Showing papers in "Tectonics in 2013"

The growth of northeastern Tibet and its relevance to large‐scale continental geodynamics: A review of recent studies

Abstract: Recent studies of the northeastern part of the Tibetan Plateau have called attention to two emerging views of how the Tibetan Plateau has grown First, deformation in northern Tibet began essentially at the time of collision with India, not 10–20 Myr later as might be expected if the locus of activity migrated northward as India penetrated the rest of Eurasia Thus, the north-south dimensions of the Tibetan Plateau were set mainly by differences in lithospheric strength, with strong lithosphere beneath India and the Tarim and Qaidam basins steadily encroaching on one another as the region between them, the present-day Tibetan Plateau, deformed, and its north-south dimension became narrower Second, abundant evidence calls for acceleration of deformation, including the formation of new faults, in northeastern Tibet since ~15 Ma and a less precisely dated change in orientation of crustal shortening since ~20 Ma This reorientation of crustal shortening and roughly concurrent outward growth of high terrain, which swings from NNE-SSW in northern Tibet to more NE-SW and even ENE-WSW in the easternmost part of northeastern Tibet, are likely to be, in part, a consequence of crustal thickening within the high Tibetan Plateau reaching a limit, and the locus of continued shortening then migrating to the northeastern and eastern flanks These changes in rates and orientation also could result from removal of some or all mantle lithosphere and increased gravitational potential energy per unit area and from a weakening of crustal material so that it could flow in response to pressure gradients set by evolving differences in elevation

Accommodation of transpressional strain in the Arabia-Eurasia collision zone: New constraints from (U-Th)/He thermochronology in the Alborz mountains, north Iran

Abstract: The Alborz range of N Iran provides key information on the spatiotemporal evolution and characteristics of the Arabia-Eurasia continental collision zone. The southwestern Alborz range constitutes a transpressional duplex, which accommodates oblique shortening between Central Iran and the South Caspian Basin. The duplex comprises NW-striking frontal ramps that are kinematically linked to inherited E-W-striking, right-stepping lateral to obliquely oriented ramps. New zircon and apatite (U-Th)/He data provide a high-resolution framework to unravel the evolution of collisional tectonics in this region. Our data record two pulses of fast cooling associated with SW-directed thrusting across the frontal ramps at ~ 18–14 and 9.5-7.5 Ma, resulting in the tectonic repetition of a fossil zircon partial retention zone and a cooling pattern with a half U-shaped geometry. Uniform cooling ages of ~ 7–6 Ma along the southernmost E-W striking oblique ramp and across its associated NW-striking frontal ramps suggests that the ramp was reactivated as a master throughgoing, N-dipping thrust. We interpret this major change in fault kinematics and deformation style to be related to a change in the shortening direction from NE to N/NNE. The reduction in the obliquity of thrusting may indicate the termination of strike-slip faulting (and possibly thrusting) across the Iranian Plateau, which could have been triggered by an increase in elevation. Furthermore, we suggest that ~ 7-6-m.y.-old S-directed thrusting predated inception of the westward motion of the South Caspian Basin.

Low-temperature thermochronometry along the Kunlun and Haiyuan Faults, NE Tibetan Plateau: Evidence for kinematic change during late-stage orogenesis

Abstract: The Tibetan Plateau is a prime example of a collisional orogen with widespread strike-slip faults whose age and tectonic significance remain controversial. We present new low-temperature thermochronometry to date periods of exhumation associated with Kunlun and Haiyuan faulting, two major strike-slip faults within the northeastern margin of Tibet. Apatite and zircon (U-Th)/He and apatite fission-track ages, which record exhumation from ~2 to 6 km crustal depths, provide minimum bounds on fault timing. Results from Kunlun samples show increased exhumation rates along the western fault segment at circa 12–8 Ma with a possible earlier phase of motion from ~30–20 Ma, along the central fault segment at circa 20–15 Ma, and along the eastern fault segment at circa 8–5 Ma. Combined with previous studies, our results suggest that motion along the Haiyuan fault may have occurred as early as ~15 Ma along the western/central fault segment before initiating at least by 10–8 Ma along the eastern fault tip. We relate an ~250 km wide zone of transpressional shear to synchronous Kunlun and Haiyuan fault motion and suggest that the present-day configuration of active faults along the northeastern margin of Tibet was likely established since middle Miocene time. We interpret the onset of transpression to relate to the progressive confinement of Tibet against rigid crustal blocks to the north and expansion of crustal thickening to the east during the later stages of orogen development.

Provenance analysis of the Mesozoic Hoh-Xil-Songpan-Ganzi turbidites in northern Tibet: Implications for the tectonic evolution of the eastern Paleo-Tethys Ocean

Abstract: [1] Mesozoic strata of the Hoh-Xil-Songpan-Ganzi complex in northern Tibet are exposed in a vast (> 370,000 km2) triangle-shaped orogenic belt bound by the Longmen Shan thrust belt in the east, the Kunlun terrane and North China block in the north, and the Qiangtang terrane and Yidun arc in the south. These strata consist of Middle–Upper Triassic submarine fan and deep marine facies rocks that were deposited in the Paleo-Tethys Ocean. Late Triassic–Early Jurassic contractional deformation in the eastern Hoh-Xil-Songpan-Ganzi complex marks the demise of the Paleo-Tethys Ocean basin and the accretion of the Gondwana-derived Qiangtang terrane to Eurasia. We conducted geological mapping, regional stratigraphic analyses, and U-Pb geochronology of detrital zircons (n = 4128) on the Mesozoic sequences exposed in the Hoh-Xil-Songpan-Ganzi complex, Kunlun terrane, and Qiangtang terrane. We identify for the first time marine silciclastic sandstone and shale of Jurassic age in the northwestern Hoh-Xil-Songpan-Ganzi complex that unconformably overlie Upper Triassic turbidites. Zircon age data indicate that the Middle–Upper Triassic marine gravity-flow deposits of the Hoh-Xil-Songpan-Ganzi complex were shed from the North and South China blocks, and Middle–Late Triassic ultrahigh-pressure Qinling–Dabie orogenic belt, as well as the Kunlun and Qiangtang terranes. In addition, the detrital zircon results suggest vast sediment source to sink distances (>1500 km) for the Middle–Upper Triassic Hoh-Xil-Songpan-Ganzi strata, which is consistent with tectonic models for the Paleo-Tethys Ocean basin that incorporate significant components of horizontal tectonic transport like opening of large back-arc basins in response to oceanic slab rollback.

