TY - THES A1 - Rembe, Johannes T1 - Hercynian to Eocimmerian evolution of the North Pamir in Central Asia T1 - Herzynische bis früh-kimmerische Entwicklung des Nordpamirs in Zentralasien N2 - The North Pamir, part of the India-Asia collision zone, essentially formed during the late Paleozoic to late Triassic–early Jurassic. Coeval to the subduction of the Turkestan ocean—during the Carboniferous Hercynian orogeny in the Tien Shan—a portion of the Paleo-Tethys ocean subducted northward and lead to the formation and obduction of a volcanic arc. This Carboniferous North Pamir arc is of Andean style in the western Darvaz segment and trends towards an intraoceanic arc in the eastern, Oytag segment. A suite of arc-volcanic rocks and intercalated, marine sediments together with intruded voluminous plagiogranites (trondhjemite and tonalite) and granodiorites was uplifted and eroded during the Permian, as demonstrated by widespread sedimentary unconformities. Today it constitutes a major portion of the North Pamir. In this work, the first comprehensive Uranium-Lead (U-Pb) laser-ablation inductively-coupled-plasma mass-spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) radiometric age data are presented along with geochemical data from the volcanic and plutonic rocks of the North Pamir volcanic arc. Zircon U-Pb data indicate a major intrusive phase between 340 and 320 Ma. The magmatic rocks show an arc-signature, with more primitive signatures in the Oytag segment compared to the Darvaz segment. Volcanic rocks in the Chinese North Pamir were indirectly dated by determining the age of ocean floor alteration. We investigate calcite filled vesicles and show that oxidative sea water and the basaltic host rock are major trace element sources. The age of ocean floor alteration, within a range of 25 Ma, constrains the extrusion age of the volcanic rocks. In the Chinese Pamir, arc-volcanic basalts have been dated to the Visean-Serpukhovian boundary. This relates the North Pamir volcanic arc to coeval units in the Tien Shan. Our findings further question the idea of a continuous Tarim-Tajik continent in the Paleozoic. From the Permian (Guadalupian) on, a progressive sea-retreat led to continental conditions in the northeastern Pamir. Large parts of Central Asia were affected by transcurrent tectonics, while subduction of the Paleo-Tethys went on south of the accreted North Pamir arc, likely forming an accretionary wedge, representing an early stage of the later Karakul-Mazar tectonic unit. Graben systems dissected the Permian carbonate platforms, that formed on top of the uplifted Carboniferous arc in the central and western North Pamir. A continental graben formed in the eastern North Pamir. Zircon U-Pb dating suggest initiation of volcanic activity at ~260 Ma. Extensional tectonics prevailed throughout the Triassic, forming the Hindukush-North Pamir rift system. New geochemistry and zircon U-Pb data tie volcanic rocks, found in the Chinese Pamir, to coeval arc-related plutonic rocks found within the Karakul-Mazar arc-accretionary complex. The sedimentary environment in the continental North Pamir rift evolved from an alluvial plain, lake dominated environment in the Guadalupian to a coarser-clastic, alluvial, braided river dominated in the Triassic. Volcanic activity terminated in the early Jurassic. We conducted Potassium-Argon (K-Ar) fine-fraction dating on the Shala Tala thrust fault, a major structure juxtaposing Paleozoic marine units of lower greenschist to amphibolite facies conditions against continental Permian deposits. Fault slip under epizonal conditions is dated to 204.8 ± 3.7 Ma (2σ), implying Rhaetian nappe emplacement. This pinpoints the Central–North Pamir collision, since the Shala Tala thrust was a back-thrust at that time. N2 - Der Nordpamir, ein Teil der Kollisionszone zwischen Indien und Asien, bildete sich im Wesentlichen zwischen dem oberen Paläozoikum und der Trias–Jura Grenze. Zeitgleich mit der Subduktion des Turkestan-Ozeans—während der herzynischen Orogenese im heutigen Tien-Shan-Gebirge—subduzierte ein Teil der Paläotethys. Dies führte im Verlauf des Karbons zur Bildung und im Perm zur Obduktion eines Vulkan- bzw. Inselbogens. Dieser karbonische Vulkanbogen des Nordpamirs kann in einen westlichen Teil mit andinem Aufbau (Darvaz-Segment) und einen intraozeanischen östlichen Teil (Oytag-Segment) eingeteilt werden. Eine Abfolge aus Vulkaniten und zwischengeschalteten, marinen Sedimenten, zusammen mit in diese Folge intrudierten Plagiograniten (Trondhjemit und Tonalit) sowie Granodioriten, wurde während des Perms gehoben und erodiert. Dies wird durch weit verbreitete Sedimentationslücken im Nord Pamir belegt. In dieser Arbeit werden erstmals umfassende Uran-Blei Isotopen (U-Pb) Altersdaten (basierend auf Laserablation mit induktiv gekoppeltem Plasma-Massenspektroskopie) und geochemische Daten der Vulkanite und Plutonite des