Articles | Volume 16, issue 11
https://doi.org/10.5194/se-16-1383-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Special issue:
https://doi.org/10.5194/se-16-1383-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Crustal-upper mantle velocity structure from the North Qilian Shan to Beishan Orogenic Collage: tectonic significance of crustal deformation
State Key Laboratory of Deep Earth and Mineral Exploration, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, Beijing 100094, China
Yingkang Li
Geological Cores and Samples of Natural Resources, China Geological Survey, Sanhe 065201, China
Xuanhua Chen
State Key Laboratory of Deep Earth and Mineral Exploration, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, Beijing 100094, China
Guowei Wu
State Key Laboratory of Deep Earth and Mineral Exploration, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, Beijing 100094, China
Rui Gao
School of Earth Science and Geological Engineering, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China
Jennifer D. Eccles
School of Environment, University of Auckland, Auckland 1142, New Zealand
Related authors
No articles found.
Alan Liu Chen and Xuanhua Chen
Solid Earth, 16, 63–80, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-16-63-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-16-63-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Based on the construction of a major fault system and investigation of several main boundaries of the Bohai Sea Basin, eastern China, we propose a right-lateral strike-slip fault between the eastern margin of the Liaodong Peninsula and the northwestern margin of the Jiaodong Peninsula. Then, we suggest that the two-direction extension perpendicular and parallel to the subduction zone should be the genesis of the Bohai Sea Basin and also the basic pattern of the back-arc extension.
Xinyu Dong, Wenhui Li, Zhanwu Lu, Xingfu Huang, and Rui Gao
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2468, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2468, 2024
Preprint archived
Short summary
Short summary
Our study explores the Himalayas' formation and evolution, focusing on the South Tibetan Detachment System (STDS) and its impact on the North Himalayan gneiss domes. We conducted a deep seismic survey and field investigations in the eastern Tethys Himalayas. Our results show that the STDS is a significant fault system that had two phases of activity in the Miocene era. This research clarifies the geological processes that shaped the Himalayas.
Cited articles
Ao, S. J., Xiao, W. J., Han, C. M., Mao, Q. G., and Zhang, J. E.: Geochronology and geochemistry of Early Permian mafic–ultramafic complexes in the Beishan area, Xinjiang, NW China: Implications for late Paleozoic tectonic evolution of the southern Altaids, Gondwana Research, 18, 466–478, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gr.2010.01.004, 2010.
Ao, S. J., Xiao, W. J., Han, C. M., Li, X. H., Qu, J. F., Zhang, J. E., Guo, Q. Q., and Tian, Z. H.: Cambrian to early Silurian ophiolite and accretionary processes in the Beishan collage, NW China: implications for the architecture of the Southern Altaids, Geol. Mag., 149, 606–625, https://doi.org/10.1017/S0016756811000884, 2012.
Ao, S., Xiao, W., Windley, B. F., Mao, Q., Han, C., Zhang, J., Yang, L., and Geng, J.: Paleozoic accretionary orogenesis in the eastern Beishan orogen: Constraints from zircon U–Pb and 40 Ar/ 39 Ar geochronology, Gondwana Research, 30, 224–235, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gr.2015.03.004, 2016.
BGMRGP (Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources of Gansu Province): Regional Geology of Qinghai Province, Geological Publishing House, Beijing, 1989 (in Chinese).
Buslov, M. M.: Geodynamic nature of the Baikal Rift Zone and its sedimentary filling in the Cretaceous–Cenozoic: the effect of the far-range impact of the Mongolo-Okhotsk and Indo-Eurasian collisions, Russian Geology and Geophysics, 53, 955–962, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rgg.2012.07.010, 2012.
Cervený, V.: Seismic Ray Theory, 1st edn., Cambridge University Press, https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511529399, 2001.
Cervený, P. F., Naeser, N. D., Zeitler, P. K., Naeser, C. W., and Johnson, N. M.: History of Uplift and Relief of the Himalaya During the Past 18 Million Years: Evidence from Fission-Track Ages of Detrital Zircons from Sandstones of the Siwalik Group, in: New Perspectives in Basin Analysis, edited by: Kleinspehn, K. L. and Paola, C., Springer New York, New York, NY, 43–61, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-3788-4_3, 1988.
Christensen, N. I. and Mooney, W. D.: Seismic velocity structure and composition of the continental crust: A global view, J. Geophys. Res., 100, 9761–9788, https://doi.org/10.1029/95JB00259, 1995.
Cui, Z., Li, Q., Wu, C., Yin, Z., and Liu, H.: Crustal and deep-seated structures along the Golmud–Ejin Qi geoscience transect, Chinese J. Geophys., 38, 15–28, 1995 (in Chinese with English abstract).
Cunningham, D.: Tectonic setting and structural evolution of the Late Cenozoic Gobi Altai orogen, SP, 338, 361–387, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP338.17, 2010.
