Contemporary tectonics of the Himalayan frontal fault system: folds, blind thrusts and the 1905 Kangra earthquake

Yeats, Robert S.; Lillie, Robert J.

doi:10.1016/0191-8141(91)90068-t

Cited by 130 publications

(65 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…This belt of NW trending anticline ridges is about 150 km long and up 10-15 km wide, with summit elevations reaching 700 m above the Indo-Gangetic plain. These elongate ridges are interpreted as anticlines above a southwest-vergent subsurface thrust fault (Yeats and Lillie, 1991). In fact, this anticline belt is part of an active fault-related anticline system located on the hanging wall of the thrust fault along the southern front of the Siwalik hills.…”

Section: Geomorphic Response To Active Tectonics Of the Janauri And Cmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Beneath the Janauri anticline (Jan in Fig. 1B), the surface thrust faults merge downward into a decollement horizon of shales of the middle Cenozoic Dharmsala molass (~2.58, Powers et al, 1998;Yeats and Lillie, 1991). The basement offset controls the location of structures within the Siwalik hills and causes ramping of the decollement (Wiltschko and Eastman, 1983) (Fig.…”

Section: Geological Setting (Fig 1)mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In fact, this anticline belt is part of an active fault-related anticline system located on the hanging wall of the thrust fault along the southern front of the Siwalik hills. The geometry of the Januari anticline is constrained by deep bore hole data and the main structures are well known (Yeats and Lillie, 1991;Brozovic and Burbank, 2000). The anticlines are composed of Middle Siwaliks sandstones (Upper Miocene), Upper Siwaliks conglomerates (Pliocene to Lower Quaternary) and post-Siwaliks deposits (alluvial fan and terrace deposits).…”

Section: Geomorphic Response To Active Tectonics Of the Janauri And Cmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Recent fold growth and drainage development: The Janauri and Chandigarh anticlines in the Siwalik foothills, northwest India

2006

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The active growth of a fault-and-thrust belt in frontal zones of Himalaya is a prominent topographical feature, extending 2500 km from Assam to Pakistan. In this paper, kinematical analysis of frontal anticlines and spatial mapping of active faults based on geomorphological features such as drainage pattern development, fault scarps and uplifted Quaternary alluvial fans are presented. We analyse the geomorphic and hydrographic expressions of the Chandigarh and the Janauri active anticlines in the NW India Siwaliks. To investigate the morphological scenario during the folding process, we used spatial imagery, geomorphometric parameters extracted from digital elevation models and fieldwork. Folding between the Beas and Sutlej Rivers gives clear geomorphological evidence of recent fold growth, presumably driven by movements of blind thrust faults. Structural style within the Janauri and Chandigarh anticlines is highly variable (fault-propagation folds, pop-up structures and transfer faults). The approach presented here involves analysis of topography and drainage incision of selected landforms to detect growth of active anticlines and transfer faults. Landforms that indicate active folding above a southwest-dipping frontal thrust and a northeastdipping back-thrust are described. Along-strike differences in ridge morphology are measured to describe the interaction of river channel patterns with folds and thrust faults and to define history of anticline growth. The evolution of the apparently continuous Janauri ridge has occurred by the coalescence of independent segments growing towards each other. By contrast, systematic drainage basin asymmetry shows that the Chandigarh anticline ridge has propagated laterally from NW to SE. D

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Section: Geomorphic Response To Active Tectonics Of the Janauri And Cmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Geological Setting (Fig 1)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Geomorphic Response To Active Tectonics Of the Janauri And Cmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Recent fold growth and drainage development: The Janauri and Chandigarh anticlines in the Siwalik foothills, northwest India

2006

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“…E-W extension shown by the normal faulting events behind the Himalayas may be related to tectonic stresses due to collision causing a wide distribution of P-axes in the general NNE-SSW or N-S directions in western China [13,30]. The strong compressive stress due to the northward movement of the Indian plate also causes the Tibetan plateau rise gradually [31]. The weight of a high plateau and the buoyancy acting on the bottom of the plateau crust from the mantle may create an additional vertical compressive stress which can result in the relaxation of the topography and corresponding thinning of the crust together with the normal faulting activity.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Extensional Seismogenic Stress and Tectonic Movement on the Central Region of the Tibetan Plateau

