The Cenozoic thrusting sequence of the Longmen Shan fold-and-thrust belt, eastern margin of the Tibetan plateau: Insights from low-temperature thermochronology

2020 ◽  
Vol 198 ◽  
pp. 104381 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dong Jia ◽  
Yiquan Li ◽  
Bing Yan ◽  
Zhigang Li ◽  
Maomao Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Low Temperature ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Thrust Belt ◽  
Eastern Margin ◽  
Fold And Thrust Belt

Late Mesozoic−Cenozoic cooling history of the northeastern Tibetan Plateau and its foreland derived from low-temperature thermochronology

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chen Wu ◽  
Andrew V. Zuza ◽  
Jie Li ◽  
Peter J. Haproff ◽  
An Yin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Low Temperature ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Qaidam Basin ◽  
Tectonic Deformation ◽  
Formation Mechanisms ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Thrust Belt ◽  
The South ◽  
Late Mesozoic

The growth history and formation mechanisms of the Cenozoic Tibetan Plateau are the subject of an intense debate with important implications for understanding the kinematics and dynamics of large-scale intracontinental deformation. Better constraints on the uplift and deformation history across the northern plateau are necessary to address how the Tibetan Plateau was constructed. To this end, we present updated field observations coupled with low-temperature thermochronology from the Qaidam basin in the south to the Qilian Shan foreland in the north. Our results show that the region experienced a late Mesozoic cooling event that is interpreted as a result of tectonic deformation prior to the India-Asia collision. Our results also reveal the onset of renewed cooling in the Eocene in the Qilian Shan region along the northern margin of the Tibetan Plateau, which we interpret to indicate the timing of initial thrusting and plateau formation along the plateau margin. The interpreted Eocene thrusting in the Qilian Shan predates Cenozoic thrust belts to the south (e.g., the Eastern Kunlun Range), which supports out-of-sequence rather than northward-migrating thrust belt development. The early Cenozoic deformation exploited the south-dipping early Paleozoic Qilian suture zone as indicated by our field mapping and the existing geophysical data. In the Miocene, strike-slip faulting was initiated along segments of the older Paleozoic suture zones in northern Tibet, which led to the development of the Kunlun and Haiyuan left-slip transpressional systems. Late Miocene deformation and uplift of the Hexi corridor and Longshou Shan directly north of the Qilian Shan thrust belt represent the most recent phase of outward plateau growth.

scholarly journals Late Miocene Hinterland Crustal Shortening in the Longmen Shan Thrust Belt, the Eastern Margin of the Tibetan Plateau

2019 ◽  
Vol 124 (11) ◽  
pp. 11972-11991 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaoming Shen ◽  
Yuntao Tian ◽  
Guihong Zhang ◽  
Shimin Zhang ◽  
Andrew Carter ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Late Miocene ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Thrust Belt ◽  
Crustal Shortening ◽  
Eastern Margin ◽  
Longmen Shan Thrust Belt

Reconciling plate convergence and orogeny: The influence of India-Asia convergence rate on the formation of the Himalayas

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ben S. Knight ◽  
Fabio A. Capitanio ◽  
Roberto F. Weinberg
Keyword(s):  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Numerical Models ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Thrust Belt ◽  
Plate Convergence ◽  
Structural Style ◽  
Fold And Thrust Belt ◽  
Velocity History ◽  
The Himalaya

<p>The collision of India and Eurasia since ~50 Ma has resulted in a broad range of deformation along the Himalaya-Tibetan orogeny, accommodating >2700 km of convergence. The region is characterised by the Tibetan Plateau, the Himalayan internal units and fold-and-thrust belt from North to South. These formed as a consequence of a convergence history characterised by a progressive decrease in velocity, from ~10 cm/yr 50 Ma, to ~8 cm/yr 42.5 Ma and to present-day values of ~4 cm/yr around 20 Ma. Here, we test the controls of such a convergence velocity history on the orogeny of a viscoplastic wedge during collision, above a subducting continental lithosphere. We compare numerical models simulating India-Asia plate convergence and collision, comparing the structures observed throughout the evolution with those observed in the Himalayan-Tibetan region. The models display distinct phases of growth and structural style evolution in the Himalayan-Tibetan region that are a result of the change in convergence velocity and long-term collision. After an initial stacking, the high convergence velocity forces deformation migration towards the upper plate, where a plateau forms, while late stage slowdown of collision favours the formation of the Himalayan fold-and-thrust belt. While the latter is in agreement with the structuring of the southermost domains and the South Tibetan Detachment (STD) fault, the former provide constraints to the initial uplift of the Tibetan Plateau.</p>

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