Apatite Fission Track Age Distribution Research Articles

Long-lived topography of the Oaxacan Complex (southern Mexico) after the assembly of Pangea: Evidence from apatite fission-track dating

Understanding the exhumation history of ancient orogens is crucial for unraveling the tectonic and climatic forces that shape Earth's landscapes. Relict topography from ancient orogenic belts can persist on the surface for tens of millions of years, providing detritus to surrounding areas even without significant uplift events. This study examines the exhumation history of the Oaxacan Complex in southern Mexico, a Proterozoic peri-Gondwanan continental block located at the periphery of western equatorial Pangea during the l ate Paleozoic. This complex supplied detritus to extensional basins in southern Mexico throughout the Mesozoic and Cenozoic. We reinterpret existing apatite fission track (AFT) data from in situ samples of the Oaxacan Complex and add a set of detrital AFT data from modern sediments of the Peñoles River, which drains the northern Oaxacan Complex. The detrital AFT age distribution is continuous, ranging from ∼180 Ma to ∼50 Ma, without a predominant component age and showing a positive age-elevation correlation, suggesting a slow cooling history of the basement exposed in the drained area. QTQt thermal history modeling of the detrital AFT ages corroborates this slow cooling. Moreover, reinterpretation of in-situ AFT data from the literature confirms that the cooling history of the crustal block exposed in the northern Oaxacan Complex is characterized by a prolonged residence time in the Partial Annealing Zone of the apatite fission-track thermochronometer, spanning at least from the Triassic to the Paleogene. These results suggest that the Oaxacan Complex did not undergo any significant exhumation events after the Late Paleozoic assembly of Pangea, neither during the Triassic–Early Cretaceous rifting associated with Pangea breakup nor during development of the Late Cretaceous–Eocene Mexican Orogen. According to this scenario, we suggest that the post-collision relict topography of the Oaxacan Complex was likely sustained by isostatic rebound and lithological resistance, supplying sediment for tens of millions of years to the Mesozoic and Cenozoic basins of southern Mexico.

The influence of lithospheric inheritance and Cenozoic magmatism on Phanerozoic rock cooling in the São Francisco Craton and adjacent orogens

The South American Platform encompasses the São Francisco Craton (SFC) and the Araçuaí-Ribeira orogenic system (AROS) located in the eastern Brazil. These geologic domains hold records of differential exhumation, sedimentation, volcanic activity, and post-rift reactivation of faults and shear zones. Therefore, these terranes provide outstanding opportunities for studying the dynamics of lithospheric processes, particularly in their interaction zones, characterized by the transition from cratonic to orogenic lithosphere. To investigate the processes involved in the contrasting behavior of the upper crust, we provide 23 new apatite fission track (AFT) ages and thermal histories from the northern segment of the AROS and from the eastern area of the SFC. The AFT ages range from 154.4 ± 20.1 and 37.1 ± 3.0 Ma and the mean track lengths range from 10.9 and 13.2 μm. We compiled thermal information from previous thermochronological analysis from 357 sites and constructed inverse distance weighted maps that depict the spatial distribution of AFT ages and the temperature evolution from 360 to 30 Ma. The results indicate that the SFC experienced its final exhumation within the apatite partial annealing zone (APAZ) at temperatures ranging from 110 °C to 60 °C during the late Paleozoic. In contrast, the AROS went through its last cooling within the APAZ during the Mesozoic or even in the Cenozoic. This suggests that reactivation and reheating, possibly associated with the South Atlantic rift, influenced the orogenic basement of the passive margin. We highlight that the reheating associated to the Abrolhos magmatic province in the northern segment of the AROS caused the youngest AFT ages of the study area. Our work demonstrates the importance of considering contrasting rheology when analyzing regional exhumation patterns, the structural fabric of orogens through reactivation of crustal discontinuities generating heating and exhumation, and how volcanism can disrupt the thermal record, inducing crustal reheating.

