Chronology and tectonic controls of late tertiary deposition in the southwestern Tian Shan foreland, NW China

Magnetostratigraphy from the Kashi foreland basin along the southern margin of the Tian Shan in Western China defines the chronology of both sedimentation and the structural evolution of this collisional mountain belt. Eleven magnetostratigraphic sections representing ???13 km of basin strata provide a two- and three-dimensional record of continuous deposition since ???18 Ma. The distinctive Xiyu conglomerate makes up the uppermost strata in eight of 11 magnetostratigraphic sections within the foreland and forms a wedge that thins southward. The basal age of the conglomerate varies from 15.5??0.5 Ma at the northernmost part of the foreland, to 8.6??0.1 Ma in the central (medial) part of the foreland and to 1.9??0.2, ???1.04 and 0.7??0.1 Ma along the southern deformation front of the foreland basin. These data indicate the Xiyu conglomerate is highly time-transgressive and has prograded south since just after the initial uplift of the Kashi Basin Thrust (KBT) at 18.9??3.3 Ma. Southward progradation occurred at an average rate of ???3 mm year -1 between 15.5 and 2 Ma, before accelerating to ???10 mm year-1. Abrupt changes in sediment-accumulation rates are observed at 16.3 and 13.5 Ma in the northern part of the foreland and are interpreted to correspond to southward stepping deformation. A subtle decrease in the sedimentation rate above the Keketamu anticline is determined at ???4.0 Ma and was synchronous with an increase in sedimentation rate further south above the Atushi Anticline. Magnetostratigraphy also dates growth strata at