan Mountains began to uplift rapidly with serious erosion while the North Tarim Basin was dramatically subsided accepting the sediments from the South Tianshan Mountains. The He ages of apatite and zircon effectively record the geological information and provide new evidence for the study of the basinmountain coupling relationship.

Key words: Tarim Basin, South Tianshan, basinmountain coupling, (U-Th)/He ages