South-dipping Thrust Research Articles

Intraplate thrust orogeny of the Altai Mountains revealed by deep seismic reflection

The Altai orogen is a typical intracontinental orogen in Central Asia that experienced far-field deformation associated with Indian-Eurasian plate convergence. This region is characterized by uplift comparable to that of the Tianshan Mountains but has a distinct strain rate. Half of the Indo-Asia strain is accommodated by the Tianshan Mountains, whereas the Altai Mountains accommodates only 10%. To elucidate how the Altai Mountains produced such a large amount of uplift with only one-fifth of the strain rate of the Tianshan Mountains, we constructed a detailed crustal image of the Altai Mountains based on a new 166.8-km deep seismic reflection profile. The prestack migration images reveal an antiform within the Erqis crust, an ∼10 km Moho offset between the Altai arc and the East Junggar area, and a major south-dipping (30° dip) thrust in the lower crust beneath the Altai Mountains, which is connected to the Moho offset. The south-dipping thrust not only records the southward subduction of the Ob-Zaisan Ocean in the Paleozoic but also controlled the Altai deformation pattern in the Cenozoic with the Erqis antiform. The Erqis antiform prevented the extension of deformation to the Junggar crust. The south-dipping thrust in the lower crust of the Altai area caused extrusion of the lower crust, generating uplift at the surface, thickening of the crust, and steep (∼10 km) Moho deepening in the Altai Mountains. This process significantly widened the deformation zone of the Altai Mountains. These findings provide a new geodynamic model for describing how inherited crustal structure controls intraplate deformation without strong horizontal stress.

A submarine morphotectonic analysis combining GIS-based methods and virtual reality: Case study of the low-rate active thrust faulting off Boumerdès (Algeria)

The Algerian margin is located at the slow-rate convergent boundary between African and Eurasian plates and experienced several strong earthquakes in the last centuries. Among them, the 2003 Mw 6.8 Boumerdès event has triggered large turbidity currents in the slightly concave canyons of the slope and numerous cable breaks in the abyssal plain. In this study, we explore where, how and when the tectonic inversion of the margin off Boumerdès has left witnesses in the seafloor morphology and whether the observed deformation correlates with the 2003 coseismic rupture zone and with the Plio-Quaternary sedimentation. We have performed a careful analysis of the seafloor morphology and subsurface seismic reflectors at the landscape scale and along/between canyons by combining classical GIS-based methods and Virtual Reality techniques. From the mid-slope to the deep basin off the ∼60 km long Boumerdès-Dellys coast, we evidence large knickpoints corresponding to the development of four main cumulative fault scarps and two perched basins which are deeply incised by steep canyons and gullies. We interpret these structures to result from frontal propagation of two main south-dipping thrusts by upper crustal décollement ramping, evidencing an incipient sub-thrust imbrication in a stage of initiation of an accretionary wedge. The flat-ramp thrust geometry and their along-strike segmentation explain the development and shape of the perched basins in the backlimb of fault-related folds. The onset of growth strata is dated at 1.5 ± .5 Ma on the slope and .9 ± .3 Ma in the deep basin. The length, position, strike and segmentation of the older, southern thrust ramp are consistent with the coseismic characteristics of the Mw 6.8 2003 earthquake. The cumulative vertical scarp throw exceeds 1 km, supporting Quaternary shortening rates of 1.6 ± .7 mm/yr, in agreement with geodetic strain rates across the western Mediterranean basin. Virtual Reality offers powerful and promising means to correlate seismic imagery and seafloor morphology and is of great help to improve the robustness of tectonostratigraphic interpretation.

Seismogenic Structure of the 2017 Ms 6.6 Jinghe, China, Earthquake Inferred from Seismic Detection and Relocation

Abstract On 8 August 2017, an Ms 6.6 earthquake occurred in Xinjiang province, Northwest China. As no visible surface ruptures, coupled with the complex regional fault systems, the seismogenic structure of the earthquake is still unclear. Rich aftershock data can constrain the fault structure to some extent, but only a handful of aftershocks were recorded by the China Earthquake Networks Center (CENC) in this case. To augment the CENC catalog, we first relocated aftershocks and then adopted them as templates to scan the continuous waveforms five days before and five days after the mainshock using the Match and Locate method. We successfully detected 3.5 times more events than the CENC catalog, and the detected events discernibly feature a south-dipping plane. Amalgamating the focal mechanism of the mainshock and available geological information, the south-dipping thrust Jinghenan fault is inferred to be the rupture fault of the Jinghe earthquake. In addition, we find that the detected foreshocks are mainly distributed on the northwest edge of asperity where the mainshock may have nucleated. In addition, based on the cluster analysis and spatial–temporal evolutions of detected events, we speculate that a backthrust branch related to the seismogenic fault was activated during the aftershocks moving significantly westward in the first 30 min after the mainshock occurrence.

