Record Details

Millennial slip rates of the Tazang fault, the eastern termination of Kunlun fault: implications for strain partitioning in eastern Tibet

ScholarsArchive at Oregon State University

Field Value
Title Millennial slip rates of the Tazang fault, the eastern termination of Kunlun fault: implications for strain partitioning in eastern Tibet
Names Ren, Junjie (creator)
Xu, Xiwei (creator)
Yeats, Robert S. (creator)
Zhang, Shimin (creator)
Date Issued 2013-11 (iso8601)
Note This is an author's peer-reviewed final manuscript, as accepted by the publisher. The published article is copyrighted by Elsevier and can be found at: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/tectonophysics/.
Abstract The way of slip transformation and strain partitioning at the eastern termination of the Kunlun
fault system remains unclear, and the question of whether this fault system is an important part for
lateral extrusion of Tibetan crust is debatable. The Tazang fault is regarded as the easternmost
continuation of the Kunlun fault system, and its late Quaternary activity is unknown. In this paper,
we use displaced geomorphic features combined with radiocarbon and optically stimulated
luminescence (OSL) dating to determine millennial slip rates along the Tazang fault. Our data yield
a 1.4-3.2 mm/yr left-slip rate on the western Tazang fault, similar to that on the Maqu segment of the
Kunlun fault. Tectonic geomorphology propose that displacement on the Kunlun fault is probably
transferred to the Tazang fault via a pull-apart basin. The eastern Tazang fault has a dominant
reverse motion that decreases eastward from ~1.5 mm/yr to 0.2-0.3 mm/yr at the easternmost part.
Displaced terraces indicates that the eastern strand of the northern Longriba fault is active in the
Holocene and has a ~0.8 mm/yr right-lateral slip rate with a ~0.3 mm/yr reverse component.
Millennial slip rates and geodetic results show that the decrease of left-lateral motion along the
Tazang fault is mainly transformed into crustal shortening along the nearly N-S-trending Longriba,
Minjiang, and Huya faults, probably resulting in uplift of the Min Shan. Our results also indicate
that the deformation along the Tazang fault is not transferred to beyond the border of the plateau,
and the Kunlun fault is not an important tectonics for Tibetan extrusion.
Genre Article
Topic Tazang fault
Identifier Ren, J., Xu, X., Yeats, R. S., & Zhang, S. (2013). Millennial slip rates of the Tazang fault, the eastern termination of Kunlun fault: Implications for strain partitioning in eastern Tibet. Tectonophysics, 608, 1180-1200. doi:10.1016/j.tecto.2013.06.026

© Western Waters Digital Library - GWLA member projects - Designed by the J. Willard Marriott Library - Hosted by Oregon State University Libraries and Press