Active crustal deformation beyond the SE margin of the Tibetan Plateau: constraints from the evolution of fluvial systems

Westaway, R. (2009) Active crustal deformation beyond the SE margin of the Tibetan Plateau: constraints from the evolution of fluvial systems. Global and Planetary Change, 68(4), pp. 395-417. (doi: 10.1016/j.gloplacha.2009.03.008)

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Abstract

An integrated explanation is proposed for the Late Cenozoic crustal deformation in Yunnan, SW China, using sedimentary and geomorphological evidence from the Yangtze and Red River systems. The observed fluvial incision indicates up to ~ 15 km of crustal thickening, associated with ~ 3 km of uplift, apparently triggered at ~ 8 Ma by monsoon-induced erosion drawing mobile lower crust from beneath Tibet to the northwest. The mobile lower-crustal layer beneath Yunnan was initially very thin, but a positive feedback loop developed, whereby each incremental influx of lower-crust widened and heated this layer, facilitating the next increment. At ~ 5 Ma, the shear tractions exerted on the brittle upper-crust by this flowing lower crust became sufficient to reactivate pre-existing lines of weakness, dragging blocks of the brittle layer southward and creating the region′s modern active fault systems. This region thus provides a dramatic example of crustal deformation induced by Late Cenozoic climate change, notwithstanding its location adjoining the India–Eurasia plate boundary.

Item Type:Articles
Status:Published
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Westaway, Dr Robert
Authors: Westaway, R.
College/School:College of Science and Engineering > School of Engineering > Systems Power and Energy
Journal Name:Global and Planetary Change
Publisher:Elsevier
ISSN:0921-8181

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