karbonischen Vulkanbogens des Nordpamirs präsentiert. Die U-Pb Zirkonalter zeigen für die Plutonite eine Hauptintrusionsphase zwischen 340 Ma und 320 Ma. Sowohl die untersuchten Vulkanite als auch die Plutonite zeigen eine Inselbogensignatur. Dabei weisen die Magmatite des östlichen Oytag-Segmentes primitivere geochemische Eigenschaften als gleichalte Gesteine des Darvaz-Segmentes auf. Um das Alter der kaum datierten mafischen Vulkanite des Inselbogens genauer eingrenzen zu können, wurden während der Ozeanbodenmetamorphose gebildete Kalzite untersucht. Ausgehend von der Annahme, dass die in Hohlräumen der Basalte ausgebildeten Sekundärminerale in einem Zeitraum von etwa 25 Ma nach dem Austreten der Vulkanite entstehen, weisen diese auf ein viséisches bis serpukhovische Alter hin. Oxidatives Meerwasser und das basaltische Umgebungsgestein sind dabei Quellen der in den Kalziten eingebauten Spurenelemente. Die Untersuchungsergebnisse stellen eine geodynamische Beziehung des Vulkanbogens des Nordpamirs mit gleichalten Inselbogenkomplexen des Tien-Shan her. Des Weiteren stellen sie die Kontinuität kontinentaler Kruste zwischen Tarim und Karakum-Kraton im Paläozoikum in Frage. Ab dem Perm setzte ein fortschreitender Rückzug des Meeres in der Region ein. Dies führte zu Erosion und kontinentalen Ablagerungsbedingungen im nordöstlichen Pamir spätestens ab dem Guadalupium (oberes Mittelperm). Das tektonische Regime Zentralasiens wurde im Perm durch Transversalverschiebungen und damit einhergehender Transpressions- und Transtensionstektonik bestimmt. Gleichzeitig dauerte die Subduktion der Paleotethys in Richtung Norden an. Dabei bildete sich schon im Perm ein Akkretionskeil—ein frühes Stadium des kimmerisch geprägten Karakul-Mazar Komplexes. Während des Perms zerschnitten Grabenstrukturen Teile der Karbonatplattform im zentralen und westlichen Nordpamir und formten ein kontinentales Grabensystem im nordöstlichen Pamir. Neue U-Pb Altersuntersuchungen an Zirkonen zeigen ein Einsetzen vulkanischer Aktivität vor etwa 260 Ma. Dehnungstektonik war auch während der Trias vorherrschend. Infolgedessen entwickelte sich das Hindukusch-Nordpamir-Rift-System. Zirkon U-Pb Altersdaten und Gesamtgesteinsgeochemie der triassischen Vulkanite der Riftbeckenablagerungen im Chinesischen Nordpamir stellen einen engen Zusammenhang zu zeitgleich intrudierenden, triassischen Plutoniten des Karakul-Mazar Akkretionskeils her. Das Ablagerungsmilieu des untersuchten Abschnitts des kontinentalen Beckens war im Guadalupium durch Schwemmebenen und Seen bestimmt. Es entwickelte sich zu einem von gröber-klastischen Schwemmfächern dominierten Ablagerungsraum während der Trias. Die vulkanische Aktivität endete während des Trias-Jura Übergangs. Kalium-Argon (K-Ar) Altersdatierungen an Ton-Feinfraktionen einer großen Deckenüberschiebung (Shala-Tala-Überschiebung) belegen eine teilweise Schließung des nordöstlichen Hindukusch-Nordpamir-Riftbeckens in der ausgehenden Trias. Entlang der Shala-Tala-Überschiebung werden Paleozoische, marine Sedimentgesteine der unteren Grünschiefer- bis Amphibolitfazies gegen anchizonale, kontinentale Ablagerungen des Perms versetzt. Überschiebungsbewegungen unter epizonalen Bedingungen werden auf 204.8 ± 3.7 Ma (2σ) datiert. Dies gibt einen genauen Zeitmarker für die Kollision von Zentral und Nord Pamir, da sich ab diesem Zeitpunkt große Rücküberschiebungen bilden konnten. KW - geochronology KW - geochemistry KW - Pamir KW - Cimmerian orogeny KW - Hercynian orogeny KW - Central Asia KW - Zentralasien KW - kimmerische Orogenese KW - herzynische Orogenese KW - Pamir KW - Geochemie KW - Geochronologie Y1 - 2023 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-597510 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Thompson, Jessica A. A1 - Chen, Jie A1 - Yang, Huili A1 - Li, Tao A1 - Bookhagen, Bodo A1 - Burbank, Douglas T1 - Coarse- versus fine-grain quartz OSL and cosmogenic Be-10 dating of deformed fluvial terraces on the northeast Pamir margin, northwest China JF - Quaternary geochronology : the international research and review journal on advances in quaternary dating techniques N2 - Along the NE Pamir margin, flights of late Quaternary fluvial terraces span actively deforming fault-related folds. We present detailed results on two terraces dated using optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) and cosmogenic radionuclide Be-10 (CRN) techniques. Quartz OSL dating of two different grain sizes (4-11 mu m and 90-180 mu m) revealed the fine-grain quartz fraction may overestimate the terrace ages by up to a factor of ten. Two-mm, small-aliquot, coarse-grain quartz OSL ages, calculated using the minimum age model, yielded stratigraphically consistent ages within error and dated times of terrace deposition to similar to 9 and similar to 16 ka. We speculate that, in this arid environment, fine-grain samples can be transported and deposited in