Magnetostratigraphy of syntectonic growth strata and implications for the late Cenozoic deformation in the Baicheng Depression, Southern Tian Shan

•Syntectonic growth strata in the Baicheng Depression initiated at ∼5.3 Ma.•Deformation evidenced by growth strata was synchronous in both side of Tian Shan.•Intense deformation of Tian Shan lasted from ∼7–5 Ma to early Pleistocene.

The collision between India and Eurasia in the Cenozoic has caused a series of intracontinental deformation in the foreland basins of Tian Shan, but there are debates about the timing of tectonic deformation and the relationship between tectonic uplift and sediment accumulation in the foreland basins. Based on the magnetostratigraphy of growth strata in the Baicheng Depression, Southern Tian Shan, we suggest that an episode of crustal shortening in the late Cenozoic evidenced by syntectonic growth strata in the Kelasu-Yiqikelike structural belt (KYSB) initiated at ∼5.3 Ma, since then the sedimentation rate accelerated abruptly and coarse molasse deposits accumulated. Combined with the results of growth strata on both flanks of Tian Shan and the fact that the Xiyu Formation on the southern limb of the Kasangtuokai Anticline was involved into the growth strata, we conclude that the period from ∼7–5 Ma to the early Pleistocene was one of the important episodes of intracontinental deformation in the foreland basins of Tian Shan, as a response to the Cenozoic collision between India and Eurasia.