https://doi.org/10.1130/G45085.1

Manuscript received 27 April 2018 Revised manuscript received 24 July 2018 Manuscript accepted 16 August 2018

© 2018 The Authors. Gold Open Access: This paper is published under the terms of the CC-BY license. Published online 11 September 2018

Erg deposition and development of the ancestral Taklimakan Desert (western China) between 12.2 and 7.0 Ma Richard V. Heermance1, Jozi Pearson1, Annelisa Moe1, Liu Langtao2, Xu Jianhong3, Chen Jie3, Fabiana Richter4, Carmala N. Garzione4, Nie Junsheng5, and Scott Bogue6 1Department of Geological Sciences, California State University Northridge, Northridge, California 91330-8266, USA 2Department of Prospecting Engineering, Hebei University of Engineering, Handan, Hebei, 056038, China 3State Key Laboratory of Earthquake Dynamics, Institute of Geology, China Earthquake Administration, P.O. Box 9803, Chaoyang District, Beijing, 100029, China 4Department of Earth & Environmental Sciences, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14627, USA 5Key Laboratory of Western China’s Environment System (Ministry of Education), College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu 730000, China 6Department of Geology, Occidental College, Los Angeles, California 90041, USA

ABSTRACT development behind the Pamir and Tian Shan at The Taklimakan Desert in western China contains the second largest shifting sand des- the Oligocene-Miocene and Miocene-Pliocene ert on earth. The onset of this desert formation has been debated between the Eocene, early boundaries (e.g., Sun et al., 2011; Bosboom Miocene, late Miocene, or Pliocene, with each hypothesis having profound implications for et al., 2014; Licht et al., 2014; Carrapa et the climatic and tectonic evolution of this region. We provide stratigraphic evidence for des- al., 2015; Zheng et al., 2015; Bougeois et al., ert formation based on a new 3800-m-thick stratigraphic section in the northwestern Tarim 2018). Mountain uplift would block westerly Basin. Magnetostratigraphy defines 50 magnetozones and constrains the age of these strata airflow and moisture, producing a rain shadow to between ca. 15.1 and 1.5 Ma. Fluvial and lacustrine strata at the base of the section change within the Tarim Basin (e.g., Caves et al., 2015). abruptly to eolian sandstone (~1100 m thick) at 12.2 Ma and persist until 7.0 Ma, implying Although parts of the Pamir may have been high development of an erg system that represents the ancestral Taklimakan Desert. The appear- prior to 35 Ma, northward indentation and uplift ance of sand dunes at 12.2 Ma has no global climate parallel, and resulted from aridification was most pronounced after ca. 25 Ma, with in the rain-shadow behind a growing Tian Shan and Pamir that isolated the Tarim Basin. pulsed episodes from 21–13 Ma, 20–16 Ma, 20–8 Ma, 25–16 Ma, and 6–0 Ma, depending INTRODUCTION dunes are interpreted to be between 26.7 and on location (Sobel and Dumitru, 1997; Amidon The Tarim Basin in northwest China contains 22.6 Ma at the Aertashi section in the southwest- and Hynek, 2010; Bershaw et al., 2012; Lukens the Taklimakan Desert, one of the largest erg ern Tarim Basin (Zheng et al., 2015), and Wang et al., 2012; Thompson et al., 2015; Blayney systems on Earth. Ergs, also known as sand seas, et al. (2014) interpret eolian strata intermittently et al., 2016). Similarly, the southwestern Tian are large regions (100–106 km2) where sand cov- throughout the Miocene in the Pamir-Tian Shan Shan had pulsed deformation and uplift initiat- ers >20% of land area, and are typically unveg- convergence zone (Fig. 1A). The first evidence ing at 25–20 Ma, with southward migration of etated and arid desert environments (Wilson, of thick eolian successions, however, don’t deformation at 16.3, 13.5, and 4 Ma (Sobel et 1973). The Tarim Basin formed between the appear until 7.0 Ma or 4.2 Ma at the Mazatagh al., 2006; Heermance et al., 2007). This study Tibetan Plateau, Pamir, and Tian Shan orogens, section (M in Fig. 1A; Sun et al., 2009., 2011). provides new age constraints on eolian strata and contains a 3–8-km-thick Cenozoic stratig- Shifts to eolian deposition resulted from the from the Tarim Basin, to test the hypothesis raphy. Since the early Miocene, the fluvial and retreat of the Tethys seaway and/or global cli- that growth of the Tian Shan and Pamir are lacustrine Wuqia Group, Atushi Formation and mate change in the late Eocene, or rain-shadow linked to desert development. Xiyu Formation have been deposited there (ie. Heermance et al., 2007; Zheng et al., 2015), but A 42°N B 77.25˚ 77.5˚ 77.75˚