Cunningham, D.: Mountain building processes in intracontinental oblique deformation belts: Lessons from the Gobi Corridor, Central Asia, Journal of Structural Geology, 46, 255–282, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsg.2012.08.010, 2013.
Cunningham, D., Davies, S., and McLean, D.: Exhumation of a Cretaceous rift complex within a Late Cenozoic restraining bend, southern Mongolia: implications for the crustal evolution of the Gobi Altai region, JGS, 166, 321–333, https://doi.org/10.1144/0016-76492008-082, 2009.
Dai, S., Fang, X., Song, C., Gao, J., Gao, D., and Li, J.: Early tectonic uplift of the northern Tibetan Plateau, Chinese Sci. Bull., 50, 1642, https://doi.org/10.1360/03wd0255, 2005.
Dai, S., Ma, X., Zhao, Z., Fan, X., Wang, Y., Wang, Z., Zhang, X., Cai, L., Deng, W., Hou, X., Xu, J., and Li, J.: Jurassic Evolution of the Dunhuang Basin and Its Implications for the Early History of the Altyn Tagh Fault, Northeast Tibet Plateau, Tectonics, 42, e2022TC007620, https://doi.org/10.1029/2022TC007620, 2023.
Darby, B., Ritts, B., Yue, Y., and Meng, Q.: Did the Altyn Tagh fault extend beyond the Tibetan Plateau?, Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 240, 425–435, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2005.09.011, 2005.
Davis, G. A. and Darby, B. J.: Early Cretaceous overprinting of the Mesozoic Daqing Shan fold-and-thrust belt by the Hohhot metamorphic core complex, Inner Mongolia, China, Geoscience Frontiers, 1, 1–20, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gsf.2010.08.001, 2010.
Donskaya, T. V., Windley, B. F., Mazukabzov, A. M., KRöNER, A., Sklyarov, E. V., Gladkochub, D. P., Ponomarchuk, V. A., Badarch, G., Reichow, M. K., and Hegner, E.: Age and evolution of late Mesozoic metamorphic core complexes in southern Siberia and northern Mongolia, JGS, 165, 405–421, https://doi.org/10.1144/0016-76492006-162, 2008.
Duan, L., Niu, W., Zhang, Y., Zhao, Z., Zhang, G., Ren, B., Li, C., and Tu, J.: The petrogenesis of quartz diorite (350 Ma) from the Baiheshan area of the Beishan orogenic belt, and its chronological constraint on Hongshishan-Baiheshan Ocean's subduction initiation, Geol. Bull. China, 39, 1330–1340, https://doi.org/10.12097/gbc.dztb-39-9-1330, 2020 (in Chinese).
Gaudemer, Y., Tapponnier, P., Meyer, B., Peltzer, G., Shunmin, G., Zhitai, C., Huagung, D., and Cifuentes, I.: Partitioning of crustal slip between linked, active faults in the eastern Qilian Shan, and evidence for a major seismic gap, the `Tianzhu gap', on the western Haiyuan Fault, Gansu (China), Geophysical Journal International, 120, 599–645, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-246X.1995.tb01842.x, 1995.
Gehrels, G. E., Yin, A., and Wang, X.: Detrital-zircon geochronology of the northeastern Tibetan plateau, Geological Society of America Bulletin, 115, 881–896, https://doi.org/10.1130/0016-7606(2003)115<0881:DGOTNT>2.0.CO;2, 2003.
He, T., Wang, Y., Yan, J., Yang, Z., Li, K., Liu, Z., Wang, Z., and Wu, L.: The Orogeny Transition of the Southern Beishan Orogenic Belt During the Early–Middle Devonian: Evidence from the Wudaomingshui Volcanic Rocks and Granite, Minerals, 15, 632, https://doi.org/10.3390/min15060632, 2025.
He, Z., Zhang, Z., Zong, K., and Dong, X.: Paleoproterozoic crustal evolution of the Tarim Craton: Constrained by zircon U–Pb and Hf isotopes of meta-igneous rocks from Korla and Dunhuang, Journal of Asian Earth Sciences, 78, 54–70, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jseaes.2013.07.022, 2013.
He, Z., Zong, K., Jiang, H., Xiang, H., and Zhang, Z.: Early Paleozoic tectonic evolution of the southern Beishan orogenic collage: Insights from the granitoids, Acta Petrol. Sin., 30, 2324–2338, 2014 (in Chinese).
He, Z., Klemd, R., Yan, L., and Zhang, Z.: The origin and crustal evolution of microcontinents in the Beishan orogen of the southern Central Asian Orogenic Belt, Earth-Science Reviews, 185, 1–14, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2018.05.012, 2018.
Horton, B. K., Dupont-Nivet, G., Zhou, J., Waanders, G. L., Butler, R. F., and Wang, J.: Mesozoic-Cenozoic evolution of the Xining-Minhe and Dangchang basins, northeastern Tibetan Plateau: Magnetostratigraphic and biostratigraphic results, J. Geophys. Res., 109, 2003JB002913, https://doi.org/10.1029/2003JB002913, 2004.