single, turbid, and (sometimes) night-time floods that prevent thorough bleaching and, thereby, can lead to relatively large residual OSL signals. In contrast, sand in the fluvial system is likely to have a much longer residence time during transport, thereby providing greater opportunities for thorough bleaching. CRN Be-10 depth profiles date the timing of terrace abandonment to similar to 8 and similar to 14 ka: ages that generally agree with the coarse-grain quartz OSL ages. Our new terrace age of similar to 13-14 ka is broadly consistent with other terraces in the region that indicate terrace deposition and subsequent abandonment occurred primarily during glacial-interglacial transitions, thereby suggesting a climatic control on the formation of these terraces on the margins of the Tarim Basin. Furthermore, tectonic shortening rates calculated from these deformed terraces range from similar to 1.2 to similar to 4.6 mm/a and, when combined with shortening rates from other structures in the region, illuminate the late Quaternary basinward migration of deformation to faults and folds along the Pamir-Tian Shan collisional interface. KW - Tectonic geomorphology KW - Deformation KW - Quaternary terraces KW - Pamir KW - Tian shan Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quageo.2018.01.002 SN - 1871-1014 SN - 1878-0350 VL - 46 SP - 1 EP - 15 PB - Elsevier CY - Oxford ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Blayney, Tamsin A1 - Dupont-Nivet, Guillaume A1 - Najman, Yani A1 - Proust, Jean-Noel A1 - Meijer, Niels A1 - Roperch, Pierrick A1 - Sobel, Edward A1 - Millar, Ian A1 - Guo, Zhaojie T1 - Tectonic Evolution of the Pamir Recorded in the Western Tarim Basin (China) BT - Sedimentologic and Magnetostratigraphic Analyses of the Aertashi Section JF - Tectonics N2 - The northward indentation of the Pamir salient into the Tarim basin at the western syntaxis of the India-Asia collision zone is the focus of controversial models linking lithospheric to surface and atmospheric processes. Here we report on tectonic events recorded in the most complete and best-dated sedimentary sequences from the western Tarim basin flanking the eastern Pamir (the Aertashi section), based on sedimentologic, provenance, and magnetostratigraphic analyses. Increased tectonic subsidence and a shift from marine to continental fluvio-deltaic deposition at 41Ma indicate that far-field deformation from the south started to affect the Tarim region. A sediment accumulation hiatus from 24.3 to 21.6Ma followed by deposition of proximal conglomerates is linked to fault propagation into the Tarim basin. From 21.6 to 15.0Ma, increasing accumulation rates of fining upward clastics is interpreted as the expression of a major dextral transtensional system linking the Kunlun to the Tian Shan ahead of the northward Pamir indentation. At 15.0Ma, the appearance of North Pamir-sourced conglomerates followed at 11Ma by Central Pamir-sourced volcanics coincides with a shift to E-W compression, clockwise vertical-axis rotations and the onset of growth strata associated with the activation of the local east vergent Qimugen thrust wedge. Together, this enables us to interpret that Pamir indentation into Tarim had started by 24.3Ma, reached the study location by 15.0Ma and had passed it by 11Ma, providing kinematic constraints on proposed tectonic models involving intracontinental subduction and delamination. KW - India-Asia collision KW - Tarim basin KW - Pamir KW - Cenozoic KW - paleomagnetism KW - sedimentology Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1029/2018TC005146 SN - 0278-7407 SN - 1944-9194 VL - 38 IS - 2 SP - 492 EP - 515 PB - American Geophysical Union CY - Washington ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kaya, Mustafa Yücel A1 - Dupont-Nivet, Guillaume A1 - Proust, Jean‐Noël A1 - Roperch, Pierrick A1 - Bougeois, Laurie A1 - Meijer, Niels A1 - Frieling, Joost A1 - Fioroni, Chiara A1 - Altiner, Sevinç Özkan A1 - Vardar, Ezgi A1 - Barbolini, Natasha A1 - Stoica, Marius A1 - Aminov, Jovid A1 - Mamtimin, Mehmut A1 - Zhaojie, Guo T1 - Paleogene evolution and demise of the proto-Paratethys Sea in Central Asia (Tarim and Tajik basins) BT - Role of intensified tectonic activity at ca. 41 Ma JF - Basin research N2 - The proto-Paratethys Sea covered a vast area extending from the Mediterranean Tethys to the Tarim Basin in western China during Cretaceous and early Paleogene. Climate modelling and proxy studies suggest that Asian aridification has been governed by westerly moisture modulated by fluctuations of the proto-Paratethys Sea. Transgressive and regressive episodes of the proto-Paratethys Sea have been previously recognized but their timing, extent and depositional environments remain poorly constrained. This hampers understanding of their driving mechanisms (tectonic and/or eustatic) and their contribution to Asian aridification. Here, we