Large-scale thrusting at the northern Junggar Basin since Cretaceous and its implications for the rejuvenation of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt

•Faults in northern margin of the Junggar Basin were reactivated since Cretaceous.•The shortening rate for all sections was about 10%.•The mechanism of the thrust fault is basement-involved.

The Wulungu Depression is the northernmost first-order tectonic unit in the Junggar Basin. It can be divided into three sub-units: the Hongyan step-fault zone, the Suosuoquan sag and the Wulungu south slope. The Cenozoic strata in the basin are intact and Mesozoic–Cenozoic deformation can be observed in the Wulungu step-fault zone, so this is an ideal place to study the Mesozoic–Cenozoic deformation. By integration of fault-related folding theories, regional geology and drilling data, the strata of the Cretaceous–Paleogene systems are divided into small layers which are selected as the subjects of this research. The combination of the developing unconformity with existing growth strata makes it conceivable that faults on the step-fault zone have experienced different degrees of reactivation of movement since the Cretaceous. Evolutionary analyses of the small layers using 2D-Move software showed certain differences in the reactivation of different segments of the Wulungu Depression such as the timing of reactivation of thrusting, for which the reactivity time of the eastern segment was late compared with those of the western and middle segments. In addition the resurrection strength was similarly slightly different, with the shortening rate being higher in the western segment than in the other segments. Moreover, the thrust fault mechanism is basement-involved combined with triangle shear fold, for which a forward evolution model was proposed.

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