Zhao

2009

International Journal of Geophysics

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Various earthquake fault types, mechanism solutions and stress fields, as well as GPS and geothermal data are analyzed for the study of the crustal movements on the Tibetan plateau and their tectonic implications. The results show that a lot of the normal faulting type-event concentrated at altitudes greater than 4000 m on the central Tibetan plateau. The altitudes concentrating normal faulting type-events can be zoned two parts: the western part, the Lhasa block, and the eastern part, the QiangtangChangdu region. The azimuths of T-axes are in a general E-W direction in the Lhasa block and NW-SE or NNW-SSE in the Qiangtang-Changdu region at the altitudes of the Tibetan plateau. The tensional stresses in E-W direction and NW-SE direction predominate normal faulting earthquake occurrence in the Lhasa block and the Qiangtang-Changdu region, respectively. The slipping displacements of the normal-faulting-type events have great components in near E-W direction and NW-SE direction in the Lhasa block and the Qiangtang-Changdu region, respectively. The extensions are probably an eastward or southeastward extensional motion, being mainly tectonic activity phenomena in the plateau altitudes. The extensional motions due to normalfault earthquakes are important tectonic activity regimes on the high altitudes of the plateau. The easterly crustal extensions on the plateau are attributable to the gravitational collapse of the high plateau and eastward extrusion of hotter mantle materials beneath the eastern boundary of the plateau. Numbers of thrust-fault and strike-slip-fault earthquakes with strong compressive stress in a general NNE-SSW direction occur on the edges of the plateau.

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“…Slip and consequent throw (e.g., hanging wall uplift) associated with these contractional structures represent the principal geological process governing the regional and local relief development. The present-day tectonic convergence is concentrated along the southernmost of the major Himalayan thrust faults, i.e., the HFT that marks the tectonic and topographic front of the Himalayan orogen [e.g., Yeats and Lillie, 1991;Lavé and Avouac, 2000]. Within the investigated area, the HFT trends in an almost NW-SE direction, while the surface trace of the MBT in this sector of NW India is markedly sinuous [Valdiya, 1998] (Figure 2).…”

Section: Geological Settingmentioning

confidence: 99%

The sub‐Himalayan fold‐thrust belt in the 1905 Kangra earthquake zone: A critical taper model perspective for seismic hazard analysis

2012

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[1] We investigate the broader epicentral area of the M = 7.8, 1905 Kangra earthquake(s), north India, affecting the sub-Himalayan hills. The tectonics of the area is characterized by two major rentrants (Kangra and Dehradun) interposed by the Nahan Salient. The first-order topography between the Himalayan Frontal Thrust and the Main Boundary Thrust shows a marked lateral variation along strike of the mean gradient, characterized by a very small mean slope angle ($1 ) in correspondence with the reentrants and higher values ($3 ) in the salient. These tectonic and topographic features also show a good correspondence with the peculiar macroseismic field of the 1905 event(s), which is characterized by two distinct intensity maxima, separated by a distance of $150 km, clearly overlapping the two major tectonic reentrants. In this paper, based on available geological and geophysical information and a critical analysis of the general mechanical constraints, the seismogenic volume of the external sector of the chain is investigated in terms of critical taper model attempting to clarify the possible correlations between tectonics, topography and seismicity in the sub-Himalayan belt. Based on different assumptions, three possible seismotectonic scenarios are explored in order to constrain their likelihood and therefore to suggest a potential seismic gap in the area corresponding to the Nahan Salient, which may experience an event of significant magnitude in the future.

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Contemporary tectonics of the Himalayan frontal fault system: folds, blind thrusts and the 1905 Kangra earthquake

Cited by 130 publications

References 24 publications

Recent fold growth and drainage development: The Janauri and Chandigarh anticlines in the Siwalik foothills, northwest India

Recent fold growth and drainage development: The Janauri and Chandigarh anticlines in the Siwalik foothills, northwest India

Extensional Seismogenic Stress and Tectonic Movement on the Central Region of the Tibetan Plateau

The sub‐Himalayan fold‐thrust belt in the 1905 Kangra earthquake zone: A critical taper model perspective for seismic hazard analysis

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