Early Cretaceous sedimentation and orogeny on the active margin of Eurasia: Southern Central Pontides, Turkey

Abstract: [1] The Pontides in northern Turkey constituted part of the southern active margin of Eurasia during the Mesozoic. In the Early Cretaceous, a large submarine turbidite fan covered most of the Central Pontides. New U-Pb detrital zircon data imply that the major source of the turbidites was the East European Craton-Scythian Platform in the north. This implies that there was no thoroughgoing Black Sea basin between the Pontides and the East European Craton during the Early Cretaceous. The Lower Cretaceous turbidites are bounded in the south by a large metamorphic area, the Central Pontide Supercomplex (CPS). New geological mapping, petrology, and U-Pb zircon and Ar-Ar muscovite ages indicate that the northern part of the CPS consists of Lower Cretaceous distal turbidites deformed and metamorphosed in a subduction zone in the Albian. The rest of the CPS is made of Middle Jurassic, Lower Cretaceous, and middle Cretaceous (Albian) metamorphic belts, each constituting distinct subduction-accretion units. They represent episodes of collision of oceanic volcanic arcs and oceanic plateaus with the Eurasian margin and are marked in the stratigraphy of the hinterland by periods of uplift and erosion. The accretionary complexes are overlain by Upper Cretaceous (Turonian-Santonian) volcano-sedimentary sequences deposited in a fore-arc setting. The detrital zircon data, middle Cretaceous (Albian) metamorphism, and widespread Albian uplift of the Black Sea region suggest that Early Cretaceous (Barremian-Aptian) nonvolcanic rifting and Late Cretaceous (Turonian-Santonian) opening of the Black Sea by the splitting of the arc are unrelated events.

The Ainsa Fold and thrust oblique zone of the central Pyrenees: Kinematics of a curved contractional system from paleomagnetic and structural data

Abstract: This work was funded by the project INTECTOSAL (CGL2010-21968-C02-01) and by the “Grup de Recerca de Geodinamica i Analisi de Conques 2009SGR1198” Secretaria d’Universitat i Recerca del Departament d’Economia i Coneixement de la Generalitat de Catalunya. Josep Poblet acknowledges financial support by research projects: “Geociencias en Iberia: estudios integrados de topografia y evolucion 4D [TOPO-IBERIA]” (CSD2006-041) and “Desarrollo de fracturas y venas asociadas al plegamiento [FRAVEPLE]” (CGL2011-23628) funded by Spanish Ministries.

The Late Jurassic to present evolution of the Andean margin: Drivers and the geological record

Abstract: [1] Uncommonly long-lived subduction and variable plate geometry along the South American Andean Plate margin resulted in diverse relationships between magmatic flux and extensional and contractional deformation, as recorded by the overriding continental plate. Convergence velocities, absolute overriding plate velocities, and subducting slab ages were resolved along the trench from 170 Ma to the present using a recently developed kinematic global plate model to identify any relationship between subduction conditions, deformation style, and magmatic features in the overriding plate. Key correlations reflect the dependence of macroscopic crustal strain style on subduction mechanism and relative plate vectors. Extensional back-arc basins involving mafic/oceanic crust developed only when the overriding plate velocity of South America was directed away from the trench and the modeled age of the subducting slab was older than 50 Myr. The development of fold and thrust belts, and uplift of major plateaus, was accompanied by trench normal convergence velocities in excess of 4 cm/yr. Parameters investigated in this study revealed no correlation with the timing of major magmatic events, nor was any correlation observed with the structural style of fold and thrust belts.

Linking south China to northern Australia and India on the margin of Gondwana: Constraints from detrital zircon U‐Pb and Hf isotopes in Cambrian strata

Abstract: [1] Cambrian sedimentary rocks in the southern part of the South China Craton were derived from a source that lay to the south or southeast, beyond the current limits of the craton and which is no longer preserved nearby. U-Pb ages and Hf isotope data on detrital zircons from the Cambrian sequence define two distinctive age peaks at 1120 Ma and 960 Ma, with eHf(t) values for each group identical to the coeval detrital zircons from Western Australia and the Tethyan Himalaya zone, respectively. The circa 1120 Ma detrital zircons were most likely derived from the Wilkes-Albany-Fraser belt between southwest Australia and Antarctica, whereas the circa 960 Ma detrital zircons could have been sourced from the Rayner-Eastern Ghats belt between India and Antarctica. Derivation of detritus from these sources suggests that south China was located at the nexus between India, Antarctica, and Australia, along the northern margin of East Gondwana during the Cambrian.

Late Quaternary slip rate of the South Heli Shan Fault (northern Hexi Corridor, NW China) and its implications for northeastward growth of the Tibetan Plateau

Abstract: [1] Based on field investigations, aerial-photo morphological analysis, topographic profiling, and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating of alluvial surfaces, we estimate vertical components of the slip rate along the South Heli Shan thrust fault, which lies on the northern margin of the Hexi Corridor and the northeastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau. The fault consists of three segments with scarp heights ranging from less than 1 m to more than 16 m. OSL dating indicates that most of the alluvial fans cut by fault scarps formed during the transition from the last glacial stage to the present interglacial stage from ~19 to ~9 ka along southern Heli Shan and from ~27 ka to ~22 ka along its northern margin. In addition, remnants of older alluvial fan have been abandoned after ~67 ka. Scarp heights increase from west to east and reach a maximum of more than 16 m near the eastern end. Using three approaches, we calculate late Quaternary slip rates for each of the three fault segments along the southern margin and the fault on the northern flank. These approaches yield maximum vertical slip rates from 0.18 to 0.2 mm/a for the western segment, 0.3 to 0.43 mm/a for the central segment, 0.36 to 0.53 mm/a for the eastern segment, and 0.21 mm/a for the Wutongjing Fault, which lies on the north side of the Heli Shan. For a range of likely fault dips, these correspond to 0.1–0.2 mm/a of average horizontal shortening for the western segment, and increase to 0.4–0.5 mm/a across the eastern segment of the southern Heli Shan Fault. Combining the height of the eastern parts of the Heli Shan (Daqing Peak) above the Hei He (a major river that incised the western end of the range) and the vertical component of the slip rate of the eastern segment, we suggest that the Heli Shan was uplifted by motion on the South Heli Shan Fault beginning sometime between 1 and 4 Ma, most likely since ~2 Ma. This age suggests that the Tibetan Plateau continues to grow northeastward across the Hexi Corridor.

