Effects of fault slip distribution on the geometry and kinematics of the southern Junggar fold-and-thrust belt, northern Tian Shan

The characteristics of active deformation and strain distribution in the eastern Tian Shan

“…3.5 mm/year of convergence is accommodated by the southern Junggar FTB (Figure 3a), which is consistent with the geodetic rate of 4.0 ± 1.4 mm/year previously estimated by Yang et al (2008). This value is also comparable with the geologic rate of 2-4 mm/year by summing the Holocene shortening rates of individual anticlines (Lu et al, 2019 and references therein), as well as the average Quaternary shortening rate of 3.9 ± 0.4 mm/year based on balanced-section restorations of petroleum seismic reflection profiles (Qiu et al, 2019).…”

“…It formed in the Palaeozoic via multiple episodes of accretion and collision, and has been reactivated due to the far‐field effects of the Indian–Eurasian collision in the Cenozoic (Allen, Windley, & Zhang, 1993; Carroll, Graham, Hendrix, Ying, & Zhou, 1995; Hendrix et al, 1992; Molnar & Deng, 1984; Molnar & Tapponnier, 1975; Tapponnier & Molnar, 1979; Windley, Allen, Zhang, Zhao, & Wang, 1990; Yin et al, 1998). The ongoing north–south (N–S) directed convergence has resulted in pronounced mountain uplift as well as the development and basinward propagation of foreland fold‐and‐thrust belts (FTBs) on the flanks (Figure 1), such as the Kuqa FTB in the south adjacent to the Tarim Basin (Charreau et al, 2020; Hubert‐Ferrari, Suppe, Gonzalez‐Mieres, & Wang, 2007; Li, Wang, & Suppe, 2012; Lu et al, 1994; Tang et al, 2017; Wang et al, 2011; Wu et al, 2006), and the southern Junggar FTB in the north (Avouac, Tapponnie, Bai, You, & Wang, 1993; Burchfiel et al, 1999; Guan, Stockmeyer, Shaw, Plesch, & Zhang, 2016; Hendrix et al, 1992; Lu, Burbank, Li, & Liu, 2010; Lu & Li, 2008; Qiu, Rao, Wang, Yang, & Xiao, 2019; Yang, Li, & Huang, 2012). The syntectonic growth strata identified from petroleum seismic reflection profiles in combination with magnetostratigraphic ages provide constraints on the timing of Cenozoic contractional deformation in the FTBs (e.g.…”

“…The syntectonic growth strata identified from petroleum seismic reflection profiles in combination with magnetostratigraphic ages provide constraints on the timing of Cenozoic contractional deformation in the FTBs (e.g. Li et al, 2012; Lu et al, 2010; Qiu et al, 2019; Sun, Li, Zhang, & Fu, 2009; Sun & Zhang, 2009; Zhang, Sun, Tian, & Gong, 2016; Zhou et al, 2020). The magnitudes of shortening can be estimated using balanced‐section restoration and/or forward modelling techniques (e.g.…”

“…The magnitudes of shortening can be estimated using balanced‐section restoration and/or forward modelling techniques (e.g. Li et al, 2012; Qiu et al, 2019; Wang et al, 2011). The recent activity of these FTBs is also reflected by the occurrence of historical earthquakes (Figure 1).…”

Seismogenic Faulting of the 2016 Mw 6.0 Hutubi Earthquake in the Northern Tien Shan Region: Constraints From Near-Field Borehole Strain Step Observations and Numerical Simulations

“…As one of the largest orogenic belts within the Asian continent, this region was formed by multiple instances of plate collision and subduction (Xiao et al, 2004;Charvet et al, 2011;Chen et al, 2014;Qiu et al, 2019). Since the Cenozoic, the Tien Shan tectonic zone has experienced strong shortening and uplift due to continued convergence between the Indian and Eurasian plates (Molnar and Tapponnier, 1975;Allen et al, 1999;Qiu et al, 2019;Zhou et al, 2020); this ongoing collision has both created new faults and reactivated old faults (Yin et al, 1998). GPS data indicates that the crustal shortening rate in the Tien Shan tectonic zone increases from ∼5-10 mm/yr in the east to ∼20 mm/yr in the west (Yang et al, 2008;Liu et al, 2016).…”