Lateral Perturbations Research Articles

Changes in stepping response to lateral perturbations immediately following a single bout of physical activity

Fatiguing exercise can adversely alter postural stability and therefore may contribute to falling. However, older adults rarely perform exercise to fatigue. This study aimed to determine whether undertaking a single bout of moderate-intensity physical activity, similar to that experienced during daily activity or rehabilitation, altered the ability to recover balance with an outward step response to a lateral perturbation. Thirty-four healthy older adults (mean: 76±5 years) and 31 healthy young adults (29±6 years) underwent a 14-minute, self-paced, moderate-intensity physical activity protocol. Before and immediately after the protocol, their responses to lateral waist-pull perturbations were recorded. For participants who used a single outward step response before and after the perturbation, the changes to the timing of the step phases and the hip abductor muscle activity onsets were compared. Young adults responded with an outward step in 55% of trials before and 70% after activity, whereas this frequency was 35% before and 36% after among older adults. When performed, the timing of steps and muscle activity onsets were not adversely altered following the physical activity in either group, apart from a slightly later stance limb gluteus medius onset after activity, found in both groups. Before and after activity, older adults responded with a single outward step to arrest a fall less frequently than young adults. This may place older adults at risk of overbalancing. However, when responding with this strategy, both young and older adults demonstrated few changes immediately following moderate-intensity physical activity compared with before. They appear to be not adversely affected by moderate physical activity.

Relative contributions of optic flow, bearing, and splay angle information to lane keeping

Heading from optic flow, bearing, and splay angle information can all be used for lane keeping on a straight path. Here we investigated the relative contributions of these three visual cues to accurate lane-keeping control in a novel way. The displays simulated observers steering a vehicle down a straight path defined by a pair of posts (providing bearing angles only) or a segment of lane edges (providing bearing and splay angles) at a fixed viewing distance, and the ground contained no flow, sparse flow, or dense flow. Observers used a joystick to control the vehicle's lateral movement to stay in the center of the lane while facing random perturbations to both the vehicle's lateral position and orientation. The lateral position perturbation affected the use of both splay and bearing angle cues, but the vehicle orientation perturbation only affected the use of bearing angles. We found that performance improved as more flow information was added to the scene regardless of the availability of bearing or splay angle information. In the presence of splay angles, observers would ignore bearing and rely mainly on splay angles for lane keeping.

Ensemble variational assimilation for the representation of background error covariances in a high‐latitude regional model

Statistical objective analysis requires the explicit specification of the observation and background error covariances. This paper deals with the estimation of the latter within a high‐latitude regional model. Four different approaches have been adopted to simulate the error evolution in the analysis and forecast steps of the model: i) the largely‐adopted NMC method, applied to both a winter and a summer season data set, ii) global ensemble analyses projected forward to the 6‐hour forecast range by the limited‐area model itself, iii) limited‐area ensemble variational assimilation with unperturbed lateral boundary conditions (LBCs) and iv) limited‐area ensemble variational assimilation with perturbed lateral boundary conditions. The structure of the four background error covariance matrices was extensively compared. It turned out that the NMC‐derived standard deviations had stronger amplitude at the large scales, especially in the lower troposphere, compared to those derived using the ensemble technique, and much broader horizontal and large‐scale vertical correlations. The contribution of lateral boundary perturbations is shown to be significant. Moreover, neglecting these LBCs perturbations contributes to unrealistic features, such as artificial small variances near the boundaries, which tend to spuriously propagate towards the inner area. Furthermore, humidity variances and associated cross‐covariances tend to be weaker in the ensemble assimilation experiments, in particular when lateral boundary conditions are not perturbed. A one‐month assimilation period allowed us to evaluate the impact of the different background error statistics on the forecasts: wind, geopotential and partly temperature are clearly benefiting from the use of ensemble‐based background error covariances; humidity skill scores are noticeably improved when background error covariances from limited‐area ensemble assimilation were used. The seasonality of the background error structures was also investigated, and it was found non‐negligible for the performance of the data assimilation and forecast systems.

