Feng Cheng

Peking University | PKU · School of Earth and Space Sciences

The Paleogene Lulehe Formation marks the onset of deposition in the Qaidam basin and preserves evidence of the initial topographic growth of northern Tibet. However, limited outcrops impede understanding of the sedimentary features of the Lulehe Formation as well as the tectonic relationship between the basin and surrounding topography. To fill thi...

Mountains grow upward and outward when the accretion of material outpaces its removal. Mountain building is synergistically influenced by geodynamics, internal structures (crustal and lithospheric), and climate. The northward growth of the Qilian Shan, which occupies a transition zone between the ~4500 m high central Tibetan plateau and the adjacen...

As the largest depression in the Tibetan plateau, the Qaidam basin preserves over 10 km thick of Cenozoic sediments. Those sediments represent a unique archive of the evolution of the northern part of the Tibetan plateau and of intracontinental deformation in general. Yet, several critical issues associated with the evolution of the Qaidam basin re...

Estimates of the permafrost-climate feedback vary in magnitude and sign, partly because permafrost carbon stability in warmer-than-present conditions is not well constrained. Here we use a Plio-Pleistocene lacustrine reconstruction of mean annual air temperature (MAAT) from the Tibetan Plateau, the largest alpine permafrost region on the Earth, to...

Determining the age of siliciclastic continental sequences in the absence of comprehensive biostratigraphy or radiometric dating of geological markers (e.g., volcanic layers) is inherently challenging. This issue is well exemplified in the current debate on the age of Cenozoic terrestrial strata in Central Asia, where competing age models constrain...

The Karlik Mountain, at the extreme easternmost Tianshan, marks the terminus of the modern Central Asian Orogenic Belt and serves as a natural laboratory for exploring how strain spreads from the margins of the Eurasian plate to its interior. This study investigates Cenozoic strata, including Oligocene-Miocene Taoshuyuanzi Formation and Pliocene Pu...

As a crucial segment of the oblique Indian-Eurasian convergence zone, the southeast (SE) Tibetan Plateau exhibits intricate crustal deformation and frequent seismic activity. The complex lithospheric deformation characteristics and associated dynamic mechanisms have been subjects of intense debate. By integrating geophysical data, active tectonics,...

The locus of shortening, accretion, and erosion are key components in modulating the rate, pattern, and magnitude of orogenic wedge growth, but separating their respective roles in the evolution of wedge taper is often difficult because of the absence of exhumation and uplift data from the mountains. However, such information can be preserved in th...

Cretaceous eolian deposits provide evidence of variations in the tropical-subtropical atmospheric circulation under greenhouse conditions. However, the misinterpretation of many such deposits as fluvial or deltaic originally hindered precise paleoclimatic reconstructions. Here we report a newly identified Early Cretaceous desert in the Hami Basin,...

The Ordos block is a rigid portion of the North China Craton lying within the India-Eurasia collision zone that experiences little internal deformation, but is surrounded by active faulting, extensional grabens, and seismicity. In the surrounding region, geodetic studies have imaged complex crustal deformation, while seismic studies have suggested...

The kinematics and deformation pattern along the Altyn Tagh fault (ATF), one of the largest strike‐slip faults on Earth is of great significance for understanding the growth of the Tibetan Plateau. However, the initial rupture along the ATF remains debated given the limited constraints on the depositional age of associated Cenozoic syntectonic stra...

Plain Language Summary The Tibetan Plateau undergoes remarkable outward growth driven by the ongoing convergence between the Indian and Eurasian plates. Significant questions remain as to the mechanisms responsible for generating distinct topography and deformation patterns along the Tibet margins, particularly when it encounters surrounding rigid...

In southern Africa, the Okavango Delta is a large alluvial fan sustaining a unique wetlands ecosystem in the heart of the Kalahari desert. The Delta is fed by an annual flood that brings water from the Angolan plateaus to the north, down to the Okavango region. The fan is characterized by vegetated, permanent or seasonal floodplains, dotted with th...

