Beishan thermochronology 2022

We report apatite (U-Th)/He thermochronology from the Beishan fold-thrust belt, central Asia. Based on these data, we interpret ~140-133 Ma cooling in the Early Cretaceous to reflect hanging wall exhumation during thrust slip along the Hongqishan thrust in the Hongliudaquan area, southeastern Beishan. And we infer that the normal slip of the Suosuojing fault was responsible for footwall exhumation at ~124‒115 Ma in the Early Cretaceous. The late Mesozoic development of the Beishan fold-thrust belt in central Asia should be a far-field response to the closure of the Mongol‒Okhostk Ocean in the north and the Lhasa‒Qiangtang collision in the south, followed by collapse of thickened crust that triggered the post-thrusting extensional deformation.