Balance responses to lateral perturbations in human treadmill walking

During walking on a treadmill 10 human subjects (mean age 20 years) were perturbed by 100 ms pushes or pulls to the left or the right, of various magnitudes and in various phases of the gait cycle. Balance was maintained by (1) a stepping strategy (synergy), in which the foot at the next step is positioned a fixed distance outward of the 'extrapolated centre of mass', and (2) a lateral ankle strategy, which comprises a medial or lateral movement of the centre of pressure under the foot sole. The extrapolated centre of mass is defined as the centre of mass position plus the centre of mass velocity multiplied by a parameter related to the subject's leg length. The ankle strategy is the fastest, with a mechanical delay of about 200 ms (20% of a stride), but it can displace the centre of pressure no more than 2 cm. The stepping strategy needs at least 300 ms (30% of a stride) before foot placement, but has a range of 20 cm. When reaction time is sufficient, the magnitude of the total response is in good agreement with our hypothesis: mean centre of pressure (foot) position is a constant distance outward of the extrapolated centre of mass. If the reaction time falls short, a further correction is applied in the next step. In the healthy subjects studied here, no further corrections were necessary, so balance was recovered within two steps (one stride).

Lateral capillary forces of cylindrical fluid menisci: a comprehensive quasi-static study

Capillarity is pivotal to many important technologies, including capillary self-alignment and self-assembly for heterogeneous microsystem integration and packaging. Lateral capillary forces ensuing from perturbed fluid menisci were the object of substantial theoretical and numerical modeling in recent years. Anyway, those studies were so far unsatisfactorily supported by direct experimental inspections. In this paper we present a comprehensive quasi-static study of lateral capillary forces arising from a constrained cylindrical fluid meniscus subjected to small lateral perturbations. We describe the novel experimental apparatus that we designed to accurately characterize such a fundamental system. We then reproduce our experimental data on lateral meniscus forces and stiffnesses by means of both a finite element and a novel analytical model. The agreement between our measurements and models, while confirming earlier reports, provides a solid foundation for the applications of lateral capillary forces to microsystem assembly. Moreover, our experimental apparatus may enable the exploitation of Gibbs’ inequality to measure the advancing contact angles of liquids, and it may be used as a reference testbed for further experimental investigations on constrained fluid menisci.

Absolute lateral instability in capillary coflowing jets

We examine the stability of coflowing capillary jets under lateral (m=1) perturbations of small amplitude. Two models are considered for the perturbed basic flow: the Kelvin–Helmholtz (KH) and the outer boundary layer (OBL) models. We revisit the temporal analysis of the KH model and show that the flow is unstable if and only if the (conveniently defined) Weber number is greater than unity. On the contrary, the OBL flow becomes unstable for Weber numbers much smaller than unity, although the growth rate of the perturbations is very small in that case. The spatiotemporal analysis of the dispersion relations shows that both the KH and OBL flows become absolutely unstable (absolute whipping) for sufficiently large values of the Weber number and the ratio between the outer and inner stream velocities. Absolute whipping dominates the behavior of high-viscosity jets for large velocity ratios and prevents the jetting regime from being reached even when varicose perturbations are convected downstream. For sufficiently large values of the Reynolds number, the flow becomes absolutely unstable if the velocity ratio exceeds a critical value, which is almost independent of the Weber number. For small values of the velocity ratio, the flow is stable or at most convectively unstable independently of the Reynolds and Weber numbers. For sufficiently large values of the velocity ratio, there is a critical Reynolds number above which jetting can not be reached because the flow becomes absolutely unstable due to the modes m=0 and/or m=1. That critical Reynolds number decreases as the velocity ratio increases. These results have important implications in technological applications such as steady high-viscosity liquid microjet production and fiber spinning using coflowing gas conformation.

Integration of posture and rhythmic motion controls in quadrupedal dynamic walking using phase modulations based on leg loading/unloading

In this paper, we intend to show the basis of a general legged locomotion controller with the ability to integrate both posture and rhythmic motion controls and shift continuously from one control method to the other according to the walking speed. The rhythmic motion of each leg in the sagittal plane is generated by a single leg controller which controls the swing-to-stance and stance-to-swing phase transitions using respectively leg loading and unloading information. Since rolling motion induced by inverted pendulum motion during the two-legged stance phases results in the transfer of the load between the contralateral legs, leg loading/unloading involves posture information in the frontal plane. As a result of the phase modulations based on leg loading/unloading, rhythmic motion of each leg is achieved and inter-leg coordination (resulting in a gait) emerges, even without explicit coordination amongst the leg controllers, allowing to realize dynamic walking in the low- to medium-speed range. We show that the proposed method has resistance ability against lateral perturbations to some extent, but that an additional ascending coordination mechanism between ipsilateral legs is necessary to withstand perturbations decreasing the rolling motion amplitude. Even without stepping reflex using vestibular information, our control system, relying on phase modulations based on leg loading/unloading and the ascending coordination mechanism between ipsilateral legs, enables low speed dynamic walking on uneven terrain with long cyclic period, which was not realized in our former studies. Details of trajectory generation, movies of simulations and movies of preliminary experiments using a real robot are available at: http://robotics.mech.kit.ac.jp/kotetsu/ .