Determination of the depositional age of sediments provides the basis for much of the current understanding of tectonic processes, paleoclimate, and other aspects that relate to time. Integrated the high-resolution magnetostratigraphy with independent means of age control (e.g., biostratigraphy, tephrostratigraphy), the age model of the sedimentary...

The mechanisms by which complex intracontinental deformation in the northern Tibetan Plateau was accommodated since the India-Asia collision remain debated. Characterization of the formation of arcuate structures in northern Tibet provides important constraints on this debate. We conducted a new paleomagnetic study on the mid- to late Miocene strat...

Plate subduction leads to complex exhumation processes on continents. The Huangling Massif lies at the northern margin of the South China Block. Whether the Huangling Massif was exhumed as a watershed of the middle reaches of the Paleo‐Yangtze River during the Mesozoic remains under debate. We examined the exhumation history of the Huangling Massif...

The emergence of the Tibetan Plateau is one of the most significant geological events in East Asia. The Central Qilian Shan connects North and South Qilian Shan in the northeastern part of the Tibetan Plateau. However, the exhumation history of the Central Qilian Block from the Mesozoic to Cenozoic remains unclear. Determining the cooling ages of d...

The Okavango Delta in North Botswana is a hot‐spot of biodiversity within the semi‐arid central part of the South African plateau. This endorheic ecosystem is highly dependent on the annual flood that brings freshwater from the highlands of Angola to the North. However, in many places, the groundwater of the Delta is saline and contains very high c...

A better understanding of the kinematics of strike-slip faults in northern Tibet greatly affects our knowledge of the Cenozoic growth of the Tibetan plateau. Despite recent achievements in geometry and slip rate of the modern Altyn Tagh fault as well as the exhumation history of the basement rocks along the fault, how did the Altyn Tagh fault const...

Fold-and-thrust belts are structural features that accommodate upper-crustal shortening by the growth of a series of thrust faults and folds. Recent studies show that a better understanding of the structure and sedimentation styles of fold-and-thrust belts and their associated basins can provide crucial insights for improved interpretations of the...

It has been proposed that the northeastern Tibetan Plateau (NETP) was the most recent plateau sub-region to gain elevation, leading to profound environmental changes in northern East Asia around the mid-Pliocene (ca. 3.6 Ma). Alternatively, environmental changes in the region have been linked to ongoing global cooling and glacial intensification af...

Strongly deformed footwall rocks exposed in metamorphic core complexes (MCC) of the North American Cordillera were exhumed via ductile attenuation, mylonitic shearing, and detachment faulting. Whether these structures accommodated diapiric upwelling or regional extension via low‐angle normal faulting is debated. The Ruby Mountains‐East Humboldt Ran...

Understanding the tectonic history of the Qilian Shan provides significant insights into the growth pattern of the northern Tibetan Plateau. Due to the limitation of methodology and lack of detailed geological information over remote mountain ranges, there has been less information on the Pleistocene evolution of the southern Qilian Shan. Existing...

Understanding the formation of the North Qilian Shan in the NE Tibetan Plateau provides insights into the growth mechanisms of the northern region of the plateau across time. Detrital zircon fission-track (ZFT) analyses of river sediments can provide a comprehensive understanding of the exhumation history during prolonged orogenesis. Here, we appli...

Understanding the formation of the North Qilian Shan in the NE Tibetan Plateau provides insights into the growth mechanisms of the northern region of the plateau across time. Detrital zircon fission-track (ZFT) analyses of river sediments can provide a comprehensive understanding of the exhumation history during prolonged orogenesis. Here, we appli...

Late Cenozoic wildfire evolution in Inner Asia has been attributed to both ice-volume modulating precipitation changes and surface uplift of the Tibetan Plateau. Whether this is the case or not requires additional research and wildfire records from older periods. In this study, 251 microcharcoal samples from the Huatugou section in the western Qaid...

The final closure of oceans in accretionary orogens is a transformative process for continental crustal growth. The geodynamic mechanism is still controversial. This study synthesizes the Permo-Carboniferous tectono-stratigraphy, detrital zircon U–Pb dating and magmatism in the Junggar terranes to determine their interlinkage during ocean closure....

