Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Letter
  • Published:

Uplift of the Longmen Shan and Tibetan plateau, and the 2008 Wenchuan (M = 7.9) earthquake

Nature volume 458, pages 194–197 (2009)Cite this article

Abstract

The Longmen Shan mountain range, site of the devastating 12 May 2008 Wenchuan (M =  7.9) earthquake, defines the eastern margin of the Himalayan orogen and exhibits greater topographic relief than anywhere else in the Tibetan plateau. However, before the earthquake, geodetic and geologic surveys measured little shortening across the range front1,2,3, inspiring a vigorous debate about the process by which the topography of the mountain belt is produced and maintained. Two endmember models have been proposed: (1) brittle crustal thickening, in which thrust faults with large amounts of slip that are rooted in the lithosphere cause uplift4, and (2) crustal flow, in which low-viscosity material in the lower crust extrudes outward from the Tibetan plateau and inflates the crust north and east of the Himalayas5,6,7. Here we use balanced geologic cross-sections to show that crustal shortening, structural relief, and topography are strongly correlated in the range front. This suggests that crustal shortening is a primary driver for uplift and topography of the Longmen Shan on the flanks of the plateau. The 2008 Wenchuan (M =  7.9) earthquake, which ruptured a large thrust fault along the range front causing tens of thousands of fatalities and widespread damage, is an active manifestation of this shortening process.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Map of the Longmen Shan and western Sichuan basin, showing the epicentre and focal mechanism of the 2008 Wenchuan ( M = 7.9) earthquake, aftershocks, and major faults.
Figure 2: Alternative conceptual models for the uplift of the Tibetan plateau and development of the Longmen Shan range front.
Figure 3: Comparison of crustal shortening and topography along line A–A′.
Figure 4: Geologic cross-section B–B′ across the location of the 2008 Wenchuan ( M = 7.9) earthquake.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Shen, Z. K., Lu, J. N., Wang, M. & Burgmann, R. Contemporary crustal deformation around the southeast borderland of the Tibetan Plateau. J. Geophys. Res. 110 11409 10.1029/2004JB003421 (2005)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  2. Meade, B. J. Present-day kinematics at the India-Asia collision zone. Geology 35, 81–84 (2007)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  3. Chen, Z. et al. Global Positioning System measurements from eastern Tibet and their implications for India/Eurasia intercontinental deformation. J. Geophys. Res. 105, 16215–16227 (2000)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  4. Tapponnier, P. et al. Geology—Oblique stepwise rise and growth of the Tibet plateau. Science 294, 1671–1677 (2001)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Royden, L. H. et al. Surface deformation and lower crustal flow in eastern Tibet. Science 276, 788–790 (1997)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Burchfiel, B. C. 2003 presidential address: New technology, new geological challenges. GSA Today 14, 4–9 (2004)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Bird, P. Lateral extrusion of lower crust from under high topography, in the isostatic limit. J. Geophys. Res. 96, 10275–10286 (1991)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  8. Yin, A. & Harrison, T. M. Geologic evolution of the Himalayan-Tibetan orogen. Annu. Rev. Earth Planet. Sci. 28, 211–280 (2000)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Rapine, R., Tilmann, F., West, M., Ni, J. & Rodgers, A. Crustal structure of northern and southern Tibet from surface wave dispersion analysis. J. Geophys. Res. 108 B22120 10.1029/2001JB000445 (2003)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  10. Xu, L., Rondenay, S. & van der Hilst, R. D. Structure of the crust beneath the southeastern Tibetan Plateau from teleseismic receiver functions. Phys. Earth Planet. Inter. 165, 176–193 (2007)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  11. Yao, H., Behein, C. & van der Hilst, R. D. Surface wave array tomography in SE Tibet from ambient seismic noise and two-station analysis. II. Crustal and upper-mantle structure. Geophys. J. Int. 173, 205–219 (2008)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  12. Kirby, E. et al. Late Cenozoic evolution of the eastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau: Inferences from 40Ar/39Ar and (U-Th)/He thermochronology. Tectonics 21 (1). 1001 10.1029/2000TC001246 (2002)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  13. Densmore, A. L. et al. Active tectonics of the Beichuan and Pengguan faults at the eastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau. Tectonics 26 TC4005 10.1029/2006TC001987 (2007)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  14. Burchfiel, B. C. et al. A geological and geophysical context for the Wenchuan earthquake of 12 May 2008, Sichuan, People’s Republic of China. GSA Today 18, 4–11 (2008)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Burchfiel, B. C. et al. Tectonics of the Longmen Shan and adjacent regions, Central China. Int. Geol. Rev. 37, 661–735 (1995)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Clark, M. K., Bush, J. W. M. & Royden, L. H. Dynamic topography produced by lower crustal flow against rheological strength heterogeneities bordering the Tibetan Plateau. Geophys. J. Int. 162, 575–590 (2005)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  17. Medvedev, S. & Beaumont, C. in Channel Flow, Ductile Extrusion and Exhumation in Continental Collision Zones (eds Law, R. D., Searle, M. P. & Godin, L.) 147–164 (Geological Society, London, 2006)

    Google Scholar 

  18. Shaw, J. H., Connors, C. & Suppe, J. Seismic Interpretation of Contractional Fault-related Folds: An AAPG Seismic Atlas 1-58 (AAPG, 2005)

    Google Scholar 

  19. Suppe, J. Geometry and kinematics of fault-bend folding. Am. J. Sci. 283, 684–721 (1983)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  20. Chen, S. F. & Wilson, C. J. L. Emplacement of the Longmen Shan Thrust-Nappe Belt along the eastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau. J. Struct. Geol. 18, 413–430 (1996)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank the reviewers, E. Kirby and J. Dolan, for their comments and suggestions. Texaco and the China National Petroleum Corporation provided the seismic data used in this project.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Harvard University, 20 Oxford Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA,

    Judith Hubbard & John H. Shaw

Authors
  1. Judith Hubbard
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. John H. Shaw
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Judith Hubbard.

Supplementary information

Supplementary Figures

This file contains Supplementary Figures 1-2 with Legends (PDF 3421 kb)

PowerPoint slides

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Hubbard, J., Shaw, J. Uplift of the Longmen Shan and Tibetan plateau, and the 2008 Wenchuan (M = 7.9) earthquake. Nature 458, 194–197 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature07837

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nature07837

This article is cited by

Comments

By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing