Constraining tectonic uplift and advection from the main drainage divide of a mountain belt

Chuanqi He,Xiao-Ping Yuan,Ci-Jian Yang,Jens M Turowski,Gang Rao,Duna C Roda-Boluda

doi:10.1038/s41467-020-20748-2

Abstract

One of the most conspicuous features of a mountain belt is the main drainage divide. Divide location is influenced by a number of parameters, including tectonic uplift and horizontal advection. Thus, the topography of mountain belts can be used as an archive to extract tectonic information. Here we combine numerical landscape evolution modelling and analytical solutions to demonstrate that mountain asymmetry, determined by the location of the main drainage divide, increases with increasing uplift gradient and advection velocity. Then, we provide a conceptual framework to constrain the present or previous tectonic uplift and advection of a mountain belt from the location and migration direction of its main drainage divide. Furthermore, we apply our model to Wula Shan horst, Northeastern Sicily, and Southern Taiwan.

Highlights

One of the most conspicuous features of a mountain belt is the main drainage divide
Erosion is controlled by tectonic deformation, which can start or increase instantaneously, but erosion itself takes some time to adjust to those changes
The steady-state main drainage divide (MDD) is located in a position determined by uplift gradient (Fig. 2)

Summary

Introduction

One of the most conspicuous features of a mountain belt is the main drainage divide. Divide location is influenced by a number of parameters, including tectonic uplift and horizontal advection. We combine numerical landscape evolution modelling and analytical solutions to demonstrate that mountain asymmetry, determined by the location of the main drainage divide, increases with increasing uplift gradient and advection velocity. We provide a conceptual framework to constrain the present or previous tectonic uplift and advection of a mountain belt from the location and migration direction of its main drainage divide. We present a new method to provide constraints on the tectonic pattern and history of a mountain belt solely based on the location and mobility of its main drainage divide (MDD). We build a model to provide constraints on the present or previous uplift and horizontal advection of a mountain belt based on the current location and mobility of its MDD, and apply this model to Wula Shan horst, Northeastern Sicily, and Southern Taiwan. We demonstrate that: (1) the difference in uplift rate between the two edges of Wula Shan horst is 0.14 mm/year; (2) the tectonic activity of Northeastern Sicily remains constant or has slightly changed; (3) the tectonic activity of Southern Taiwan may have increased, and we expect that under the persistence of present conditions, the main drainage divide of Southern Taiwan will migrate southeastwards

Methods

Results

Conclusion