The unconformity in Miocene sequence of western Qaidam Basin and its tectonic significance

An angular unconformity has been identified between the upper and the lower Youshashan Formation based on the study of the regional geology, drillhole, and geophysical data of the Altyn Tagh Mountain foreland, western Qaidam Basin. The distribution of the unconformity, the contacts between the upper and the lower Youshashan Formation, and its relation to the characteristics of the paleo-structure belts suggest a close relationship between the unconformities in the southern flank of the Altyn Tagh Mountain in the west of the Qaidam Basin and the activity of the Altyn Tagh Fault. It was the same time when the Atlyn Tagh Fault Zone was transformed from regional uplifting to rapid-strike-slipping movement during the Miocene, resulting in the cessation of the regional uplift and subsequent massive regional transgression during the deposition of the upper Youshashan Formation, which unconformably overlies (onlaps) the underlying strata of different ages.