The South Tibetan detachment system facilitates ultra rapid cooling of granulite-facies rocks in Sikkim Himalaya

Abstract: [1] The eastern Himalaya is characterized by a region of granulites and local granulitized eclogites that have been exhumed via isothermal decompression from lower crustal depths during the India-Asia collision. Spatially, most of these regions are proximal to the South Tibetan detachment system, an orogen-parallel normal-sense detachment system that operated during the Miocene, suggesting that it played a role in their exhumation. Here we use geo- and thermochronological methods to study the deformation and cooling history of footwall rocks of the South Tibetan detachment system in northern Sikkim, India. These data demonstrate that the South Tibetan detachment system was active in Sikkim between 23.6 and ~13 Ma, and that footwall rocks cooled rapidly from ~700 to ~120 °C between ~15-13 Ma. While active, the South Tibetan detachment system exhumed rocks from mid-crustal depths, but an additional heat source such as strain heating, advected melt and/or crustal thinning is required to explain the observed isothermal decompression. Cessation of movement on the South Tibetan detachment system produced rapid cooling of the footwall as isotherms relaxed. A regional comparison of temperature-time data for the eastern South Tibetan detachment system indicates a lack of synchronicity between the Sa'er-Sikkim-Yadong section and the NW Bhutan section. To accommodate this requires either strike-slip tear faulting or local out-of-sequence thrusting in the younger segment of the orogen.

Orogenic plateau growth: Expansion of the Turkish‐Iranian Plateau across the Zagros fold‐and‐thrust belt

Abstract: [1] This paper shows how the Turkish-Iranian Plateau grows laterally by incrementally incorporating adjacent parts of the Zagros fold-and-thrust belt. The limit of significant, seismogenic, thrusting in the Zagros (Mw > 5) occurs close to the regional 1250 m elevation contour. The seismicity cutoff is not a significant bedrock geology boundary. Elevations increase northward, toward regional plateau elevations of ~2 km, implying that another process produced the extra elevation. Between the seismogenic limit of thrusting and the suture, this process is a plausibly ductile thickening of the basement, suggesting depth-dependent strain during compression. Similar depth-dependant crustal strain may explain why the Tibetan plateau has regional elevations ~1500 m greater than the elevation limit of seismogenic thrusting at its margins. We estimate ~68 km shortening across the Zagros Simply Folded Belt in the Fars region, and ~120 km total shortening of the Arabian plate. The Dezful Embayment is a low strain zone in the western Zagros. Deformation is more intense to its northeast, in the Bakhtyari Culmination. The orogenic taper (across strike topographic gradient) across the Dezful Embayment is 0.0004, and across the Bakhtyari Culmination, 0.022. Lateral plateau growth is more pronounced farther east (Fars), where a more uniform structure has a taper of ~0.010 up to elevations of ~1750 m. A >100 km wide region of the Zagros further northeast has a taper of 0.002 and is effectively part of the Turkish-Iranian Plateau. Internal drainage enhances plateau development but is not a pre-requisite. Aspects of the seismicity, structure, and geomorphology of the Zagros do not support critical taper models for fold-and-thrust belts.

Detrital zircon geochronology of Cordilleran retroarc foreland basin strata, western North America

Abstract: [1] We present a compilation of 8717 U-Pb analyses from 95 detrital zircon samples of Jurassic-Eocene North American Cordillera foreland basin strata. Of these samples, 30 are new and previously unpublished. Variation in detrital zircon age spectra between samples records erosion or recycling of basement and cover rocks within the Cordilleran orogenic wedge. Each sample can be classified into one of six major provenance groups, whose age spectra suggest derivation from (1) Mesozoic eolianites of the western United States, (2) Paleozoic passive margin strata of the western United States, (3) Paleozoic passive margin strata of western Canada, (4) the Mogollon Highlands, (5) the Cordilleran magmatic arc, or (6) Yavapai-Mazatzal Province crystalline basement rocks. Referencing these provenance interpretations to their location and stratigraphic deposition age produces a detailed spatial and temporal record of sediment dispersal within the foreland basin system. Late Jurassic provenance is dominated by recycling of Mesozoic eolianites from sources in the Sevier thrust belt. Cretaceous-Eocene provenance is dominated by recycling of the passive margin, with increasing complexity upsection. We interpret that this provenance transition records a basin-wide unroofing sequence. A composite age-probability plot of 1539 young (<250 Ma) detrital zircons reveals at least four age-abundance peaks that we interpret to represent periodic high-flux magmatism in the Cordilleran arc.

