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Meso-Cenozoic extensional structures in the Northern Tarim Basin, NW China

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Abstract

Meso-Cenozoic extensional structures are important for understanding the tectonics of the Chinese Central Asia. This paper presents a systematic investigation on the Meso-Cenozoic extensional structures in the Northern Tarim Basin. Close interpretations of seismic data reveal that the Meso-Cenozoic extensional structures were widely developed in the Northern Tarim Basin. These extensional structures are regionally composed of many small normal faults, which usually group into left- or right-step en echelon and form several transtensional fault zones. Combinations of normal faults in profile become small graben-horst or staircase-like cross-sections. Based on the areal distribution, structural style, combination relationship, formation and evolution time, and formation mechanism of the extensional structures, we found that the Meso-Cenozoic extensional structures in Northern Tarim Basin can be classified into two conjugate normal fault systems, which were formed separately in Jurassic-Early Cretaceous and Late Cretaceous-Neogene. The former is likely associated with the stress relaxation after a collisional orogeny accompanied with a certain degree of anticlockwise rotation of the Tarim block relative to the South Tianshan; the latter is possibly induced by the east by south tectonic escape of the Tarim block with a certain degree of clockwise rotation relative to the South Tianshan triggered by the far-field effect of the Himalayan orogeny.

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Acknowledgments

We express our great appreciation to the two anonymous reviewers for their comments on the manuscript, especially to Prof Dr WJ Xiao for his constructive comments on science and English. We also thank Dr Dave Z. Chang and Prof Wenzheng Zhang for corrections on the English wording. Gratitudes are due to Tarim Oilfield Company, PetroChina, for providing us the precious seismic data. Our study is financially supported by the funds from the Key National Science & Technology Specific Projects (2011ZX05028-003), National Natural Science Foundation of China (40972085), Major State Basic Research Development Program of China (2006CB202301), and Science and Technology Programs of Tarim Oilfield Company, PetroChina.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100029, China

    Yue-Jun Li, Yan Zhao, Ya-Lei Liu & Qi-Rui Zhang

  2. PetroChina Company Limited, 9 Dongzhimen North Street, Dongcheng District, Beijing, 100007, China

    Long-De Sun

  3. Tarim Oil-field Company, PetroChina, Korla, Xinjiang, 841000, China

    Wen-Jie Song, Duo-Ming Zheng & Jian-Feng Hu

  4. Hefei University of Technology, Tunxi Road, Hefei, Anhui, 230009, China

    Dao-Xuan Wang

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  1. Yue-Jun Li
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Li, YJ., Zhao, Y., Sun, LD. et al. Meso-Cenozoic extensional structures in the Northern Tarim Basin, NW China. Int J Earth Sci (Geol Rundsch) 102, 1029–1043 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00531-012-0847-3

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