Reconstruction of the Altyn Tagh fault based on U-Pb geochronology: Role of back thrusts, mantle sutures, and heterogeneous crustal strength in forming the Tibetan Plateau

2003 ◽  
Vol 108 (B7) ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric Cowgill ◽  
An Yin ◽  
T. Mark Harrison ◽  
Wang Xiao-Feng
Keyword(s):  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Altyn Tagh Fault ◽  
Altyn Tagh ◽  
Crustal Strength

scholarly journals Active Strike-Slip Faulting and Systematic Deflection of Drainage Systems along the Altyn Tagh Fault, Northern Tibetan Plateau

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (16) ◽  
pp. 3109
Author(s):  
Peng Chen ◽  
Bing Yan ◽  
Yuan Liu
Keyword(s):  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
Strike Slip ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Stream Channels ◽  
Altyn Tagh Fault ◽  
Drainage Systems ◽  
Northern Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Altyn Tagh

Systematic deflection of drainage systems along strike-slip faults is the combination of repeated faulting slipping and continuous headward erosion accumulated on the stream channels. The measurement and analysis of systematically deflected stream channels will enhance our understanding on the deformational behaviors of strike-slip faults and the relationship between topographic response and active strike-slip faulting. In this study, detailed interpretation and analysis of remote sensing images and DEM data were carried out along the Altyn Tagh Fault, one typical large-scale strike-slip fault in the northern Tibetan Plateau, and together with the statistical results of offset amounts of 153 stream channels, revealed that (i) the drainage systems have been systematically deflected and/or offset in sinistral along the active Altyn Tagh Fault; (ii) The offset amounts recorded by stream channels vary in the range of 7 m to 72 km, and indicate a positively related linear relationship between the upstream length L and the offset amount D, the channel with bedrock upstream generally has a better correlation between L and D than that of non-bedrock upstream; (iii) River capture and abandonment are commonly developed along the Altyn Tagh Fault, which probably disturbed the continuous accumulation of offset recorded on individual stream channel, suggesting that the real maximum cumulative displacement recorded by stream channels might be larger than 72 km (lower bound) along the Altyn Tagh Fault. Along with the cumulative displacements recorded by other regional-scale strike-slip faults in the Tibetan Plateau, these results demonstrate that the magnitude of tectonic extrusion along these first-order strike-slip faults after the collision of India–Asia plates might be limited.

New constraints on Quaternary slip partitioning near the eastern termination of the Altyn Tagh Fault 

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nimrod Wieler ◽  
Amit Mushkin ◽  
Eitan Shelef ◽  
Huiping Zhang ◽  
Amir Sagy ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Late Quaternary ◽  
Slip Rate ◽  
Alluvial Fan ◽  
Luminescence Dating ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Altyn Tagh Fault ◽  
Slip Rates ◽  
Altyn Tagh ◽  
Slip Partitioning

<p>Slip partitioning along the northern boundary of the Tibetan Plateau is essential for understanding regional deformation and the seismic potential of the different faults that accommodate it. Within this framework the Altyn Tagh Fault (ATF) is commonly viewed as the primary structure that separates the Tibetan Plateau from the stable Gobi-Alashan block to the north. Late Quaternary sinistral slip rates of 8-12 mm/yr across the central ATF between 86° and 93°E decrease eastwards to zero as the fault approaches its mid-continental termination at ~97°E. To better understand how late Quaternary slip is partitioned along the ATF’s eastern termination we obtained new slip-rate measurements  for the ~200-km-long left-lateral ENE striking Sanweishan Fault (SSF) located ~60 km north of the ATF between 94°-96°E near the town of Dunhuang.</p><p>Multiple sinistral offsets ranging up to 600 m were identified by linking the clast assemblage of offset alluvial fan remnants with their provenance upstream of the fault.  Luminescence dating revealed depositional ages ranging from 100 - 200 ka for the offset features and time-invariant minimum sinistral slip of 2.5±1 mm/yr during the last ~200 ka, which is approximately an order of magnitude higher than previously reported slip-rates for the SSF. Our results indicate that the SSF and the eastern segment of the ATF accommodate comparable magnitudes of late Quaternary slip. Considering this substantial transfer of lateral slip as far as 60 km north of the eastern ATF we propose that the SSF may represent juvenile northeastward expansion of the Tibetan Plateau into previously stable parts of the Gobi-Alashan block.</p>

scholarly journals Three-dimensional structural model of the Qaidam basin: Implications for crustal shortening and growth of the northeast Tibet