Surface Deformation Associated with the 22 August 1902 Mw 7.7 Atushi Earthquake in the Southwestern Tian Shan, Revealed from Multiple Remote Sensing Data

The 22 August 1902 Mw 7.7 Atushi earthquake is the most disastrous seismic event in the southwestern Tian Shan. However, the spatial distribution of surface rupture zones as well as the geometric feature of surface deformation remain unclear, and the seismogenic fault is still controversial. Based on geologic and geomorphic interpretations of multiple remote sensing imaging data, high-resolution DEM data derived from UAV imaging complemented by field investigations, we mapped two sub-parallel NEE-trending surface rupture zones with a total length of 108 km. In addition, ~60 km and ~48 km surface rupture zones are distributed along the pre-existing Atushi fault (ATF) and the Keketamu fault (KTF), respectively. The surface deformations are mainly characterized as bedrock scarp, hanging wall collapse scarp, pressure ridge, and thrust-related fold scarps along the two south-dipping thrust faults, which are defined as the seismogenic structure of the 1902 Mw 7.7 Atushi earthquake. Thus, we proposed the cascading-rupture model to explain the multiple rupture zones generated by the 1902 Mw 7.7 Atushi earthquake. Moreover, the multiple advanced remote sensing mapping techniques can provide a promising approach to recover the geometric and geomorphic features of the surface deformation caused by large seismic events in the arid and semi-arid regions.

Documenting the geometry and magnitude of shortening at the Allegheny Front: Lycoming County, Pennsylvania, United States

Based on limited geophysical and outcrop data, shortening of the strata in the Appalachian Plateau above the Silurian salt detachment was interpreted to have occurred by layer-parallel shortening (LPS) plus gentle folding. Recently acquired high-quality, three-dimensional seismic reflection and well data reveal that strata from the Silurian Salina Group and the Devonian Marcellus Shale shortened through a variety of macroscale mechanisms in the Appalachian Plateau region of Lycoming County, Pennsylvania. Geometries evident in the seismic reflection profiles and repeated stratigraphy in gamma-ray log surveys indicate north- and south-dipping wedge-style thrust faults with offsets ranging from 60 to 550 m (195 to 1800 ft). Through kinematically restored and balanced cross sections, we show that the 10%–15% LPS calculated from the rocks exposed at the surface of the Appalachian Plateau is equal to the magnitude of interpreted macroscale shortening in the Silurian–Lower Devonian units immediately above the Silurian Salina Group. Previously collected seismic reflection profiles extending south of the Nittany anticlinorium into the Valley and Ridge reveal wedge-style thrust faulting in Ordovician through Silurian units and wedging of the northernmost horses (a volume of rock completely enclosed by thrust faults) of the Cambrian–Ordovician duplex of the fold–thrust belt under the southern plateau edge. These structures allow us to interpret a pathway of triangle zones (a combination of two thrusts with the same detachment and with opposing vergence such that they form a triangular zone) that transfer slip from the basal decollement in the Cambrian Waynesboro Formation to the overlying Ordovician Reedsville detachment and then to the Silurian salt detachment in the Appalachian Plateau.

Imaging the Geometry of Cimandiri Fault Zone Based on 2D Audio-Magnetotelluric (AMT) Model in Nyalindung, Sukabumi–Indonesia

We present an interpretation of newly acquired audio-magnetotelluric data to reveal the subsurface geometry of Cimandiri Fault Zone, one of the major active faults in the western part of Java. The line section is 25 km long in a nearly north–south direction across the axes of CFZ with 24 stations of 750–1200 m spacing intervals. The 2D AMT inversion model shows two conductive zones in the southern part that may be associated to the Miocene rocks of the Southern Mountains, and a conductive zone in the northern part that is likely to be associated with Gunung Walat fold-belt. The subsurface structures of the Southern Mountains are dominated by south-dipping thrusts that may uplift the shallow marine sediments. Shallow seismicity occurred around CFZ indicating the activity of these blind thrusts.

