@article{ThompsonBurbankLietal.2015, author = {Thompson, Jessica A. and Burbank, Douglas W. and Li, Tao and Chen, Jie and Bookhagen, Bodo}, title = {Late Miocene northward propagation of the northeast Pamir thrust system, northwest China}, series = {Tectonics}, volume = {34}, journal = {Tectonics}, number = {3}, publisher = {American Geophysical Union}, address = {Washington}, issn = {0278-7407}, doi = {10.1002/2014TC003690}, pages = {510 -- 534}, year = {2015}, abstract = {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.}, language = {en} } @article{ScherlerBookhagenWulfetal.2015, author = {Scherler, Dirk and Bookhagen, Bodo and Wulf, Hendrik and Preusser, Frank and Strecker, Manfred}, title = {Increased late Pleistocene erosion rates during fluvial aggradation in the Garhwal Himalaya, northern India}, series = {Earth \& planetary science letters}, volume = {428}, journal = {Earth \& planetary science letters}, publisher = {Elsevier}, address = {Amsterdam}, issn = {0012-821X}, doi = {10.1016/j.epsl.2015.06.034}, pages = {255 -- 266}, year = {2015}, abstract = {The response of surface processes to climatic forcing is fundamental for understanding the impacts of climate change on landscape evolution. In the Himalaya, most large rivers feature prominent fill terraces that record an imbalance between sediment supply and transport capacity, presumably due to past fluctuations in monsoon precipitation and/or effects of glaciation at high elevation. Here, we present volume estimates, chronological constraints, and Be-10-derived paleo-erosion rates from a prominent valley fill in the Yamuna catchment, Garhwal Himalaya, to elucidate the coupled response of rivers and hillslopes to Pleistocene climate change. Although precise age control is complicated due to methodological problems, the new data support formation of the valley fill during the late Pleistocene and its incision during the Holocene. We interpret this timing to indicate that changes in discharge and river-transport capacity were major controls. Compared to the present day, late Pleistocene hillslope erosion rates were higher by a factor of similar to 2-4, but appear to have decreased during valley aggradation. The higher late Pleistocene erosion rates are largely unrelated to glacial erosion and could be explained by enhanced sediment production on steep hillslopes due to increased periglacial activity that declined as temperatures increased. Alternatively, erosion rates that decrease during valley aggradation are also consistent with reduced landsliding from threshold hillslopes as a result of rising base levels. In that case, the similarity of paleo-erosion rates near the end of the aggradation period with modern erosion rates might imply that channels and hillslopes are not yet fully coupled everywhere and that present-day hillslope erosion rates may underrepresent long-term incision rates. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.}, language = {en} }