The giant Shakhdara migmatitic gneiss dome, Pamir, India-Asia collision zone: 2. Timing of dome formation

Abstract: [1] Cenozoic gneiss domes—exposing middle-lower crustal rocks—cover ~30% of the surface exposure of the Pamir, western India-Asia collision zone; they allow an unparalleled view into the deep crust of the Asian plate. We use titanite, monazite, and zircon U/Th-Pb, mica Rb-Sr and 40Ar/39Ar, zircon and apatite fission track, and zircon (U-Th)/He ages to constrain the exhumation history of the ~350 × 90 km Shakhdara-Alichur dome, southwestern Pamir. Doming started at 21–20 Ma along the Gunt top-to-N normal-shear zone of the northern Shakhdara dome. The bulk of the exhumation occurred by ~NNW-ward extrusion of the footwall of the crustal-scale South Pamir normal-shear zone along the southern Shakhdara dome boundary. Footwall extrusion was active from ~18–15 Ma to ~2 Ma at ~10 mm/yr slip and with vertical exhumation rates of 1–3 mm/yr; it resulted in up to 90 km ~N-S extension, coeval with ~N-S convergence between India and Asia. Erosion rates were 0.3–0.5 mm/yr within the domes and 0.1–0.3 mm/yr in the horst separating the Shakhdara and Alichur domes and in the southeastern Pamir plateau; rates were highest along the dome axis in the southern part of the Shakhdara dome. Incision along the major drainages was up to 1.0 mm/yr. Thermal modeling suggests geothermal gradients as high as 60°C/km along the trace of the South Pamir shear zone and their strong N-S variation across the dome; the gradients relaxed to ≤40–45°C/km since the end of doming.

Constructing the Longmen Shan eastern Tibetan Plateau margin: Insights from low‐temperature thermochronology

Abstract: [1] Contrasting models of upper crustal shortening versus lower crustal flow have been proposed to explain the formation of thickened crust in the Longmen Shan (LMS), eastern Tibetan Plateau (TP) margin. These models require different structural kinematics along the LMS, whose structural geometry is defined by three parallel NW-dipping fault zones. From foreland (southeast) to hinterland (northwest), they are the Guanxian-Anxian Fault, Yingxiu-Beichuan Fault (YBF), and Wenchuan-Maowen Fault (WMF). Newly derived and previously published low-temperature thermochronology data from the LMS were synthesized to constrain the spatial exhumation and test previous models. The results show that (1) exhumation increases abruptly across the range-bounding YBF, suggesting the fault being the main thrust boundary between the LMS and the Sichuan Basin to the east; (2) Younger Late Cenozoic cooling ages are found on the hinterland WMF, where a dichotomy of ages on the hanging wall versus footwall suggests Late Cenozoic thrust activity; and (3) toward the hinterland to the west, exhumation rates decrease twofold over a distance of ~30–40 km. This exhumation pattern indicates a westward decrease of tectonic uplift, providing the regional topography approached a steady state, whereby exhumation is in balance with tectonic uplift. The observed exhumation estimates support an upper crustal configuration where thrusts in the LMS merge gradually into a gentle detachment seated at a depth of ~20–30 km. Results of this study support a revised upper crustal thrusting model.

The Liaonan/Wanfu metamorphic core complexes in the Liaodong Peninsula: Two stages of exhumation and constraints on the destruction of the North China Craton

Abstract: [1] The Liaodong Peninsula Early Cretaceous extension province (LEP), located in the eastern part of the North China Craton (NCC), was highly extended in early Cretaceous. The Liaonan and the Wanfu metamorphic core complexes (MCCs) are two most important elements in the province. Both are typical Cordilleran-type core complexes that are composed of a general three-layered structure but show various differences. Shearing along the Jinzhou detachment fault zone in the Liaonan MCC generated ductile to brittle tectonites, various deformation microstructures, and several types of quartz c-axis fabrics, implying that the MCC has a complicated progressive exhumation history. However, medium-temperature microstructures and fabrics are superimposed by low-temperature features along the Wanfu detachment fault zone suggesting a relatively short and simple exhumation history of the Wanfu MCC. Magmatic zircon U-Pb geochronological dating reveals that the early Cretaceous extension of the LEP began with the initiation of shearing along the Jinzhou detachment fault zone and exhumation of the Liaonan MCC before ca. 134 Ma. Subsequently, relatively slow cooling and exhumation of the lower plate accompanied a giant magmatic event from 130 Ma to 120 Ma. Exhumation of a new MCC, i.e., the Wanfu MCC, was triggered by progressive extension after ca. 120 Ma. Rapid cooling and exhumation of the metamorphic lower plate of the two MCCs are attributed to coeval detachment faulting along both the Jinzhou and Wanfu faults from 120 Ma to 113 Ma. The extension ended at ca. 107 Ma. These data provide reliable evidence that the two MCCs were exhumed progressively and sequentially during two stages of crustal extension of the LEP. Our results indicates that heterogeneous lithosphere extension and upper-middle crust/upper mantle detachment, possibly due to the interaction between the Paleo-Pacific and Eurasian plates, are among the most important processes during the early Cretaceous thinning of the lithosphere. Tectonic extension may have led to the detachment in East Asia, which contributed to the thinning of the lithosphere and the destruction of the NCC. A phase of uniform and consistent WNW-ESE extension was responsible for the generation of the extensional structures in the eastern Asia continent and the destruction of the NCC.

The Heart of China revisited: II Early Paleozoic (ultra)high‐pressure and (ultra)high‐temperature metamorphic Qinling orogenic collage

Abstract: [1] Orogens with multiple (ultra)high-pressure ((U)HP) and (ultra)high-temperature ((U)HT) metamorphic events provide a complex but telling record of oceanic and continental interaction The Early Paleozoic history of the “Heart of China,” the Qinling orogenic collage, offers snapshots of at least three (U)HP and two (U)HT metamorphic events The preservation of remnants of both oceanic and continental domains together with a ≥110 Myr record of magmatism allows the reconstruction of the processes that resulted in this disparate metamorphism Herein, we first illuminate the pressure-temperature-time (P-T-t) evolution of the Early Paleozoic (U)HP and (U)HT events by refining the petrographic descriptions and P-T estimates, assess published, and employ new U/Th-Pb zircon, monazite, and titanite, and 40Ar-39Ar phengite geochronology to date the magmatic and metamorphic events Then we explore how the metamorphic and magmatic events are related tectonically and how they elucidate the affinities among the various complexes in the Qinling orogenic collage We argue that a Meso-Neoproterozoic crustal fragment—the Qinling complex—localized subduction-accretion events that involved subduction, oceanic-arc formation, and back-arc spreading along its northern margin, and mtantle-wedge exhumation and spreading-ridge subduction along its southern margin