present a new chronostratigraphic framework based on biostratigraphy and magnetostratigraphy as well as a detailed palaeoenvironmental analysis for the Paleogene proto-Paratethys Sea incursions in the Tajik and Tarim basins. This enables us to identify the major drivers of marine fluctuations and their potential consequences on Asian aridification. A major regional restriction event, marked by the exceptionally thick (<= 400 m) shelf evaporites is assigned a Danian-Selandian age (ca. 63-59 Ma) in the Aertashi Formation. This is followed by the largest recorded proto-Paratethys Sea incursion with a transgression estimated as early Thanetian (ca. 59-57 Ma) and a regression within the Ypresian (ca. 53-52 Ma), both within the Qimugen Formation. The transgression of the next incursion in the Kalatar and Wulagen formations is now constrained as early Lutetian (ca. 47-46 Ma), whereas its regression in the Bashibulake Formation is constrained as late Lutetian (ca. 41 Ma) and is associated with a drastic increase in both tectonic subsidence and basin infilling. The age of the final and least pronounced sea incursion restricted to the westernmost margin of the Tarim Basin is assigned as Bartonian-Priabonian (ca. 39.7-36.7 Ma). We interpret the long-term westward retreat of the proto-Paratethys Sea starting at ca. 41 Ma to be associated with far-field tectonic effects of the Indo-Asia collision and Pamir/Tibetan plateau uplift. Short-term eustatic sea level transgressions are superimposed on this long-term regression and seem coeval with the transgression events in the other northern Peri-Tethyan sedimentary provinces for the 1st and 2nd sea incursions. However, the 3rd sea incursion is interpreted as related to tectonism. The transgressive and regressive intervals of the proto-Paratethys Sea correlate well with the reported humid and arid phases, respectively in the Qaidam and Xining basins, thus demonstrating the role of the proto-Paratethys Sea as an important moisture source for the Asian interior and its regression as a contributor to Asian aridification. KW - aridification KW - Asia KW - biostratigraphy KW - climate KW - magnetostratigraphy KW - microfossil KW - Paleogene KW - Pamir KW - proto-Paratethys KW - regression KW - Tajik Basin KW - Tarim Basin KW - tectonism KW - westerlies Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1111/bre.12330 SN - 0950-091X SN - 1365-2117 VL - 31 IS - 3 SP - 461 EP - 486 PB - Wiley CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Thompson, Jessica A. A1 - Burbank, Douglas W. A1 - Li, Tao A1 - Chen, Jie A1 - Bookhagen, Bodo T1 - Late Miocene northward propagation of the northeast Pamir thrust system, northwest China JF - Tectonics N2 - Piggyback basins on the margins of growing orogens commonly serve as sensitive recorders of the onset of thrust deformation and changes in source areas. The Bieertuokuoyi piggyback basin, located in the hanging wall of the Pamir Frontal Thrust, provides an unambiguous record of the outward growth of the northeast Pamir margin in northwest China from the Miocene through the Quaternary. To reconstruct the deformation along the margin, we synthesized structural mapping, stratigraphy, magnetostratigraphy, and cosmogenic burial dating of basin fill and growth strata. The Bieertuokuoyi basin records the initiation of the Pamir Frontal Thrust and the Takegai Thrust similar to 5-6Ma, as well as clast provenance and paleocurrent changes resulting from the Pliocene-to-Recent uplift and exhumation of the Pamir to the south. Our results show that coeval deformation was accommodated on the major structures on the northeast Pamir margin throughout the Miocene to Recent. Furthermore, our data support a change in the regional kinematics around the Miocene-Pliocene boundary (similar to 5-6Ma). Rapid exhumation of NE Pamir extensional domes, coupled with cessation of the Kashgar-Yecheng Transfer System on the eastern margin of the Pamir, accelerated the outward propagation of the northeastern Pamir margin and the southward propagation of the Kashi-Atushi fold-and-thrust belt in the southern Tian Shan. This coeval deformation signifies the coupling of the Pamir and Tarim blocks and the transfer of shortening north to the Pamir frontal faults and across the quasi-rigid Tarim Basin to the southern Tian Shan Kashi-Atushi fold-and-thrust system. KW - Pamir KW - thrust tectonics KW - piggyback basin KW - growth strata KW - landscape evolution KW - cosmogenic burial dating Y1 - 2015 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/2014TC003690 SN - 0278-7407 SN - 1944-9194 VL - 34 IS - 3 SP - 510 EP - 534 PB - American Geophysical Union CY - Washington ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Yang, Wei A1 - Dupont-Nivet, Guillaume A1 - Jolivet, Marc A1 - Guo, Zhaojie A1 - Bougeois, Laurie A1 - Bosboom, Roderic A1 - Zhang, Ziya A1 - Zhu, Bei A1 - Heilbronn, Gloria T1 - Magnetostratigraphic