International audienc

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Typical quasistatic compression algorithms for generating jammed packings of purely repulsive, frictionless particles begin with dilute configurations and then apply successive compressions with the relaxation of the elastic energy allowed between each compression step. It is well known that during isotropic compression these systems undergo a first-order-like jamming transition at packing fraction φ(J) from an unjammed state with zero pressure and no force-bearing contacts to a jammed, rigid state with nonzero pressure, a percolating network of force-bearing contacts, and contact number z=2d, where d is the spatial dimension. Using computer simulations of two-dimensional systems with monodisperse and bidisperse particle size distributions, we investigate the second-order-like contact percolation transition, which precedes the jamming transition with φ(P)<φ(J) and signals the formation of a system-spanning cluster of non-force-bearing contacts between particles. By measuring the number of nonfloppy modes of the dynamical matrix, the displacement field between successive compression steps, and the overlap between the adjacency matrix, which represents the network of contacting grains, at φ and φ(J), we find that the contact percolation transition also signals the onset of a nontrivial mechanical response to applied stress. Our results show that cooperative particle motion occurs in unjammed systems significantly below the jamming transition for φ(P)<φ<φ(J), not only for jammed systems with φ>φ(J).

The pattern and timing of deformation in southeast Tibet resulting from the early stages of the India-Asia collision are crucial factors to understand the growth of the Tibetan Plateau, but they remain poorly constrained. Detailed field mapping, structural analysis, and geochronological and thermochronological data along a 120 km section of the Ludian-Zhonghejiang fold-and-thrust belt bounding the Jianchuan basin in western Yunnan, China, document the early Cenozoic tectonic evolution of the conjunction between the Lanping-Simao and South China blocks. The study area is cut by two major southwest-dipping brittle faults, named the Ludian-Zhonghejiang fault and the Tongdian fault from east to west. Numerous kinematic indicators and the juxtaposition of Triassic metasedimentary rocks on top of Paleocene strata indicate thrusting along the Ludian-Zhonghejiang fault. Similarly, structural analysis shows that the Tongdian fault is a reverse fault. Between these structures, fault-bounded Permian−Triassic and Paleocene rocks are strongly deformed by nearly vertical and upright southwest-vergent folds with axes that trend nearly parallel to the traces of the main faults. Zircon and apatite (U-Th)/He and apatite fission-track data from a Triassic pluton with zircon U-Pb ages of 237−225 Ma in the hanging wall of the Ludian-Zhonghejiang fault, assisted by inverse modeling, reveal two episodes of accelerated cooling during 125−110 Ma and 50−39 Ma. The Cretaceous cooling event was probably related to crustal thickening during the collision between the Lhasa and Qiangtang terranes. The accelerated exhumation during 50−39 Ma is interpreted to record the life span of the fold-and-thrust belt. This timing is corroborated by the intrusive relationship of Eocene magmas of ca. 36−35 Ma zircon U-Pb age into the fold-and-thrust belt. Early Cenozoic activity of the deformation system controlled deposition of alluvial-fan and braided-river sediments in the Jianchuan basin, as evidenced by eastward and northeastward paleoflows and terrestrial clasts derived from the hanging wall of the Ludian-Zhonghejiang thrust. Since 39 Ma, decreasing cooling rates likely reflect cessation of activity on the fold-and-thrust belt. Early Cenozoic compressive deformation on the western margin of the South China block together with geological records of contraction in central, northern, and eastern Tibet document Eocene upper-crustal shortening located in the Himalaya, Qiangtang terrane, and northern plateau margins together with contractional basin development in the intervening Lhasa, Songpan-Garze, and Kunlun terranes, coeval with or shortly after the onset of the India-Asia collision. This suggests that moderate crustal shortening affected a large part of Tibet in a spaced way, contrary to models of homogeneous crustal thickening soon after the collision, and prior to the main crustal thickening, propagating progressively from south to north. This complex deformation pattern illustrates the complexity of Asian crustal rheology, which contrasts with assumptions in existing geodynamic models.

The Gyirong basin, southern Tibet, contains the record of Miocene‐Pliocene exhumation, drainage development, and sedimentation along the northern flank of the Himalaya. The tectonic controls on basin formation and their potential link to the South Tibetan Detachment System (STDS) are not well understood. We use detrital zircon (ZFT) and apatite (AFT) fission‐track analysis, together with detrital zircon U‐Pb dating to decipher the provenance of Gyirong basin sediments and the exhumation history of the source areas. Results are presented for nine detrital samples of Gyirong basin sediments (AFT, ZFT, and U‐Pb), two modern river‐sediment samples (ZFT and AFT), and six bedrock samples (ZFT) from transect across the Gyirong fault bounding the basin to the east. The combination of detrital zircon U‐Pb and fission‐track data demonstrates that the Gyirong basin sediments were sourced locally from the Tethyan Sedimentary Sequence. This provenance pattern indicates that deposition was controlled by the Gyirong fault, active since ~10 Ma, whose vertical throw was probably < ~5000 m, rather than being controlled by normal faults associated with the STDS. The detrital thermochronology data contain two prominent age groups at ~37–41 and 15–18 Ma, suggesting rapid exhumation at these times. A 15–18 Ma phase of rapid exhumation has been recorded widely in both southern Tibet and the Himalaya. A possible interpretation for such a major regional exhumation event might be detachment of the subducting Indian plate slab during the middle Miocene, inducing dynamic uplift of the Indian plate overriding its own slab.