Numerical Simulation of Myanmar Cyclone Nargis and the Associated Storm Surge Part II: Ensemble Prediction

A mesoscale ensemble prediction system (EPS) employing the Japan Meteorological Agency’s (JMA’s) high-resolution global analysis and forecast for initial and boundary conditions of the control run and perturbations from JMA’s one-week global EPS for initial and boundary perturbations is developed and applied to numerical simulations of cyclone Nargis. Using the JMA nonhydrostatic model (NHM) with a horizontal resolution of 10 km, the system reproduces Nargis’ development and the associated storm surge in southwestern Myanmar with plausible ensemble spreads.In the ensemble prediction with initial boundary perturbations, predicted positions of cyclone centers are distributed in an elliptic area whose major axis is oriented east-northeast, suggesting that track forecast errors tend to increase in the moving direction of Nargis. The location of the minimum surface pressure of the ensemble mean is closer to the best track than the control run, and root mean square errors (RMSEs) of the ensemble mean against analyses are smaller than those of the control run in all forecast variables. However, ensemble spreads tend to decrease in the latter half of the forecast period, and the cyclone center does not disperse enough compared with the track forecast error without the lateral boundary perturbation.When lateral boundary perturbations are implemented in addition to the initial perturbations, dispersion of the cyclone center and spread of the center pressure increase by about 50% at forecast time (FT) ¼ 42. The location of the minimum surface pressure in the ensemble mean shifts westward, reducing the track error. RMSEs of ensemble means become smaller than the ensemble prediction without lateral boundary perturbations.Ensemble forecasts of storm surge were conducted using the Princeton Ocean Model (POM). When surface wind and sea level pressure from JMA’s global EPS were input, the maximum surge was no more than 0.6 m even in the highest ensemble member. The POM simulation driven by the mesoscale ensemble prediction with NHM predicted a storm surge near 4 m in southwestern Myanmar, where the timings of the peak surge were dispersed widely from FT ¼ 33 to FT ¼ 56. When the ensemble mean was input to POM, the maximum surge was 1.5 m, despite the better accuracy of the ensemble mean in terms of RMSE. This result shows that the scenario is more important than the ensemble mean when applying the mesoscale ensemble prediction to disaster prevention.

Ponytail Motion

A jogger's ponytail sways from side to side as the jogger runs, although her head does not move from side to side. The jogger's head just moves up and down, forcing the ponytail to do so also. We show in two ways that this vertical motion is unstable to lateral perturbations. First we treat the ponytail as a rigid pendulum, and then we treat it as a flexible string; in each case, it is hanging from a support which is moving up and down periodically, and we solve the linear equation for small lateral oscillation. The angular displacement of the pendulum and the amplitude of each mode of the string satisfy Hill's equation. This equation has solutions which grow exponentially in time when the natural frequency of the pendulum, or that of a mode of the string, is close to an integer multiple of half the frequency of oscillation of the support. Then the vertical motion is unstable, and the ponytail sways.

Neuromechanical models for insect locomotion: Stability, maneuverability, and proprioceptive feedback

We describe a hierarchy of models for legged locomotion, emphasizing relationships among feedforward (preflexive) stability, maneuverability, and reflexive feedback. We focus on a hexapedal geometry representative of insect locomotion in the ground plane that includes a neural central pattern generator circuit, nonlinear muscles, and a representative proprioceptive sensory pathway. Although these components of the model are rather complex, neglect of leg mass yields a neuromechanical system with only three degrees of freedom, and numerical simulations coupled with a Poincaré map analysis shows that the feedforward dynamics is strongly stable, apart from one relatively slow mode and a neutral mode in body yaw angle. These modes moderate high frequency perturbations, producing slow heading changes that can be corrected by a stride-to-stride steering strategy. We show that the model's response to a lateral impulsive perturbation closely matches that of a cockroach subject to a similar impulse. We also describe preliminary studies of proprioceptive leg force feedback, showing how a reflexive pathway can reinforce the preflexive stability inherent in the system.