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jianming Guo ◽  
Xuebing Wei ◽  
Guohui Long ◽  
Bo Wang ◽  
Hailong Fan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Qaidam Basin ◽  
Strike Slip ◽  
Crustal Thickening ◽  
Tibet Plateau ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Altyn Tagh Fault ◽  
Altyn Tagh ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Tibet Plateau

AbstractThe Qaidam basin, bounded by the Altyn Tagh fault in the north, is located in the northeast of the Tibet plateau, and it has important implications for understanding the history and mechanism of Tibetan plateau formation during the Cenozoic Indo-Eurasia collision. In this study, we constructed the main geological structures and surfaces in three dimensions through the interpolation of regularly spaced 2D seismic sections, constrained by wells data and surface geology of the Qaidam basin in northeast Tibet. Meanwhile the Cenozoic tectonic history of the Qaidam basin was reconstructed and the uplift mechanism of the Tibetan plateau was discussed. This study presents the subsurface data in conjunction with observations and analysis of the stratigraphic and sedimentary evolution. The Cenozoic deformation history of the Qaidam basin shows geologic synchroneity with uplifting history of the Tibet Plateau. It is therefore proposed that the deformation and uplifting in the south and north edges of the Tibet Plateau was almost synchronous. The total shortening and shortening rate during Cenozoic reached 25.5 km and 11.2% respectively across the Qaidam basin, indicating that the loss of the left-lateral strike slip rates of the Altyn Tagh fault has been structurally transformed into local crustal thickening across NW-trending folds and thrust faults. Meanwhile there is an about 11° vertical component along the strike-slip Altyn Tagh fault, the block oblique slip shows one more growth mechanism of the northeast Tibet.

Structural analysis and tectonic evolution of the western domain of the Eastern Kunlun Range, northwest Tibet

2019 ◽  
Vol 132 (5-6) ◽  
pp. 1291-1315 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chen Wu ◽  
Changfeng Liu ◽  
Suoya Fan ◽  
Andrew V. Zuza ◽  
Lin Ding ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Fault System ◽  
Sediment Provenance ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Altyn Tagh Fault ◽  
Slip Rates ◽  
Tectonic Model ◽  
Relative Contribution ◽  
Field Evidence ◽  
Altyn Tagh

Abstract The Tibetan Plateau, the largest highland on Earth, formed due to the collision of India-Asia over the past 50–60 m.y., and the evolution of the Tibetan Plateau impacts our knowledge of continental tectonics. Examination of the northernmost margin of the Tibetan Plateau is key to unravelling the deformation mechanisms acting in northern Tibet. The left-slip Altyn Tagh fault system defines the northwest margin of the Tibetan Plateau, separating the Western and Eastern Kunlun Ranges in the southwest. Both Cenozoic and pre-Cenozoic crustal deformation events at this junction between the Altyn Tagh and Kunlun Ranges were responsible for the construction of northwestern Tibet, yet the relative contribution of each phase remains unconstrained. The western domain of the Eastern Kunlun Range is marked by active NE-trending, left-slip deformation of the Altyn Tagh fault and an E-striking Cenozoic thrust system developed in response India-Asia collision. To better constrain the Paleozoic Altyn Tagh and Kunlun orogens and establish the Cenozoic structural framework, we conducted an integrated investigation involving detailed geologic mapping (∼1:50,000 scale), U-Pb zircon geochronology, and synthesis of existing data sets across northwestern Tibet. Our new zircon analyses from Paleoproterozoic–Cretaceous strata constrain stratigraphic age and sediment provenance and highlight Proterozoic–Paleozoic arc activity. We propose a tectonic model for the Neoproterozoic–Mesozoic evolution of northwestern Tibet wherein restoration of an ∼56-km-long balanced cross section across the western domain of the Eastern Kunlun suggests that Cenozoic minimum shortening strain was ∼30% (∼24 km shortening). Field evidence suggests this shortening commenced after ca. 25–20 Ma, which yields an average long-term shortening rate of 1.2–0.9 mm yr–1 and strain rates of 4.7 × 10–16 s–1 to 2.3 × 10–16 s–1. Geometric considerations demonstrate that this contractional deformation did not significantly contribute to left-slip offset on the Altyn Tagh fault, which has ∼10 mm/yr slip rates.

Did the Altyn Tagh fault extend beyond the Tibetan Plateau?

2005 ◽  
Vol 240 (2) ◽  
pp. 425-435 ◽  
Author(s):  
B DARBY ◽  
B RITTS ◽  
Y YUE ◽  
Q MENG
Keyword(s):  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Altyn Tagh Fault ◽  
Altyn Tagh
Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document