Hu, P., Zhai, Q., Jahn, B., Wang, J., Li, C., Lee, H., and Tang, S.: Early Ordovician granites from the South Qiangtang terrane, northern Tibet: Implications for the early Paleozoic tectonic evolution along the Gondwanan proto-Tethyan margin, Lithos, 220–223, 318–338, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lithos.2014.12.020, 2015.
Huang, X., Gao, R., Li, W., and Xiong, X.: Seismic reflection evidence of crustal duplexing and lithospheric underthrusting beneath the western Qilian Mountains, northeastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau, Sci. China Earth Sci., 64, 96–109, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-020-9677-y, 2021.
Jia, S., Guo, W., Mooney, W. D., Wang, F., Duan, Y., Zhao, J., Lin, J., and Liu, Z.: Crustal structure of the middle segment of the Qilian fold belt and the coupling mechanism of its associated basin and range system, Tectonophysics, 770, 128154, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tecto.2019.06.024, 2019.
Li, B., Zuza, A. V., Chen, X., Hu, D., Shao, Z., Qi, B., Wang, Z., Levy, D. A., and Xiong, X.: Corrigendum to Cenozoic multi-phase deformation in the Qilian Shan and out-of-sequence development of the northern Tibetan Plateau, Tectonophysics, 808, 228794, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tecto.2021.228794, 2021.
Li, C., Wang, Q., Liu, X., and Tang, Y.: Explanatory notes to the tectonic map of Asia, Geol. Publ. House, Beijing, 1982 (in Chinese).
Li, G., Wang, Q., Huang, Y., Gao, L., and Yu, L.: Petrogenesis of middle Ordovician peraluminous granites in the Baoshan block: implications for the early Paleozoic tectonic evolution along East Gondwana, Lithos, 245, 76–92, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lithos.2015.10.012, 2016.
Li, H., Xiong, X., Guo, X., Huang, X., Gao, R., and Eccles, J. D.: Intracontinental underthrusting and lower crustal duplexing drive the uplift of the Qilian Shan, Gondwana Research, 149, 201–211, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gr.2025.08.008, 2026.
Li, J., Wu, C., Chen, X., Yin, A., Zuza, A. V., Haproff, P. J., Chen, Y., Wang, L., and Shao, Z.: Tectonic setting of metamorphism and exhumation of eclogite-facies rocks in the South Beishan orogen, northwestern China, Geosphere, 19, 100–138, https://doi.org/10.1130/GES02548.1, 2023.
Liu, X.: Tectonics of orogenic belts in Beishan Mts., western China and their evolution, Dixue Yanjiu (Geosci. Research), 28, 37–48, 1995 (in Chinese).
Meng, Q.: What drove late Mesozoic extension of the northern China–Mongolia tract?, Tectonophysics, 369, 155–174, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0040-1951(03)00195-1, 2003.
Meyer, B., Tapponnier, P., Bourjot, L., Métivier, F., Gaudemer, Y., Peltzer, G., Shunmin, G., and Zhitai, C.: Crustal thickening in Gansu-Qinghai, lithospheric mantle subduction, and oblique, strike-slip controlled growth of the Tibet plateau, Geophys. J. Int., 135, 1–47, https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-246X.1998.00567.x, 1998.
Niu, W., Xin, H., Duan, L., Zhao, Z., Zhang, G., Ren, B., and Zhang, Y.: Geochemical characteristics, zircon U-Pb age of SSZ ophiolite in the Baiheshan area of the Beishan orogenic belt, Inner Mongolia, and its indication for the evolution of the Paleo-Asian Ocean, Geol. Bull. China, 39, 1317–1329, 2020 (in Chinese).
Pan, G., Zhu, D., and Wang, L.: Bangong Lake-Nu River suture zone—the northern boundary of Gondwanaland: Evidence from geology and geophysics, Earth Sci. Front., 11, 371–382, 2004 (in Chinese).
Peng, J., Huang, J., Liu, Z., and Xing, K.: Constraints on S-wave velocity structures of the lithosphere in mainland China from broadband ambient noise tomography, Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors, 299, 106406, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pepi.2019.106406, 2020.
Ren, J., Wang, Z., Chen, B., Jiang, C., Niu, B., Li, D., Xie, G., He, Z., and Liu, X.: The Tectonics of China from a Global View – A Guide to the Tectonic Map of China and Adjacent Regions, Geol. Publ. House, Beijing, 1999 (in Chinese).
Ritts, B. D., Yue, Y., and Graham, S. A.: Oligocene-Miocene Tectonics and Sedimentation along the Altyn Tagh Fault, Northern Tibetan Plateau: Analysis of the Xorkol, Subei, and Aksay Basins, The Journal of Geology, 112, 207–229, https://doi.org/10.1086/381658, 2004.