Decomposition driven interface evolution for layers of binary mixtures. II. Influence of convective transport on linear stability

We study the linear stability with respect to lateral perturbations of free surface films of polymer mixtures on solid substrates. The study focuses on the stability properties of the stratified and homogeneous steady film states studied in Part I [U. Thiele, S. Madruga, and L. Frastia, Phys. Fluids 19, 122106 (2007)]. To this aim, the linearized bulk equations and boundary equations are solved using continuation techniques for several different cases of energetic bias at the surfaces corresponding to linear and quadratic solutal Marangoni effects. For purely diffusive transport, an increase in the film thickness either exponentially decreases the lateral instability or entirely stabilizes the film. Including convective transport leads to a further destabilization as compared to the purely diffusive case. In some cases the inclusion of convective transport and the related widening of the range of available film configurations (it is then able to change its surface profile) change the stability behavior qualitatively. We furthermore present results regarding the dependence of the instability on several other parameters, namely, the Reynolds number, the surface tension number, and the ratio of the typical velocities of convective and diffusive transport.

Lateral stability of the spring-mass hopper suggests a two-step control strategy for running

This paper investigates the control of running gaits in the context of a spring loaded inverted pendulum model in three dimensions. Specifically, it determines the minimal number of steps required for an animal to recover from a perturbation to a specified gait. The model has four control inputs per step: two touchdown angles (azimuth and elevation) and two spring constants (compression and decompression). By representing the locomotor movement as a discrete-time return map and using the implicit function theorem we show that the number of recovery steps needed following a perturbation depends upon the goals of the control mechanism. When the goal is to follow a straight line, two steps are necessary and sufficient for small lateral perturbations. Multistep control laws have a larger number of control inputs than outputs, so solutions of the control problem are not unique. Additional constraints, referred to here as synergies, are imposed to determine unique control inputs for perturbations. For some choices of synergies, two-step control can be expressed as two iterations of its first step policy and designed so that recovery occurs in just one step for all perturbations for which one-step recovery is possible.

Are age-related impairments in change-in-support balance reactions dependent on the method of balance perturbation?

Rapid “change-in-support” (stepping or grasping) balance-recovery reactions play a critical role in preventing falls. Studies investigating age-related impairments in these reactions using differing perturbation methods have shown contradictory results. The discrepancies could be due to the different mechanical and sensory stimuli provided by the different perturbation methods, but could also be due to other confounding factors (e.g. differences in perturbation predictability). This study compared two commonly used perturbation methods: weight-drop cable-pulls (CPs) and motor-driven surface-translations (STs). For each perturbation method, effects of aging on the change-in-support reactions were established by comparing 10 young (22–28 years) and 30 older (64–79 years) adults, using large unpredictable multi-directional perturbations similar to those used in previous studies showing age-related differences. Age-related differences in the pattern and spatio-temporal features of the limb movements were examined for stepping and grasping reactions evoked by antero-posterior perturbation of stance, as well as stepping reactions evoked by lateral perturbations delivered while subjects walked “in-place”. Although age-group effects were almost always more pronounced for ST perturbations, the direction of the effect was always the same for both perturbation methods; hence, the perturbation-dependent differences in mechanical and sensory stimuli did not seem to be a critical factor. Perturbation waveform appeared to be a more important factor. For the perturbation methods used here, the ST perturbations were more destabilising than the CP perturbations (leading to a more rapid rise in perturbatory ankle-torque and greater centre-of-mass motion prior to the onset of the postural reaction), and were consequently more effective in revealing age-related deficiencies.