Tian Shan P there is little evidence for thick eolian deposits WK (this study) iqiang Faul WK section 40˚ similar to that being deposited today, and thus UL Tarim Basin Kashgar the age of desert formation and associated arid- PE M A t ification is unresolved. Thin (<100 m) eolian Pamir S eolian strata north Dashenkou lt strata appeared as early as 39 Ma in the Tajik 36°N Fau Valley base of ntage Tibetan Plateau Cenozoic Kepi Basin (Tajikistan; Carrapa et al., 2015), isolated 70E° 74E° 78E° 82E° 76.75˚ 10 km 77˚ 77.25˚ 77.75˚

CITATION: Heermance, R.V., Pearson, J., Moe, A., Figure 1. A: Regional map showing the study area (WK section), previous work (white stars), and Langtao, L., Jianhong, X., Jie, C., Richter, F., Garzione, the location of Kashgar Town (northwestern China), located just south of the Kashgar section C.N., Junsheng, N., and Bogue, S., 2018, Erg deposi- (Heermance et al., 2007). A—Aertashi section (Zheng et al., 2015); M—Mazatagh section (Sun et tion and development of the ancestral Taklimakan Des- al., 2009, 2011); PE—PE section (Carrapa et al., 2015); S—Sanju section (Sun and Liu, 2006); UL— ert (western China) between 12.2 and 7.0 Ma: Geology, Ulugqat section (Wang et al., 2014). B: Google Earth™ image of study area (outlined in A) showing v. 46, p. 919–922, https://doi.org/10.1130/G45085.1​ sample locations (black dots), major faults (red-lines with barbs on hanging wall), base of Miocene strata (green line), Dashenkou Valley (blue line), and the extent of the described eolian strata.

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Downloaded from http://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/geology/article-pdf/46/10/919/4338820/919.pdf by guest on 23 September 2021 METHODS strat.ht. paleoflow 3800 m of continuous Miocene–Quaternary

(m) Fm . Mb r. direction Mag ATNTS

Grou p lithology Decl. Incl. stratigraphy were measured and described from 3800 strat. 2012 N R R N the West Kepintagh (WK) section in the north- n=27 0 west Tarim Basin (39.9°N, 77.3°E; Fig. 1B).

We conducted 138 paleocurrent measurements, Xiyu 1 including planar and trough cross-stratification, n=10 imbricated clasts, ripples, and channel margins 2.2 Ma 2 (Table DR1 in the GSA Data Repository1) from 16 stratigraphic levels, and processed 486 ori- 3000 3 ented samples from 460 sites (8.3 m average sample spacing; Table DR2) for paleomagne- 4 tism at the Occidental College (California, USA) Paleomagnetic Laboratory using the methods 5 described in the Data Repository. Atushi n=29 6 RESULTS

7 Stratigraphy 2000 Five of six described lithostratigraphic units within the WK section correlate with strata from 8 the Kashgar Basin, and we define lithofacies 7.0 Ma after Heermance et al. (2007) (Fig. 1A). Details n=15 9 on stratigraphy are provided in the Data Reposi- tory and in Figure 2. Units include: 0–270 m: 10 Wuqia Group Unit B, interpreted as meandering n=9 fluvial deposition; 270–318 m: Wuqia Group 11 Unit C, interpreted as shallow lacustrine and 1000

playa; 318–525 m: Wuqia Group Pakabulake Eolian Mbr. n=15 12

Formation, interpreted as meandering river Pakabulake and floodplain; 1698–3285 m: Atushi Forma- 13

