Miocene to Early Pleistocene Depositional History and Tectonic Evolution of the Issyk‐Kul Basin, Central Tian Shan

Abstract

Abstract The Issyk‐Kul Basin (Kyrgyzstan), situated in the central Tian Shan Mountains, hosts the largest and deepest mountain lake in Central Asia. Erosion of the surrounding Terskey and Kungey ranges led to the accumulation of up to 4 km of sediment in the adjacent depression. Creation of the basin from regional shortening and uplift likely initiated around the Oligocene‐Miocene, yet precise age control is sparse. To better understand the timing of these processes, we obtained magnetostratigraphic age constraints on fossil‐poor, fluvio‐lacustrine sediments exposed south of Lake Issyk‐Kul, that agree well with previous age constraints of the equivalent strata outside the Issyk‐Kul Basin. Two 500–650 m thick sections comprised mainly of Chu Group sediments were dated at 6.3–2.8 Ma and 7.0–2.4 Ma (late Miocene to early Pleistocene). Together with reinterpreted magnetostratigraphic constraints from underlying strata, we find that syn‐tectonic deposition commenced at ∼22 Ma with average sedimentation rates <10 cm/ka. Sedimentation rates increased to 10–30 cm/ka at 7 Ma, concurrent with accelerated uplift in the Terskey Range to the south. A deformation event in one section (Kaji‐Say) between 5 and 3 Ma together with concurrent shifts of depositional centers throughout the basin signal the onset of substantial uplift of the Kungey Range to the north at ∼5 Ma. This uplift and deformation transformed the Issyk‐Kul area into a closed basin that facilitated the formation of a deep lake. Lacustrine facies deposited around 3 Ma mark the existence of Lake Issyk‐Kul by that time.

Keywords

• Central Asia
• Lake Issyk‐Kul
• magnetostratigraphy
• Neogene
• Tian Shan