Abstract
The salt-bearing strata of the Tuyiluoke Formation, developed in the western Tarim Basin in the last phase of the Late Cretaceous, have sparse paleo-temperature records for this period. Given the high sensitivity of halite to temperature fluctuations in evaporative basins, the homogenization temperature of fluid inclusions in primary pure liquid-phase halite not only reflects the surface brine temperature of ancient salt lake during the crystallization process but also serves as an indicator of paleoclimate under evaporative conditions. The paper reveals that the homogenization temperature of primary pure liquid inclusions during the ancient salt lake's formation period ranges from 9.1 to 35.0 °C, with an average of 22.7 °C. This represents the brine or paleo-seawater temperature during this period and suggests that the brine or atmospheric temperature underwent two significant fluctuations. Overall, there is a cooling-warming-cooling trend (average homogenization temperatures transitioning from 23.3 to 16.7 °C, then to 23.9 °C/25.7 °C/26.7 °C, and finally to 15.5 °C), reflecting periodic changes in paleoenvironmental temperatures during the salt lake developmental phase. In other regions of the Tethys domain, it has been observed that the mean temperature during the Late Cretaceous-Early Eocene to middle Eocene initially increased and subsequently decreased (22.7 °C/23.8 °C → 27 °C/28°C → 31.8 °C/31°C → 25.6 °C), aligning with global paleoclimate and seawater temperature trends for the same period. The temperature data provide providing new evidence for the paleo-temperature of the northwestern part of the Tarim Basin during the Late Cretaceous period.