record of the early evolution of the southwestern Tian Shan foreland basin (Ulugqat area), interactions with Pamir indentation and India-Asia collision JF - Tectonophysics : international journal of geotectonics and the geology and physics of the interior of the earth N2 - The Tian Shan range is an inherited intracontinental structure reactivated by the far-field effects of the India-Asia collision. A growing body of thermochronology and magnetostratigraphy datasets shows that the range grew through several tectonic pulses since similar to 25 Ma, however the early Cenozoic history remains poorly constrained. The time-lag between the Eocene India-Asia collision and the Miocene onset of Tian Shan exhumation is particularly enigmatic. This peculiar period is potentially recorded along the southwestern Tian Shan piedmont. There, late Eocene marine deposits of the proto-Paratethys epicontinental sea transition to continental foreland basin sediments of unknown age were recently dated. We provide magnetostratigraphic dating of these continental sediments from the 1700-m-thick Mine section integrated with previously published detrital apatite fission track and U/Pb zircon ages. The most likely correlation to the geomagnetic polarity time scale indicates an age span from 20.8 to 13.3 Ma with a marked increase in accumulation rates at 19-18 Ma. This implies that the entire Oligocene period is missing between the last marine and first continental sediments, as suggested by previous southwestern Tian Shan results. This differs from the southwestern Tarim basin where Eocene marine deposits are continuously overlain by late Eocene-Oligocene continental sediments. This supports a simple evolution model of the western Tarim basin with Eocene-Oligocene foreland basin activation to the south related to northward thrusting of the Kunlun Shan, followed by early Miocene activation of northern foreland basin related to overthrusting of the south Tian Shan. Our data also support southward propagation of the Tian Shan piedmont from 20 to 18 Ma that may relate to motion on the Talas Fergana Fault. The coeval activation of a major right-lateral strike-slip system allowing indentation of the Pamir Salient into the Tarim basin, suggests far-field deformation from the India-Asia collision zone affected the Tian Shan and the Talas Fergana fault by early Miocene. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. KW - Magnetostratigraphy KW - Cenozoic KW - Tian Shan KW - Pamir KW - Tarim Basin KW - Tectonics Y1 - 2015 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tecto.2015.01.003 SN - 0040-1951 SN - 1879-3266 VL - 644 SP - 122 EP - 137 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Schoenbohm, Lindsay M. A1 - Chen, Jie A1 - Stutz, Jamey A1 - Sobel, Edward A1 - Thiede, Rasmus Christoph A1 - Kirby, Benjamin A1 - Strecker, Manfred T1 - Glacial morphology in the Chinese Pamir: Connections among climate, erosion, topography, lithology and exhumation JF - Geomorphology : an international journal on pure and applied geomorphology N2 - Modification of the landscape by glacial erosion reflects the dynamic interplay of climate through temperature, precipitation, and prevailing wind direction, and tectonics through rock uplift and exhumation rate, lithology, and range and fault geometry. We investigate these relationships in the northeast Pamir Mountains using mapping and dating of moraines and terraces to determine the glacial history. We analyze modem glacial morphology to determine glacier area, spacing, headwall relief, debris cover, and equilibrium line altitude (ELA) using the area x altitude balance ratio (AABR), toe-to-headwall altitude ratio (THAR) and toe-to-summit altitude method (TSAM) for 156 glaciers and compare this to lithologic, tectonic, and climatic data We observe a pronounced asymmetry in glacial ELA, area, debris cover, and headwall relief that we interpret to reflect both structural and climatic control: glaciers on the downwind (eastern) side of the range are larger, more debris covered, have steeper headwalls, and tend to erode headward, truncating the smaller glaciers of the upwind, fault-controlled side of the range. We explain this by the transfer of moisture deep into the range as wind-blown or avalanched snow and by limitations imposed on glacial area on the upwind side of the range by the geometry of the Kongur extensional system (KES). The correspondence between rapid exhumation along the KES and maxima in glacier debris cover and headwall relief and minimums in all measures of ELA suggest that taller glacier headwalls develop in a response to more rapid exhumation rates. However, we find that glaciers in the Muji valley did not extend beyond the range front until at least 43 ka, in contrast to extensive glaciation since 300 ka in the south around the high peaks, a pattern which does not clearly reflect uplift rate. Instead, the difference in glacial history and the presence of large peaks (Muztagh Ata and Kongur Shan) with flanking glaciers likely reflects lithologic control (i.e., the location of crustal gneiss domes) and the formation of peaks that rise above the ELA and escape the glacial buzzsaw. