Late Cretaceous climbing erg systems in the western Xinjiang Basin

Autor(en)
Chihua Wu, Juan Pedro Rodriguez-Lopez, Chenglin Liu, Xiaoming Sun, Jiuyi Wang, Guoqing Xia, Michael Wagreich
Abstrakt

This study reassesses the terrestrial deposits of the Late Cretaceous Tangbian Formation in the western Xinjiang Basin of the South China block. Originally considered to be aqueous deposits, we reinterpret these strata as representing an extensive aeolian system in a desert environment. This paper suggests that the development of aeolian deposits in the Tangbian Fm. represents the culmination of the Late-Cretaceous desertification that followed the relatively humid early Late-Cretaceous epoch in the interior of South China. The area was dominated by subtropical high-pressure systems on a planetary scale, combined with coastal mountains caused by sustained orogenic activity. The interaction between subtropical high pressure systems and topographic conditions ultimately caused the development of a tropical desert climate, characterized by an extensive dry climbing aeolian dune system. We propose that the coastal mountains not only blocked moisture transport from the ocean and led to the aridification of South China interior, but also exerted a control and transformed the original prevailing surface-wind pattern.

Organisation(en)
Institut für Geologie
Externe Organisation(en)
Sun Yat-sen University, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Universidad Nebrija, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, Chengdu University of Technology, Southwest Petroleum University
Journal
Marine and Petroleum Geology
Band
93
Seiten
539-552
Anzahl der Seiten
14
ISSN
0264-8172
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2018.03.038
Publikationsdatum
05-2018
Peer-reviewed
Ja
ÖFOS 2012
105121 Sedimentologie, 105112 Historische Geologie
Schlagwörter
ASJC Scopus Sachgebiete
Economic Geology, Geology, Geophysics, Oceanography, Stratigraphy
Sustainable Development Goals
SDG 15 – Leben an Land
Link zum Portal
https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/de/publications/326576d6-4898-439e-8c4e-07b4267888b4