Evolution of the Yangtze River network, southeastern Tibet: Insights from thermochronology and sedimentology

International audienceWe performed apatite and zircon (U-Th)/He dating on a granitic pluton that has been offset by ~10 km by motion on the sinistral strikeslipXiangcheng fault in SW Sichuan, SE Tibetan plateau, where the Shuoqu River incises a deep valley before joining the upper YangtzeRiver. Mean ZHe cooling ages range from 49.5 ± 2.2 Ma to 68.6 ± 6.0 Ma. Samples located above 3870 m yield mean apatite (U-Th)/Heages ranging from 30.6 ± 1.4 Ma to 40.6 ± 2.7 Ma, whereas samples at lower elevations range from 9.8 ± 1.3 Ma to 14.6 ± 2.7 Ma. In thesame region, Cenozoic continental sediments are exposed on the flanks of deep valleys. They consist of unsorted conglomerates andsandstones that partly fill a paleotopography. The sediments were deposited during an episode of rapid sedimentation, followed by incisionthat varies between 0.5 and 1.2 km. Thermal and exhumational modeling of the granite thermochronometric data indicates rapidcooling during the middle Miocene that was likely related to fluvial incision. Our findings suggest that the upper Yangtze River and itstributary (Shuoqu) were connected by the middle Miocene. Our modeling also supports the idea that the exhumation pattern during theCenozoic in the southeastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau is spatially and temporally heterogeneous