TY - JOUR A1 - Ibarra, Federico A1 - Liu, Sibiao A1 - Meeßen, Christian A1 - Prezzi, Claudia Beatriz A1 - Bott, Judith A1 - Scheck-Wenderoth, Magdalena A1 - Sobolev, Stephan Vladimir A1 - Strecker, Manfred T1 - 3D data-derived lithospheric structure of the Central Andes and its implications for deformation: Insights from gravity and geodynamic modelling JF - Tectonophysics : international journal of geotectonics and the geology and physics of the interior of the earth N2 - We present a new three-dimensional density model of the Central Andes characterizing the structure and composition of the lithosphere together with a geodynamic simulation subjected to continental intraplate shortening. The principal aim of this study is to assess the link between heterogeneities in the lithosphere and different deformation patterns and styles along the orogen-foreland system of the Central Andes. First, we performed a 3D integration of new geological and geophysical data with previous models through forward modelling of Bouguer anomalies. Subsequently, a geodynamic model was set-up and parametrized from the previously obtained 3D structure and composition. We do not find a unambigous correlation between the resulting density configuration and terrane boundaries proposed by other authors. Our models reproduce the observed Bouguer anomaly and deformation patterns in the foreland. We find that thin-skinned deformation in the Subandean fold-and thrust belt is controlled by a thick sedimentary layer and coeval underthrusting of thin crust of the foreland beneath the thick crust of the Andean Plateau. In the adjacent thick-skinned deformation province of the inverted Cretaceous extensional Santa Barbara System sedimentary strata are much thinner and crustal thickness transitions from greater values in the Andean to a more reduced thickness in the foreland. Our results show that deformation processes occur where the highest gradients of lithospheric strength are present between the orogen and the foreland, thus suggesting a spatial correlation between deformation and lithospheric strength. KW - Central Andes KW - Lithospheric structure KW - Gravity modelling KW - Geodynamic modelling KW - Deformation Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tecto.2019.06.025 SN - 0040-1951 SN - 1879-3266 VL - 766 SP - 453 EP - 468 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - THES A1 - Liu, Sibiao T1 - Controls of foreland-deformation patterns in the orogen-foreland shortening system N2 - The Andean Plateau (Altiplano-Puna Plateau) of the southern Central Andes is the second-highest orogenic plateau on our planet after Tibet. The Andean Plateau and its foreland exhibit a pronounced segmentation from north to south regarding the style and magnitude of deformation. In the Altiplano (northern segment), more than 300 km of tectonic shortening has been recorded, which started during the Eocene. A well-developed thin-skinned thrust wedge located at the eastern flank of the plateau (Subandes) indicates a simple-shear shortening mode. In contrast, the Puna (southern segment) records approximately half of the shortening of the Altiplano - and the shortening started later. The tectonic style in the Puna foreland switches to a thick-skinned mode, which is related to pure-shear shortening. In this study, carried out in the framework of the StRATEGy project, high-resolution 2D thermomechanical models were developed to systematically investigate controls of deformation patterns in the orogen-foreland pair. The 2D and 3D models were subsequently applied to study the evolution of foreland deformation and surface topography in the Altiplano-Puna Plateau. The models demonstrate that three principal factors control the foreland-deformation patterns: (i) strength differences in the upper lithosphere between the orogen and its foreland, rather than a strength difference in the entire lithosphere; (ii) gravitational potential energy of the orogen (GPE) controlled by crustal and lithospheric thicknesses, and (iii) the strength and thickness of foreland-basin sediments. The high-resolution 2D models are constrained by observations and successfully reproduce deformation structures and surface topography of different segments of the Altiplano-Puna plateau and its foreland. The developed 3D models confirm these results and suggest that a relatively high shortening rate in the Altiplano foreland (Subandean foreland fold-and-thrust belt) is due to simple-shear shortening facilitated by thick and mechanically weak sediments, a process which requires a much lower driving force