Orogen-parallel ductile extension and extrusion of the Greater Himalaya in the late Oligocene and Miocene

Abstract: [1] Predominant stretching structures in the Greater Himalayan Crystalline Complex (GHC) trend perpendicular to the belt and are linked to the southward exhumation or emplacement of the GHC between the South Tibet Detachment (STD) and the Main Central Thrust. However, our field investigations in southern Tibet reveal the widespread presence of gently dipping shear zones with a penetrative orogen-parallel stretching lineation, which separates the Tethyan Himalayan Sequence and the underlying GHC. The shear zones are well preserved in the upper part of the GHC, south to and structurally lower than the STD. Field criteria, microstructures, and quartz fabrics indicate top-to-the-east shearing in the Yadong shear zone (eastern GHC), coexistence of top-to-the-east and top-to-the-west shearing in the Nyalam shear zone (central GHC), but top-to-the-west shearing in the Pulan shear zone (western GHC). Characteristic microstructures and slip systems of quartz in the high-grade GHC rocks resulted from the lateral flow under upper amphibolite (up to 650–700 °C) to greenschist facies conditions. U-Pb ages of metamorphic zircon rims by sensitive high-resolution ion microprobe (SHRIMP) and laser ablation multi-collector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-MC-ICP-MS) analyses yield 28–26 Ma for the initiation of the Yadong and Nyalam shear zones and 22–15 Ma for the activation of the Pulan shear zone. In addition, 40Ar/39Ar cooling ages of biotite and muscovite suggest cessation of ductile sharing at 13–11 Ma on the Yadong shear zone, which is coeval with the activation of the STD. Combined with previous studies, we propose that initiation of orogen-parallel extension marks the transition from burial/crustal thickening to exhumation of the GHC. Due to lateral crustal thickness gradients in a thickened crust, orogen-parallel gravitational collapse occurred within the convergent Himalayan orogen in the late Oligocene-Miocene. This tectonic denudation triggered and enhanced partial melting and ductile extrusion of the GHC in the Miocene.

Mountain building and mantle dynamics

Abstract: [1] Mountain building at convergent margins requires tectonic forces that can overcome frictional resistance along large-scale thrust faults and support the gravitational potential energy stored within the thickened crust of the orogen. A general, dynamic model for this process is still lacking. Here we propose that mountain belts can be classified between two end-members. First, those of “slab pull” type, where subduction is mainly confined to the upper mantle, and rollback trench motion lead to moderately thick crustal stacks, such as in the Mediterranean. Second, those of “slab suction” type, where whole-mantle convection cells (“conveyor belts”) lead to the more extreme expressions of orogeny, such as the largely thickened crust and high plateaus of present-day Tibet and the Altiplano. For the slab suction type, deep mantle convection produces the unique conditions to drag plates toward each other, irrespective of their nature and other boundary conditions. We support this hypothesis by analyzing the orogenic, volcanic, and convective history associated with the Tertiary formation of the Andes after ~40 Ma and Himalayas after collision at ~55 Ma. Based on mantle circulation modeling and tectonic reconstructions, we surmise that the forces necessary to sustain slab-suction mountain building in those orogens derive, after transient slab ponding, from the mantle drag induced upon slab penetration into the lower mantle, and from an associated surge of mantle upwelling beneath Africa. This process started at ~65–55 Ma for Tibet-Himalaya, when the Tethyan slab penetrated into the lower mantle, and ~10 Myr later in the Andes, when the Nazca slab did. This surge of mantle convection drags plates against each other, generating the necessary compressional forces to create and sustain these two orogenic belts. If our model is correct, the available geological records of orogeny can be used to decipher time-dependent mantle convection, with implications for the supercontinental cycle.

The heart of China revisited, I. Proterozoic tectonics of the Qin mountains in the core of supercontinent Rodinia

Abstract: [1] The Qinling-Dabie orogenic collage, central China, constitutes the geographic, geologic, and cultural heart of China; it plays a key role in understanding the amalgamation and breakup of the Rodinia supercontinent and the subduction and exhumation of continental crust under ultrahigh-pressure conditions. Herein, we investigate the Proterozoic evolution of the Qinling-Dabie orogenic collage and surrounding segments of the bounding South China craton (SCC) and North China craton (NCC), employing published and new U/Th–Pb geochronology. The Kongling, Hong'an-Dabie, and Douling-Foping complexes constitute the nucleus of the Yangtze block, recording a common ~2.0 Ga orogenic event that integrated the Yangtze block into the supercontinent Columbia. The ~1.10–0.95 Ga Miaowan “ophiolite”-Shennongjia arc association of the Huangling dome-Shennongjia massif seems to have split and reassembled that nucleus. It formed earlier than or contemporaneously with the Sibao orogeny along the southeastern margin of the Yangtze block. The ~0.95–0.80 Ga Mian-Lue complex comprises an oceanic accretionary wedge that formed outboard of an associated fore-arc-arc system represented by the Bikou-Hannan-Micangshan massifs along the north(western) margin of the Yangtze block. The Qinling complex, currently sandwiched between the SCC and NCC, lacks pre-Mesoproterozoic cratonal basement, and its igneous rocks intruded a ~1.7–1.0 Ga old clastic wedge that incorporates meta-basites; it might have been part of the extended passive margin of East Antarctica and/or Australia. Neoproterozoic Qinling-complex magmatism spanned ~260 Myr and evolved from partial melting of the thick clastic sequence over an arc to a rift setting; most Qinling-complex paragneisses are erosional products of these igneous rocks. The ~1.0–0.85 Ga Qinling-complex magmatism formed independently from that along the north(west)ern Yangtze-block margin, but its ~0.8–0.7 Ga magmatism, peaking at ~750 Ma, is widespread throughout the Yangtze block; this suggests post- ~ 825 Ma accretion of the Qinling complex to the Yangtze block. The Daba and Wudang Shan, Douling, and Hong'an-Dabie areas of the northern Yangtze block are dominated by ~0.8–0.6 Ga bimodal continental-rift igneous rocks; in accordance with similar ages in the Qinling complex and the entire SCC, continental rifting appears to have been most active at ~750 Ma. Our Rodinia scenario suggests that the Qinling-Dabie orogenic collage records the final stages of the assemblage of the core of Rodinia, and this was completed not earlier than ~825 Ma, and its breakup, which was most active at ~750 Ma.