tion (also called the Artux Formation), inter- Wuqia Grou p 12.2 Ma preted as channelized fluvial and floodplain; 14 n=25 3285–3800 m: Xiyu Formation, interpreted as 13.3 Ma braided stream and alluvial fan. unit C 13.6 Ma 15 Between 525 and 1698 m, the stratigra- unit B n=6 phy changes dramatically to well-sorted, pale- 0 17.5 Ma 16 m s f m c g 0˚ 180˚ -90˚ 0˚ 90˚ red, fine-grained sandstone characterized by (Ma) >1-m-thick, planar, continuous beds with meter- sand scale cross-bedding (Fig. 3A). Sand grains are Figure 2. Stratigraphy of the West Kepintagh (WK) section in the northwest Tarim well-sorted, rounded, and show evidence of pits, Basin (color-coded by Formation), and magnetostratigraphy, including paleocurrent directions. Black = unidirectional fluvial data; gray = bidirectional fluvial data; red = depressions and upturned plates (Fig. 3B; Figs. eolian data. ATNTS—Astronomically Tuned Neogene Time Scale (Ogg, 2012). Black DR1 and DR2). Beds contain 0.2–1.5-m-ampli- polarity zone = normal; white polarity zones = reversed; gray zones = ambiguous. tude tabular cross-bedding (Figs. DR3A–DR3F) strat.ht.—stratigraphic height; Fm.—Formation; Mbr.—Member; Decl.—declination; and have 1–3 mm upward-coarsening laminations Incl.—inclination. Sand grain sizes: f—fine; m—medium; c—coarse; m—mud; s—silt. (Fig. DR2). These strata are interpreted as eolian dune deposits based on the following rationale: (1) The pitted sand grain textures are diag- represent the passage of dunes across draas nostic of grain impacts in wind-blown sand (very large-scale dune bedforms; Fig. 3A; Fig. (Krinsley and Doornkamp, 1973). DR5B). In contrast, the lower contacts of fluvial 1 GSA Data Repository item 2018342, DR Text: (2) Reverse-graded laminations imply grain- channel sandstones are laterally discontinuous Paleomagnetic methods and discussion, stratigraphic flow on the slip face of eolian dunes (Kocurek and show scour into the underlying mudstone descriptions, grain-size analysis; Table DR1: Paleo- current data; Table DR2: Paleomagnetic sites and and Dott, 1981). (Fig. DR5A); these define type 3 fluvial surfaces, polarity determinations; Fig. DR1: SEM images of (3) Large-amplitude cross-beds contain 20–30° after Miall (1996). grains from eolian and fluvial samples; Fig. DR2: Thin dipping foresets (median = 22°) that imply sub- (5) The reddish color and pinstripe lamina- section photomicrographs of characteristic eolian and aerial deposition on dune slip faces rather than tion are consistent with eolian strata (Fig. DR3; fluvial samples; Fig. DR3: Outcrop photographs show- the 5–10° (median = 8°) dips observed on fluvial Ahlbrandt, 1979; Fryberger and Schenk, 1988). ing typical eolian and fluvial characteristics; Fig. DR4: Grain size analysis of eolian and fluvial samples; Fig. lateral-accretion surfaces (Figs. DR3 and DR4). Grain-size data are equivocal between our DR5: Cross-bed analysis of eolian and fluvial samples; (4) The base of the eolian sandstone beds are eolian and fluvial strata (mode [particle size most Fig. DR6: Bounding surfaces within eolian and fluvial laterally continuous, do not show scour, and are commonly found in the distribution] of 0.07 and samples; Fig. DR7: Reversal test of magnetostratig- interpreted as Type 1 bounding surfaces, after 0.09 mm, respectively), but eolian grain sizes raphy; Fig. DR8: Accumulation rates for WK section based on magnetostratigraphy, is available online at Brookfield (1977), that bound sets of cross strata overlap with sizes observed in Pliocene eolian http://www.geosociety.org/datarepository/2018/ or on and represent dune migration across other dunes. strata from the central Tarim Basin (Fig. DR6; request from [email protected]. Type 2 bounding surfaces are also present and Sun et al., 2011).

