The western Kuqa fold-thrust belt of Xinjiang Province, China, hosts a series of surface salt structures. Here we present preliminary analysis of the geometry, kinematics, and surface processes of three of these structures: the Quele open-toed salt thrust sheet, Tuzimazha salt wall, and Awate salt fountain. The fi rst two are line-sourced, the third appears to be point-sourced, and all are active. The ~35-km-long, 200-m-thick Quele open-toed salt thrust sheet features internal folding, salt-lined transfer structures, dissolution topography, fl anking growth strata, and alluvial fan/stream-network interactions. The ~10-km-long, 50-m-wide Tuzimazha salt wall marks a local topographic high, such that fl uvial stream networks are defl ected by the rising weak tabular salt body. The salt wall is also fl anked by growth strata and normal faults. The ~2-km-long Awate salt fountain represents salt exhumation coincident with the intersection of multiple structures and a river. Therefore this salt body may respond to local structural and/or erosional variations, or it may play a key role determining such variations-or both. Activity along all three structures confi rms that active deformation occurs from foreland to hinterland across the western Kuqa fold-thrust belt. Gradual lateral transition from bedded strata to fl ow-banded halite observed within the Quele open-toed salt thrust sheet implies that similar transitions observed in seismic refl ection data do not require interpretation as diapiric cutoff relationships. The surface salt structures of the western Kuqa fold-thrust belt display a variety of erosiontectonics interactions, with nuances refl ecting the low viscosity and high erodibility of salt, including stream defl ections, potential tectonic aneurysm development, and even an upper-crustal test site for channel fl owfocused denudation models.
Surface salt bodies in the western Kuqa fold-thrust belt of northwestern China allow study of subaerial salt kinematics and its possible correlations with weather variations. Ephemeral subaerial salt exposure during the evolution of a salt structure can greatly impact the subsequent development and deformation of its tectonic setting. Here, we present a quantitative time-lapse survey of surface salt deformation measured from interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) using Envisat radar imagery acquired between 2003 and 2010. Time series analysis and inspection of individual interferograms confirm that the majority of the salt bodies in western Kuqa are active, with significant InSAR observable displacements at 3 of 4 structures studied in the region. Subaerial salt motion toward and away from the satellite at rates up to 5 mm/yr with respect to local references. Rainfall measurements from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) and temperature from a local weather station are used to test the relationship between seasonality and surface salt motion. We observe decoupling between surface salt motion and seasonality and interpret these observations to indicate that regional and local structural regimes exert primary control on surface salt displacement rates.
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