Uplift and Expansion of the North Qilian Shan Recorded by Detrital Fission Tracks in the Jiudong Basin, NW China

The North Qilian Shan, located in the northeastern front of the Tibetan Plateau, is an ideal region to study the expansion process of the plateau, which is not clearly revealed due to the lack of direct evidence and an accurate age control. In the Jiudong Basin (foreland basin of the North Qilian Shan), a continuous late Cenozoic sedimentary sequence and a reliable chronostratigraphic framework (post-7 Ma) provide us the material to study this process. In this study, we first analyzed the provenance changes of the sediment by detrital apatite fission track age distributions and apatite particle textures. The result shows that the first provenance change occurred at 4.6–3.6 Ma, when the sediment source changed from the southern to the northern parts of the North Qilian Shan, and it indicates that the North Qilian Shan Fault had propagated to its modern location. The second provenance change occurred at 3.0–2.4 Ma, at when the Yumu Shan and its south region began to provide sediments for the Jiudong Basin, and it indicates that the tectonic deformation in the North Qilian Shan had expanded to the North Yumu Shan Fault. Our finding suggests that two significant expansion events happened since the Pliocene for the North Qilian Shan.

Exhumation history of late Mesozoic intrusions in the Tongling–Xuancheng area of the Lower Yangtze region, eastern China: Evidence from zircon (U–Th)/He and apatite fission track thermochronology

The Lower Yangtze region is one of the most important metallogenic belts in eastern China, yet there are few precise low-temperature geochronological data to constrain the evolution of the orefield. We collected samples from 12 late Mesozoic intrusions in the Tongling–Xuancheng area for zircon (U–Th)/He (ZHe) and apatite fission track (AFT) dating. These intrusions are divided into early and late periods on the basis of their emplacement ages. The ZHe and AFT ages of the early intrusions are 144.6–111.0 Ma and 123.1–89.4 Ma, respectively, and those of the late intrusions are 119.9–71.3 Ma and 96.7–66.9 Ma, respectively, with rare outliers. The ZHe and AFT age distributions and the modeled low-temperature thermal histories of these intrusions reveal that the Tongling–Xuancheng area underwent three stages of rapid cooling: during the earliest, middle, and end of the Early Cretaceous. During the earliest Early Cretaceous, rapid cooling resulted from regional compression and in situ cooling of magma. The middle Early Cretaceous phase of cooling occurred in a regional extensional regime characterized by the development of large rift basins and the emplacement of intrusions. The rapid cooling at ~ 100 Ma was concurrent with a global plate reorganization event that resulted in regional basin inversion and the development of unconformities between the Lower and Upper Cretaceous strata in East Asia. Although Cenozoic uplift is not seen in the cooling paths of our samples, regional compression since the Paleogene has uplifted the orebodies to near-surface level, favoring ore exploration and mining.

New Apatite Fission-Track Data from the Murmansk Craton, NE Fennoscandia: An Echo of Hidden Thermotectonic Events

For a long time, the thermal history of northeastern (NE) Fennoscandia in the Phanerozoic and Precambrian remained unknown, since no thermochronological studies were carried out within the Kola Peninsula area. Two years ago, we developed the first model of tectono-thermal evolution of the Kola Peninsula territory for the last 1.9 Gyr using a set of newly obtained apatite fission-track (AFT) and Ar/Ar thermochronological data. However, the low-temperature history of the most ancient tectonic unit of the northeastern part of the Kola Peninsula—the Archean Murmansk craton—remained poorly constrained due to the lack of AFT data. In this paper, we present the first results of AFT studies of 14 samples representing intrusive and metamorphic Precambrian rocks, located within the Murmansk craton of NE Fennoscandia. AFT ages and track length distributions indicate a similar tectono-thermal evolution of Precambrian tectonic units in NE Fennoscandia over the last 300 Myr. The AFT ages are distributed between ca. 177 and ca. 384 Ma; their median value, ~293 Ma, confirms the presence of a previously identified hidden thermal event that took place at about 300 Ma. However, a detailed analysis of the AFT age distribution shows the presence of three statistically distinguishable age components: 180–190 Ma (C1), 290–320 Ma (C2) and 422 Ma (C3). We assume that the relatively young AFT ages of C1 may originate from apatite crystals with low thermal resistivity. Remarkably, this value coincides with the initial stage of the Barents Sea magmatic province activity during large-scale plume-lithospheric interaction, as well as with the assumed age of an enigmatic remagnetization event throughout the Kola Peninsula. C2 ages can be observed in both the gabbroic and non-gabbroic samples, whereas C3 ages can only be found in gabbro. It is supposed that C2 ages, similarly to the Central Kola terrane, correspond to a cooling event related to the denudation of a thick sedimentary cover, representing a continuation of the Caledonian foreland basin towards NE Fennoscandia. C3 ages may be associated with a thermal event corresponding to the Caledonian collisional orogeny.