Ryan, W. B. F., Carbotte, S. M., Coplan, J. O., O'Hara, S., Melkonian, A., Arko, R., Weissel, R. A., Ferrini, V., Goodwillie, A., Nitsche, F., Bonczkowski, J., and Zemsky, R.: Global Multi-Resolution Topography synthesis, Geochem Geophys Geosyst, 10, 2008GC002332, https://doi.org/10.1029/2008GC002332, 2009.
Shen, X., Li, Y., Gao, R., Chen, X., Liu, M., Yuan, X., Kind, R., Xiong, X., Zhang, Y., Qian, Y., Li, M., and Mei, X.: Lateral growth of NE Tibetan Plateau restricted by the Asian lithosphere: Results from a dense seismic profile, Gondwana Research, 87, 238–247, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gr.2020.06.018, 2020.
Shi, M., Hou, Q., Wu, C., Yan, Q., Wang, H. Y. C., Cheng, N., Zhang, Q. W. L., and Li, Z. M. G.: Paleozoic Sanweishan arc in the northern Dunhuang region, NW China: The Dunhuang block is a Phanerozoic orogen, not a Precambrian block, Journal of Asian Earth Sciences, 194, 103954, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jseaes.2019.103954, 2020.
Shi, M., Hou, Q., Wu, C., Yan, Q., Cheng, N., Zhang, Q. W. L., and Wang, H. Y. C.: Origins of the meta-mafic rocks in the southern Dunhuang Block ( NW China): Implication for tectonic framework of the southernmost Central Asian Orogenic Belt, Geological Journal, 56, 3959–3973, https://doi.org/10.1002/gj.4144, 2021.
Shi, Z., Gao, R., Lu, Z., Li, W., Li, H., Huang, X., and Liang, H.: Bidirectional subduction of the Bangong-Nujiang ocean revealed by deep-crustal seismic reflection profile, Tectonophysics, 837, 229455, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tecto.2022.229455, 2022.
Song, D., Xiao, W., Windley, B. F., Han, C., and Tian, Z.: A Paleozoic Japan-type subduction-accretion system in the Beishan orogenic collage, southern Central Asian Orogenic Belt, Lithos, 224–225, 195–213, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lithos.2015.03.005, 2015.
Song, S., Niu, Y., Su, L., and Xia, X.: Tectonics of the North Qilian orogen, NW China, Gondwana Research, 23, 1378–1401, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gr.2012.02.004, 2013.
Song, S., Niu, Y., Su, L., Zhang, C., and Zhang, L.: Continental orogenesis from ocean subduction, continent collision/subduction, to orogen collapse, and orogen recycling: The example of the North Qaidam UHPM belt, NW China, Earth-Science Reviews, 129, 59–84, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2013.11.010, 2014.
Tapponnier, P., Meyer, B., Avouac, J. P., Peltzer, G., Gaudemer, Y., Shunmin, G., Hongfa, X., Kelun, Y., Zhitai, C., Shuahua, C., and Huagang, D.: Active thrusting and folding in the Qilian Shan, and decoupling between upper crust and mantle in northeastern Tibet, Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 97, 382–403, https://doi.org/10.1016/0012-821X(90)90053-Z, 1990.
Tapponnier, P., Zhiqin, X., Roger, F., Meyer, B., Arnaud, N., Wittlinger, G., and Jingsui, Y.: Oblique Stepwise Rise and Growth of the Tibet Plateau, Science, 294, 1671–1677, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.105978, 2001.
Vidale, J.: Finite-difference calculation of travel times, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, 78, 2062–2076, https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/ssa/bssa/article-abstract/78/6/2062/119163/Finite-difference-calculation-of-travel-times (last access: 12 November 2025), 1988.
Wang, C., Deng, J., Lu, Y., Bagas, L., Kemp, A. I. S., and McCuaig, T. C.: Age, nature, and origin of Ordovician Zhibenshan granite from the Baoshan terrane in the Sanjiang region and its significance for understanding Proto-Tethys evolution, International Geology Review, 57, 1922–1939, https://doi.org/10.1080/00206814.2015.1043358, 2015.
Wang, D., Luo, L., Tang, Y., Yin, F., Wang, B., Wang, L., and Center, C.: Zircon U-Pb dating and petrogenesis of Early Paleozoic adakites from the Niujingshan ophiolitic mélange in the Changning-Menglian suture zone and its geological implications, Acta Petrol. Sin., 32, 2317–2329, 2016 (in Chinese).
Wang, H., Wang, J., Wang, G., Lu, J., Chen, H., Peng, T., Zhang, H., Zhang, Q., Xiao, W., Hou, Q., Yan, Q., Zhang, Q., and Wu, C.: Metamorphic evolution and geochronology of the Dunhuang orogenic belt in the Hongliuxia area, northwestern China, Journal of Asian Earth Sciences, 135, 51–69, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jseaes.2016.12.014, 2017.
