Meso–Cenozoic exhumation history of Northeast Asia and its connections with tectonic and climatic factors

Abstract

Northeast Asia, a prominent basin-and-range system during the Mesozoic–Cenozoic, provides a unique context for studying how deep Earth processes influence surface landscape evolution. However, the comprehensive exhumation history and its connections to tectonic and climatic factors remain poorly understood. In this study, we analyze spatiotemporal variations in exhumation rates across Northeast Asia by compiling and inverting a dataset of apatite and zircon fission track and (U-Th)/He ages, alongside crustal deformation and paleoclimate data. Our results reveal differential rapid exhumation from the Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous (150–110 Ma), primarily driven by the closure of the Mongol–Okhotsk Ocean and subduction of the paleo-Pacific plates, further enhanced by increased precipitation. From 110 to 90 Ma, exhumation rates progressively decreased from the continental margin to the interior (∼0.69 km/Myr to ∼0.20 km/Myr), influenced mainly by compressional deformation. During the late Cretaceous to Paleocene (90–60 Ma), the Northeast Asian mountains underwent widespread rapid exhumation, with a peak rate of 0.85 km/Myr. However, toward the end of this period, exhumation slowed due to the diminished tectonic forces from paleo-Pacific plates subduction and arid climatic conditions. Cenozoic localized exhumation was driven primarily by mid-ocean ridge and Pacific Plate subduction, with minimal climatic influence. The present-day basin-and-range landscape of Northeast Asia is the cumulative outcome of tectonic and climatic forcing since the Mesozoic.