The Shanxi Rift System (SRS) is a prominent intracontinental rift in eastern Eurasia. However, its tectonic origin remains enigmatic, as the timing of rift initiation and its subsequent evolution is not well constrained. To evaluate the cooling history of rift flanks, we present joint apatite fission track (n = 15) and apatite (U‐Th‐Sm)/He (n = 62) thermochronological study across the Huo Shan and the Zhongtiao Shan in the central and southern SRS, respectively. Inverse modeling of the thermochronological data yields two episodes of enhanced exhumation during the Cenozoic. Both ranges record rapid cooling circa 50‐35 Ma, coeval with a phase of widespread rifting across entire North China. Data from the Zhongtiao Shan record renewed cooling from ∼8 Ma to the present, following a protracted near‐isothermal condition. Considering the SRS in the context of plate reconstructions, we propose that the Eocene rift initiation is triggered by the subduction of the trench‐parallel Izanagi‐Pacific mid‐ocean ridge followed by subduction of the Pacific plate. Tectonic quiescence along the Shanxi rift during Oligocene and Miocene time reflects slow thermal subsidence as the Pacific subduction regime was established. In late Miocene, faults associated with the SRS were reactivated in dextral transtension linked to fault systems that extend outward from the northeastern Tibetan Plateau. This kinematic reorganization implies a fundamental change in force balance throughout North China. Overall, our results reflect the changing influence of tectonic regimes along the eastern Eurasian plate boundary and intracontinental deformation associated with the India‐Eurasia collision.

Before the India–Asia collision, Neotethyan subduction gave rise to an Andean-type convergent margin on the southern margin of Asia. To investigate the spatial and temporal distribution of the subduction-related magmatism, we undertook a combined determination of zircon U–Pb ages and Hf isotopes of Mesozoic to Paleogene intrusive and volcanic rocks from southern Tibet to Myanmar to characterize the two parallel magmatic belts that have previously been considered separately. One belt extends from the Gangdese Batholith in the Southern Lhasa sub-terrane to the Lohit Batholith, the Sodon Pluton and the Popa–Loimye Arc in the West Burma Block, and the other from the Central Lhasa Plutonic Belt to the Bomi–Chayu Batholith, the Dianxi Batholith and the Shan Scarps Batholith in central Myanmar. The Gangdese belt, as the main arc component, consists typically of I-type granitoids that contain magmatic zircons showing positive ε _Hf ( t ) values. In contrast, the Central Lhasa Plutonic Belt belt is dominated by S-type granites in which most zircons show negative ε _Hf ( t ) values suggesting the involvement of older continental crust in their petrogenesis. The distinct geochemical characteristics indicate not only distinct tectonic settings of their genesis but also the diverse nature of the crust forming the exotic continental ribbons amalgamated to Asia. Supplementary material: Details of sample locations and analytical results are available at: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.4311485

From 2017 to 2019, three destructive earthquakes (27 January 2017 Mw 4.7, 16 December 2018 Mw 5.2, and 3 January 2019 Mw 4.8) occurred in the Changning shale gas field in the southwest Sichuan Basin, China. Previous seismological studies attributed these events to hydraulic fracturing (HF), but were unable to identify the causative seismogenic faults and their slip behaviors. Here, we use Sentinel‐1 synthetic aperture radar data to measure surface deformation triggered by the three events and conduct geodetic inversions to characterize their rupture models. The resulting coseismic interferograms show prominent surface deformation with the maximum line‐of‐sight displacements of up to 4 cm. The inversion results show that all three earthquakes mainly ruptured sedimentary formations above the shale gas bed, in the upper 3 km of the crust, with slip magnitudes ranging from 8.5 to 15 cm, and stress drops ranging from ∼1.8 to ∼3.3 MPa. Their source faults intersect with horizontal HF wells, but do not root in the crystalline basement. Combined with the reported difficulty of increasing HF operation pressures prior to the three events, we argue that they were most likely induced by direct injection of pressurized fluids into the fault zones. Crustal deformation patterns inferred from regional topography and GPS velocities highlight that the Changning field is located within a triple junction region near the southeastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau with large deformation gradients; such conditions are not only favorable to the development of critically stressed faults, but also facilitate the occurrence of at least moderate magnitude earthquakes.