Fission track analysis and thermotectonic history of the main borehole of the Chinese Continental Scientific Drilling project

The Chinese Continental Scientific Drilling (CCSD) project, part of the International Continental Drilling Program (ICDP), has completed drilling a 5158 m hole in the eastern part of the Dabie–Sulu ultrahigh-pressure metamorphic belt. This study reports on an apatite fission track analysis of core samples from 0 to 4000 m depth in the CCSD main hole (CCSD-MH). We determined the fission track ages of 38 apatite samples from different depths. The ages range between 98.6 ± 17.0 and 3.2 ± 1.3 Ma, showing a general decreasing trend with depth, from 87.1 ± 11.2 Ma at the surface to 3.2 ± 1.3 Ma at 3899 m depth. As a first approximation, an average uplift rate of ~ 35 m/Ma is calculated for the period 90–30 Ma. The trend in ages within the borehole shows some fluctuations, and indicates movements along major faults. It is inferred that the highest-level major normal fault occurs at a depth of ~ 350 m, recording a vertical displacement of ~ 400 m. Movement along another prominent normal fault at a depth of ~ 2150 m occurred subsequent to ~ 25 Ma. Three major reverse faults occur at about 2450, 3050 and 3250 m depth. Testing geological constrains against the fission track data set indicated an agreement with a reheating of the area during the late Cretaceous and Eocene, followed by cooling to ~ 80 °C during the Eocene and a low cooling until the samples reached their present-day position in the Donghai area.