Terrestrial heat flow in the baiyinchagan sag, erlian Basin, northern China

•The subsurface temperature gradients of the Cretaceous Duhongmu and Tenggeer Formations range from 40.4 to 42.1 ℃ km−1.•The three new heat flow values range from 80.8 to 89.7 mW m−2, with a mean of 84.9 ± 3.4 mW m−2, significantly higher than the global and regional average whereas consistent with its deep thermotectonic regime.