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Downloaded from http://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/geology/article-pdf/46/10/919/4338820/919.pdf by guest on 23 September 2021 model provides ages for deposition of the Wuqia A A: ca. 25 Ma Tian Shan 42°N Group Unit B (15.1–13.6 Ma), Wuqia Group Unit erosion surface KU C (13.6–13.3 Ma), Pakabulake Fluvial Member UL KA AV 40° g (13.3–12.2 Ma), Pakabulake Eolian Member O (12.2–7.0 Ma), Atushi Formation (7.0–2.2 Ma), A M 38° beddin and Xiyu Formation (2.2 to ca.1.5 Ma). KE S 36°N DISCUSSION Pamir-Tibet 70°E 72°74° 76°78° 80°82° 84°E cross-beds eolian bounding surface Erg Deposition at 12.2–7.0 Ma B: ca. 12 Ma KU 42°N ian Shan Our observations of a thick (~1100 m) B T B 712 m KA sequence of eolian dune and interdune strata are SouthwardAV GrowingUL 40° unequivocal evidence for a long-lived erg system O M between 12.2 and 7.0 Ma, when paloenvironmen- 38° tal conditions may have been similar to that of the A Pamir-Tibet KE S present-day Taklimakan Desert (Fig. 4B). This 36°N new member of the Pakabulake Formation is later- 70°E 72°74° 76°78° 80°82° 84°E ally continuous for ~70 km, from the north-south– trending Piqiang fault at ~77.75° E to where it meandering, braided, and overbank fluvial pinches out to the west into fluvial strata near the Xiyu Fm. fanglomerate and braided fluvial Dashenkou Valley (Fig. 1B). The southern extent erg: dune and interdune this study 250 цm is buried within the Tarim Basin to the south, but westerly winds previous work similar eolian strata are not observed farther west present-day erg inferred river & Figure 3. A: Photo of sandstone outcrop or east along the Tian Shan foreland (e.g., Heer- boundary flow direction 39.9115, showing meter-scale cross-bedding mance et al., 2007; Charreau et al., 2006) except (dashed white lines), color, and contacts (solid at one poorly dated location ~150 km west of Figure 4. Schematic paleogeography of the lines) typical of eolian strata. B: Scanning Kashgar (Wang et al., 2014). Nonetheless, the Tarim Basin (northwestern China) at ca. 25 Ma electron microscopy photo of a typical grain exposed area gives this unit a minimum size of (A) and 12 Ma (B). White star shows study area. from eolian strata, showing pitted surface with Black circles show sites of related studies that ~240 km2, making it the earliest documented erg irregular depressions and upturned plates. describe western Tarim Basin stratigraphy used within the Tarim Basin, and implies a long-lived in our reconstruction. KU—Kuche (Huang et Altogether, our observations provide unam- desert from at least 12.2 to 7 Ma. After 7 Ma, al., 2006), KA—Kashgar (Heermance et al., biguous evidence for eolian dune deposition, erg deposition terminated, as fluvial deposition 2007); UL—Ulugqat (Wang et al., 2014); AV— and define a new unit called the Eolian Member engulfed the study area, likely due to encroach- Alai Valley, Kyrgyzstan (Coutand et al., 2002); O—Oytag Valley (Bershaw et al., 2012); A— of the Pakabulake Formation within the upper ment of the Tian Shan from the north, and may Aertashi section (Zheng et al., 2015; Blayney Wuqia Group. Meter-scale, unidirectional cross- have pushed the erg system into the central Tarim et al., 2016); KE—Kekaya section (Zheng et al., beds dip east-southeast, implying westerly winds Basin where it occurs today (Fig. 4B). 2015); S—Sanyu section (Cao et al., 2015); M— (Fig. 2; Fig. DR4B). Interbedded, horizontally Mazatagh section (Sun et al., 2009, 2011). laminated, brown siltstone intervals are inter- Global versus Tectonic Forcing of Tarim preted as fluvial and lacustrine interdune deposits Paleoenvironments and 13.5 Ma. (Sobel et al., 2006; Heermance et al., (Figs. DR3G and DR3H; e.g., Kocurek, 1981). Depositional environments within the west- 2007). By 12 Ma, the mountain ranges had devel- ern Tarim Basin were remarkably consistent and oped into a high-elevation topographic barrier Magnetostratigraphy spanned at least 500 km during the late Oligo- with an associated rain shadow that cut off west- 420 paleomagnetic samples (86% of samples) cene–early Miocene (ca. 25 Ma), characterized erly moisture (e.g., Bougeois et al., 2018). Wide- from 374 sites (88% of sites) provide character- by fluvial and playa-lacustrine deposition within spread Xiyu Formation deposition at this time istic remanence (ChRM) that define 50 magne- the lower Wuqia Group (Fig. 4A; Huang et al., implies that course-grained alluvial fans flanked tozones (Fig. 2) and pass the Reversal test at type 2006; Wang et al., 2014; Zheng et al., 2015; Cao the ranges, and fluvial deposition was limited A quality (McFadden and McElhinny, 1990; Fig. et al., 2015; Blayney et al., 2016). Westerly winds to narrow corridors where rivers emerged from DR7). Correlation of our magnetostratigraphy traveling across Eurasia likely brought substan- the mountains (Fig. 4B; Heermance et al., 2007; with the Astronomically Tuned Neogene Time tial moisture to the region, which fed distal river Cao et al., 2015; Zheng et al., 2015; Blayney et Scale (ATNTS) of Ogg (2012) defines age limits catchments from the south (Pamir), east, and al., 2016). In the Pamir/Tian Shan rain shadow, of ca. 15.1–1.5 Ma for this section. Although no north that flowed into the relatively low-relief reduced vegetative cover, combined with uplift radiogenic or fossil data exist to pin this section landscape of the Tarim Basin (Caves et al., 2015; of weak foreland basin strata, would have created to the ATNTS, our correlation is supported by Bougeois et al., 2018). After 25 Ma, the Pamir a source for sand and silt to create an erg against (1) a perfect visual correlation for the Pliocene experienced rapid tectonic growth, including the developing Tian Shan. The influence of this Atushi Formation at the top of the section, (2) a commencement of movement on oblique slip tectonically driven rain shadow at ca. 12 Ma may similar correlation with the magnetostratigraphy faults bounding the eastern Pamir and initial clo- have affected a broad area, as similar observations of Qiao et al. (2016) in the Dashenkou Valley 20 sure of the Alai Valley at ca. 25 Ma (Coutand et of aridification were reported by workers in the km west of our section (Fig. 1B), and (3) excel- al., 2002; Blayney et al., 2016), followed by rapid northeastern Tibetan Plateau (e.g., Dettman et al., lent correlation of all ATNTS zones >80 k.y. in exhumation and orogen-wide growth between 21 2003; Zhuang et al., 2011; Li et al., 2016). duration. This correlation is most robust above and 13 Ma (Sobel and Dumitru, 1997; Lukens 12.5 Ma, and defines sediment accumulation rates et al., 2012; Stearns et al., 2015). Simultaneous CONCLUSIONS of ~180–350 m/m.y. See the Data Repository for uplift of the Tian Shan initiated by ca. 24 Ma and We present a 3800 m record of paleo-envi- discussion of the lower 500 m. Nonetheless, this migrated south on imbricate thrust faults at 16.3 ronmental changes between ca. 15.1 and 1.5 Ma

