Thailand Was a Desert' During the Midcretaceous: Equatorward Shift

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Thailand Was a Desert' During the Midcretaceous: Equatorward Shift Island Arc (2010) 19, 605–621 Thematic Article ‘Thailand was a desert’ during the mid-Cretaceous: Equatorward shift of the subtropical high-pressure belt indicated by eolian deposits (Phu Thok Formation) in the Khorat Basin, northeastern Thailandiar_728 605..621 HITOSHI HASEGAWA,1,*† SUVAPAK IMSAMUT,2 PUNYA CHARUSIRI,3 RYUJI TADA,1 YU HORIUCHI5 AND KEN-ICHIRO HISADA4 1Department of Earth and Planetary Science, the University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan (email: [email protected]), 2Department of Mineral Resources, Bureau of Geological Survey, Bangkok 10400, Thailand, 3Department of Geology, Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand, 4Graduate School of Life and Environment Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba 305-8572, Japan, and 5Institute for Geo-Resources and Environment, AIST, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8567 Japan Abstract The Tibetan Plateau is a key factor in controlling the present-day climate and atmospheric circulation pattern in Asia. The pattern of atmospheric circulation after the uplift of the plateau is well known, whereas direct evidence is lacking regarding the nature of the circulation pattern prior to the uplift. The distribution of desert directly reflects the position of the subtropical high-pressure belt, and the prevailing surface-wind pattern recorded in desert deposits reveals the position of its divergence axis. Cretaceous eolian sandstone of the Phu Thok Formation is extensively exposed in the northern Khorat Basin, northeastern Thailand. We conducted a sedimentological study on this formation to recon- struct temporal changes in the latitude of the subtropical high-pressure belt in low-latitude Asia during the Cretaceous. Spatio-temporal changes in the paleo-wind directions recorded in the Phu Thok Formation reveal that the Khorat Basin mainly belonged to the northeast trade wind belt and subtropical high-pressure belt was situated to the north of the Khorat Basin during the initial stages of deposition, shifted southward to immediately above the basin during the main phase of deposition, and then shifted northward again to the north of the basin during the final stages of deposition. The paleomagnetic polarity sequence obtained for the Phu Thok Formation comprises three zones of normal polarity and two of reversed polarity, correlating to chrons M1n to C34n of the geomagnetic polarity time scale. This result suggests that the Phu Thok Formation is mid-Cretaceous in age (from c. 126 Ma to c. 99–93 Ma), similar to the age of eolian sandstone in the Sichuan Basin, southern China (the Jiaguan Formation). These results, in combination with paleo-wind direction data, suggest the development of low-latitude desert and an equatorward shift of the subtropical high-pressure belt (relative to the present-day) in Asia during the mid- Cretaceous. Key words: Cretaceous, desert, magnetostratigraphy, paleo-wind, subtropical high- pressure belt, Thailand. INTRODUCTION *Correspondence. The present-day climate of Southeast Asia is char- †Present address: Department of Natural History Science, Graduate school acterized by seasonal change between an arid of Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo 060-0810, Japan. winter and a humid summer, resulting from Received 14 December 2009; accepted for publication 18 May 2010. the occurrence of distinct winter and summer © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Asia Pty Ltd doi:10.1111/j.1440-1738.2010.00728.x 606 H. Hasegawa et al. monsoons. Although the timing and cause of Asian (Fig. 1; Sattayarak 1983; Meesook 2000; Depart- monsoon development remain topics of debate, the ment of Mineral Resources (DMR) 2001; Charusiri uplift of the Tibetan Plateau and its orographic et al. 2006). The eolian sandstone of the Phu Thok influence is thought to be a key factor for the pres- Formation is important because it provides direct ence of monsoonal circulation in Southeast Asia evidence of desert development in low-latitude (An et al. 2001; Abe et al. 2003). In contrast, the Asia during the Cretaceous; however, no previous climate in other regions at the same latitude, study has examined the detailed sedimentology where no such high and large plateau exists, is and chronology of the formation. zonal as a result of meridional atmospheric circu- The purpose of this study is to reconstruct the lation. Thus, a subtropical arid climate generally lithofacies of the Phu Thok Formation and to prevails beneath the subtropical high-pressure identify spatio-temporal changes in paleo-wind belt at 20°–30° latitude in both hemispheres (Biga- directions recorded in the formation. Based on rella 1972; Livingstone & Warren 1996). Given that these data, we evaluate the depositional environ- the uplift of the Tibetan Plateau commenced after ment of the formation and the paleo-position of 40 Ma (Tapponnier et al. 2001), a subtropical arid the subtropical high-pressure belt in this area climate would have prevailed in Southeast Asia during the Cretaceous. We also