TY - JOUR A1 - Westerweel, Jan A1 - Roperch, Pierrick A1 - Licht, Alexis A1 - Dupont-Nivet, Guillaume A1 - Win, Zaw A1 - Poblete, Fernando A1 - Ruffet, Gilles A1 - Swe, Hnin Hnin A1 - Thi, Myat Kai A1 - Aung, Day Wa T1 - Burma Terrane part of the Trans-Tethyan arc during collision with India according to palaeomagnetic data JF - Nature geoscience N2 - Convergence between the Indian and Asian plates has reshaped large parts of Asia, changing regional climate and biodiversity, yet geodynamic models fundamentally diverge on how convergence was accommodated since the India-Asia collision. Here we report palaeomagnetic data from the Burma Terrane, which is at the eastern edge of the collision zone and is famous for its Cretaceous amber biota, to better determine the evolution of the India-Asia collision. The Burma Terrane was part of a Trans-Tethyan island arc and stood at a near-equatorial southern latitude at similar to 95 Ma, suggesting island endemism for the Burmese amber biota. The Burma Terrane underwent significant clockwise rotation between similar to 80 and 50 Ma, causing its subduction margin to become hyper-oblique. Subsequently, it was translated northward on the Indian Plate by an exceptional distance of at least 2,000 km along a dextral strike-slip fault system in the east. Our reconstructions are only compatible with geodynamic models involving an initial collision of India with a near-equatorial Trans-Tethyan subduction system at similar to 60 Ma, followed by a later collision with the Asian margin. Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-019-0443-2 SN - 1752-0894 SN - 1752-0908 VL - 12 IS - 10 SP - 863 EP - 868 PB - Nature Publ. Group CY - New York ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kaya, Mustafa Yücel A1 - Dupont-Nivet, Guillaume A1 - Proust, Jean‐Noël A1 - Roperch, Pierrick A1 - Bougeois, Laurie A1 - Meijer, Niels A1 - Frieling, Joost A1 - Fioroni, Chiara A1 - Altiner, Sevinç Özkan A1 - Vardar, Ezgi A1 - Barbolini, Natasha A1 - Stoica, Marius A1 - Aminov, Jovid A1 - Mamtimin, Mehmut A1 - Zhaojie, Guo T1 - Paleogene evolution and demise of the proto-Paratethys Sea in Central Asia (Tarim and Tajik basins) BT - Role of intensified tectonic activity at ca. 41 Ma JF - Basin research N2 - The proto-Paratethys Sea covered a vast area extending from the Mediterranean Tethys to the Tarim Basin in western China during Cretaceous and early Paleogene. Climate modelling and proxy studies suggest that Asian aridification has been governed by westerly moisture modulated by fluctuations of the proto-Paratethys Sea. Transgressive and regressive episodes of the proto-Paratethys Sea have been previously recognized but their timing, extent and depositional environments remain poorly constrained. This hampers understanding of their driving mechanisms (tectonic and/or eustatic) and their contribution to Asian aridification. Here, we present a new chronostratigraphic framework based on biostratigraphy and magnetostratigraphy as well as a detailed palaeoenvironmental analysis for the Paleogene proto-Paratethys Sea incursions in the Tajik and Tarim basins. This enables us to identify the major drivers of marine fluctuations and their potential consequences on Asian aridification. A major regional restriction event, marked by the exceptionally thick (<= 400 m) shelf evaporites is assigned a Danian-Selandian age (ca. 63-59 Ma) in the Aertashi Formation. This is followed by the largest recorded proto-Paratethys Sea incursion with a transgression estimated as early Thanetian (ca. 59-57 Ma) and a regression within the Ypresian (ca. 53-52 Ma), both within the Qimugen Formation. The transgression of the next incursion in the Kalatar and Wulagen formations is now constrained as early Lutetian (ca. 47-46 Ma), whereas its regression in the Bashibulake Formation is constrained as late Lutetian (ca. 41 Ma) and is associated with a drastic increase in both tectonic subsidence and basin infilling. The age of the final and least pronounced sea incursion restricted to the westernmost margin of the Tarim Basin is assigned as Bartonian-Priabonian (ca. 39.7-36.7 Ma). We interpret the long-term westward retreat of the