Evidence of Thermal Evolution History of Northeast Sichuan Basin-(U-Th)/He Low Temperature Thermochronometry of Apatite and Zircon

（U-Th）/He dating is a newly developed low temperature thermochronometry, and it elaborately reflects cooling history of geologic body under low temperature. It can be applied to analyze thermal evolution of the sedimentary basin, combining with vitrinite reflectance and fission track. （U-Th）/He dating of apatite and zircon from drilling cores in Puguang （普光）-Maoba （毛坝） area and outcrops in Tongjiang （通江） area indicates that the Northeast Sichuan （四川） basin underwent great uplift and denudation during the Tertiary and the Quaternary. During the period, denudation rates changed from 74.8 to 172.5 m/Ma and denudation thickness was between 2 800 and 3 000 m, geotemperature gradually declined into the current temperature, passing through helium closure temperature of apatite. The uplift and denudation relate to new tectonic movement response in the Sichuan basin aroused by the Qinghai （青海）-Tibet plateau. Drilling samples above 4 000 m did not undergo closure temperature of zircon, but the samples nearly 4 000 m might approach closure temperature of zircon and all the samples underwent closure temperature of apatite. According to （U-Th）/He ages of zircon, it is concluded that the Northeast Sichuan basin began to uplift in the Late Jurassic. From the Late Jurassic to the Paleogene, Northeast Sichuan basin was in slow uplift and denudation, but the denudation of Puguang-Maoba area was earlier than that of Tongjiang area. （U-Th）/He ages of zircon indicate the denudation time of provenance areas. On the basis of paleodrainage characteristics, provenance transport and other related data, provenance areas of the clastie rocks are decided, which is worthy to be investigated further.

Tectono-thermal evolution of the Liwan Sag, deepwater area in the Zhujiang River Mouth Basin, northern South China Sea

The Liwan Sag, with an area of 4 000 km-2, is one of the deepwater sags in the Zhujiang River（Pearl River） Mouth Basin, northern South China Sea. Inspired by the exploration success in oil and gas resources in the deepwater sags worldwide, we conducted the thermal modeling to investigate the tectono-thermal history of the Liwan Sag,which has been widely thought to be important to understand tectonic activities as well as hydrocarbon potential of a basin. Using the multi-stage finite stretching model, the tectonic subsidence history and the thermal history have been obtained for 12 artificial wells, which were constructed on basis of one seismic profile newly acquired in the study area. Two stages of rifting during the time periods of 49–33.9 Ma and 33.9–23 Ma can be recognized from the tectonic subsidence pattern, and there are two phases of heating processes corresponding to the rifting.The reconstructed average basal paleo-heat flow values at the end of the rifting events are -70.5 and -94.2 mW/m^2 respectively. Following the heating periods, the study area has undergone a persistent thermal attenuation phase since 23 Ma and the basal heat flow cooled down to -71.8–82.5 mW/m^2 at present.

Mesozoic Tectonic Evolution and Thermal History of the Yuanba Area of Northeast Sichuan Basin-Low-Temperature Thermochronology of Apatite and Zircon

By means of the vitrinite reflectance and U-Th/He dating of apatite and zircon in cut- ting samples from the T3x-K1j formations in the Yuanba （元坝） area of Northeast Sichuan （四川） Basin, a correlation has been established between the He-derived age and depth/temperature in this area assuming helium closure temperature of apatite in this area being 95 ℃. Mesozoic strata （T3x-Kd＇） experienced helium closure temperature of apatite approaching 95 ℃, but didn＇t reach the helium closure temperature of zircon （ca. 170-190 ℃） although some reached the highest pa- laeogeothermal temperature of about 170 ℃. The Mesozoic strata in the Yuanba area experienced an important uplift and denudation during Paleogene-Neogene periods （0.2-36.4 Ma）, the erosion rate being about 109.9 m/Ma. The K1] Formation and overlying strata experienced a maximum de- nudation loss of about 4 000 m. Geotemperatures gradually fell to the helium closure temperature of apatite and then fell further to the current temperature. The thermal evolution history of this area indicates that the maximum palaeogeothermal temperature of Mesozoic strata was close to 170- 190 ℃, prior to the strata being uplifted. During the period between 176 and 36 Ma, the palaeogeo- thermal temperature fell to 95-170 ℃. and after 36 Ma, it continued to fall to the present geotem- perature of less than 95 ℃.