constrain the age during the Cretaceous (Fluteau et al. 2007). of desert development in northeastern Thailand Deserts are the direct products of meridional based on a correlation of the paleomagnetic polar- atmospheric circulation. Modern deserts are gen- ity sequence in the Phu Thok Formation, as erally developed under the subtropical high- obtained by Imsamut (1996), with that in the Phu pressure belt as a result of downwelling of the Wua section from the northernmost part of the Hadley circulation. Hence, the equatorward and Khorat Basin. poleward parts of desert areas are dominated by trade winds and westerlies, respectively (Bigarella MATERIALS AND METHODS 1972; Livingstone & Warren 1996). Eolian dunes in desert areas migrate leeward of the wind, thereby GEOLOGIC AND STRATIGRAPHIC SETTING recording the direction of the prevailing surface- wind pattern (dominantly the wintertime wind Non-marine Late Jurassic–Cretaceous deposits flow) in the form of large-scale cross-sets. There- are widespread in the Khorat Basin, northeastern fore, the distribution of desert deposits and pre- Thailand (Fig. 1). The basin belongs to the vailing surface-wind patterns recorded in such Indochina block, which is thought to have moved deposits provide direct information on the paleo- and rotated during the Paleogene in response to position of the subtropical high-pressure belt and India–Eurasia collision (Chen et al. 1993; Ritcher its divergence axis. et al. 1993; Charusiri et al. 2006). The paleo- Cretaceous eolian sandstones are widely distrib- position of the Indochina block during the Creta- uted in low- to mid-latitude sedimentary basins in ceous remains a point of controversy. Chen et al. the Asian interior (Jiang & Li 1996; Jiang et al. (1993) argued that the Indochina and South China 1999, 2001; 2008; Hasegawa et al. 2009). The occur- blocks were located between 20°N and 30°N during rence of such eolian deposits in terrestrial sedi- the Cretaceous; however, a recent paleomagnetic mentary basins is thought to provide direct study (Charusiri et al. 2006) demonstrated that the evidence of desert development in areas beneath paleo-position of the Khorat Basin in the south- the subtropical high-pressure belt during the eastern Indochina block during the Cretaceous Cretaceous. was between 16.3 Ϯ 2.3°N and 21.6 Ϯ 4.0°N, with Sattayarak (1983) was the first to report Creta- 20–25° of clockwise rotation relative to the present, ceous eolian sandstone in the Khorat Basin, north- indicating that during the Cretaceous the Khorat eastern Thailand. The Khorat Basin is composed Basin was located at a much lower latitude than mainly of a Late Jurassic–Cretaceous non-marine that of the South China block (N25.5°–29.6°; Enkin sedimentary sequence (the Khorat Group) that et al. 1991). unconformably overlies deformed Paleozoic rocks Late Jurassic–Cretaceous non-marine deposits (Sattayarak 1983; Racey et al. 1996; Meesook of the Khorat Group consist of the Phu Kradung, 2000). The eolian sandstone deposit (the Phu Thok Phra Wihan, Sao Khua, Phu Phan, Khok Kruat, Formation), exposed in the northern part of the Maha Sarakham and Phu Thok Formations, in Khorat Basin, is thought to represent the youngest ascending stratigraphic order (; Sattayarak 1983; part of the sedimentary succession in the basin Racey et al. 1996; Meesook 2000; Charusiri et al. © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Asia Pty Ltd Thailand was a desert in the mid-Cretaceous 607 EE101°101° E102° E103° E104° E105° 050100(km) N 4 1 XX’’ 5 2 3 N18° 6 SSakhonakhon NNakhonakhon bbasinasin X 1100 7 9 8 N17° NNakhonakhon TThaihai basinbasin ((b)b) South China WSW ENE NNakhonakhon TThaihai basinbasin SSakhonakhon NNakhonakhon basinbasin MMyanmeryanmer LLaosaos KKrr ddetailetail iinn ((B)B) TThailandhailand ((c)c) CCambodiaambodia TThaihai VVietnamietnam LEGEND landland Phu Khat Fm (late Cretaceous) Phu Thok Fm (Apt.-Tur.) Maha Sarakham Fm (Alb?-Cen.) Khok Kruat Fm (Apt?) MMalaysiaalaysia Phu Phan, Sao Khua, and Pre-Khorat Rocks SSumatraumatra ((a)a) Phra Wihan Fms (Ber.-Bar.) Fig. 1 A schematic geological map of the Khorat Basin, northeastern Thailand. (a) A regional map of mainland Southeast Asia with the Khorat Basin (shaded area). (b) A geological map and location of the study sites of the Phu Thok Formation in northern Khorat Basin (modified after DMR 2001). Numbers indicate several studied sites; 1) Phu Wua; 2) Phu Langka; 3) Phu Thok; 4) Chet Si; 5) Phu Sing; 6) Wat Ahong; 7) Pak Man; 8) Na Haew; 9) Nakon Chum; 10) Chat Trakan. (c) A cross-section along the line X–X’ of (b). 2006 Fig. 2). The Phu Kradung, Phra Wihan, Sao Sarakham Formation consists of alternating beds Khua, Phu Phan, and Khok Kruat Formations are of halite, anhydrite, and siliciclastic redbeds (mud- composed mainly of alternating beds of mudstone, stone and siltstone, including calcretes containing siltstone, sandstone, and conglomerate, indicating desiccation cracks), indicating deposition within deposition in meandering and braided fluvial envi- an evaporitic inland playa lake (Denchok 2006) ronments; these deposits unconformably overlie and/or a shallow saline pan environment subjected deformed Paleozoic rocks (Fig.
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