Oceanic-style subduction controls late Cenozoic deformation of the Northern Pamir orogen

Sobel, Edward R.; Chen, Jie; Schoenbohm, Lindsay M.; Thiede, Rasmus; Stöckli, Daniel F.; Sudo, Masafumi; Strecker, Manfred R.

doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2012.12.009

Cited by 142 publications

(206 citation statements)

References 69 publications

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“…These sediments would then have been sorted by fluvial and eolian processes into sand and silt fractions, with the former becoming the constituents of a dynamic desert system and the latter being deflated and transported as eolian dust (4). We suggest that this mechanism has been in operation since the late Oligocene-early Miocene time, and that the resultant formation of the Taklimakan Desert was a direct response to a combination of widespread regional aridification and increased unroofing and erosion in the surrounding mountains, both of which are closely linked to the uplift of the Tibetan-Pamir Plateau and the Tian Shan (36)(37)(38)(39).…”

Section: U-pb Dating Of Zircon From Volcanic Ashmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Generation of such topography forced major climatic changes during the Cenozoic (32)(33)(34)(35). Numerous studies suggested that significant uplift of the Tibetan-Pamir Plateau and the Tian Shan occurred around the late Oligocene-early Miocene (36)(37)(38)(39). The uplifted plateau together with the possible retreat of the Paratethys (9, 11) forced by uplifting topography could have led to a transition from planetary climate system to monsoonal climate system (35,40,41).…”

Section: U-pb Dating Of Zircon From Volcanic Ashmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Late Oligocene–early Miocene birth of the Taklimakan Desert

Zheng

Xing

Tada

et al. 2015

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

172

196

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As the world’s second largest sand sea and one of the most important dust sources to the global aerosol system, the formation of the Taklimakan Desert marks a major environmental event in central Asia during the Cenozoic. Determining when and how the desert formed holds the key to better understanding the tectonic–climatic linkage in this critical region. However, the age of the Taklimakan remains controversial, with the dominant view being from ∼3.4 Ma to ∼7 Ma based on magnetostratigraphy of sedimentary sequences within and along the margins of the desert. In this study, we applied radioisotopic methods to precisely date a volcanic tuff preserved in the stratigraphy. We constrained the initial desertification to be late Oligocene to early Miocene, between ∼26.7 Ma and 22.6 Ma. We suggest that the Taklimakan Desert was formed as a response to a combination of widespread regional aridification and increased erosion in the surrounding mountain fronts, both of which are closely linked to the tectonic uplift of the Tibetan–Pamir Plateau and Tian Shan, which had reached a climatically sensitive threshold at this time.

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Section: U-pb Dating Of Zircon From Volcanic Ashmentioning

confidence: 98%

Section: U-pb Dating Of Zircon From Volcanic Ashmentioning

confidence: 99%

Late Oligocene–early Miocene birth of the Taklimakan Desert

Zheng

Xing

Tada

et al. 2015

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

172

196

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“…In such a model, the arcuate shape of the Pamir seismic zone would be the consequence of the shape of the Indian indenter further south (western syntaxis), which led to the creation of northward-convex structural belts throughout the orogen and the arcuate Pamir deformation front and slab. The prevalence of along-arc extensive mechanisms of intermediatedepth earthquakes beneath the Pamir, which Pegler and Das [1998] used as an argument in favor of active contortion of a single seismic zone of Indian origin, could be reconciled with such a purely Eurasian Pamir seismic zone in combination with active slab rollback [Sobel et al, 2013]. The MPT would mark the intersection of the plate interface with the surface and the strike-slip faults at the Pamir's edges (Darvaz/Chaman Fault and Karakorum Fault/KYTS) would accommodate northwards rollback of the whole system as so-called STEP faults [see Govers and Wortel, 2005].…”

Section: Provenance Of Imaged Structures-eurasia or India?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Geometry of the Pamir‐Hindu Kush intermediate‐depth earthquake zone from local seismic data

et al. 2013

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[1] We present new seismicity images based on a two-year seismic deployment in the Pamir and SW Tien Shan. A total of 9532 earthquakes were detected, located, and rigorously assessed in a multistage automatic procedure utilizing state-of-the-art picking algorithms, waveform cross-correlation, and multi-event relocation. The obtained catalog provides new information on crustal seismicity and reveals the geometry and internal structure of the Pamir-Hindu Kush intermediate-depth seismic zone with improved detail and resolution. The relocated seismicity clearly defines at least two distinct planes: one beneath the Pamir and the other beneath the Hindu Kush, separated by a gap across which strike and dip directions change abruptly. The Pamir seismic zone forms a thin (approximately 10 km width), curviplanar arc that strikes east-west and dips south at its eastern end and then progressively turns by 90°to reach a north-south strike and a due eastward dip at its southwestern termination. Pamir deep seismicity outlines several streaks at depths between 70 and 240 km, with the deepest events occurring at its southwestern end. Intermediate-depth earthquakes are clearly separated from shallow crustal seismicity, which is confined to the uppermost 20-25 km. The Hindu Kush seismic zone extends from 40 to 250 km depth and generally strikes east-west, yet bends northeast, toward the Pamir, at its eastern end. It may be divided vertically into upper and lower parts separated by a gap at approximately 150 km depth. In the upper part, events form a plane that is 15-25 km thick in cross section and dips sub-vertically north to northwest. Seismic activity is more virile in the lower part, where several distinct clusters form a complex pattern of sub-parallel planes. The observed geometry could be reconciled either with a model of two-sided subduction of Eurasian and previously underthrusted Indian continental lithosphere or by a purely Eurasian origin of both Pamir and Hindu Kush seismic zones, which necessitates a contortion and oversteepening of the latter.

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“…Most previous works have focused on dating the Cenozoic sediments in foreland regions in front of Chinese North Tian Shan (CNTS), the Chinese portion of the KSTS and CSTS (Charreau et al, 2005Chen et al, 2002Chen et al, , 2007Heermance et al, 2007;Huang et al, 2006;Li et al, 2011;Sun et al, 2004Sun et al, , 2009 east to the Talas-Fergana Fault (TFF, defined here as boundary between the Tian Shan and WTS and between the Tarim and West Tarim blocks (e.g., Burov and Molnar, 1998;Sobel, 1999;Sobel et al, 2013)) ( Fig. 1), leaving the study of sedimentological records in the foreland regions of south WTS west to the TFF being rarely addressed.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%