Mesozoic and Cenozoic tectonics of the northeastern edge of the Tibetan plateau: Evidence from modern river detrital apatite fission-track age constraints

Thermochronometry of modern river sands exploits the natural sampling of detritus in a river catchment to infer plausible regional exhumation patterns, when combined with available bedrock thermochronometric information. Apatite fission track age distributions for six detrital samples are reported in this study to resolve the exhumation history of the upper reaches of the Heihe River, draining North Qilian Shan and Tuole Shan, the northeastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau. The apatite fission track (AFT) ages include four major populations: late Paleozoic (300 ± 55–293 ± 43 Ma), early Mesozoic (223 ± 15–205 ± 17 Ma), late Jurassic-Cretaceous (112 ± 6.2–84.8 ± 5.6 Ma), and Cenozoic (63.8 ± 5.9–19.3 ± 1.7 Ma). The ages of these populations correspond well with the deformation and cooling history of the study area. The late Paleozoic and early Mesozoic AFT age populations record cooling events resulting from continental collision between the Qiantang and Kunlun blocks. The late Jurassic-Cretaceous AFT age populations are interpreted to record cooling events associated with exhumation of North Qilian Shan and Tuole Shan due to the collision of the Lhasa block with Asian continent. The Cenozoic AFT age populations record several cooling events. A cooling event is recorded corresponding to exhumation of North Qilian Shan and Tuole Shan due to late stress from the Lhasa-Asia collision, causing deformation nearly synchronous with the India-Asia collision. Another cooling event is recorded corresponding to uplift and exhumation in Oligocene time due to ongoing India-Asia convergence. North Qilian Shan and Tuole Shan were constructed as a distal effect of India-Asia convergence in the early Miocene while approaching their present mountain-river-basin distributions. Thermochronometry applied to Heihe River sediments provide convinced evidence of multi-stage exhumation of most northeastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau in the late Paleozoic-Cenozoic.

Detrital thermochronology of Rhine, Elbe and Meuse river sediment (Central Europe): implications for provenance, erosion and mineral fertility

Here we present detrital apatite fission track (AFT), zircon fission track (ZFT) and a few apatite (U–Th)/He (AHe) data of Middle Pleistocene to modern Rhine, Meuse and Elbe river sediments in order to resolve processes that control detrital age distributions (provenance, erosion and mineral fertility). We used a modelling approach to compare observed with theoretically predicted age distributions from an interpolated in situ AFT and ZFT age map. In situ cooling ages do show large differences in the Rhine drainage basin, facilitating the differentiation between different source regions. Inconsistencies between observed and theoretical age distributions of the Meuse and Elbe samples can be explained by mixing and reworking of sediments with different provenances (Meuse Middle Pleistocene terrace sediment) and a yet unexplored source region with old AFT ages (Elbe samples). Overall, the results show that detrital thermochronology is capable of identifying the provenance of Middle Pleistocene to modern sediments. The AFT age distributions of Rhine sediments are dominated (~70%) by AFT ages representing the Alps. A possible explanation is higher erosion rates in the Alps as compared to areas outside the Alps. A Late Pleistocene sample from the Upper Rhine Graben contains apatite grains from the Molasse and Hegau volcanics, which we explain with a shift of the headwaters of the Rhine to the north as a result of intense Middle Pleistocene Riss glaciation. Contrary to the observed dominance of Alpine-derived AFT ages in Rhine sediments, the relative contribution of zircon ages with sources in the Alps is lower and significantly decreases downstream, suggesting a major source of zircons outside the Alps. This can be explained by increased zircon fertility of sediments derived from the Rhenish massif. Therefore, we conclude that erosion and mineral fertility are the main processes controlling detrital AFT and ZFT age distributions of the sampled river sediment. In case of the Rhine samples, AFT age distributions are mainly controlled by differences in erosion rates, whereas this impact is completely balanced by differences in mineral fertility for the ZFT data.

