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Terrestrial heat flow and lithospheric thermal structure in the Chagan Depression of the Yingen-Ejinaqi Basin,north central China |
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| Authors: | Yinhui Zuo Shu Jiang Shihu Wu Wei Xu Jiong Zhang Renpeng Feng Meihua Yang Yongshui Zhou M Santosh |
| Institution: | 1. State Key Laboratory of Oil and Gas Geology and Exploitation, Chengdu University of Technology, Chengdu, China;2. Key Lab of Tectonics and Petroleum Resource of Ministry of Education & School of Earth Resources, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, China;3. Exploration and Development Research Institute of Southwest Oil & Gas field Company, CNPC, Chengdu, Sichuan, China;4. Institute of Global Environmental Change, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, China;5. Research Institute of Exploration and Development, Zhongyuan Oilfield, SINOPEC, Puyang, China;6. Yonsei Frontier Lab, Yonsei University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Department of Earth Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia Key Lab of Tectonics and Petroleum Resource of Ministry of Education & Faculty of Earth Resources, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, China |
| Abstract: | The Chagan Depression in the Yingen-Ejinaqi Basin, located at the intersection of the Paleo-Asian Ocean and the Tethys Ocean domains is an important region to gain insights on terrestrial heat flow, lithospheric thermal structure and deep geodynamic processes. Here, we compute terrestrial heat flow values in the Chagan Depression using a large set of system steady-state temperature data from four representative wells and rock thermal conductivity. We also estimate the “thermal” lithospheric thickness, mantle heat flow, ratio of mantle heat flow to surface heat flow and Moho temperature to evaluate the regional tectonic framework and deep dynamics. The results show that the heat flow in the Chagan Depression ranges from 66.5 to 69.8 mW/m2, with an average value of 68.3 ± 1.2 mW/m2. The Chagan Depression is characterized by a thin “thermal” lithosphere, high mantle heat flow, and high Moho temperature, corresponding to the lithospheric thermal structure of “cold mantle and hot crust” type. We correlate the formation of the Yingen-Ejinaqi Basin to the Early Cretaceous and Cenozoic subduction of the western Pacific Plate and the Cenozoic multiple extrusions. Our results provide new insights into the thermal structure and dynamics of the lithospheric evolution in central China. |
| Keywords: | Chagan Depression lithospheric thermal structure mantle heat flow Moho temperature terrestrial heat flow “thermal” lithospheric thickness |