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. KW - Pamir KW - ELA KW - Cosmogenic nuclides KW - Glaciation KW - Glacial buzzsaw KW - Tectonic-climate coupling Y1 - 2014 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2014.05.023 SN - 0169-555X SN - 1872-695X VL - 221 SP - 1 EP - 17 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Sobel, Edward A1 - Schoenbohm, Lindsay M. A1 - Chen, Jie A1 - Thiede, Rasmus Christoph A1 - Stockli, Daniel F. A1 - Sudo, Masafumi A1 - Strecker, Manfred T1 - Late Miocene-Pliocene deceleration of dextral slip between Pamir and Tarim: Implications for Pamir orogenesis JF - EARTH AND PLANETARY SCIENCE LETTERS N2 - The timing of the late Cenozoic collision between the Pamir salient and the Tien Shan as well as changes in the relative motion between the Pamir and Tarim are poorly constrained. The northern margin of the Pamir salient indented northward by similar to 300 km during the late Cenozoic, accommodated by south-dipping intracontinental subduction along the Main Pamir Thrust (MPT) coupled to strike-slip faults on the eastern flank of the orogen and both strike-slip and thrust faults on the western margin. The Kashgar-Yecheng transfer system (KYTS) is the main dextral slip shear zone separating Tarim from the Eastern Pamir, with an estimated cumulative offset of similar to 280 km at an average late Cenozoic dextral slip rate of 11-15 mm/a (Cowgill, 2010). In order to better constrain the slip history of the KYTS, we collected thermochronologic samples along the eastward-flowing, deeply incised, antecedent Tashkorgan-Yarkand River, which crosses the fault system on the eastern flank of the orogen. We present 29 new biotite (40)Ar/(39)Ar ages, apatite and zircon (U-Th-Sm)/He ages, and apatite fission track (AFT) analysis, combined with published muscovite and biotite (40)Ar/(39)Ar and AFT data, to create a unique thermochronologic dataset in this poorly studied and remote region. We constrain the timing of four major N-trending faults: the latter three are strands of the KYTS. The westernmost, the Kuke fault, experienced significant dip-slip, west-side-up displacement between > 12 and 6 Ma. To the east, within the KYTS, our new thermochronologic data and geomorphic observations suggest that the Kumtag and Kusilaf dextral slip faults have been inactive since at least 3-5 Ma. Long-term incision rates across the Aertashi dextral slip fault, the easternmost strand of the KYTS, are compatible with slow horizontal slip rates of 1.7-5.3 mm/a over the past 3 to 5 Ma. In summary, these data show that the slip rate of the KYTS decreased substantially during the late Miocene or Pliocene. Furthermore, Miocene-present regional kinematic reconstructions suggest that this deceleration reflects the substantial increase of northward motion of Tarim rather than a significant decrease of the northward velocity of the Pamir. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. KW - thermochronology KW - neotectonics KW - Pamir KW - Tien Shan KW - strike-slip fault KW - intracontinental subduction Y1 - 2011 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2011.02.012 SN - 0012-821X VL - 304 IS - 3-4 SP - 369 EP - 378 PB - ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV CY - AMSTERDAM ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Sobel, Edward A1 - Chen, Jie A1 - Schoenbohm, Lindsay M. A1 - Thiede, Rasmus Christoph A1 - Stockli, Daniel F. A1 - Sudo, Masafumi A1 - Strecker, Manfred T1 - Oceanic-style subduction controls late Cenozoic deformation of the Northern Pamir orogen JF - Earth & planetary science letters N2 - The northern part of the Pamir orogen is the preeminent example of an active intracontinental subduction zone in the early stages of continent-continent collision. Such zones are the least understood type of plate boundaries because modern examples are few and of limited access, and ancient analogs have been extensively overprinted by subsequent tectonic and erosion processes. In the Pamir, it has been assumed that most of the plate convergence was accommodated by overthrusting along the plate-bounding Main Pamir Thrust (MPT), which forms the principal northern mountain and deformation front of the Pamir. However, the synopsis of our new and previously published thermochronologic data from this region shows that the hanging wall of the MPT experienced relatively minor amounts of late Cenozoic exhumation. The Pamir orogen as a whole is an integral part of the overriding plate in a subduction system, while the remnant basin to the north constitutes the downgoing plate, with the bulk of the convergence accommodated