5.3 Continental–Continental Collision Zone

TLDR: The major zone of continental-continental collision on Earth today is along the Alpine-Himalayan Chain, which is home to the Pyrenees, European Alps, Turkish-Iranian Plateau, the Himalaya, and the Tibetan Plateau.

Abstract: The major zone of continental–continental collision on Earth today is along the Alpine–Himalayan Chain, which is home to the Pyrenees, European Alps, Turkish-Iranian Plateau, the Himalaya, and the Tibetan Plateau Continental–continental collision also occurs in the Southern Alps of New Zealand and has produced a number of ancient orogens, including the Appalachians, Urals, and Caledonides The extensive, long-lived deformation, and particularly the crustal thickening, and therefore weakening, associated with continental collisions results in unique tectonic geomorphology An important topic in understanding the tectonic geomorphology of continental–continental collision zones is whether or not flux, topographic, thermal, or exhumational steady state can be achieved and how each can be recognized Another subject of study is the relative controls of tectonics and climate on range width and asymmetry Tectonic geomorphology has also been used to identify the lateral transport of crust, either brittlely, along strike–slip faults, or ductilely, through lower crustal flow Drainage reorganization is a particularly powerful tool for inferring uplift patterns Geomorphologic studies also yield insights into lithospheric foundering Finally, tectonic geomorphology can help explain the persistence of topography over long-innactive orogens In this contribution these topics are explored on an orogen-by-orogen basis