Field documentation and genesis of the back-structures from the Garhwal Lesser Himalaya, Uttarakhand, India

Abstract Collisional fold-and-thrust belts are characterized by foreland-verging thrusts. Conversely, structures with hinterland-ward vergence, known as the back-thrusts, also exist. Strain intensification, critical taper deformation and the presence of thrust ramps generate back-thrusts. This study focuses on the exposure-scale brittle and ductile structures showing hinterland-ward vergence (back-structures) from a part of the Garhwal Lesser Himalaya, NW India, mainly along the Bhagirathi river section. In our field-traverse, back-structures were found at 31 locations. Towards the north, in the Outer Lesser Himalaya, the back-structures are located on the inverted limb of the Mussoorie Syncline (Group 1). The Tons Thrust is a south-dipping thrust (i.e. back-thrust). Hence, the Tons Thrust and nearby areas show intense back-structures (Group 2). In the Inner Lesser Himalaya, back-structures have been generated by shearing related to the folded Berinag Thrust (Group 3). The back-structures at and near the Main Central Thrust Zone (MCTZ) (Group 4) can be correlated with the presence of the Delhi–Haridwar Ridge. In this way, this study establishes the back-structures to be an integral part of the Garhwal Lesser Himalaya and provides the genesis of those structures by correlating them with the (local) tectonic settings. Supplementary material : Tables listing seismic events and the GPS coordinates of the field locations, and figures showing structures at these field locations are available at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.4339784

Late Paleozoic low-angle southward-dipping thrust in the Z\xfc\xfcnharaa area, Mongolia: tectonic implications for the geological structures in the Sayan-Baikal and Hangai-Daur belts

The Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB) is key to understanding the Paleozoic–Mesozoic geodynamics of Eurasian continent. The geological structure of the Middle-to-Late Paleozoic rock units in the North Mongolia–West Transbaikal region is critical in revealing development process of CAOB. The region is largely comprised of rocks from the continental affinity and accretionary complexes which form the Sayan-Baikal (SB) and Hangai-Daur (HD) belts. This paper describes the lithology, stratigraphy, geological structure, and U-Pb age of the rocks in the Züünharaa area, which is located within the Haraa terrane of the HD belt in Mongolia. We identified a regional low-angle southward-dipping thrust in this area. The tectonic implication of the low-angle south-dipping thrust is discussed within the North Mongolia–West Transbaikal region. The study area exposes metamorphosed clastic rocks of the Haraa Group intruded by Ordovician–Silurian granitic rocks, Devonian felsic volcanic rocks of the Ulaan Öndör Formation, and Visean clastic rocks of the Örmögtei Formation in ascending order. The Haraa Group, granitic rock, and Ulaan Öndör Formation are cut by the low-angle southward-dipping thrust throughout this area. The rocks along the thrust are fractured to form cataclasite zone up to ~40 m wide. The thrust includes granite–rhyolite clast of ~450–420 Ma, and is unconformably covered by Visean Örmögtei Formation. Therefore, thrusting occurred after Ordovician–Silurian and before Visean. Late Paleozoic low-angle southward-dipping thrusts, similar to the present study, are widely distributed in the Haraa terrane of the Hangai-Daur belt and in terranes of the Sayan-Baikal belt. Whereas, the contemporaneous southeast-verging composite folds and northward-dipping thrusts are developed in the accretionary complexes, which are exposed at south of the Haraa terrane. These contrasting structures suggest a couple of “landward-verging” and “oceanward-verging” structures and may correspond to the “doubly vergent asymmetric structure” of Alpine-type compressional orogen.

DIACHRONOUS EVOLUTION OF BACK-ARC BASINS IN THE SOUTH TIANSHAN: INSIGHTS FROM STRUCTURAL, GEOCHRONOLOGICAL AND GEOCHEMICAL STUDIES OF THE WUWAMEN OPHIOLITE MÉLANGE

The South Tianshan is located to the north of the Tarim block and defines the southern margin of the Paleozoic Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB). This study presents new structural data, geochronological and geochemical results for the Wuwamen ophiolite melange in the Chinese segment of the South Tianshan. In the south, the Wuwamen ophiolite melange shows typical block-in-matrix fabrics and occurs in the footwall of a south-dipping thrust fault, hanging wall of which is composed of weakly metamorphosed and deformed Lower Paleozoic marine to deep marine sequences from the South Tianshan. In the north, a southdipping thrust fault juxtaposes the Wuwamen ophiolite melange in its hanging wall against the high-grade and strongly deformed metasedimentary rocks from the Central Tianshan in its footwall.

