Abstract
Crustal thickening does not now occur in southern Tibet. Field observations made during the Chinese–French expedition of 1980 support an earlier hypothesis based on a combined analysis of satellite images and fault plane solutions of earthquakes. Immediately north of the highest peaks of the Himalayas, the tectonic regime is dominated by east–west extension. We have mapped a large number of north–south normal faults which sharply cut the glacial and post-glacial morphology, and followed several recent earthquake breaks along faults detected on satellite and aerial photographs. Microtectonic measurements in the Quaternary suggest that the maximum principal stress is vertical.
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Tapponnier, P., Mercier, J., Armijo, R. et al. Field evidence for active normal faulting in Tibet. Nature 294, 410–414 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1038/294410a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/294410a0
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