Forming the northern margin of the Cenozoic Himalayan – Tibetan orogen, the area surrounding the Qaidam Basin is a key region to study the mechanisms that govern the long-term evolution of intra-continental orogenic processes. Indeed tectonic deformation in that region involves newly-formed and inherited crustal and lithospheric structures, partiti...

The Tibetan Plateau (TP) has essential impacts on the climate in Asia and even in the Northern Hemisphere. It serves as the headwaters for at least ten large rivers that provide sustaining waters for >1 billion people, and is a dust source for downwind areas from the Chinese Loess Plateau to the Pacific Ocean and Greenland. Over the last few decade...

Detachment faults are sites of intensive fluid–rock interactions. Here, we report fluid inclusion and oxygen isotope data for quartz veins in the Ramba Dome in the North Himalayan Gneiss Domes, with an aim to constrain the origin and circulation of crustal fluids associated with the South Tibetan Detachment System (STDS). Microthermometric data for...

Massif-type anorthosites, mainly Proterozoic in age, have long been recognized as a signature rock type of crust-mantle interactions in the Proterozoic Eon. The Daxigou Anorthosite Complex (DAC) is one such massif situated in the Kuluketage block, a tectonically important domain between the Tarim Craton and the Central Asian Orogenic Belt. In this...

The West Qinling orogen has played an important role in accommodating the deformation in the northeastern Tibetan Plateau induced by the India-Eurasia convergence. Here we construct a vertical land motion (VLM) model based on the latest leveling observations adjacent to the West Qinling orogen. Combined with the horizontal deformation field, the cr...

Plain Language Summary The Tibetan plateau is Earth’s highest and largest plateau and has a protracted growth history closely related to Cenozoic convergence between India and Asia. Resolving its paleoelevation in the early Cenozoic is instructive to understand its growth history and Asian climate changes. Although paleoaltimetry studies have provi...

Understanding the formation of the Qilian Shan in the NE Tibetan Plateau provides insights into the growth mechanisms of the northern portion of the plateau through time. The onset time of exhumation in the Qilian Shan is still debated. The Qinghai Nan Shan subrange, located in the southeastern Qilian Shan, is cut by the Yellow River that forms Lon...

Existing models of intracontinental deformation have focused on plate-like rigid-body motion versus viscous-flow-like distributed deformation. To elucidate how plate convergence is accommodated by intracontinental strike-slip faulting and block rotation within a fold-thrust belt, we examine the Cenozoic structural framework of the central Qilian Sh...

The modem Tibetan Plateau represents a vast alpine ecosystem that is dominated by permafrost soils. Understanding the paleoelevation and paleoclimate history oi the Plateau provides insight into the timing oi establishment oi permalrost. Viewed in lhe context oi global cooling, we evaluate the extent to which alpine permafrost ecosystems will be lo...

A better understanding of the Cenozoic source to sink relationship between the Qaidam Basin and the surrounding regions allows us to reveal the topographic evolution of the northern edge of Tibetan Plateau in response to the India-Asian collision and the Asian aridification process. However, the depositional history and provenance of Paleogene stra...

The pre‐Cenozoic structural pattern of Asia has had a strong impact on the localization and propagation of the Cenozoic deformation that gave birth to the Tibetan Plateau. Northern Tibet represents a key area to decipher the structural and kinematic links between the Mesozoic and Cenozoic evolution of Tibet. Nonetheless, the Mesozoic tectonic setti...

Two debated age models, with a basal age of ~50 Ma versus ~30 Ma, are proposed for the depositional age of Cenozoic strata within the Qaidam basin result in a diverse understanding of the initial pattern of deformation in the northern Tibetan Plateau. To evaluate these age models, we integrated isopach maps within the basin with published thermochr...

Understanding the pre-collisional paleogeography in the NE Tibetan plateau provides insights into the growth mechanisms of the northern portion of the plateau in the Cenozoic. We conducted sandstone petrography analysis and determined U-Pb ages for detrital zircons from Cretaceous sandstone from the Yumen Basin and the northern Qilian Shan. Cretace...

Abstract ID#222680 presented at 2017 Fall Meeting, AGU, New Orleans, 11-15 Dec.