A link between the North Atlantic Oscillation and measles dynamics during the vaccination period in England and Wales

Ecologists have become aware of the role played by interannual climatic variability on the temporal dynamics of infectious diseases. In this report, I present evidence from data on measles cases in England and Wales showing that during the post-vaccination period, the interannual variability of winter weather (represented by the North Atlantic Oscillation, NAO) influences the annual dynamics of the disease. Using annual measles data from seven cities and simple logistic models, this study reveals how, after vaccination, NAO increases its effects on measles fluctuations. In addition, this study shows that vaccination may be represented as a simple vertical and lateral perturbation effect (Royama's classification), by reducing the maximum per capita growth rate and the equilibrium number of infected individuals. The results suggest that vaccination will not lead to outbreaks of measles from regular cyclic to irregular chaotic dynamics. In contrast, because of the reduction in per capita growth rates, the disease dynamics appear to be more stable than during the pre-vaccination period. The analysis of annual data on infectious diseases may be useful for detecting long-term effects of climate and complements the classical analyses and modeling based on monthly or seasonal time-step data.

An investigation into the stability of a shear thinning fluid

Experiments [T. Mullin, R.R. Kerswell (Eds.), Laminar Turbulent Transition and Finite Amplitude Solutions, Proceedings of the UITAM Symposium, Springer, Bristol, UK, Dodrecht, 2005.] show that transition to turbulence can start at Reynolds numbers lower than it is predicted by the linear stability analysis – the subcritical transition to turbulence. To give a possible qualitative explanation of these observations we suggest that the onset of subcritical instability can be related to failure of the fluid viscosity: friction between fluid layers drops with the increase of the velocity gradient. To describe the drop of friction theoretically we relax the assumption of the stability of the fluid material and introduce a constant of the fluid strength. Particularly, we enhance the Navier–Stokes model with a failure description by introducing the fluid strength in the constitutive equation for the viscous stress. The classical model is obtained from the enhanced one when the strength goes to infinity. We use the modified Navier–Stokes model to analyze the Couette flow between two parallel plates and find that the lateral perturbations can destabilize the flow and the critical Reynolds number is proportional to the fluid strength. The latter means that the classical Navier–Stokes model of a stable material with the infinite strength does not capture the subcritical transition to turbulence while the modified model does.

Glacial isostatic adjustment model constrained by geodetic measurements and relative sea level

The new model of the last glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA) is constrained simutaneously by the data sets from geodetic measurements, relative sea levels and seismic shear tomographic data. The viscosities in mantle for this model are allowed to vary both radially and laterally. Firstly, the scalling factor β is tentatively chosen for which the lateral perturbations in viscosity are computed based on the linear relation with seismic shear wave anomalies. These lateral perturbations in viscosity are then supperposed logarithmically on a laterally homogeneous reference viscosity model to give the total viscosities in the mantle layers. Based on this 3-D viscosity model, the GIA predictions are computed using the coupled-Laplace Finite-Element Method. Such processes will not end untill the predictions agree well with the observed data sets. The main results are as follows. Firstly, the laterally heterogeneous viscosity model (RF3L20(β=0. 4)) is determined from which the obvious lateral heterogeneities and the prominouced effects on GIA predictions are found. It is indicated the lateral heterogeneities are attributable not just to themal effects but also to lateral variations in chemistry and other factors. The RF3L20(β=0.4) model can be used to the modelling in mantle geodynamics. Secondly, the multiple present GIA rates are predicted that can be served as the important corrections for the monitoring of the tectonic motion, land water storage changes, ocean water mass variations and the non-equilibrium of the ice and snow.

Postural instability in cerebellar ataxia: Correlations of knee, arm and trunk movements to center of mass velocity

The aim of this study was to investigate the correlations between body segment movements and center of mass (COM) velocity during pathological balance corrections of spinocerebellar ataxia (SCA) patients compared with controls, and to relate correlations indicating instability to EMG activity differences.Eighteen SCA patients and 21 age-matched controls were tested. Upright standing was perturbed using rotations of the support surface. We recorded body motion and surface EMG.For lateral perturbations peaks in COM lateral velocity were larger in SCA patients than controls. These peaks were correlated with increased (“hypermetric”) trunk roll downhill and reduced uphill knee flexion velocity. Subsequent arm abduction partially corrected the lateral instability. Early balance correcting responses in knee and paraspinal muscles showed reduced amplitudes compared with normal responses. Later responses were consistent with compensation mechanisms for the lateral instability created by the stiffened knee and pelvis. We conclude that truncal hypermetria coupled with insufficient uphill knee flexion is the primary cause of lateral instability in SCA patients. Holding the knees and pelvis more rigid possibly permits a reduction in the controlled degrees of freedom and concentration on arm abduction to improve lateral instability. For backwards perturbations excessive posterior COM velocity coincided with marked trunk hypermetric flexion forwards. We concluded that this flexion and the ensuing backwards shift of the pelvis result from rigidity which jeopardizes posterior stability. Timing considerations and the lack of confirmatory changes in amplitudes of EMG activity suggest that lateral and posterior instability in SCA is primarily a biomechanical response to pelvis and knee rigidity resulting from increased muscle background activity rather than changed evoked responses.

