The coupling relationship between the west Shandong rise and the Jiyang depression, China

This article reports 21 AFT (apatite fission track) data from the West Shandong (山东) rise (WSR) and Jiyang (济阳) depression, and mainly studies their Cenozoic uplifting/subsidence history and the relationship between them. Furthermore, we improve our insights into the Bohai Bay Basin (BBB). Our AFT analysis and AFT T-t modeling indicates that the WSR was uplifted at ca. 65 Ma with apparent uplift rate of 0.019 mm/a; it underwent two relatively rapid uplifting events at 43–33 and 16–0 Ma with rates of 0.097 and 0.052 mm/a, respectively. Meanwhile, the Jiyang depression subsided at rate of 0.032 mm/a at 52–43 Ma, and the rate increased to 0.13 mm/a at ca. 42–33 Ma; finally the subsidence rate increased to 0.053 mm/a in 16–0 Ma. They all underwent a uplift in time of 23–16 Ma with rate of 0.04–0.07 mm/a. A careful comparison shows that the Cenozoic uplifting of the WSR coupled well with the subsidence of the Jiyang depression. Our research also suggests that the uplift-basin coupling events are part of the couplings between the Bohai Bay Basin and its peripheral mountains. This intraplate mountain-basin coupling is a reflection of global tectonic events.