Active tectonics of central-western Caucasus, Georgia

This work contributes to a better knowledge of potentially seismogenic faults of the Georgia Greater and Lesser Caucasus by evaluating the distribution of earthquake foci, active tectonic stress field, kinematics and geometry of main fault planes. We consider all the information coming from field structural geology, geomorphology, seismological data from historical and instrumental catalogues, seismic reflection sections, as well as new focal mechanism solutions. These data enable recognizing some active ENE-WSW reverse faults in the core of the Greater Caucasus that are parallel to the mountain range. At the southernmost front of the Greater Caucasus, a series of main thrusts dipping towards NNE are active, with up to hundreds-km-long segments; along this thrust zone, a potentially locked segment is present, about 90km long. The studied section of the Lesser Caucasus has active structures along the northern front given by south-dipping thrusts, as well as in the central core where strike-slip and oblique faults coexist. The Transcaucasian depression between the two mountain ranges shows an ongoing inversion tectonics of the central part of the Rioni Basin where active N- to NE-dipping reverse faults are present, accompanied by clear evidence of uplift of a wide area. The data are coherent with a N-S to NNE-SSW contraction of the central-western Greater Caucasus and Lesser Caucasus. Although in general the seismicity decreases westward in terms of number of earthquakes and magnitude, seismological and geological structural data in the Rioni Basin indicate here a Quaternary propagation of deformation towards the west.

Two-stage evolution of the Cenozoic Kunbei fault system and its control of deposition in the SW Qaidam Basin, China

The structural relationship between the Qaidam Basin and Qimen Tagh-Eastern Kunlun Range holds important implications for evaluating the formation mechanism of the Tibetan Plateau. Various models have been proposed to reveal the structural relationship, although controversies remain. To address these issues, we analysed the seismic and lithologic data of the Kunbei fault system (i.e. the Kunbei, Arlar and Hongliuquan faults), which lies to the north of the Qimen Tagh-Eastern Kunlun Range within the SW Qaidam Basin. Based on the regional geological framework and our kinematic analyses, we propose that the Cenozoic tectonic evolution of the Kunbei fault system can be divided into two stages. From the Early Eocene to the Middle Miocene, the system was characterized by left-lateral strike-slip faults and weak south-dipping thrust faults based on the flower structure in the seismic section, which is an apparent strike-slip deformation that was identified in the −1510-ms time slice and the root-mean-square amplitude attribute slice. This strike-slip motion was generated by the uplift of the Tibetan Plateau caused by the onset of the Indian-Eurasian collision. Since the Middle Miocene, the Kunbei fault system has undergone intense south-dipping thrusting, and a nearly 2.2-km uplift has been observed in the hanging wall in the Arlar fault. The south-dipping thrusting is the far-field effect of the full collision that occurred between the Indian-Eurasian plates. The lake area in the SW Qaidam Basin has been shrinking since the Middle Miocene and presents widespread delta and fluvial deposits, which are consistent with the proposed tectonic evolution.

Late Cenozoic transpressional mountain building directly north of the Altyn Tagh Fault in the Sanweishan and Nanjieshan, North Tibetan Foreland, China

For many tectonicists, the structural development of the northern Tibetan Plateau stops at the Altyn Tagh Fault (ATF). This study challenges that assumption. Structural field observations and remote sensing analysis indicate that the Sanweishan and Nanjieshan basement cored ridges of the Archean Dunhuang Block, which interrupt the north Tibetan foreland directly north of the ATF, are bound and cut by an array of strike-slip, thrust and oblique-slip faults that have been active in the Quaternary and remain potentially active. The Sanweishan is a SE-tilted block that is bound on its NW margin by a steep south-dipping thrust fault that has also accommodated sinistral strike-slip displacements. The Nanjieshan consists of parallel, but offset basement ridges that record NNW and SSE thrust displacements and sinistral strike-slip. Regional folds characterize the extreme eastern Nanjieshan and appear to have formed above blind thrust faults which break the surface further west. Previously published magnetotelluric data suggest that the major faults of the Sanweishan and Nanjieshan ultimately root to the south within conductive zones that are inferred to merge into the ATF. Therefore, although the southern margin of the Dunhuang Block focuses significant deformation along the ATF, the adjacent cratonic basement to the north is also affected. Collectively, the ATF and structurally linked Sanweishan and Nanjieshan fault array represent a regional asymmetric half-flower structure that is dominated by non-strain partitioned sinistral transpression. The NW-trending Dengdengshan thrust fault system near Yumen City appears to define the northeastern limit of the Sanweishan-Nanjieshan block, which may be regionally viewed as the most northern, but early-stage expression of Tibetan Plateau growth into a slowly deforming, mechanically stiff Archean craton.

