Fold segment linkage and lateral propagation along the Qiulitage anticline, South Tianshan, NW China

Abstract The east-west trending Qiulitage anticline is one of the most active elements of the Kuqa fold-and-thrust belt located along the southern margin of the Tianshan Mountains. Subsurface data and the well-preserved tectonic geomorphology provide a natural laboratory for exploring the detailed spatio-temporal evolutionary processes of a “mature fold”. We present a study of fluvial/alluvial terraces which passively record the progressive deformation of active folds across the rapidly uplifting Qiulitage anticline. The vertical incision and lateral erosion rates of the Kezile river derived from 10Be exposure dating are ~1.3–2.0 mm/a and >1.3 mm/a, respectively, while those of the Bositankelake River, located near the central part of the fold, are only ~0.8 ± 0.04 mm/a and