@phdthesis{Patyniak2022,
  author    = {Patyniak, Magda},
  title     = {Seismotectonic segmentation, paleoearthquakes and style of deformation along the Northern Pamir thrust system, South Kyrgyzstan},
  doi       = {10.25932/publishup-57714},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-577141},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam},
  pages     = {xxii, 165},
  year      = {2022},
  abstract  = {The Pamir Frontal Thrust (PFT) located in the Trans Alai range in Central Asia is the principal active fault of the intracontinental India-Eurasia convergence zone and constitutes the northernmost boundary of the Pamir orogen at the NW edge of this collision zone. Frequent seismic activity and ongoing crustal shortening reflect the northward propagation of the Pamir into the intermontane Alai Valley. Quaternary deposits are being deformed and uplifted by the advancing thrust front of the Trans Alai range. The Alai Valley separates the Pamir range front from the Tien Shan mountains in the north; the Alai Valley is the vestige of a formerly contiguous basin that linked the Tadjik Depression in the west with the Tarim Basin in the east. GNSS measurements across the Central Pamir document a shortening rate of ~25 mm/yr, with a dramatic decrease of ~10-15 mm over a short distance across the northernmost Trans Alai range. This suggests that almost half of the shortening in the greater Pamir - Tien Shan collision zone is absorbed along the PFT. The short-term (geodetic) and long-term (geologic) shortening rates across the northern Pamir appear to be at odds with an apparent slip-rate discrepancy along the frontal fault system of the Pamir. Moreover, the present-day seismicity and historical records have not revealed great Mw > 7 earthquakes that might be expected with such a significant slip accommodation. In contrast, recent and historic earthquakes exhibit complex rupture patterns within and across seismotectonic segments bounding the Pamir mountain front, challenging our understanding of fault interaction and the seismogenic potential of this area, and leaving the relationships between seismicity and the geometry of the thrust front not well understood. In this dissertation I employ different approaches to assess the seismogenic behavior along the PFT. Firstly, I provide paleoseismic data from five trenches across the central PFT segment (cPFT) and compute a segment-wide earthquake chronology over the past 16 kyr. This novel dataset provides important insights into the recurrence, magnitude, and rupture extent of past earthquakes along the cPFT. I interpret five, possibly six paleoearthquakes that have ruptured the Pamir mountain front since ∼7 ka and 16 ka, respectively. My results indicate that at least three major earthquakes ruptured the full-segment length and possibly crossed segment boundaries with a recurrence interval of ∼1.9 kyr and potential magnitudes of up to Mw 7.4. Importantly, I did not find evidence for great (i.e., Mw ≥8) earthquakes. Secondly, I combine my paleoseimic results with morphometric analyses to establish a segment-wide distribution of the cumulative vertical separation along offset fluvial terraces and I model a long-term slip rate for the cPFT. My investigations reveal discrepancies between the extents of slip and rupture during apparent partial segment ruptures in the western half of the cPFT. Combined with significantly higher fault scarp offsets in this sector of the cPFT, the observations indicate a more mature fault section with a potential for future fault linkage. I estimate an average rate of horizontal motion for the cPFT of 4.1 ± 1.5 mm/yr during the past ∼5 kyr, which does not fully match the GNSS-derived present-day shortening rate of ∼10 mm/yr. This suggests a complex distribution of strain accumulation and potential slip partitioning between the cPFT and additional faults and folds within the Pamir that may be associated with a partially locked regional d{\´e}collement. The third part of the thesis provides new insights regarding the surface rupture of the 2008 Mw 6.6 Nura earthquake that ruptured along the eastern PFT sector. I explore this rupture in the context of its structural complexity by combining extensive field observations with high-resolution digital surface models. I provide a map of the rupture extent, net slip measurements, and updated regional geological observations. Based on this data I propose a tectonic model in this area associated with secondary flexural-slip faulting along steeply dipping bedding of folded Paleogene sedimentary strata that is related to deformation along a deeper blind thrust. Here, the strain release seems to be transferred from the PFT towards older inherited basement structures within the area of advanced Pamir-Tien Shan collision zone. The extensive research of my dissertation results in a paleoseismic database of the past 16 ~kyr, which contributes to the understanding of the seismogenic behavior of the PFT, but also to that of segmented thrust-fault systems in active collisional settings. My observations underscore the importance of combining different methodological approaches in the geosciences, especially in structurally complex tectonic settings like the northern Pamir. Discrepancy between GNSS-derived present-day deformation rates and those from different geological archives in the central part, as well as the widespread distribution of the deformation due to earthquake triggered strain transfer in the eastern part reveals the complexity of this collision zone and calls for future studies involving multi-temporal and interdisciplinary approaches.},
  language  = {en}
}