The giant Shakhdara migmatitic gneiss dome, Pamir, India-Asia collision zone: 1. Geometry and kinematics

Abstract: [1] Cenozoic gneiss domes comprise one third of the surface exposure of the Pamir and provide a window into the deep crustal processes of the India-Asia collision. The largest of these are the doubly vergent, composite Shakhdara-Alichur domes of the southwestern Pamir, Tajikistan, and Afghanistan; they are separated by a low-strain horst. Top-to-SSE, noncoaxial pervasive flow over the up to 4 km thick South Pamir shear zone exhumed crust from 30–40 km depth in the ~250 × 80 km Shakhdara dome; the top-to-NNE Alichur shear zone exposed upper crustal rocks in the ~125 × 25 km Alichur dome. The Gunt shear zone bounds the Shakhdara dome in the north and records alternations of normal shear and dextral transpression; it contributed little to bulk exhumation. Footwall exhumation along two low-angle, normal-sense detachments resulted in up to 90 km syn-orogenic ~N-S extension. Extension in the southwestern Pamir opposes shortening in a fold-thrust belt north of the domes and in particular in the Tajik depression, where an evaporitic decollement facilitated upper crustal shortening. Gravitational collapse of the Pamir-plateau margin drove core-complex formation in the southwestern Pamir and shortening of the weak foreland adjacent to the plateau. Overall, this geometry defines a “vertical extrusion” scenario, comprising frontal and basal underthrusting and thickening, and hanging gravitationally driven normal shear. In contrast to the Himalayan vertical extrusion scenario, erosion in the Pamir was minor, preserving most of the extruded deep crust, including the top of the South Pamir shear zone at peak elevations throughout the dome.

Miocene initiation and acceleration of extension in the South Lunggar rift, western Tibet: Evolution of an active detachment system from structural mapping and (U‐Th)/He thermochronology

Abstract: [1] Ongoing extension in Tibet may have begun in the middle to late Miocene, but there are few robust estimates of the rates, timing, or magnitude of Neogene deformation within the Tibetan plateau. We present a comprehensive study of the seismically active South Lunggar rift in southwestern Tibet incorporating mapping, U-Pb geochronology and zircon (U-Th)/He thermochronology. The South Lunggar rift is the southern continuation of the North Lunggar rift and comprises a ~50 km N-S central horst bound by two major normal faults, the west-dipping South Lunggar detachment and the east-dipping Palung Co fault. The SLD dips at the rangefront ~20°W and exhumes a well-developed mylonite zone in its footwall displaying fabrics indicative of normal-sense shear. The range is composed of felsic orthogneiss, mafic amphibolite, and leucogranite intrusions dated at ~16 and 63 Ma. Zircon (U-Th)/He cooling ages are Oligocene through late Pliocene, with the youngest ages observed in the footwall of the SLD. We tested ~25,000 unique thermokinematic forward models in Pecube against the structural and (U-Th)/He data to fully bracket the allowable ranges in fault initiations, accelerations, and slip rates. We find that normal faulting in the SLR began in the middle Miocene with horizontal extension rates of ~1 mm a−1, and in the north accelerated at 8 Ma to 2.5–3.0 mm a−1 as faulting commenced on the SLD. Cumulative horizontal extension across the SLR ranges from <10 km in the south to 19–21 km in the north.

Slip localization on the southern Alpine Fault New Zealand

Abstract: [1] Results of a detailed field study of the southern onshore portion of New Zealand's Alpine Fault reveal that for 75 km along-strike, dextral-normal slip on this long-lived structure is highly localized in phyllosilicate-rich fault core gouges and along their contact with more competent rocks. At three localities (Martyr River, McKenzie Creek, and Hokuri Creek), we document complete cross sections through the fault. New 40Ar/39Ar dates on mylonites, combined with microstructural and mechanical data on phyllosilicate-rich fault core gouges show that modern slip is localized onto a single, steeply dipping 1 to 12 m-thick fault core composed of impermeable (k = 10−20 to 10−22 m2), frictionally weak (μs = 0.12–0.37), velocity-strengthening, illite-chlorite, and saponite-chlorite-lizardite fault gouges. Fault core materials are (1) comparable to those of other major weak-cored faults (e.g., San Andreas Fault) and (2) most compatible with fault creep, despite paleoseismic evidence of quasiperiodic large magnitude earthquakes (Mw > 7) on this portion of the Alpine Fault. We conclude that frictional properties of gouges at the surface do not characterize the overall seismogenic behavior of the southern Alpine Fault.

The role of the Zagros orogeny in slowing down Arabia‐Eurasia convergence since ~5 Ma

Abstract: [1] Large topographic belts along convergent margins have been recognized with the ability to slowdown the kinematics of subduction over geologically short time periods (i.e., few Myr), because their associated gravitational spreading provides significant resistive force within the framework of plate tectonics. The record of past and present-day plate kinematics provides important constraints on the dynamics of the lithosphere, because plate-motion changes must reflect temporal changes in the balance of driving and resisting forces. Here we focus on the convergence between the Arabian and Eurasian plates, across the Zagros mountain belt. Relative motion across this plate boundary is reconstructed since 13 Ma from published paleomagnetic and geodetic data, and features a slowdown of ~30% from ~5 Ma to the present day. We employ global dynamic models of the mantle/lithosphere system to test whether the most recent uplift across the Arabia-Eurasia collision zone, including the Zagros orogeny, may induce the observed slowdown since 5 Ma. Specifically, we use constraints from the geologic record to infer past topography and quantify its influence on the convergence rate between Arabia and Eurasia. We test the sensitivity of our models to assumptions made in estimating the paleoelevation by perturbing the orogeny parameterization within reasonable ranges. Finally, we speculate on the potential effects of Tethys slab break-off, changes of the deformation style within the collision zone, and the Afar plume on the dynamics of convergence. Our results indicate that orogenic uplift across the Arabia-Eurasia collision zone played a key role in slowing down convergence since ~5 Ma.

