Modeling the influence of horizontal advection, deformation, and late uplift on the drainage development in the India‐Asia collision zone

Abstract

We present results of a new model in which we couple a mechanical model to describe continental indentation in plan view with a landscape evolution model to describe drainage development. We apply the model to investigate aspects of the development of drainage systems, erosion, and exhumation in the India‐Asia collision zone. It is shown that the orogen‐scale distribution of erosion and exhumation can be well matched by the model. However, the elevation of the Tibetan Plateau and the steep topographic gradients at its margins are difficult to reproduce. They appear to require an additional cause of uplift. We show that some of the major observed river capture events can be reproduced by invoking such a late uplift in much of the orogen, except the region of the Sichuan Basin. This includes the inferred capture of the Yarlong‐Tsangpo by the Brahmaputra and that of the Upper Yangtze by the Lower Yangtze (thereby deserting the Red River).