Ascertaining the enigmatic characteristics of the crystalline basement of the Qaidam basin, the deepest intracontinental basin yet located in the highest orogenic plateau with the thickest continental crust, has broad implications for the Cenozoic basin evolution, in particular, and intracontinental tectonics of Asia, in general. We carried out a c...

Marking the northern boundary of the Tibetan plateau, the Altyn Tagh fault plays a crucial role in accommodatingthe Cenozoic crustal deformation affecting the plateau. However, its initiation time and amount of offset are stillcontroversial despite being key information for the understanding of Tibet evolution. In this study, we present1122 single...

Abstract

The lithospheric strike-slip Altyn Tagh Fault has accommodated hundreds of kilometers of displacement between the Qaidam and Tarim blocks since its Eocene reactivation. However, the way the deformation is accommodated in the Qilian Shan and further east remains uncertain. Based on 360 km of northeastward migration of the relatively rigid Qaidam blo...

Understanding the source to sink relationship through time between the Eastern Kunlun Range, one of the major mountain belts in the northern Tibetan Plateau, and the actively deforming Qaidam Basin to the north has important implications for unravelling the growth history of the Tibetan Plateau. In this study, U-Pb dating (laser-ablation–inductivel...

The Altyn Tagh fault, located in the northern Tibetan Plateau, is a large left-lateral strike-slip fault heavily responsible for the growth and formation of the plateau during Cenozoic time. Despite its significance, the initial timing and kinematic patterns of movement along the Altyn Tagh fault remain highly debated. Here, we present a detailed a...

Understanding the source to sink relationship through time between the Eastern Kun-lun Range, one of the major mountain belts in the northern Tibetan Plateau, and the actively deforming Qaidam Basin to the north has important implications for unravelling the growth history of the Tibetan Plateau. In this study, U-Pb dating (laser-ablation– inductiv...

The right-stepping en-échelon Kunbei fault system, consisting of the Hongliuquan, Arlar, XIII, and Kunbei faults, features importantly in the tectonic evolution of the southwest Qaidam basin. The 3D seismic cross-section interpretation and key horizon similarity attribute analysis show that the NWW-striking Arlar fault is composed of two steeply di...

Peperites are special kinds of volcaniclastic materials generated by mingling of magma and unconsolidated sediments. They directly demonstrate the contemporaneity of volcanism and sedimentation, and hence they can be used to constrain the local paleoenvironments during volcanic eruptions. We identified peperites in the lower sequence of the northwe...

Situated along the western termination of the Eastern Kunlun Mountains, the Qimen Tagh Range represents a key area to understand the Cenozoic basin-range interactions between the northeastern Tibetan Plateau and the Qaidam Basin. Within that region, several huge bow-like fault systems such as the Kunbei and Qimen Tagh fault systems accommodate the...

The Cenozoic evolution of the Qaidam basin, especially its paleostress field, can provide a better understanding of the dynamistic process of the northern Tibetan Plateau. Under certain conditions, Anisotropy of Magnetic Susceptibility (AMS) holds great potential for investigating early tectonic events, even where macroscopic and microscopic eviden...

The Qaidam basin is the largest topographic depression inside the Tibetan Plateau and it is a key factor to understanding the Cenozoic evolution of the northern Tibetan Plateau. Paleomagnetic data was obtained from the middle to late Eocene Xiaganchaigou Formation and the early to middle Miocene Xiayoushashan Formation from 7 localities. The paleom...

Situated in the southwest of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB), the South Tian Shan (STS) Block is a key area for understanding the final accretion of the CAOB. A suite of volcanic rocks interbedded with continental sediments from the Xiaotikanlike Formation lies along the southwestern edge of the Tian Shan orogen. Laser-ablation-inductively c...

Terrigenous clastic rock reservoir is discovered in the Paleogene Lulehe Formation at Kunbei oilfield, southwestern Qaidam Basin. Basing on well coring and logging data, sediment and reservoir characteristics of Lulehe Formation in Qie 16 block of Kunbei oilfield have been studied by means of the casting thin sections and scanning electron microsco...