proto-Paratethys Sea starting at ca. 41 Ma to be associated with far-field tectonic effects of the Indo-Asia collision and Pamir/Tibetan plateau uplift. Short-term eustatic sea level transgressions are superimposed on this long-term regression and seem coeval with the transgression events in the other northern Peri-Tethyan sedimentary provinces for the 1st and 2nd sea incursions. However, the 3rd sea incursion is interpreted as related to tectonism. The transgressive and regressive intervals of the proto-Paratethys Sea correlate well with the reported humid and arid phases, respectively in the Qaidam and Xining basins, thus demonstrating the role of the proto-Paratethys Sea as an important moisture source for the Asian interior and its regression as a contributor to Asian aridification. KW - aridification KW - Asia KW - biostratigraphy KW - climate KW - magnetostratigraphy KW - microfossil KW - Paleogene KW - Pamir KW - proto-Paratethys KW - regression KW - Tajik Basin KW - Tarim Basin KW - tectonism KW - westerlies Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1111/bre.12330 SN - 0950-091X SN - 1365-2117 VL - 31 IS - 3 SP - 461 EP - 486 PB - Wiley CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Zhang, Yang A1 - Huang, Wentao A1 - Zhang, Yuanyuan A1 - Poujol, Marc A1 - Guillot, Stephane A1 - Roperch, Pierrick A1 - Dupont-Nivet, Guillaume A1 - Guo, Zhaojie T1 - Detrital zircon provenance comparison between the Paleocene-Eocene Nangqian-Xialaxiu and Gongjue basins: New insights for Cenozoic paleogeographic evolution of the eastern Tibetan Plateau JF - Palaeogeography, palaeoclimatology, palaeoecology : an international journal for the geo-sciences N2 - Paleogeographic reconstructions of terranes can greatly benefit from the provenance analysis of sediments. A series of Cenozoic basins provide key sedimentary archives for investigating the growth of the Tibetan Plateau, yet the provenance of the sediments in these basins has never been constrained robustly. Here we report sedimentary petrological and detrital zircon geochronological data from the Paleocene-Eocene Nangqian-Xialaxiu and Gongjue basins. Sandstone detrital modes and zircon morphology suggest that the samples collected in these two basins were sourced from recycled orogen. Detrital zircon geochronology indicates that sediments in the Nangqian-Xialaxiu Basin are characterized by two distinct age populations at 220-280 Ma and 405-445 Ma. In contrast, three predominant age populations of 207-256 Ma, 423-445 Ma, and 1851-1868 Ma, and two subordinate age populations of similar to 50 Ma and similar to 2500 Ma, are recognized in the Gongjue Basin. Comparison with detrital zircon ages from the surrounding terranes suggests that sediments in the Nangqian-Xialaxiu Basin come from the neighboring thrust belts, whereas sediments from the Gongjue Basin are predominantly derived from the distant Songpan-Ganzi Terrane with minor contribution from the surrounding areas. A three-stage Cenozoic evolution of the eastern Tibetan Plateau is proposed. During the Paleocene, the Nangqian-Xialaxiu Basin appeared as a set of small intermontane sub-basins and received plentiful sediments from the neighboring mountain belts; during the Eocene, the Gongjue Basin kept a relatively low altitude and was a depression at the edge of a proto-Plateau; since the Oligocene, the Tibetan Plateau further uplifted and the marginal Gongjue Basin was involved in the Tibetan interior orogeny, indicating the eastward propagation of the Tibetan Plateau. KW - U-Pb geochronology KW - Sandstone detrital modes KW - Cenozoic basins KW - Tectonic reconstruction KW - Eastern Tibetan Plateau Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2019.109241 SN - 0031-0182 SN - 1872-616X VL - 533 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Meijer, Niels A1 - Dupont-Nivet, Guillaume A1 - Abels, Hemmo A. A1 - Kaya, Mustafa Y. A1 - Licht, Alexis A1 - Xiao, Meimei A1 - Zhang, Yang A1 - Roperch, Pierrick A1 - Poujol, Marc A1 - Lai, Zhongping A1 - Guo, Zhaojie T1 - Central Asian moisture modulated by proto-Paratethys Sea incursions since the early Eocene JF - Earth and planetary science letters N2 - The