Continents and Supercontinents

Continents and Supercontinents
Author: John J. W. Rogers
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 298
Release: 2004-09-16
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0195165896

Surveys the origin of continents, and the accretion and breakup of supercontinents through earth history. This book also shows how these processes affected the composition of seawater, climate, and the evolution of life.

Crustal Structure and Tectonics of Northeast Tibet from Controlled Source and Broadband Seismology

Crustal Structure and Tectonics of Northeast Tibet from Controlled Source and Broadband Seismology
Author: Marianne Sherman Karplus
Publisher:
Total Pages:
Release: 2012
Genre:
ISBN:

In this dissertation I present my contributions to our understanding of three-dimensional crustal structure and plateau growth in the north Tibetan Plateau from the Qiangtang terrane to the Qaidam Basin. Tibet is an ideal location to study plateau development processes in an active continent-continent collision zone. Recent seismic projects have collected an abundance of seismic data in north Tibet, and I use a range of active- and passive-source seismic data to investigate tectonic processes in that area. In particular, I look at how north Tibet is deforming in response to the India-Asia collision including whether there may be mid-or lower-crustal flow within the plateau. I further probe the causes of crustal thickness changes across the plateau and whether the plateau is actively growing. I also ask whether there is present-day subduction of Eurasia beneath north Tibet and what role the Kunlun strike-slip fault plays in the regional tectonics. I derive a velocity model from wide-angle reflection and refraction data using a high-resolution, 270-km active-source seismic profile crossing the Kunlun Mountains and south Qaidam Basin. The central Qaidam Basin resembles average continental crust, whereas the Songpan-Ganzi terrane and East Kunlun Mountains exhibit thickened, lower-velocity crust also characteristic of southern Tibet. Using that method along with P-wave receiver function imaging, I describe details of the crustal thickness change from 70 km beneath the Kunlun Mountains to 50 km beneath central Qaidam. In contrast to previous work, I relocate the change in crustal thickness to ~45 km north of the Kunlun Mountains topographic front, in a region of overlapping bright Moho reflectors at ~70 km and ~50 km. The crustal thickness change is unrelated to the strike-slip North Kunlun Fault. I further discuss differences in Vp/Vs across the terranes and calculate the Vp/Vs of the lower crustal material between the deep and shallow Mohos. Crustal velocities and impedance contrasts suggest that instead weak Tibetan lower crust is injected northward beneath stronger Qaidam crust without southward subduction of Eurasian lithosphere. Finally, at the broadest scale, I use ambient noise tomography to map regional differences in crustal Rayleigh wave group velocities across a larger area of north Tibet including the Qiangtang terrane. For periods of 8-24 s (sampling from ~10-35 km depth within the crust), I observe striking velocity changes at the major east-west Bangong-Nujiang and Jinsha suture zones as well as the Kunlun-Qaidam boundary. I see higher velocities beneath the Lhasa terrane, lower velocities beneath the Qiangtang, then higher velocities in the Songpan-Ganzi, and finally low velocities beneath the Qaidam Basin. Mid-to-upper crustal velocities also change laterally within the Songpan-Ganzi terrane, perhaps indicating subterrane boundaries, as hypothesized previously from geologic data. No velocity change is observed at the active North Kunlun Fault for periods 8-12 s, but for periods 18-24 s (~20-35 km depth) the wedge of Songpan-Ganzi crust between the South and North Kunlun Faults appears lower velocity than the surrounding Songpan-Ganzi terrane and Kunlun Mountains. Velocities west of ~93° E appear higher velocity than the Songpan-Ganzi terrane to the east. Finally, much of north Tibet (~ 32°-36° N) is underlain by a low velocity zone (LVL) at ~20-30 km depth.

Growth and Collapse of the Tibetan Plateau

Growth and Collapse of the Tibetan Plateau
Author: Richard Gloaguen
Publisher: Geological Society of London
Total Pages: 272
Release: 2011
Genre: Boundary layer (Meteorology)
ISBN: 9781862393264

Despite agreement on first-order features and mechanisms, critical aspects of the origin and evolution of the Tibetan Plateau, such as the exact timing and nature of collision, the initiation of plateau uplift, and the evolution of its height and width, are disputed, untested or unknown. This book gathers papers dealing with the growth and collapse of the Tibetan Plateau. The timing, the underlying mechanisms, their interactions and the induced surface shaping, contributing to the Tibetan Plateau evolution are tightly linked via coupled and feedback processes. We present interdisciplinary contributions allowing insight into the complex interactions between lithospheric dynamics, topography building, erosion, hydrological processes and atmospheric coupling. The book is structured in four parts: early processes in the plateau formation; recent growth of the Tibetan Plateau; mechanisms of plateau growth; and plateau uplift, surface processes and the monsoon.

Aspects of the Tectonic Evolution of China

Aspects of the Tectonic Evolution of China
Author: J. Malpas
Publisher: Geological Society of London
Total Pages: 372
Release: 2004
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9781862391567

This volume provides accounts of up-to-date research by Chinese and international geological teams on key aspects of the tectonic evolution of China and its surrounding areas. The papers describe the formation of the geological terranes that make up this part of east Asia, place constraints on plate tectonic models for their assembly and provide accounts of unique geological feature of the subcontinent.