Sedimentation Rate Rhythms: Evidence From Filling Of The Tarim Basin, Northwest China

Variations of sedimentation rate within a basin over geologic time are a time series that can be filtered into several cyclic wave curves. Based on back-stripping and the empirical mode decomposition method, the cores from 14 wells in the Tarim Basin were selected to do filtering analysis. Four cycles or quasi-cycles (33 Ma, 64.4 Ma, 103.6 Ma, and 224 Ma) were obtained. Among these, the 33 Ma period, which was related to the internal earth activity, an external force, or a combination of the two, was the most obvious. The 64.4 Ma period corresponded to the solar system crossing the galaxy plane or the periodic melting of inner-earth material. The 103.6 Ma period was related with plate collisional tectonism around the Tarim Plate. The 224 Ma period was related to one galaxy year and may also be related to the aesthenospherical convection cycle.