Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Résumé : International audience
The lateral variation of the mechanical properties of continental lithosphere is an important factor controlling the localization of deformation and thus the deformation history and geometry of intraplate mountain belts. A series of three-layer lithospheric-scale analog models, with a strong domain (SD) embedded at various depths, are presented to investigate the development of topography and deformation patterns by having lateral heterogeneities within a weak continental lithosphere. The experiments, performed at a constant velocity and under normal gravity, indicate that the presence or absence of the SD controls whether deformation is localized or distributed at a lithospheric scale. Deformation and topography localize above the edges of the SD, while the SD region itself is characterized by minor amounts of surficial deformation and topography. The depth of the SD (within the ductile crust, ductile mantle lithosphere, or both) controls the pattern of deformation and thus the topography. The presence of a SD in the ductile crust or in the mantle results in limited surficial topographic effects but large variations in the Moho topography. Strong Moho deflection occurs when the SD is in the ductile crust, while the Moho remains almost flat when the SD is in the mantle. When the SD occupies the ductile lithosphere, the SD is tilted. These analog experiments provide insights into intraplate strain localization and could in particular explain the topography around the Tarim Basin, a lithospheric-scale heterogeneity north of the India-Asia collision zone.
ISSN: 0278-7407

hal-01172472
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01172472
DOI : 10.1002/2014TC003756

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Oxford University Press (OUP)
Résumé : International audience
S U M M A R Y Over the last decade, thermomechanical models have revealed the control of both tectonics and erosion on the morphology of continental plateaus margins. However, unravelling the specific effects of these two coupled processes has been difficult in practice. Here, to assess the control of erosion, we investigate the dynamics of the eastern and the northern borders of the Tibetan Plateau, which are characterized by a low convergence rate and a steep topographic escarpment adjacent to the Sichuan and Tarim basins, respectively. Thermomechanical modelling of continental lithosphere coupled with fluvial denudation reveals that important crustal deformation with large-scale horizontal displacements can occur, without any convergence, as a response to mass transfer due to gravitational collapse and to erosional unloading. These processes are sensitive to crustal structure, geothermal gradient as well as surface erosion. At a timescale of several million years, our results suggest that this denudation-triggered deformation exerts a primary control on the evolution of those plateau margins by counterbalancing the mass removal due to erosion and stabilizing the topographic escarpment. This finding supports a possible explanation for the morphology of the Longmen Shan, eastern Tibet, in which the paradoxical combination of persistent high-topographic gradients close to the foreland and low convergence rates can be related to the influence of erosion on deformation patterns.
ISSN: 0956-540X

hal-01577060
https://hal-amu.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01577060
https://hal-amu.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01577060/document
https://hal-amu.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01577060/file/godard2009erosional.pdf
DOI : 10.1111/j.1365-246X.2009.04324.x

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
The Tarim and Junggar basins in central Asia are capped by a thick pile of conglomerates, called the Xiyu Formation, that are commonly linked to a change in climate and/or accelerated uplift near the Plio-Pleistocene boundary. In order to better understand their origin and significance, we carried out a combined structural and magnetostratigraphic study in the Quilitage syncline (southern Tianshan), where the base of the Xiyu conglomerates is observed at both sides of the syncline. A balanced cross-section shows that, even at a local-scale, the base of the Xiyu conglomerates cannot be regarded as a single continuous stratigraphic layer. On the southern flank of the Quilitage syncline, we collected 172 samples collected for magnetostratigraphic dating identify 17 polarity chrons that date the new section from 5.2 to ~ 1.7 Ma and constrain the base of the Xiyu conglomerate here at ~ 1.7 Ma. This is 4.2 Ma younger than the age of the Xiyu previously found on the northern limb of the same syncline. Together with other magnetostratigraphic studies carried out around the Tianshan, our study unambiguously demonstrates that the onset of deposition of the Xiyu conglomerates is diachronous, and that the conglomerates are systematically younger toward the basin. Consequently, the Xiyu Formation should not be considered as a chronostratigraphic marker related to any particular tectonic or climatic event, but is instead a prograding gravel wedge that has prograded over the underthrusting forelands. A synthesis of chronologic and structural results yields progradation rates over the last 10 Ma on the order of ~ 2.0 mm/yr and ~ 3.9 mm/yr south and north of the Tianshan Mountains respectively. These rates are comparable to the shortening rate across the Tianshan range, suggesting that underthrusting is the main factor governing the progradation rate of the Xiyu Formation.
ISSN: 0012-821X

insu-00414151
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-00414151
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-00414151/document
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-00414151/file/Charreau-EPSL-2009.pdf
DOI : 10.1016/j.epsl.2009.07.035