Wang, Q. and Liu, X.: Qilian Mountains Caledonian polycyclic double metamorphic belt, in: Collection of Papers on the Geotectonics of China and Its Neighboring Regions, Geological Publishing House, Beijing, 92–101, 1981 (in Chinese with English abstract).
Wang, S., Zhang, K., Song, B., Li, S., Li, M., and Zhou, J.: Geochronology and geochemistry of the Niujuanzi ophiolitic mélange, Gansu Province, NW China: implications for tectonic evolution of the Beishan Orogenic Collage, Int. J. Earth Sci. (Geol. Rundsch.), 107, 269–289, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00531-017-1489-2, 2018.
Wang, W., Zheng, D., Li, C., Wang, Y., Zhang, Z., Pang, J., Wang, Y., Yu, J., Wang, Y., Zheng, W., Zhang, H., and Zhang, P.: Cenozoic Exhumation of the Qilian Shan in the Northeastern Tibetan Plateau: Evidence From Low-Temperature Thermochronology, Tectonics, 39, e2019TC005705, https://doi.org/10.1029/2019TC005705, 2020.
Wang, Z., Xiong, X., Wu, G., Li, Z., Ye, Z., and Jin, Z.: Crustal structure and deformation mechanism of the western northeast Tibetan Plateau, Front. Earth Sci., 11, 1255813, https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2023.1255813, 2023.
Wei, X., Jiang, M., Liang, X., Chen, L., and Ai, Y.: Limited southward underthrusting of the Asian lithosphere and material extrusion beneath the northeastern margin of Tibet, inferred from teleseismic Rayleigh wave tomography, JGR Solid Earth, 122, 7172–7189, https://doi.org/10.1002/2016JB013832, 2017.
Wittlinger, G., Vergne, J., Tapponnier, P., Farra, V., Poupinet, G., Jiang, M., Su, H., Herquel, G., and Paul, A.: Teleseismic imaging of subducting lithosphere and Moho offsets beneath western Tibet, Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 221, 117–130, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0012-821X(03)00723-4, 2004.
Wu, C., Gao, Y., Frost, B. R., Robinson, P. T., Wooden, J. L., Wu, S., Chen, Q., and Lei, M.: An early Palaeozoic double-subduction model for the North Qilian oceanic plate: evidence from zircon SHRIMP dating of granites, International Geology Review, 53, 157–181, https://doi.org/10.1080/00206810902965346, 2011.
Wu, C., Yin, A., Zuza, A. V., Zhang, J., Liu, W., and Ding, L.: Pre-Cenozoic geologic history of the central and northern Tibetan Plateau and the role of Wilson cycles in constructing the Tethyan orogenic system, Lithosphere, 8, 254–292, https://doi.org/10.1130/L494.1, 2016.
Wu, C., Zuza, A. V., Yin, A., Liu, C., Reith, R. C., Zhang, J., Liu, W., and Zhou, Z.: Geochronology and geochemistry of Neoproterozoic granitoids in the central Qilian Shan of northern Tibet: Reconstructing the amalgamation processes and tectonic history of Asia, Lithosphere, 9, 609–636, https://doi.org/10.1130/L640.1, 2017.
Wu, C., Xu, T., Tian, X., Mitchell, R. N., Lin, J., Yang, J., Wang, X., and Lu, Z.: Underthrusting of Tarim Lower Crust Beneath the Tibetan Plateau Revealed by Receiver Function Imaging, Geophysical Research Letters, 51, e2024GL108220, https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GL108220, 2024.
Wu, G., Xiong, X., Wu, C., Yang, H., Zhang, J., Zhao, Z., and Zhang, G.: 2-D tomographic imaging of the P-wave velocity structure in the upper crust beneath the southern Beishan tectonic belt, Earth Sci. Front., 29, 402–415, https://doi.org/10.13745/j.esf.sf.2022.2.2, 2022.
Xiao, Q., Zhang, J., Wang, J., Zhao, G., and Tang, J.: Electrical resistivity structures between the Northern Qilian Mountains and Beishan Block, NW China, and tectonic implications, Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors, 200–201, 92–104, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pepi.2012.04.008, 2012.
Xiao, Q., Shao, G., Yu, G., Cai, J., and Wang, J.: Electrical resistivity structures of the Kunlun–Qaidam–Qilian system at the northern Tibet and their tectonic implications, Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors, 255, 1–17, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pepi.2016.03.011, 2016.
Xiao, Q., Yu, G., Liu-Zeng, J., Oskin, M. E., and Shao, G.: Structure and geometry of the Aksay restraining double bend along the Altyn Tagh Fault, northern Tibet, imaged using magnetotelluric method, Geophysical Research Letters, 44, 4090–4097, https://doi.org/10.1002/2017GL072581, 2017.