Thermochronologic insight into late Cenozoic deformation in the basement‐cored Terskey Range, Kyrgyz Tien Shan

Abstract: [1] Basement-cored ranges formed by reverse faulting within intracontinental mountain belts are often composed of poly-deformed lithologies. Geological data capable of constraining the timing, magnitude, and distribution of the most recent deformational phase are usually missing in such ranges. In this paper, we present new low temperature thermochronological and geological data from a transect through the basement-cored Terskey Range, located in the Kyrgyz Tien Shan. Using these data, we are able to investigate the range's late Cenozoic deformation for the first time. Displacements on reactivated faults are constrained and deformation of thermochronologically derived structural markers is assessed. These structural markers postdate the earlier deformational phases, providing the only record of Cenozoic deformation and of the reactivation of structures within the Terskey Range. Overall, these structural markers have a southern inclination, interpreted to reflect the decreasing inclination of the reverse fault bounding the Terskey Range. Our thermochronological data are also used to investigate spatial and temporal variations in the exhumation of the Terskey Range, identifying a three-stage Cenozoic exhumation history: (1) virtually no exhumation in the Paleogene, (2) increase to slightly higher exhumation rates at ~26–20 Ma, and (3) significant increase in exhumation starting at ~10 Ma.

Late Cenozoic extension and crustal doming in the India‐Eurasia collision zone: New thermochronologic constraints from the NE Chinese Pamir

Abstract: [1] The northward motion of the Pamir indenter with respect to Eurasia has resulted in coeval thrusting, strike-slip faulting, and normal faulting. The eastern Pamir is currently deformed by east-west oriented extension, accompanied by uplift and exhumation of the Kongur Shan (7719 m) and Muztagh Ata (7546 m) gneiss domes. Both domes are an integral part of the footwall of the Kongur Shan extensional fault system (KES), a 250 km long, north-south oriented graben. Why active normal faulting within the Pamir is primarily localized along the KES and not distributed more widely throughout the orogen has remained unclear. In addition, relatively little is known about how deformation has evolved throughout the Cenozoic, despite refined estimates on present-day crustal deformation rates and microseismicity, which indicate where crustal deformation is presently being accommodated. To better constrain the spatiotemporal evolution of faulting along the KES, we present 39 new apatite fission track, zircon U-Th-Sm/He, and 40Ar/39Ar cooling ages from a series of footwall transects along the KES graben shoulder. Combining these data with present-day topographic relief, 1-D thermokinematic and exhumational modeling documents successive stages, rather than synchronous deformation and gneiss dome exhumation. While the exhumation of the Kongur Shan commenced during the late Miocene, extensional processes in the Muztagh Ata massif began earlier and have slowed down since the late Miocene. We present a new model of synorogenic extension suggesting that thermal and density effects associated with a lithospheric tear fault along the eastern margin of the subducting Alai slab localize extensional upper plate deformation along the KES and decouple crustal motion between the central/western Pamir and eastern Pamir/Tarim basin.

A kinematic model for the formation of the Siletz-Crescent forearc terrane by capture of coherent fragments of the Farallon and Resurrection plates

Abstract: [1] The volcanic basement of the Oregon and Washington Coast ranges has been proposed to represent a pair of tracks of the Yellowstone hotspot formed at a mid-ocean ridge during the early Cenozoic. This interpretation has been questioned on many grounds, especially that the range of ages does not match the offshore spreading rates and that the presence of continental coarse clastic sediments is difficult to reconcile with fast convergence rates between the oceanic plates and North America. Updates to basement geochronology and plate motion history reveal that these objections are much less serious than when they were first raised. Forward plate kinematic modeling reveals that predicted basement ages can be consistent with the observed range of about 55–49 Ma, and that the entire basement terrane can form within about 300 km of continental sources for clastic sediments. This kinematic model indicates that there is no firm reason to reject the near-ridge hotspot hypothesis on the basis of plate motions. A novel element of the model is the Resurrection plate, previously proposed to exist between the Farallon and Kula plates. By including the defunct Resurrection plate in our reconstruction, we are able to model the Farallon hotspot track as docking against the Oregon subduction margin starting about 53 Ma, followed by docking of the Resurrection track to the north starting about 48 Ma. Accretion of the Farallon plate fragment and partial subduction of the Resurrection fragment complicates the three-dimensional structure of the modern Cascadia forearc. We interpret the so-called “E” layer beneath Vancouver Island to be part of the Resurrection fragment. Our new kinematic model of mobile terranes within the Paleogene North American plate boundary allows reinterpretation of the three-dimensional structure of the Cascadia forearc and its relationship to ongoing seismotectonic processes.

Phanerozoic surface history of the Slave craton

Abstract: [1] New apatite (U-Th)/He (AHe) thermochronometry data and key geologic constraints from Slave craton kimberlites are used to develop a model for the Phanerozoic burial, unroofing, and hypsometric history of the northwestern Canadian shield. AHe dates range from 210 ± 13 to 382 ± 79 Ma, are older in the eastern Slave craton and decrease westward, and resolve the spatial extent, thickness, and history of now-denuded sedimentary units. Results indicate Paleozoic heating to temperatures ≥85–90°C, suggesting regional burial beneath ≥2.8 km of strata while the region was at sea level, followed by the westward migration of unroofing across the craton. This Paleozoic-Mesozoic history does not correlate with sea level change, instead requiring Paleozoic subsidence of the craton followed by surface uplift. The AHe data restrict Cretaceous burial to ≤1.6 km, followed by unroofing, Eocene terrestrial sediment deposition, and removal of Phanerozoic sedimentary cover across the region by present day. The craton underwent ≥300 m of post-100 Ma elevation gain, based on ~100 Ma marine sedimentary xenoliths entrained in ~75–45 Ma kimberlites at modern elevations of 550–600 m. The transition from Paleozoic-Mesozoic subsidence to surface uplift may signal a change from predominantly northern (Franklinian-Innuitian) to western (Canadian Cordillera) plate boundary controls on continental interior processes, with the latter driving the east-to-west wave of unroofing. Canadian Cordillera evolution also affected the Cretaceous-early Tertiary history. Dynamic topography due to changing mantle flow regimes and proximity to sediment sources influenced the Phanerozoic surface evolution of the northwestern Canadian shield.

