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Multiple cooling episodes in the Central Tarim (Northwest China) revealed by apatite fission track analysis and vitrinite reflectance data

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Abstract

Apatite fission track and vitrinite reflectance are integrated for the first time to study the cooling history in the Central Tarim, northwest China. The paleo-temperature profiles from vitrinite reflectance data of the Z1 and Z11 wells showed a linear relationship with depth, suggesting an approximately 24.8 °C/km paleo-geothermal gradient and 2700–3900 m of erosion during the Early Mesozoic. The measured apatite fission track ages from well Z2 in the Central Tarim range from 39 to 159 Ma and effectively record the Meso–Cenozoic cooling events that occurred in Central Tarim. Moreover, two cooling events at 190–140 Ma in the Early Jurassic–Early Cretaceous and 80–45 Ma in the Late Cretaceous–Paleocene revealed by measured AFT data and thermal modeling results are related to the collisions of the Qiangtang–Lhasa terranes and the Greater India Plate with the southern margin of the Eurasian Plate, respectively. This study provides new insights into the tectonic evolution of the Tarim Basin (and more broadly Central Asia) and for hydrocarbon generation and exploration in the Central Tarim.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 41402112, 41125010 and 41072103) and the Science Foundation of China University of Petroleum, Beijing (No. 2462013YJRC034). We are grateful to the Northwest Bureau of Petroleum of SINOPEC which contributed cores and some VR data for this work. We thank Jiang Guang, Qinghua Mei, Yinhui Zuo, Yue Chen and Lu Yun for their help with collecting samples in the field. We thank Zhiyong Zhang and one anonymous reviewer for constructive and helpful reviews that significantly improved the manuscript.

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  1. State Key Laboratory of Petroleum Resources and Prospecting, China University of Petroleum, Beijing, 102249, China

    Jian Chang, Nansheng Qiu & Xinying Song

  2. Basin and Reservoir Research Center, China University of Petroleum, Beijing, 102249, China

    Jian Chang, Nansheng Qiu & Xinying Song

  3. Petroleum Exploration and Production Research Institute, SINOPEC, Beijing, 100083, China

    Huili Li

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Chang, J., Qiu, N., Song, X. et al. Multiple cooling episodes in the Central Tarim (Northwest China) revealed by apatite fission track analysis and vitrinite reflectance data. Int J Earth Sci (Geol Rundsch) 105, 1257–1272 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00531-015-1242-7

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