Xiao, W., Song, D., Windley, B. F., Li, J., Han, C., Wan, B., Zhang, J., Ao, S., and Zhang, Z.: Accretionary processes and metallogenesis of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt: Advances and perspectives, Sci. China Earth Sci., 63, 329–361, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-019-9524-6, 2020.
Xiao, W., Windley, B. F., Yong, Y., Yan, Z., Yuan, C., Liu, C., and Li, J.: Early Paleozoic to Devonian multiple-accretionary model for the Qilian Shan, NW China, Journal of Asian Earth Sciences, 35, 323– 333, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jseaes.2008.10.001, 2009.
Xiao, W., Windley, B. F., Han, C., Liu, W., Wan, B., Zhang, J., Ao, S., Zhang, Z., and Song, D.: Late Paleozoic to early Triassic multiple roll-back and oroclinal bending of the Mongolia collage in Central Asia, Earth-Science Reviews, 186, 94–128, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2017.09.020, 2018.
Xiao, W. J., Mao, Q. G., Windley, B. F., Han, C. M., Qu, J. F., Zhang, J. E., Ao, S. J., Guo, Q. Q., Cleven, N. R., Lin, S. F., Shan, Y. H., and Li, J. L.: Paleozoic multiple accretionary and collisional processes of the Beishan orogenic collage, American Journal of Science, 310, 1553–1594, https://doi.org/10.2475/10.2010.12, 2010.
Xie, T., Yang, Y., Xu, T., Tian, X., Lin, J., Wu, C., and Lu, Z.: 2-D sedimentary structures at the southeast margin of the Tarim Basin, China, constrained by Love wave ambient noise tomography, Geophysical Journal International, 239, 1775–1788, https://doi.org/10.1093/gji/ggae350, 2024.
Xin, H., Niu, W., Tian, J., Teng, X., and Duan, X.: Spatio-temporal structure of Beishan orogenic belt and evolution of Paleo-Asian Ocean, Inner Mongolia, Geol. Bull. China, 39, 1297–1316, 2020 (in Chinese).
Xiong, X., Gao, R., Feng, S., Li, Y., Huang, X., Chen, X., and Chang, Y.: Deep structure of the Yumushan tectonic zone and its uplift origin, Geology in China, 46, 1039–1051, https://doi.org/10.12029/gc20190506, 2019 (in Chinese with English abstract).
Xiong, X., Li, H., Chen, X., Li, R., Zhou, J., Gao, R., and Eccles, J. D.: Subduction retreat recorded in the southern Beishan orogenic collage of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt: New evidence from deep seismic reflection profiling, Geological Society of America Bulletin, 137, 1254–1266, https://doi.org/10.1130/B37718.1, 2025.
Xu, X., Xia, L., and Xia, Z.: Volcanism and mineralization in the North Qilian Orogenic Belt, Northwestern China, in: Mineral Deposit Research: Meeting the Global Challenge, edited by: Mao, J. and Bierlein, F. P., Springer Berlin Heidelberg, Berlin, Heidelberg, 487–489, https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-27946-6_126, 2005.
Yang, H., Yang, X., Zhan, Y., Cunningham, D., Zhao, L., Sun, X., Hu, Z., Huang, X., Huang, W., and Miao, S.: Quaternary Activity of the Beihewan Fault in the Southeastern Beishan Wrench Belt, Western China: Implications for Crustal Stability and Intraplate Earthquake Hazards North of Tibet, JGR Solid Earth, 124, 13286–13309, https://doi.org/10.1029/2018JB017209, 2019.
Yang, H., Cunningham, D., and Yang, X.: Quaternary crustal reactivation of the southwestern Beishan, NW China: The Liuyuan sinistral transpressional duplex, Tectonophysics, 803, 228758, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tecto.2021.228758, 2021.
Yang, H., Li, A., Cunningham, D., Yang, X., Zhan, Y., Chen, Z., Hu, Z., Zuo, Y., Miao, S., Sun, X., and Tang, R.: An Evolving Lithospheric-Scale Wrench Fault System Along the Eastern End of the Altyn Tagh Fault: Kinematics and Quaternary Activity of the Heishan Fault System, Western China, Tectonics, 42, e2023TC007764, https://doi.org/10.1029/2023TC007764, 2023.
Yang, H., Sun, X., Zhan, Y., Yang, X., Cunningham, D., Zhao, L., and Zuo, Y.: New Magnetotelluric Data Reveal Deep Fault Boundaries and Contrasting Late Cenozoic Fault Kinematics Between the Qilian Shan Thrust Wedge and Beishan-Alxa Block, Western China, Geophysical Research Letters, 51, e2023GL107659, https://doi.org/10.1029/2023GL107659, 2024a.
Yang, H., Xiong, S., Liu, Q., Zhou, D., Yang, X., Fan, Z., Jia, Z., Li, F., Gao, X., and Liu, F.: Tectonic framework of Qilian orogen: reveal from an aeromagnetic anomaly feature, Appl. Geophys., 21, 528–548, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11770-023-1041-z, 2024b.