than the pure-shear shortening deformation mode in the adjacent broken foreland of the Puna, where these thick sedimentary basin fills are absent. Lower shortening rate in the Puna foreland is likely accommodated in the forearc by the slab retreat. N2 - Das Andenplateau (Altiplano-Puna-Plateau) in den südlichen Zentralanden ist nach Tibet das zweithöchste orogene Plateau auf unserem Planeten. Dieses Plateau und sein Vorland weisen eine ausgeprägte Segmentierung von Nord nach Süd hinsichtlich Art und Ausmaß der Verformung auf. Im Altiplano (nördliches Segment) wird seit der im Eozän stattfindenden Deformation mehr als 300 km tektonische Verkürzung dokumentiert. Ein gut entwickelter sedimentärer Schubkeil bzw. Vorland-Überschiebungsgürtel (Subandin) an der Ostflanke des Plateaus (thin-skinned foreland deformation) deutet in dieser Region des Vorlandes auf Prozesse einfacher Scherung hin (simple-shear modus). Im Gegensatz dazu weist die Puna (südliches Plateausegment) ungefähr die Hälfte der Verkürzung des Altiplano auf - und die Verkürzung begann später. Außerdem geht der tektonische Stil im Puna-Vorland zu einem zerbrochenen Vorland mit Kristallinblöcken (thick-skinned foreland) über, der mit der Verkürzung durch reine Scherung (pure-shear modus) erklärt werden kann. In dieser Studie, die im Rahmen des StRATEGy-Projekts durchgeführt wurde, wurden hochauflösende thermomechanische 2D-Modelle entwickelt, um systematisch die Kontrolle von Verformungsmustern im Orogen-Vorland-Paar zu untersuchen. Die 2D- und 3D-Modelle wurden anschließend angewendet, um die Entwicklung der Vorlanddeformation und der Oberflächentopographie im Altiplano-Puna-Plateau zu verstehen. Die Modelle zeigen, dass drei Hauptfaktoren die Deformationsmuster des Vorlandes steuern: (i) Festigkeitsunterschiede in der oberen Lithosphäre zwischen dem Orogen und seinem Vorland - und nicht Festigkeitsunterschiede in der gesamten Lithosphäre; (ii) die gravitationsbezogene potentielle Energie des Orogens (GPE), die durch die Krusten- und Lithosphärenmächtigkeit gesteuert wird und (iii) die Festigkeit sowie Mächtigkeiten der Vorlandbeckensedimente. Die hochauflösenden 2D-Modelle sind auf tatsächliche Daten aus Beobachtungen beschränkt und reproduzieren erfolgreich Deformationsstrukturen sowie die topographischen Verhältnisse der verschiedenen Segmente des Altiplano-Puna-Plateaus und seines Vorlandes. Die entwickelten 3D-Modelle bestätigen diese Ergebnisse und legen nahe, dass die relativ hohe Verkürzungsrate im Altiplano-Vorland (Subandin) bei den vorhandenen mächtigen Sedimentabfolgen geringer mechanischer Festigkeit weniger Kraftaufwand erfordert als die Deformation des Puna-Vorlandes, wo diese Sedimente weitgehend fehlen. Die geringeren Verkürzungsbeträge im Puna-Vorland werden wahrscheinlich durch das Zurückweichen der Subduktionszone im Forearc-Bereich ausgeglichen. KW - geodynamics KW - numerical modeling KW - Central Andes KW - foreland deformation KW - geophysics KW - Geodynamik KW - numerische Modellierung KW - Zentralanden KW - Vorlanddeformation KW - Geophysik Y1 - 2020 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-445730 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Liu, Sibiao A1 - Sobolev, Stephan A1 - Babeyko, Andrey A1 - Pons, Michaël T1 - Controls of the foreland deformation pattern in the orogen-foreland shortening system BT - constraints from high-resolution geodynamic models JF - Tectonics N2 - Controls on the deformation pattern (shortening mode and tectonic style) of orogenic forelands during lithospheric shortening remain poorly understood. Here, we use high-resolution 2D thermomechanical models to demonstrate that orogenic crustal thickness and foreland lithospheric thickness significantly control the shortening mode in the foreland. Pure-shear shortening occurs when the orogenic crust is not thicker than the foreland crust or thick, but the foreland lithosphere is thin (<70-80 km, as in the Puna foreland case). Conversely, simple-shear shortening, characterized by foreland underthrusting beneath the orogen, arises when the orogenic crust is much thicker. This thickened crust results in high gravitational potential energy in the orogen, which triggers the migration of deformation to the foreland under further shortening. Our models present fully thick-skinned, fully thin-skinned, and intermediate tectonic styles in the foreland. The first tectonics forms in a pure-shear shortening mode whereas the others require a simple-shear mode and the presence of thick (>similar to 4 km) sediments that are mechanically weak (friction coefficient