Uplift of the west Kunlun Range, northern Tibetan Plateau, dominated by brittle thickening of the upper crust

High-resolution seismic reflection data from the West Kunlun Range front show that crustal structures beneath the northwestern margin of the Tibetan Plateau are dominated by nappes of upper crustal rocks. Geological cross-section balancing suggests an average of 24.6-54 km (38%-52%) of upper crustal...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Geology (Boulder) 2013-04, Vol.41 (4), p.439-442
Main Authors: Jiang Xiaodian, Jiang Xiaodian, Li, Zheng-Xiang, Li Haibing, Li Haibing
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
applied (geophysical surveys & methods)
Asia
Bouguer anomalies
brittle deformation
China
Correlation analysis
crust
crustal shortening
crustal thickening
deformation
Far East
faults
Geology
Geomorphology
geophysical methods
geophysical profiles
geophysical surveys
Geophysics
gravity anomalies
Kunlun Mountains
mechanism
Mohorovicic discontinuity
northern Tibetan Plateau
seismic methods
seismic profiles
Seismology
Structural geology
surveys
Tibetan Plateau
Topography
uplifts
upper crust
vertical seismic profiles
western Kunlun Mountains
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Summary:High-resolution seismic reflection data from the West Kunlun Range front show that crustal structures beneath the northwestern margin of the Tibetan Plateau are dominated by nappes of upper crustal rocks. Geological cross-section balancing suggests an average of 24.6-54 km (38%-52%) of upper crustal shortening. This horizontal shortening by brittle folding and faulting in the upper crust correlates positively with crustal thickening, an increase in Moho depth by 5-7 km, and the topography. Our work suggests that upper crustal shortening is a chief factor for topographic uplift and crustal thickening at the northwestern margin of the Tibetan Plateau. Such a mechanism is different from that proposed for the plateau south of the Karakax strike-slip fault, where crustal flow may have played a prominent role in plateau uplift.
ISSN:0091-7613
1943-2682
DOI:10.1130/G33890.1