Zircon and apatite thermochronology of the Nankai Trough accretionary prism and trench, Japan: sediment transport in an active and collisional margin setting

Abstract: [1] The Nankai accretionary complex is the most recent addition to the accretionary complexes of southwest Japan and has preserved a record of sediment flux to the trench during its construction. In this study, we use U-Pb zircon and fission track analysis of both zircons and apatites from sediments taken from the forearc and trench of the Nankai Trough, as well as rivers from southwest Japan to examine the exhumation history of the margin since the Middle Miocene. Modern rivers show a flux dominated by erosion of the Mesozoic-Eocene Shimanto and Sanbagawa accretionary complexes. Only the Fuji River, draining the collision zone between the Izu and Honshu arcs, is unique in showing much faster exhumation. Sediment from the Izu-Honshu collision is not found 350–500 km along the margin offshore Kyushu indicating limited along-strike sediment transport. Sediment deposited since 2 Ma on the midtrench slope offshore the Muroto Peninsula of Shikoku (ODP Site 1176) and on the lower slope trenchward of the Kumano Basin (IODP Sites C0006E and C00007E) shares the dominant source in the Shimanto and Sanbagawa complexes seen in the modern rivers. Prior to 5 Ma, additional sediment was being sourced from further north in more slowly exhumed terrains, ~350 km from the trench axis. Around 9.4 Ma, U-Pb zircon ages of ~1800 Ma indicate enhanced erosion from the North China Craton, exposed in northern Honshu. In the middle Miocene, at ~15.4 Ma, the sediment was being derived from a much wider area including the Yangtze Craton (U-Pb ages ~800 Ma). We suggest that this enhanced catchment may have reflected the influence of the Yangtze River in supplying into the Shikoku Basin prior to rifting of the Okinawa Trough at 10 Ma and migration of the Palau-Kyushu Ridge to form a barrier to transport. The restriction of Nankai Trough provenance to Mesozoic source partly reflects continued uplift of the Shimanto and Sanbagawa complexes since the Middle Miocene.

Paleoelevation estimates for the northern and central proto–Basin and Range from carbonate clumped isotope thermometry

Abstract: [1] Quantitative paleoelevation histories can help explain both why and how widespread Cenozoic extension occurred in the Basin and Range Province of western North America. We present new estimates of preextensional paleoelevations for the northern and central Basin and Range using clumped isotope (Δ47) thermometry of lacustrine carbonates collected from each region. Comparison of carbonate Δ47-derived mean annual air temperature (MAAT) estimates (~16°C–20°C) for the Late Cretaceous–Eocene Sheep Pass basin of east central Nevada with published MAAT estimates for the Eocene, coastal northern Sierra Nevada (~20°C–25°C), suggests that the early Paleogene Sheep Pass basin had a paleoelevation of ≤2 km. Such a modest paleoelevation suggests that either (1) the proto–northern Basin and Range did not attain maximum paleoelevations of 3–4 km until the late Eocene–early Oligocene; or (2) the Sheep Pass basin was a local, high-relief (>1 km) setting contained within a >3 km orogenic highland (“Nevadaplano”). Similarity of Δ47-derived MAAT estimates (~17°C–24°C) for carbonates from the central Basin and Range and the near–sea level southern Sierra Nevada Bena basin indicate that middle Miocene paleoelevations in the Death Valley region were ≤1.5 km. These fairly low paleoelevations are incompatible with preextensional crustal thicknesses >52 km and indicate that mean elevation change was minor (≤500 m) and lithospheric mass was not conserved during >100% Neogene extension of the central Basin and Range, but was instead likely compensated by synextensional magmatic additions to the crust.

Multistage magma emplacement and progressive strain accumulation in the shallow‐level Krkonoše‐Jizera plutonic complex, Bohemian Massif

Abstract: [1] Field relationships combined with new U-Pb zircon geochronology suggest that the shallow-level Krkonose-Jizera plutonic complex, northern Bohemian Massif, was assembled successively from bottom to top, starting with emplacement of the separately evolved S-type Tanvald granite (317.3 ± 2.1 Ma), followed by at least two voluminous batches of the I-type porphyritic Liberec (319.5 ± 2.3 Ma) and Jizera (320.1 ± 3.0 Ma and 319.3 ± 3.7 Ma) granites. The intrusive sequence was completed by uppermost, minor intrusions of the equigranular Harrachov (315.0 ± 2.7 Ma) and Krkonose granites. The I-type granites exhibit an unusually complex pattern of superposed feldspar phenocryst and magnetic fabrics as revealed from the anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS). The outer Liberec granite preserves margin-parallel foliations and lineations, interpreted to record emplacement-related strain captured by cooling from the pluton floor and walls. In contrast, the inner Jizera, Harrachov, and Krkonose granites were overprinted by synmagmatic strain resulting from dextral movements along regional strike-slip faults cutting the opposite ends of the plutonic complex. Late-stage felsic dikes in the Liberec and Jizera granites reorient from horizontal to vertical (lineation-perpendicular) attitude in response to changing the least principal stress direction, whereas mafic schlieren do not do so, representing only randomly oriented small-scale thermal-mechanical instabilities in the phenocryst framework. In general, this case example challenges the common approach of inferring pluton-wide magma flow from interpolated foliation, lineation, and schlieren patterns. More likely, magmatic fabrics in large plutons record complex temporal succession of superposed strains resulting from diverse processes at multiple scales.