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Magnetostratigraphy of deep drilling core SG-1 in the western Qaidam Basin (NE Tibetan Plateau) and its tectonic implications

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 May 2012

Weilin Zhang ,
Erwin Appel ,
Xiaomin Fang ,
Chunhui Song  and
Olaf Cirpka
Weilin Zhang
Affiliation:
Department of Geosciences, Center for Applied Geoscience, University of Tübingen, Hölderlinstr. 12, 72074 Tübingen, Germany Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Science, P.O. Box 2871, Beijing 100085, China
Erwin Appel
Affiliation:
Department of Geosciences, Center for Applied Geoscience, University of Tübingen, Hölderlinstr. 12, 72074 Tübingen, Germany
Xiaomin Fang*
Affiliation:
Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Science, P.O. Box 2871, Beijing 100085, China
Chunhui Song
Affiliation:
Key Laboratory of Western China's Environmental Systems, Ministry of Education of China & College of Resources and Environment, Lanzhou University, Gansu 730000, China
Olaf Cirpka
Affiliation:
Department of Geosciences, Center for Applied Geoscience, University of Tübingen, Hölderlinstr. 12, 72074 Tübingen, Germany
*
⁎Corresponding author. Email Address:[email protected]
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Abstract

The Qaidam Basin is the largest intermontane basin of the northeastern Tibetan Plateau and contains a continuous Cenozoic sequence of lacustrine sediments. A ~ 1000-m-deep drilling (SG-1) with an average core recovery of ~ 95% was carried out in the depocenter of the Chahansilatu playa (sub-depression) in the western Qaidam Basin, aimed to obtain a high-resolution record of the paleoenvironmental evolution and the erosion history. Stepwise alternating field and thermal demagnetization, together with rock magnetic results, revealed a stable remanent magnetization for most samples, carried by magnetite. The polarity sequence consisted of 16 normal and 15 reverse zones which can be correlated with chrons 1n to 2An of the global geomagnetic polarity time scale. Magnetostratigraphic results date the entire core SG-1 at ~ 2.77 Ma to ~ 0.1 Ma and yielded sediment accumulation rate (SAR) ranging from 26.1 cm/ka to 51.5 cm/ka. Maximum SARs occurred within the intervals of ~ 2.6–2.2 Ma and after ~ 0.8 Ma, indicating two episodes of erosion, which we relate to pulse tectonic uplift of the NE Tibetan Plateau with subsequent global cooling.

Keywords

MagnetostratigraphyTectonic evolutionQaidam BasinTibetan Plateau
Type
Articles
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 78 , Issue 1 , July 2012 , pp. 139 - 148
Copyright
University of Washington

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