Deciphering mantle, tectonic and climatic drivers of exhumation

Abstract Regional thermochronology provides an important record of crustal exhumation through deep time. However, untangling the myriad of geodynamic, tectonic, climatic and surface processes responsible for long-term upper crustal cooling is often hindered by thermochronology data being conventionally interpreted in a static geographic framework. Here, we present a workflow for interpreting thermochronology data and thermal history models via integration with numerical plate tectonic, mantle convection, and paleoclimate reconstructions. Using a compilation of inverse thermal history models from Central Asia, based on fission-track and (U-Th)/He data, we demonstrate the power of placing thermochronology data in their paleogeographic context to untangle the geodynamic, tectonic and climate drivers of exhumation. This shows that the diachronous Mesozoic-to-recent (230-0 Ma) exhumation history of Central Asia was primarily controlled by reactivation of pre-Mesozoic crustal-scale shear zones in response to plate kinematics and Tethyan subduction dynamics, while dynamic topography and changes in paleoprecipitation played relatively insignificant roles.