by underthrusting. Herein, we demonstrate that the observed deformation of the upper and lower plates within the Pamir-Alai convergence zone resembles highly arcuate oceanic subduction systems characterized by slab rollback, subduction erosion, subduction accretion, and marginal slab-tear faults. We suggest that the curvature of the North Pamir is genetically linked to the short width and rollback of the south-dipping Alai slab; northward motion (indentation) of the Pamir is accommodated by crustal processes related to this rollback. The onset of south-dipping subduction is tentatively linked to intense Pamir contraction following break-off of the north-dipping Indian slab beneath the Karakoram. KW - subduction accretion KW - subduction erosion KW - exhumation KW - thermochronology KW - intracontinental deformation KW - Pamir Y1 - 2013 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2012.12.009 SN - 0012-821X VL - 363 IS - 1 SP - 204 EP - 218 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Thiede, Rasmus Christoph A1 - Sobel, Edward A1 - Chen, Jie A1 - Schoenbohm, Lindsay M. A1 - Stockli, Daniel F. A1 - Sudo, Masafumi A1 - Strecker, Manfred T1 - Late Cenozoic extension and crustal doming in the India-Eurasia collision zone new thermochronologic constraints from the NE Chinese Pamir JF - Tectonics N2 - The northward motion of the Pamir indenter with respect to Eurasia has resulted in coeval thrusting, strike-slip faulting, and normal faulting. The eastern Pamir is currently deformed by east-west oriented extension, accompanied by uplift and exhumation of the Kongur Shan (7719m) and Muztagh Ata (7546m) gneiss domes. Both domes are an integral part of the footwall of the Kongur Shan extensional fault system (KES), a 250 km long, north-south oriented graben. Why active normal faulting within the Pamir is primarily localized along the KES and not distributed more widely throughout the orogen has remained unclear. In addition, relatively little is known about how deformation has evolved throughout the Cenozoic, despite refined estimates on present-day crustal deformation rates and microseismicity, which indicate where crustal deformation is presently being accommodated. To better constrain the spatiotemporal evolution of faulting along the KES, we present 39 new apatite fission track, zircon U-Th-Sm/He, and Ar-40/Ar-39 cooling ages from a series of footwall transects along the KES graben shoulder. Combining these data with present-day topographic relief, 1-D thermokinematic and exhumational modeling documents successive stages, rather than synchronous deformation and gneiss dome exhumation. While the exhumation of the Kongur Shan commenced during the late Miocene, extensional processes in the Muztagh Ata massif began earlier and have slowed down since the late Miocene. We present a new model of synorogenic extension suggesting that thermal and density effects associated with a lithospheric tear fault along the eastern margin of the subducting Alai slab localize extensional upper plate deformation along the KES and decouple crustal motion between the central/western Pamir and eastern Pamir/Tarim basin. KW - Pamir KW - gneiss domes KW - collision KW - extension KW - thermochronology KW - exhumation Y1 - 2013 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/tect.20050 SN - 0278-7407 VL - 32 IS - 3 SP - 763 EP - 779 PB - American Geophysical Union CY - Washington ER - TY - THES A1 - Schröder, Sarah T1 - Modelling surface evolution coupled with tectonics T1 - Modellierung von Oberflächenprozessen gekoppelt mit Tektonik BT - A case study for the Pamir BT - Eine Fallstudie zum Pamir N2 - This study presents the development of 1D and 2D Surface Evolution Codes (SECs) and their coupling to any lithospheric-scale (thermo-)mechanical code with a quadrilateral structured surface mesh. Both SECs involve diffusion as approach for hillslope processes and the stream power law to reflect riverbed incision. The 1D SEC settles sediment that was produced by fluvial incision in the appropriate minimum, while the supply-limited 2D SEC DANSER uses a fast filling algorithm to model sedimantation. It is based on a cellular automaton. A slope-dependent factor in the sediment flux extends the diffusion equation to nonlinear diffusion. The discharge accumulation is achieved with the D8-algorithm and an improved drainage accumulation routine. Lateral incision enhances the incision's modelling. Following empirical laws, it incises channels of several cells width. The coupling method enables different temporal and spatial resolutions of the SEC and the thermo-mechanical code. It transfers vertical as well as horizontal displacements to the surface model. A weighted smoothing of the 3D surface displacements is implemented. The smoothed displacement vectors transmit the deformation by bilinear interpolation to the surface model. These interpolation methods ensure