Testing models of Tibetan Plateau formation with Cenozoic shortening estimates across the Qilian Shan–Nan Shan thrust belt

Competing models that account for the construction of the Tibetan Plateau include continental subduction, underthrusting, distributed shortening, channel flow, and older crustal-structure inheritance. Well-constrained estimates of crustal shortening strain serve as a diagnostic test of these plateau formation models and are critical to elucidate the dominant mechanism of plateau development. In this work we estimate the magnitude of Cenozoic shortening across the northern Qilian Shan–Nan Shan thrust belt, along the northeastern plateau margin, based on detailed analysis and reconstruction of three high-resolution seismic reflection profiles. By integrating surface geology, seismic data, and the regional tectonic history, we demonstrate that this thrust system has accumulated >53% Cenozoic strain (∼50 km shortening), accommodated by several south-dipping thrust faults. Based on the observed strain distribution across northern Tibet, including lower strain (30%–45%) within the interior of the Qilian Shan–Nan Shan thrust belt, we suggest that a combination of distributed crustal shortening and minor (

Early Cenozoic Multiple Thrust in the Tibetan Plateau

Recently completed regional geological mapping at a scale of 1 : 250,000 or larger across all of the Tibetan Plateau coupled with deep seismic surveys reveals for the first time a comprehensive depiction of the major early Cenozoic thrust systems resulting from the northward subduction of the Indian Continental Plate. These systems define a series of overlapping north-dipping thrust sheets that thickened the Tibetan crust and lead to the rise of the plateau. The few south-dipping thrusts present apparently developed within a sheet when the back moved faster than the toe. Many of the thrusts are shown to extend to the middle-lower crustal depths by seismic data. The regional thrust systems are the Main Central, Renbu-Zedong, Gangdese, Central Gangdese, North Gangdese, Bangoin-Nujiang, Qiangtang, Hohxil, and South Kunlun Thrusts. The minimal southward displacements of the South Kunlun, Hohxil, South Qiangtang, and Central Gangdese Thrusts are estimated to be 30 km, 25 km, 150 km and 50 km, respectively. Deep thrusting began in the Himalaya-Tibetan region soon after India-Eurasia continental collision and led to crustal thickening and subsequent uplift of the Tibetan Plateau during Late Eocene-Early Miocene when the systems were mainly active. The major thrust systems ceased moving in Early Miocene and many were soon covered by lacustrine strata. This activity succeeded in the late Cenozoic to crustal extension and strike-slip movement in the central Tibetan Plateau. The revelation of the full array of the early Cenozoic thrust systems provides a much more complete understanding of the tectonic framework of the Tibetan Plateau.

Static stress transfer from the May 20, 2012, M 6.1 Emilia-Romagna (northern Italy) earthquake using a co-seismic slip distribution model

<p>We model the static stress transfer for the May 2012 northern Italy earthquakes, assuming that failure of the crust occurs by shear. This allows the mechanics of the process to be approximated by the Okada (1992) expressions for displacement and strain fields due to a finite rectangular source in an elastic, homogeneous and isotropic half-space. The slip model of the May 20, 2012, earthquake was derived using empirical Green’s functions and a least-squares inversion scheme of source time functions computed from regional broadband seismological data. The derived model is then incorporated into the computation of Coulomb stress change (ΔCFF) to investigate the possibility that the May 20, 2012, M 6.1 event triggered the second earthquake that occurred on May 29, 2012 (M 5.9). We calculate the Coulomb stress changes for both: (a) optimally oriented planes to regional compression; and (b) planes of fixed orientation assuming that E-W striking, south-dipping thrust faults of the May 29, 2012, type of rupture was a candidate for failure. In both cases, we find that the triggering is promoted as the ΔCFF values in the hypocentral area of the May 29, 2012, earthquake are positive (between 0.61-0.74 bar).</p><p> </p>