The global attenuation structure of the upper mantle

A large data set of fundamental mode Rayleigh wave amplitudes is analyzed to derive a new global three‐dimensional model of shear wave attenuation in the upper mantle. The amplitude observations span a range of periods between 50 and 250 s and are derived from earthquakes with MW > 6.0 that occurred between 1993 and 2005. Four separate factors may influence an amplitude anomaly: intrinsic attenuation along the raypath, elastic focusing effects along the raypath, uncertainties in the strength of excitation, and uncertainties in the response at the station. In an earlier paper (Dalton and Ekström, 2006a), dependence of the retrieved attenuation structure on these terms was shown to be significant and an approach was developed to invert the amplitudes simultaneously for each term. The new three‐dimensional attenuation model QRFSI12, which is the subject of this paper, is derived using this method. The model contains large lateral variations in upper‐mantle attenuation, ±60% to ±100%, and exhibits strong agreement with surface tectonic features at depths shallower than 200 km. At greater depth, QRFSI12 is dominated by high attenuation in the southeastern Pacific and eastern Africa and low attenuation along many subduction zones in the western Pacific. Resolution tests confirm that the change in pattern of attenuation above and below 200‐km depth can be determined with confidence using the fundamental mode data set. The new model is highly correlated with global models of shear wave velocity, particularly in the uppermost mantle, suggesting that the same factors may control both seismic attenuation and velocity in this depth range. However, forcing the lateral perturbations in attenuation to match those found in global velocity models decreases the data variance reduction, which suggests that subtle differences between patterns of attenuation and velocity are robust.

Muscle response times between shoe and no-shoe conditions following a weight-bearing rotary perturbation are similar in females

The purpose of this study was to compare the muscle response times (MRTs) of select lower extremity muscles following a weight bearing rotary perturbation in single-leg stance with and without shoes. Ten recreationally active females volunteered for this study. Each subject received a rotary perturbation in single-leg stance under two conditions: with shoes and without shoes. The outcomes measured were response times of the medial and lateral quadriceps, hamstrings and gastrocnemius. The results demonstrated that significant differences in MRTs were not apparent for either the medial or lateral perturbation between conditions. While a main effect for muscle was evident for both medial and lateral perturbations, a muscle by shoe interaction was not present for either the medial or lateral perturbation. Our findings suggest that wearing shoes does not alter MRTs during single-limb rotary perturbations. These data indicate that lower extremity perturbation device testing may be done with or without shoes and comparisons between works are permissible as response times are unaffected.

Moment Tensor Inversion of Moderate Earthquakes and the Locally Perturbed Stress Field in the Jiashi Source Region

AbstractMoment tensors of 52 moderate sized earthquakes occurred in Jiashi source region, Xinjiang, from 1997 to 2004 were determined in time domain by using the long period waveforms recorded by regional broadband stations. The results demonstrate significant variations of the orientation and plunge of P, T and N axis from west to east in the source region. Therefore, we further divided the whole region into two parts, which are called the western part and the eastern part, and performed the stress tensor inversion respectively. The results show that in the eastern part, the maximum principal axis σ1 is almost horizontal and trends N321°E, the minimum principal axis σ3 trends 68° with a plunge of 40°, and σ2 trends 213°; with a plunge about 40°;. Till 2004, the stress within the western part remains stable, with the σ1 and σ3 nearly horizontal and trending to N12°E and N282°E respectively, the middle axis σ2 almost vertical. Thus the maximum principal stress σ1 significantly rotates counter clockwise from N10°E in the west part to N39°W in the east part across the whole studied region. Compared with the stress field in the eastern part, the western part is under a stronger horizontal extension effect. This lateral perturbation of stress field is consistent with the pattern of crustal deformation rate from GPS observation, as well as the topography map at the structure boundary between Tarim basin and Tienshan. We infer that both the sharp deformation in the deep crust and the large‐scale NNW trending Puchang and Selibuya fault structures may play a crucial role in resulting in the local stress perturbation pattern.