Sedimentary evolution of the Neogene-Quaternary deposits in the Kuqa depression, Xinjiang

The thick Neogene-Quaternary deposits are developed in the Kuqa depression, Xinjiang. The present paper focuses on the study of sedimentary sequences and their evolution on the basis of field outcrops, core observation, well logs and seismic data. During the deposition of the Neogene Jidike and Kangcun Formations, the Kuqa depression appeared as a shallow-water oxidized lake in which the fan delta-lake depositional systems were developed from north to south. Till the deposition of the Neogene Kuqa Formation to the Quaternary strata, the alluvial fan deposits occurred on a wide range of scales in the depression. It can be seen that the intense tectonization in the Kuqa depression during the Neogene should be initiated in the latest stage of the deposition of the Kuqa Formation, and culminated in the early stages of the Quaternary.