Unravelling basin shoulder dynamics through detrital apatite fission-track signature: the case of the Quaternary Mugello Basin, Italy

AbstractDetrital apatite fission-track (AFT) thermochronology has been applied to lower Pleistocene lacustrine fan-delta sediments of the NE shoulder of the Mugello Basin, the youngest and closest to the main watershed among the Northern Apennines intermontane basins. The aim was to decode the shoulder uplift dynamics during the development of the basin through the analysis of the Quaternary fluvio-lacustrine deposits. Bedrock shoulder analysis, performed to match the detrital AFT data with their source, revealed the presence of a unexpected only partially annealed portion of a turbidite foredeep unit (AFT ages >7–5 Ma) belonging to the structural complex that constitutes the shoulder bedrock. These data disagree with the AFT age distribution pattern of the well-studied Northern Apennines chain, suggesting a segmentation of the foredeep basin. The latter may have been related to the presence of a tectonically induced topographic high (pre-late Langhian) in the area limiting the thickness of the overriding Ligurian lid. On the other hand, detrital AFT data provided arguments for understanding the dynamics of Mugello Basin shoulder uplift and rotation. The proportion in the different stratigraphic units of the fan-delta sediments of single grains showing young (reset) and old (non-reset) ages points to late Early Pleistocene timing of the development of the SW-verging backthrust that characterizes the study area. These data confirm and detail the picture of an early Quaternary development of the Mugello Basin under a compressional setting, only later (middle Pleistocene to present) superimposed by normal faultings.

Fission track dating of faulting events accommodating plastic deformation of biotites

AbstractWe performed fission track (FT) analyses to constrain the timing of fault slip events associated with plastic deformation of biotite grains formed at high temperature, higher than 200–300°C. Apatite FT ages of 49.6–16.7 Ma were obtained from Late Cretaceous granites near the fault, with younger ages near a basaltic dike that intruded at ~19 Ma. By comparing the distribution of apatite FT ages using forward thermal and FT annealing calculations, we interpreted the younger ages as being explained by basaltic intrusion. We concluded that the plastic deformation of the biotite grains could have occurred associated with the following events: (1) primal cooling of the granitic body at 68–50 Ma and/or (2) basaltic intrusion at ~19 Ma. A combination of detailed observation of microscale deformation structures and dense FT measurements successfully constrained timing of fault events distributed in bedrock without covering layers.

Intensified climate-driven exhumation along the South Himalayan Front since one million years ago

This paper builds a database of apatite fission track (AFT) ages and thermal-modeling results covering the whole southern Tibetan Plateau, providing detailed information on the cooling and erosion process of the modern landscape evolution and comparing with the distribution of climatic factors. Large-scale AFT age distribution and thermal-history modeling results indicate extraordinarily intense erosion along the South Himalayan Front and relatively weak erosion in the interior of the plateau. AFT samples from different regions plot into different partitions on the elevation vs AFT age diagram, and there is an excellent coupling between AFT ages and climatic factors. Based on AFT thermal-history modeling results, an intensified erosion event since ∼1Myr ago has been identified along the South Himalayan Front. The varied AFT ages along the South Himalayan Front are probably induced by differential intensity of erosion in the same cooling event rather than the time when the rapid cooling event began. Meanwhile, the spatiotemporal coupling of climatic factors and the intensified erosion belt suggests that climatic transition is the key factor dominating the rapid exhumation event since ∼1Myr.

Evidences of rapid erosion driven by climate in the Yarlung Zangbo (Tsangpo) Great Canyon, the eastern Himalayan syntaxis

Climate and tectonism are both particularly intense in the Yarlung Zangbo (Tsangpo) Great Canyon in the eastern Himalayan syntaxis, which is characterized by the most rapid landscape evolution of anywhere in the world. Thus, the eastern Himalayan syntaxis is one of the best locations to study the interactions between climate and tectonics. This paper investigates the cooling ages of the Doxong La-Baibung profile using apatite fission track (AFT) dating on 11 bedrock samples at elevations ranging from 4210 to 710 m. There are topographic, climatic, metamorphic, and thermochronological gradients in the profile, providing good conditions to study interactions between climate and tectonics. AFT ages ranged from 4.6±0.6 Ma to 1.7±0.3 Ma, and the mean fission track lengths ranged from 11.0 to 12.4 μm. It was found that the cooling rates revealed by AFT ages increased with decreasing elevation. However, the tendency of the cooling rates revealed by the 40Ar-39Ar ages was different from that indicated by the AFT ages. Moreover, for most districts of the eastern Himalayan syntaxis, the compiled AFT age distribution correlates well with the annual average precipitation, indicating the coupling of the cooling and erosion rates of the near-surface rock and precipitation. The geothermal history modeling results indicate an obvious increase in the cooling and erosion rate between 1.0 and 0.5 Ma. This age is consistent with other research findings for this time, when the vapor channel of the Yarlung Zangbo Great Canyon began to take effect. These evidences suggest that climate, especially precipitation, has acting as a key factor influencing the rapid cooling and erosion in the Yarlung Zangbo Great Canyon since 1–0.5 Ma.