Crustal shear (S) velocity and Poisson's ratio structure along the INDEPTH IV profile in northeast Tibet as derived from wide-angle seismic data

SUMMARY From the S-wave data collected along a 270-km-long profile spanning the Kunlun mountains in NE Tibet, 14595 Sg phase arrivals and 21 SmS phase arrivals were utilized to derive a whole-crustal S velocity model and, together with a previously derived P velocity model, a Poisson's ratio (σ) model beneath the profile. The final tomogram for the upper 10–15 km of the crust reveals the lower velocities associated with the predominantly Neogene-Quaternary sediments of the Qaidam basin to the north and the higher velocities associated with the predominantly Palaeozoic and Mesozoic upper crustal sequences of the Songpan-Ganzi terrane and Kunlun mountains to the south. This study finds no evidence that the Kunlun mountains are involved in large-scale northward overriding of the Qaidam basin along a shallow south-dipping thrust. The σ in the upper 10–15 km of the crust are often lower than 0.25, indicating a preponderance of quartz-rich rocks in the upper crust beneath the profile. Below 10–15 km depth, the remainder of the crust down to the Moho has an average σ of 0.24 beneath the Songpan-Ganzi terrane and Kunlun mountains and 0.25 below the Qaidam basin. These low σ are similar to other low σ found along other profiles in the northeastern part of the plateau. Assuming an isotropic situation and no significant variation in σ between 10–15 km depth and the Moho, then the lower crust between 25–30 km depth below sea level and the Moho with P velocities varying from 6.6 km s−1 at the top to around 6.9 km s−1 at the base and σ of 0.24–0.25 should comprise intermediate granulites in the upper part transitioning to granulite facies metapelites in the lower part. As the pre-Cenozoic Qaidam basin crust has probably not lost any of its lower crust during the present Himalayan orogenic cycle in the Cenozoic and only has a σ of 0.245–0.25, then it appears that the pre-Cenozoic Qaidam basin crust involved in the collision is more felsic and thus weaker and more easily deformable than normal continental crust with a global average σ of 0.265–0.27 and the Tarim and Sichuan basin crusts. This situation then probably facilitates the collision and promotes the formation of new high plateau crust at the NE margin of Tibet. South of the Qaidam basin, the crust of the Songpan-Ganzi terrane and Kunlun mountains has an even lower average crustal σ of 0.23–0.24 and is thus presumably even weaker and more easily deformable than the crust beneath the Qaidam basin. This then supports the hypothesis of Karplus et al. that ‘the high Tibetan Plateau may be thickening northward into south Qaidam as its weak, thickened lower crust is injected beneath stronger Qaidam crust'.

The Fossil Accretionary Wedge of the Bay of Biscay: Critical Wedge Analysis on Depth-Migrated Seismic Sections and Geodynamical Implications

AbstractThe accretionary wedge of the Bay of Biscay is an east-west compressive belt buried under recent sediments of the abyssal plain at the north Iberian margin. This structure formed through the partial closure of the previously extended Biscay basin during the Cenozoic north-south collision between Europe and Iberia, the same collision that produced the Cantabrian-Pyrenean range on land. Three north-south seismic sections have been prestack depth migrated, showing a narrow-tapered wedge (7°–8°) whose internal structure corresponds to a set of south-dipping thrusts converging toward a basal decollement. There are differences along strike within the wedge: thrust spacing, the dip of the basal thrust, and the thickness of the sediments at the trough augment toward the east, increasing its overall size. The two-dimensional velocity models obtained through migration analysis reflect values between 2000 km/s at the sea floor (4500 m) and 5000 km/s at 12-km depth. The syntectonic package thickness varies fr...

