Abstract
This paper addresses the Phanerozoic tectonic evolution of the western Tarim Basin based on an integrated stratigraphic, structural and tectonic analysis. P-wave velocity data show that the basin has a stable and rigid basement. The western Tarim Basin experienced a complex tectonic evolutionary history, and this evolution can be divided into six stages: Neoproterozoic to Early Ordovician, Middle Ordovician to Middle Devonian, Late Devonian to Permian, Triassic, Jurassic to Cretaceous and Paleogene to Quaternary. The western Tarim Basin was a rift basin in the Neoproterozoic to Early Ordovician. From the Middle Ordovician to Middle Devonian, the basin consisted of a flexural depression in the south and a depression that changed from a rift depression to a flexural depression in the north during each period, i.e., the Middle–Late Ordovician and the Silurian to Middle Devonian. During the Late Devonian to Permian, the basin was a depression basin early and then changed into a flexural basin late in each period, i.e., the Late Devonian to Carboniferous and the Permian. In the Triassic, the basin was a foreland basin, and from the Jurassic to Cretaceous, it was a downwarped basin. After the Paleogene, the basin became a rejuvenated foreland basin. Based on two cross sections, we conclude that the extension and shortening in the profile reflect the tectonic evolution of the Tarim Basin. The Tarim Basin has become a composite and superimposed sedimentary basin because of its long-term and complicated tectonic evolutionary history, highly rigid and stable basement and large size.
Highlights
The Eurasia–India collision shaped the present topography of northwest China (Lu et al 1994; Kao et al 2001; Jiang et al 2017)
Dolostone and subaerial clastic rocks characterize the Neoproterozoic deposits in the western Tarim Basin
The structural style is slightly different in the Neogene and Quaternary in the northern part of the profile (Fig. 7a); i.e., the Keping Fault consists of deformation through multiple detachments, with upper and lower reverse faults
Summary
The Eurasia–India collision shaped the present topography of northwest China (Lu et al 1994; Kao et al 2001; Jiang et al 2017). The Tarim Basin is located where intense regional compression has dominated since the Cenozoic. Some efforts have been made to reconstruct the tectonic and stratigraphic evolution of the western Tarim Basin (Jin et al 2003; Qu et al 2005; Heermance et al 2007; Wei et al 2013), but few investigations have incorporated processes throughout the entire Phanerozoic Eon. This paper attempts to reconstruct the tectonic evolutionary history of the western Tarim Basin and to determine its basement characteristics to understand how it evolved into a composite and superimposed sedimentary basin
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