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Downloaded from http://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/geology/article-pdf/46/10/919/4338820/919.pdf by guest on 23 September 2021 from the northern Tarim Basin. Based on magne- Charreau, J., Gilder, S., Chen, Y., Dominguez, S., Av- Ogg, J.G., 2012, Geomagnetic Polarity Time Scale, in tostratigraphic age correlation, these strata define ouac, J.-P., Sen, S., Jolivet, M., Li, Y., and Wang, Gradstein, F.M., et al., eds., The Geologic Time W., 2006, Magnetostratigraphy of the Yaha sec- Scale: Boston, Elsevier, p. 85–113, https://doi​ .org​ ​ a relatively humid middle Miocene until 12.2 Ma, tion, Tarim Basin (China): 11 Ma acceleration in /10​.1016​/B978​-0​-444​-59425​-9​.00005​-6. when an erg system developed due to aridification erosion and uplift of the Tian Shan mountains: Qiao, Q., Huang, B., Piper, J.D.A., Deng, T., and Liu, of the region. Erg deposition at 12.2 Ma most Geology, v. 34, p. 181–184, https://​doi​.org​/10​ C., 2016, Neogene magnetostratigraphy and likely resulted from rain-shadow development .1130​/G22106​.1. rock magnetic study of the Kashi Depression, NW China: Implications to neotectonics in the behind the growing and colliding Tian Shan and Coutand, I., Strecker, M.R., Arrowsmith, J.R., Hilley, G., Thiede, R.C., Korjenkov, A., and Omuraliev, SW Tianshan Mountains: Journal of Geophysi- Pamir Mountains. 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