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The Pamir region, located to the northwest of the Tibetan Plateau, provides important information that can aid the understanding of the plateau's tectonic evolution. Here we present new findings on the deformation geometry and timing of the Wupoer thrust belt at the northeastern margin of Pamir. Field investigations and interpretations of seismic profiles indicate that the eastern portion of the Wupoer thrust belt is dominated by an underlying foreland basin and an overlying piggy-back basin. A regional unconformity occurs between the Pliocene (N) and the underlying Miocene (N) or Paleogene (Pg) strata associated with two other local unconformities between Lower Pleistocene (Q) and N and between Middle Pleistocene (Q) and Q strata. Results of structural restorations suggest that compressional deformation was initiated during the latest Miocene to earliest Pliocene, contributing a total shortening magnitude of 48.6 km with a total shortening rate of 48.12%, most of which occurred in the period from the latest Miocene to earliest Pliocene. These results, combined with previous studies on the Kongur and Tarshkorgan extensional system, suggest an interesting picture of strong piedmont compressional thrusting activity concurrent with interorogen extensional rifting. Combining these results with previously published work on the lithospheric architecture of the Pamir, we propose that gravitational collapse drove the formation of simultaneous extensional and compressional structures with a weak, ductile middle crustal layer acting as a décollement along which both the extensional and compressional faults merged. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Sikouzi Section is located towards the northern limits of the East Asian summer monsoon, providing the opportunity of placing the stratigraphic record into the context of the East Asian summer monsoon history. We present here the results of the details of the sedimentology of the Neogene succession of the section and use these to provide insights into the evolving history of the East Asian summer monsoon. The record is marked by a strongly expressed early Miocene lacustrine phase. A well-defined evaporate bed defines the top of the lacustrine succession, marking the onset of more arid conditions during the middle Miocene. The overlying succession is dominated by a series of alluvial packages, extending into the late Pleistocene with varying stratigraphic architectures and including a subordinate lacustrine component. Given the regional setting, the onset of drier conditions during the middle Miocene must relate to a downturn of summer monsoon activity. We focus on the question: what 'forced' this palaeoclimate event? Earlier biostratigraphic work places the explanation of this change into the context of the global-scale middle Miocene climate reorganisation. Here we explore this question in the context of regional-scale climate dynamics and propose that the onset of drier conditions over the study area was a response to atmospheric subsidence driven by circulation changes related to the growth of the Tibetan Plateau. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work studies new petrological and geochemical data and zircon U-Pb ages for bimodal intrusive rocks from Xinglong region, Hainan Island. Zircon U-Pb dating yields mean U/Pb ages of 238 ± 2 Ma and 234 ± 2 Ma for diabasic and granitic phases, respectively, representing the Middle Triassic emplacement. The diabase and granite bodies were formed from discrete mafic and acidic magma sources that experienced local mechanical mixing at their mutual contacts. Although SiO content of intrusions is bimodal, trace element ratios indicate that both were formed in a post-orogenic extensional setting. Sr-Nd isotopic composition reflects a shared EMII type enriched mantle source component, possibly influenced by subduction-fluid metasomatism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Measurements of anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) were performed on a gabbro pluton and 7 diabase dykes in the Wanning area, southeast Hainan Island. Rock magnetism showed that pseudo-single domain (PSD) to multidomain (MD) Ti-poor magnetite carries the magnetic fabric in the gabbro pluton whereas MD Ti-poor magnetite carries the magnetic fabric in the diabase dykes. The corrected anisotropy degree ( P) in most specimens was found to be less than 1.2 which is indicative of a possible flow-related magnetic fabric. The AMS eigenvectors within each site are generally well grouped. The maximum susceptibility axes ( K) of the gabbro pluton are inclined towards the north at low angles (< 30°). K axes of the diabase dykes are inclined towards the NNW and SSE with dip angles of ⩽ 30°. From this study, it appears that the emplacement mode of the gabbro pluton was characterized by intrusion from the north to the south at a low angle whereas the diabase dykes were emplaced from the NNW to the SSE at low to moderate angles. This was verified by comparison of the rock fabric to the magnetic fabric. All of this evidence leads to the conclusion that the Wanning gabbro pluton and diabase dykes were the products of pulsative intrusion from the same magma chamber in the area far to the north of Wanning, which suggests that basic rocks may exist beneath the Indosinian granite in the area to the north of Wanning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]