mass conservation in both directions and prevent the two surfaces from drifting apart. The presented applications refer to the evolution of the Pamir orogen. A calibration of DANSER's parameters with geomorphological data and a DEM as initial topography highlights the advantage of lateral incision. Preserving the channel width and reflecting incision peaks in narrow channels, this closes the huge gap between current orogen-scale incision models and observed topographies. River capturing models in a system of fault-bounded block rotations reaffirm the importance of the lateral incision routine for capturing events with channel initiation. The models show a low probability of river capturings with large deflection angles. While the probability of river capturing is directly depending on the uplift rate, the erodibility inside of a dip-slip fault speeds up headward erosion along the fault: The model's capturing speed increases within a fault. Coupling DANSER with the thermo-mechanical code SLIM 3D emphasizes the versatility of the SEC. While DANSER has minor influence on the lithospheric evolution of an indenter model, the brittle surface deformation is strongly affected by its sedimentation, widening a basin in between two forming orogens and also the southern part of the southern orogen to south, east and west. N2 - Im Rahmen dieser Studie werden 1D und 2D Erosionsmodelle im Gebirgsmaßstab implementiert und mit Modellen für tektonische Deformation gekoppelt. Die Kopplungsmethode erlaubt unterschiedlich räumliche und zeitliche Auflösungen im tektonischen und im Erosionsmodell. Es werden sowohl vertikale als auch horizontale Bewegungen zwischen den Modellen transferiert. Darüber hinaus enthält die Kopplungsmethode ein Glättungsverfahren, um eventuelle Instabilitäten des tektonischen Modelles zu kompensieren. Beide Erosionsmodelle beziehen Hangerosion, Flusseinschneidung und Sedimentation ein. Der 1D Code nutzt Hack's Law, um die Wassermengen zu berechnen. Er garantiert Massenerhaltung, indem er Sedimente in Senken speichert. Das 2D Erosionsmodell DANSER basiert auf einem zellulären Automaten. Ein zusätzlicher steigungsabhängiger Faktor erweitert lineare zu nichtlinearer Diffusion. Wassermengen werden mit Hilfe des D8-Algorithmus und einer veränderten Form von O'Callaghans (1984) Algorithmus akkumuliert. Laterale Einschneidung, berechnet durch einen neuen Verteilungs-Algorithmus, verbessert die Modellierung von Flusssystemen. Flüsse sind dabei repräsentiert durch eine unterschiedliche Anzahl an Zellen orthogonal zur Fließrichtung. Ihre Breite wird nach empirischen Gesetzen ermittelt. Die präsentierten Anwendungen dienen der Studie des Pamirgebirges. Zunächst werden die Modellparameter anhand von Einschneidungs- und Erosionsraten sowie Sedimentdurchflüssen kalibriert. Ein digitales Höhenmodell dient als Anfangstopographie und zur Extraktion von Flussprofilen. Laterale Einschneidung zeigt eine deutliche Verbesserung zu bisher vorhandenen Modellen. Sie ermöglicht die Erhaltung der Flussbreite und zeigt hohe Einschneidungsraten in engen Flusspassagen. Modelle von Flussanzapfungen in einem System paralleler Verwerfungen bestätigen die Wichtigkeit von lateraler Einschneidung für Flussanzapfungsmodelle, die Hangerosion einbeziehen. Während die Modelle eine geringe Wahrscheinlichkeit von Flussanzapfungen mit hohem Ablenkungswinkel zeigen, belegen sie auch, dass deren (allgemeine) Wahrscheinlichkeit direkt von der Hebungsrate der Verwerfungen abhängt. Die Erodibilität beschleunigt lediglich die Geschwindigkeit von Flussanzapfungen. Ein Modell, das die Codes SLIM 3D und DANSER koppelt, dokumentiert die vielseitige Verwendbarkeit des neuen Codes: Es zeigt einen geringen Einfluss von Oberflächenprozessen auf die Lithosphärendeformation, während die Sedimentationsroutine erheblich auf spröde Oberflächendeformationen einwirkt. Das Modell legt nahe, dass Sedimentation ein zwischen zwei entstehenden Gebirgen gelegenes Becken weitet. Außerdem weitet sich der südlich von der interkontinentalen Kollisionszone gelegene Teil des Gebirge-Models ebenfalls durch Sedimentation. KW - erosion KW - coupling KW - SEC KW - surface evolution KW - thermo-mechanics KW - surface processes KW - DANSER KW - Pamir KW - Tien-Shan KW - Tian-Shan KW - tectonics KW - modelling KW - modeling KW - numerical model KW - simulation KW - surface KW - fluvial incision KW - hillslope diffusion KW - finite differences KW - finite elements KW - Eulerian grid KW - DANSER KW - DANSER KW - Erosion KW - Modellierung KW - Tektonik KW - Koppelung KW - SEC KW - numerische Modellierung KW - Oberflächenprozesse KW - Pamir KW - Tien-Shan KW - Tian-Shan KW - Tiefendeformation KW - Software KW - Simulation KW - Oberfläche KW - fluviale Einschneidung KW - Hangerosion KW - finite Differenzen KW - finite Elemente KW - Eulerische Gitter Y1 - 2015 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-90385 ER -