establishment and evolution of the Asian monsoons and arid interior have been linked to uplift of the Tibetan Plateau, retreat of the inland proto-Paratethys Sea and global cooling during the Cenozoic. However, the respective role of these driving mechanisms remains poorly constrained. This is partly due to a lack of continental records covering the key Eocene epoch marked by the onset of Tibetan Plateau uplift, proto-Paratethys Sea incursions and long-term global cooling. In this study, we reconstruct paleoenvironments in the Xining Basin, NE Tibet, to show a long-term drying of the Asian continental interior from the early Eocene to the Oligocene. Superimposed on this trend are three alternations between arid mudflat and wetter saline lake intervals, which are interpreted to reflect atmospheric moisture fluctuations in the basin. We date these fluctuations using magnetostratigraphy and the radiometric age of an intercalated tuff layer. The first saline lake interval is tentatively constrained to the late Paleocene-early Eocene. The other two are firmly dated between similar to 46 Ma (top magnetochron C21n) and similar to 41 Ma (base C18r) and between similar to 40 Ma (base C18n) and similar to 37 Ma (top C17n). Remarkably, these phases correlate in time with highstands of the proto-Paratethys Sea. This strongly suggests that these sea incursions enhanced westerly moisture supply as far inland as the Xining Basin. We conclude that the proto-Paratethys Sea constituted a key driver of Asian climate and should be considered in model and proxy interpretations. (C) 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. KW - Paleogene KW - magnetostratigraphy KW - Central Asia KW - Xining Basin KW - westerlies KW - Asian monsoon Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2018.12.031 SN - 0012-821X SN - 1385-013X VL - 510 SP - 73 EP - 84 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Blayney, Tamsin A1 - Dupont-Nivet, Guillaume A1 - Najman, Yani A1 - Proust, Jean-Noel A1 - Meijer, Niels A1 - Roperch, Pierrick A1 - Sobel, Edward A1 - Millar, Ian A1 - Guo, Zhaojie T1 - Tectonic Evolution of the Pamir Recorded in the Western Tarim Basin (China) BT - Sedimentologic and Magnetostratigraphic Analyses of the Aertashi Section JF - Tectonics N2 - The northward indentation of the Pamir salient into the Tarim basin at the western syntaxis of the India-Asia collision zone is the focus of controversial models linking lithospheric to surface and atmospheric processes. Here we report on tectonic events recorded in the most complete and best-dated sedimentary sequences from the western Tarim basin flanking the eastern Pamir (the Aertashi section), based on sedimentologic, provenance, and magnetostratigraphic analyses. Increased tectonic subsidence and a shift from marine to continental fluvio-deltaic deposition at 41Ma indicate that far-field deformation from the south started to affect the Tarim region. A sediment accumulation hiatus from 24.3 to 21.6Ma followed by deposition of proximal conglomerates is linked to fault propagation into the Tarim basin. From 21.6 to 15.0Ma, increasing accumulation rates of fining upward clastics is interpreted as the expression of a major dextral transtensional system linking the Kunlun to the Tian Shan ahead of the northward Pamir indentation. At 15.0Ma, the appearance of North Pamir-sourced conglomerates followed at 11Ma by Central Pamir-sourced volcanics coincides with a shift to E-W compression, clockwise vertical-axis rotations and the onset of growth strata associated with the activation of the local east vergent Qimugen thrust wedge. Together, this enables us to interpret that Pamir indentation into Tarim had started by 24.3Ma, reached the study location by 15.0Ma and had passed it by 11Ma, providing kinematic constraints on proposed tectonic models involving intracontinental subduction and delamination. KW - India-Asia collision KW - Tarim basin KW - Pamir KW - Cenozoic KW - paleomagnetism KW - sedimentology Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1029/2018TC005146 SN - 0278-7407 SN - 1944-9194 VL - 38 IS - 2 SP - 492 EP - 515 PB - American Geophysical Union CY - Washington ER -