Zircon U–Pb/FT double dating provides new ages for the sediments in southwestern Tarim Basin.
The data show episodic exhumation and magmatism in the West Kunlun Mountains.
The orogen has emerged since the Triassic–Early Jurassic and was rejuvenated in the Meso-Cenozoic.
A double-sided lithospheric wedge model is proposed to explain Neogene tectonism in western Tibet.