Mesozoic-Cenozoic Tectonic Evolution in the Central Taiyue Mountain: Constraints from Apatite Fission Track Analysis

In order to shed light on the tectonic evolution processes of the north China block, we applied apatite fission track thermochronology method to the central Taiyue Mountain as a major mountain range in Shanxi massif. The results reveal that since the late middle Jurassic the central Taiyue Mountain experienced a pulsed uplift and exhumation at shallow crustal levels, which could be summarized as four rapid uplift and exhumation stages at 165～112 Ma, 103～85 Ma, 80～50 Ma and since ～28 Ma. These fission track ages show a positive correlation with the altitude, and the exhumation rate is estimated as ～8.4 m/Ma. The denudation rate increases gradually from 14.9～18.1 m/Ma since the late early Cretaceous to 50.5～64.7 m/Ma since the Eocene, reflecting the episodic and accelerated uplift and exhumation of the central Taiyue Mountains since the late Early Cretaceous. The Mesozoic-Cenozoic uplift history of the central Taiyue Mountain has a certain consistency with the evolution history of the Taihang Mountain, Lüliang Mountain in Shanxi massif, which is also coupled with the rapid subsidence of the Fenwei rift valley.