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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.
Boone et al. (Thu,) studied this question.