Yao, S., Xu, T., Yang, T., Wu, C., Lin, J., Hua, Y., Zhu, D., and Ye, L.: Lithospheric Structure of the Central Altyn Tagh Fault System Revealed by Teleseismic Travel-Time Tomography, Seismological Research Letters, 96, 2300–2310, https://doi.org/10.1785/0220240314, 2025.
Yin, A. and Harrison, T. M.: Geologic Evolution of the Himalayan-Tibetan Orogen, Annu. Rev. Earth Planet. Sci., 28, 211–280, https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.earth.28.1.211, 2000.
Yin, A., Rumelhart, P. E., Butler, R., Cowgill, E., Harrison, T. M., Foster, D. A., Ingersoll, R. V., Qing, Z., Xian-Qiang, Z., Xiao-Feng, W., Hanson, A., and Raza, A.: Tectonic history of the Altyn Tagh fault system in northern Tibet inferred from Cenozoic sedimentation, Geological Society of America Bulletin, 114, 1257–1295, https://doi.org/10.1130/0016-7606(2002)114<1257:THOTAT>2.0.CO;2, 2002.
Yin, A., Dang, Y., Zhang, M., Chen, X., and McRivette, M. W.: Cenozoic tectonic evolution of the Qaidam basin and its surrounding regions (Part 3): Structural geology, sedimentation, and regional tectonic reconstruction, GSA Bulletin, 120, 847–876, https://doi.org/10.1130/B26232.1, 2008.
Yu, J., Li, X., Wang, G., Wu, P., and Yan, Q.: Zircon U-Pb ages of Huitongshan and Zhangfangshan ophiolite in Beishan of Gansu-Inner Mongolia border area and their significance, Geol. Bull. China, 31, 2038–2045, 2012 (in Chinese).
Yu, S., Peng, Y., Zhang, J., Li, S., Santosh, M., Li, Y., Liu, Y., Gao, X., Ji, W., Lv, P., Li, C., Jiang, X., Qi, L., Xie, W., and Xu, L.: Tectono-thermal evolution of the Qilian orogenic system: Tracing the subduction, accretion and closure of the Proto-Tethys Ocean, Earth-Science Reviews, 215, 103547, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2021.103547, 2021.
Yuan, D., Ge, W., Chen, Z., Li, C., Wang, Z., Zhang, H., Zhang, P., Zheng, D., Zheng, W., Craddock, W. H., Dayem, K. E., Duvall, A. R., Hough, B. G., Lease, R. O., Champagnac, J., Burbank, D. W., Clark, M. K., Farley, K. A., Garzione, C. N., Kirby, E., Molnar, P., and Roe, G. H.: The growth of northeastern Tibet and its relevance to large-scale continental geodynamics: A review of recent studies, Tectonics, 32, 1358–1370, https://doi.org/10.1002/tect.20081, 2013.
Yuan, Y., Zong, K., He, Z., Klemd, R., Liu, Y., Hu, Z., Guo, J., and Zhang, Z.: Geochemical and geochronological evidence for a former early Neoproterozoic microcontinent in the South Beishan Orogenic Belt, southernmost Central Asian Orogenic Belt, Precambrian Research, 266, 409–424, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.precamres.2015.05.034, 2015.
Yue, Y. and Liou, J. G.: Two-stage evolution model for the Altyn Tagh fault, China, Geology, 27, 227–230, https://doi.org/10.1130/0091-7613(1999)027<0227:TSEMFT>2.3.CO;2, 1999.
Yue, Y., Ritts, B. D., and Graham, S. A.: Initiation and Long-Term Slip History of the Altyn Tagh Fault, International Geology Review, 43, 1087–1093, https://doi.org/10.1080/00206810109465062, 2001.
Yun, L., Wang, J., Zhang, J., Zhang, H., and Dong, Z.: Late Quaternary tectonics of the Jiujing-Bantan fault along the southern Beishan Block and its implication for the northward growth of the Tibetan Plateau, Journal of Structural Geology, 198, 105458, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsg.2025.105458, 2025.
Zelt, C. A.: ZPLOT – an interactive plotting and picking program for seismic data, Bullard Lab., Univ. of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK, 1994.
Zelt, C. A. and Smith, R. B.: Seismic traveltime inversion for 2-D crustal velocity structure, Geophysical Journal International, 108, 16–34, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-246X.1992.tb00836.x, 1992.
Zhang, J. and Cunningham, D.: Kilometer-scale refolded folds caused by strike-slip reversal and intraplate shortening in the Beishan region, China, Tectonics, 31, TC3019, https://doi.org/10.1029/2011TC003050, 2012.
