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Accelerated extension of Tibet linked to the northward underthrusting of Indian crust

Nature Geoscience volume 8, pages 131–134 (2015)Cite this article

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Abstract

The Tibetan Plateau is undergoing eastward extension on north-trending rifts, but the cause is unclear. The extension is commonly thought to represent gravitational collapse and outward spreading of the plateau1,2,3,4,5, a view based on observations of the synchronous onset of regional extension during the middle to late Miocene4,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13. However, rifting in southern Tibet occurs at a faster rate and is more developed than in the north, implying that rifting could instead be caused by progressive underthrusting of the Indian Plate beneath the southern plateau14,15,16,17. Here we use three-dimensional numerical models, constrained by structural and thermochronological data sets, to simulate extension of the Lunggar rift in southern Tibet as the orogenic system evolves. Our simulations reveal slow extension beginning in the Miocene, synchronously throughout the rift, followed by a wave of rapid extension that sweeps northwards along the rift, slightly ahead of the underthrusting Indian slab. Although the initial period of slow extension is consistent with orogen-scale gravitational collapse, we suggest that the subsequent extension at a high rate and magnitude in southern Tibet reflects thinning of the upper crust in response to thickening of the lower crust as the Indian plate is underthrust. Our results demonstrate that large-magnitude upper-crustal extension can occur during peak orogenic events, as well as during post-orogenic collapse.

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Figure 1: Topography and active faulting in Tibet.
Figure 2: Thermokinematic modelling results.
Figure 3: Rift acceleration and Indian underthrusting.

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Change history

  • 20 January 2015

    In the version of this Letter originally published, the first sentence of the main text was incorrect, and should have read 'The elevation of an orogenic plateau or mountain belt is limited in part by the tectonic compressive stresses at the orogen's margins that support the high elevations and consequent high gravitational potential energy1,5,18'. In the last sentence of the Methods section refs 20,21 were cited instead of refs 11,12. These errors have been corrected in all versions of the Letter.

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Acknowledgements

We thank P. Kapp, A. McCallister, B. Horton, W. Woodruff and D. Liu for collaboration in the field, and D. Stockli and R. Kislitsyn for laboratory collaboration and assistance. We thank P. DeCelles and J-P. Avouac for reviews. This work was supported in part by the Tectonics Division of the National Science Foundation. We thank T. Becker for feedback on a previous version of the manuscript.

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Author notes

  1. Richard Styron

    Present address: Present address: Earth Analysis, 4044 Latona Ave NE, Seattle, Washington 98105, USA,

  2. Kurt Sundell

    Present address: Present address: University of Houston, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Houston, Texas 77204, USA,

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas 66045, USA

    Richard Styron, Michael Taylor & Kurt Sundell

Authors
  1. Richard Styron
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  2. Michael Taylor
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Contributions

R.S. performed the thermal modelling. R.S. and K.S. created the data sets. All authors participated in field mapping, sample collection, conceptual model development and manuscript preparation.

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Correspondence to Richard Styron or Kurt Sundell.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Styron, R., Taylor, M. & Sundell, K. Accelerated extension of Tibet linked to the northward underthrusting of Indian crust. Nature Geosci 8, 131–134 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo2336

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