Low-temperature thermal history and landscape development of the eastern Adirondack Mountains, New York: Constraints from apatite fission-track thermochronology and apatite (U-Th)/He dating

Research Article| March 01, 2011 Low-temperature thermal history and landscape development of the eastern Adirondack Mountains, New York: Constraints from apatite fission-track thermochronology and apatite (U-Th)/He dating Joshua P. Taylor; Joshua P. Taylor † Department of Earth Sciences, 204 Heroy Geology Laboratory, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York 13244, USA †E-mail: jtaylo03@syr.edu Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Paul G. Fitzgerald Paul G. Fitzgerald Department of Earth Sciences, 204 Heroy Geology Laboratory, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York 13244, USA Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Author and Article Information Joshua P. Taylor † Department of Earth Sciences, 204 Heroy Geology Laboratory, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York 13244, USA Paul G. Fitzgerald Department of Earth Sciences, 204 Heroy Geology Laboratory, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York 13244, USA †E-mail: jtaylo03@syr.edu Publisher: Geological Society of America Received: 24 Jul 2009 Revision Received: 31 Jan 2010 Accepted: 08 Mar 2010 First Online: 08 Mar 2017 Online ISSN: 1943-2674 Print ISSN: 0016-7606 © 2011 Geological Society of America GSA Bulletin (2011) 123 (3-4): 412–426. https://doi.org/10.1130/B30138.1 Article history Received: 24 Jul 2009 Revision Received: 31 Jan 2010 Accepted: 08 Mar 2010 First Online: 08 Mar 2017 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Search Site Citation Joshua P. Taylor, Paul G. Fitzgerald; Low-temperature thermal history and landscape development of the eastern Adirondack Mountains, New York: Constraints from apatite fission-track thermochronology and apatite (U-Th)/He dating. GSA Bulletin 2011;; 123 (3-4): 412–426. doi: https://doi.org/10.1130/B30138.1 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Refmanager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentBy SocietyGSA Bulletin Search Advanced Search Abstract The Adirondack Mountains in northern New York State form an elongate, domal exposure of mainly high-grade metamorphic tectonites in a mountainous setting with topographic relief of ∼1 km. The origin of the Adirondack Mountains and this relief has long been enigmatic, since the Adirondacks presently lie within an intracratonic setting, inboard of the North American passive margin and far from any active plate boundaries. Through the application of apatite fission-track (AFT) thermochronology and apatite (U-Th)/He (AHe) dating within the eastern Adirondack Mountains, this study provides constraints on both the thermal and erosional effects of Mesozoic passage near a hotspot and the timing of relief development.AFT thermochronology and AHe dating record relatively stable thermal conditions within the eastern Adirondacks from the Middle Jurassic into the Early Cretaceous. During the Early Cretaceous (ca. 130–120 Ma), the region underwent heating associated with progressive movement near the Great Meteor hotspot, resulting in the temporary establishment of an elevated geothermal gradient. Following regional heating, cooling rates increased considerably (ca. 105–95 Ma), likely due to both thermal doming, producing an increase in erosion rate, and the relaxation of isotherms after passage near the hotspot.The regional distribution of AFT ages across the eastern Adirondacks reveals no systematic age gradient from core to periphery, which would be expected under conditions of persistent high relief during the decay of a crustal root over many tens to hundreds of millions of years. Instead, thermochronological data suggest that the present relief developed during the Late Cretaceous–Cenozoic through plateau dissection during periodic base-level changes. You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.

Presence of a Long‐Term Lithospheric Thermal Anomaly: Evidence from Apatite Fission‐Track Analysis in Northern New England

Abstract Apatite fission‐track (AFT) ages from 56 samples of Paleozoic and Mesozoic crystalline rocks in New Hampshire, northeastern Vermont, and western Maine range from 70 to 140 Ma and reflect widespread Early to Late Cretaceous cooling. The regional AFT age distributions determined in this study suggest that reactivation of preexisting orogen‐parallel faults and the presence of a long‐lived thermal anomaly in the lithospheric mantle controlled the late unroofing history of this part of the northern Appalachians. A northeast‐trending zone of young, dominantly Late Cretaceous AFT ages (70–118 Ma) extends from southwestern New Hampshire through the central White Mountain region and continues into northern New Hampshire, northeastern Vermont, and western Maine, providing evidence for regional NW‐SE extension and cooling at this time. Significantly older AFT ages (125–140 Ma) in the region bounded by the Bill Little, Ammonoosuc, and Northey Hill faults in northwestern New Hampshire suggest a normal‐sense r...

Quantitative geomorphology of the White Mountains (California) using detrital apatite fission track thermochronology

Detrital thermochronology has been proposed as a method for measuring average basin‐wide erosion rates. This paper illustrates how to use detrital apatite fission track (AFT) thermochronology to map out where in a basin erosion takes place. Five samples of detrital AFT ages were collected on an alluvial fan that is fed by the Marble Creek drainage basin in the northern White Mountains (California). Using a digital elevation model (DEM) to characterize the basin hypsometry and a few published basement samples to constrain the age‐elevation curve of the catchment, the detrital AFT distribution was predicted. Comparing the observed with the predicted age distributions reveals that localized rockfall events provide the sediment source of the currently active Marble Creek, but a composite sample from the entire alluvial fan indicates that, over longer time scales, the entire catchment contributes material to the debris‐flow dominated fan, with more material being derived from lower elevations than from higher up the Marble Creek Canyon. The observed AFT age distribution is compared with the hypsometric predictions using the “Cumulative Age Distribution” (CAD) which is the cumulative distribution of the measured ages. In contrast with probability density estimators and their cumulative equivalents, the CAD requires no numerical smoothing while properly accounting for (unequal) measurement uncertainties.

Detrital apatite fission-track ages in Middle Jurassic strata at the rifted margin of W Madagascar—indicator for a protracted resedimentation history

The combination of litho- and biostratigraphic data, detrital apatite fission-track (FT) ages, and palaeocurrent data from Jurassic sedimentary successions in the southern Morondava Basin (SW Madagascar) suggests a resedimentation of the detrital material. Detrital apatite FT ages of Middle Jurassic sedimentary rocks range between 428 ± 31 Ma to 233 ± 18 Ma. All apatite FT ages are older than their stratigraphic ages and become younger from top to the bottom of a Middle Jurassic profile. Such an apatite FT age distribution can be produced by a double inversion of the stratigraphic succession. Since the Late Carboniferous crustal extension between East Africa and Madagascar occurred. The sampled material was initially deposited prior to the Middle Jurassic, most probably during the Karoo Rifting (Latest Carboniferous–Late Triassic). Subsequently, resedimentation occurred during a second sedimentation cycle, which was probably connected to rift jump during the Jurassic Gondwana breakup and passive margin development between East Africa and Madagascar. This study demonstrates that under certain temperature constraints detrital apatite FT age distributions combined with litho- and biostratigraphic data can be used to verify sedimentation–resedimentation events.

Exhumation and relief history of the Southern Carpathians (Romania) as evaluated from apatite fission track chronology in crystalline basement and intramontane sedimentary rocks

The combination of apatite fission track (FT) thermochronology from basement units and the FT age distributions of apatites in the Miocene intramontane sedimentary rocks allows describing the exhumation history of the central segment of the Southern Carpathians, Romania. Exhumation and cooling from the total track annealing temperature (>120°C) of the Cozia and Cibin massifs occurred in the Palaeocene–Early Eocene. Between the Eocene and Middle Miocene, there was a stagnation period concerning vertical displacement; the presently exposed part of the basement was buried in shallow depth. The present crests of the Cozia and Cibin Mountains were at temperatures around 80°C and 50°C, respectively. The second exhumation period occurred in Middle Miocene times. The magnitude of the Miocene vertical displacement is on the order of the present-day relief. The vertical apatite FT age distribution in the basement and the age clusters in the sedimentary rocks prove that the levels of the crests were already close to the surface in Palaeogene times. Therefore, the post-Palaeocene erosional removal from the crest zones is very limited.