Pulsed uplift of the South Tianshan since the Late Miocene indicated by the linear inversion on river longitudinal profiles

The early Cenozoic collision and subsequent continuous convergence between the Indian and Eurasian plates reactivated the Tianshan orogen in the Central Asia and caused multistage uplift of the mountain range. The modern Tianshan, with high mountain peaks of >7000 m, forms very prominent topography that profoundly affects the regional tectonics and climate. However, the late Cenozoic uplift process and topography growth of the South Tianshan remain controversial. River longitudinal profile inversion provides a distinctive way to reveal rock uplift history since the late Cenozoic. In this study, we presented linear inversion on river longitudinal profiles of four drainage basins originating from high mountains in the South Tianshan. The inversion results from two basins in the northern flank show fast and continuous increases in the uplift rates from about 0.1–0.2 mm/a to 0.6–1.0 mm/a since 4 Ma. While in the southern flank, the uplift rates of the two basins increased gradually from about 0.1 mm/a to 0.2 mm/a before 10 Ma and from 0.2 mm/a to 0.4 mm/a around 10 Ma and 6 Ma, respectively. Our results combined with recently published chronological data in this region indicate that the South Tianshan experienced a pulsed tectonic uplift process since the Late Miocene. Moreover, the pulsed tectonic uplift should lead to an elevated South Tianshan during 6–4 Ma, coinciding well with the ∼5.3 Ma extreme aridification in the Tarim Basin, thus supporting that the rain shadow effect caused by high topography of South Tianshan is a critical reason for aridification.