Zhang, J., Cunningham, D., Yun, L., Qu, J., Zhao, H., Zhang, B., Niu, P., and Hui, J.: Kinematic variability of late Cenozoic fault systems and contrasting mountain building processes in the Alxa block, western China, Journal of Asian Earth Sciences, 205, 104597, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jseaes.2020.104597, 2021.
Zhang, J., Zhang, B., Zhao, H., Yun, L., Qu, J., Wang, Z., Yang, Y., and Zhao, S.: Late Cenozoic deformation characteristics and mechanism of the Beishan–Alxa region, North China, Earth Sci. Front., 30, 334–357, https://doi.org/10.13745/j.esf.sf.2023.8.16, 2023 (in Chinese with English abstract).
Zhang, Z., Deng, Y., Teng, J., Wang, C., Gao, R., Chen, Y., and Fan, W.: An overview of the crustal structure of the Tibetan plateau after 35 years of deep seismic soundings, Journal of Asian Earth Sciences, 40, 977–989, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jseaes.2010.03.010, 2011.
Zhao, G., Wang, Y., Huang, B., Dong, Y., Li, S., Zhang, G., and Yu, S.: Geological reconstructions of the East Asian blocks: From the breakup of Rodinia to the assembly of Pangea, Earth-Science Reviews, 186, 262–286, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2018.10.003, 2018.
Zhao, L., Li, Y., Cheng, S., Li, Z., Zheng, J., Qiu, H., Bai, X., Xiao, W., and Brouwer, F. M.: Geochronology and geochemistry of early Paleozoic magmatism in the Qilian orogen: Constraints on closure of the Proto-Tethys Ocean, Gondwana Research, 126, 223–242, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gr.2023.10.006, 2024.
Zheng, D., Wang, W., Wan, J., Yuan, D., Liu, C., Zheng, W., Zhang, H., Pang, J., and Zhang, P.: Progressive northward growth of the northern Qilian Shan–Hexi Corridor (northeastern Tibet) during the Cenozoic, Lithosphere, 9, 408–416, https://doi.org/10.1130/L587.1, 2017.
Zheng, Y., Zhang, Q., Wang, Y., Liu, R., Wang, S. G., Zuo, G., Wang, S. Z., Lkaasuren, B., Badarch, G., and Badamgarav, Z.: Great Jurassic thrust sheets in Beishan (North Mountains) – Gobi areas of China and southern Mongolia, Journal of Structural Geology, 18, 1111–1126, https://doi.org/10.1016/0191-8141(96)00038-7, 1996.
Zong, K., Liu, Y., Zhang, Z., He, Z., Hu, Z., Guo, J., and Chen, K.: The generation and evolution of Archean continental crust in the Dunhuang block, northeastern Tarim craton, northwestern China, Precambrian Research, 235, 251–263, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.precamres.2013.07.002, 2013.
Zuo, G. and Liu, J.: The evolution of tectonics of Early Paleozoic in North Qilian range, China, Chinese Journal of Geology, 22, 14–24, 1987 (in Chinese with English abstract).
Zuo, G. and Li, S.: Early Paleozoic tectonic framework and evolution in the northeast margin of Tarim Basin, Geology in China, 38(4), 945–960, 2011 (in Chinese with English abstract).
Zuo, G., Zhang, S., He, G., and Zhang, Y.: Plate tectonic characteristics during the early paleozoic in Beishan near the Sino-Mongolian border region, China, Tectonophysics, 188, 385–392, https://doi.org/10.1016/0040-1951(91)90466-6, 1991.
Zuza, A. V., Cheng, X., and Yin, A.: Testing models of Tibetan Plateau formation with Cenozoic shortening estimates across the Qilian Shan–Nan Shan thrust belt, Geosphere, 12, 501–532, https://doi.org/10.1130/GES01254.1, 2016.
Zuza, A. V., Wu, C., Reith, R. C., Yin, A., Li, J., Zhang, J., Zhang, Y., Wu, L., and Liu, W.: Tectonic evolution of the Qilian Shan: An early Paleozoic orogen reactivated in the Cenozoic, GSA Bulletin, 130, 881–925, https://doi.org/10.1130/B31721.1, 2018.
Zuza, A. V., Wu, C., Wang, Z., Levy, D. A., Li, B., Xiong, X., and Chen, X.: Underthrusting and duplexing beneath the northern Tibetan Plateau and the evolution of the Himalayan-Tibetan orogen, Lithosphere, 11, 209–231, https://doi.org/10.1130/L1042.1, 2019.
Short summary
New seismic data across the Qilian Shan–Beishan transect image a 47.5–60 km, five-layer crust with strong lateral heterogeneity. North-dipping mantle fabrics and a fossil slab beneath the Hongliuhe–Xichangjing ophiolite record Paleozoic northward subduction of both Qilian and Beishan oceans. The Altyn Tagh Fault is traced east-northeast along the Beishan southern margin into the Alxa Block.
New seismic data across the Qilian Shan–Beishan transect image a 47.5–60 km, five-layer crust...
Special issue