Syncollisional extension along the India–Asia suture zone, south-central Tibet: Implications for crustal deformation of Tibet

Crustal deformation models of the Tibetan plateau are assessed by investigating the nature of Neogene deformation along the India–Asia suture zone through geologic mapping in south-central Tibet (84°30′E). Our mapping shows that the suture zone is dominated by a system of 3 to 4 ENE-striking, south-dipping thrust faults, rather than strike-slip faults as predicted by models calling upon eastward extrusion of the Tibetan plateau. Faults along the suture zone are not active, as they are cut by a system of NNW-striking oblique slip normal faults, referred to herein as the Lopukangri fault system. Fault-slip data from the Lopukangri fault system shows that the mean slip direction of its hanging wall is N36W. We estimate the net slip on the Lopukangri fault by restoring components of the thrust system. We estimate that the fault has accommodated ∼ 7 km of right-slip and ∼ 8 km of normal dip-slip, yielding a net slip of ∼ 10.5 km, and 6 km of horizontal east–west extension. The Lopukangri fault system is active and geomorphic offsets indicate right separations and westside-down dip-separation. The mapview curviplanar geometry and geomorphic expression of the Lopukangri fault system is similar to faults and rift basins to its east and west. These extensional faults are en echelon in map view and encompass a region that is 200 km long (east–west) and 95 km wide (north–south). Assuming our results for the Lopukangri fault are applicable to the entire system, we estimate a maximum of 18% extension across the zone. All active faults in the system terminate southward adjacent to the India–Asia suture zone. Because the individual rift geometries are similar and suggest a common kinematic relationship, we propose that the extensional system formed as a trailing extensional imbricate fan at the southern termination of the central Tibet conjugate fault zone. Alternatively, the extensional system may terminate to the north and represent a group of isolated crustal tears. Both kinematic interpretations imply a semi-smooth north–south variation in the magnitude of east–west extension in southern Tibet, with higher magnitudes in the north along the Bangong–Nujiang suture zone than in the south along the India–Asia suture zone. Our results from southern Tibet show that deformation between southern Tibet and the Himalayas is broad (95 km wide) and best described as a continuum possibly since the Late Miocene. Conversely, the structural boundary between western Tibet and the Himalayas, which is defined by the Karakoram fault, is presently a discrete boundary, and probably has been since the Middle Miocene. We think this variation in the displacement gradient and age of these structural boundaries within the interior of Tibet is best explained by the fault patterns and strain history describing wholesale E–W stretching and N–S shortening of the Tibetan crust.

Slip partitioning in the northeast Pamir–Tian Shan convergence zone

Based on a detailed analysis of satellite imagery combined with field geologic and geomorphic observations, we have mapped late Cenozoic folds and faults in the northeastern Pamir–Tian Shan convergence zone. It is a unique example to understand intracontinental ongoing mountain building within India–Eurasia collision system. In the front of northeastern Pamir, our investigations reveal that the NW-WNW-trending folds display a right-stepping en echelon pattern and NW-WNW-striking faults are mainly characterized by south-dipping thrusts with an extensive dextral strike-slip component. Drainage systems across the active faults show a systematic right-lateral offset. In contrast, structural style of the ENE trending fold-and-thrust belts are predominated by south–north directed shortening southwest of the Tian Shan. Our results also infer that oblique thrusting accommodates as long-term dextral slip rate of ca. 4.0 mm/yr during the late Cenozoic time north of the Pamir topographic front. Tectono-stratigraphic evidence suggests that the tectonic deformation was initiated at ca. 3–5 Ma in the study area. We suggest that intracontinental mountain building in the Pamir–Tian Shan convergence zone should be attributed to the crustal shortening caused by folding and thrusting as well as block rotation related to strike-slip faulting within the India–Eurasia collision system.

Deformation features of garnet-bearing granites from Huwan, western Dabie Mountains

Foliated garnet-bearing granite, usually associated with high pressure and ultrahigh -pressure (UHP) metamophic rocks, is a particular rock-type extensively exposed in the Mesozoic Dabie-Sulu orogenic belt of China. This study focuses on deformation features and SHRIMP zircon dating of foliated garnet granite in a high-pressure metamorphic unit from Huwan, western Dabie Mountains in order to resolve discrepancies in current versions of its petrogenesis and structural evolution. SHRIMP dating reveals a zircon age of 762 ± 15 Ma (MSWD=1.7) for Huwan granites, representing the Middle to Late Neoproterozoic age of intrusion and crystallization. Field and microstructural studies show that the Huwan granite body underwent multiple-stage deformation. The deformation was manifested by an early stage of rootless folding and imposition of relict foliation (S1); an Indosinian main stage marked by imposition of north-dipping penetrative gneissosity (S2) and development of ductile shear zones under NNE-SSW directed compression; and a final Indosinian stage of southward thrusting of the Huwan high-pressure unit. Shallow level extension prevailed after the Late Triassic, giving rise to south-dipping thrust faults and north-dipping normal faults.