Mio-Pliocene piracy, relict landscape and drainage reorganization in the Namcha Barwa syntaxis zone of eastern Himalaya

Abstract

The presence of unique elevated low relief relict landscape in the transient Dibang catchment, at the orographic edge of Tibet-Himalaya in the tectonically active Namcha Barwa syntaxial zone, is modelled to understand evolving regional landscape, drainage reorganization and tectonics. This elevated low relief landscape represents a Mio-Pliocene abandoned paleo-channel of the Yarlung river, which was captured by the headward eroding Siang river owing to >600 m base level advantage. The river capture caused isolation of the Dibang river, which evolved as a transient parched catchment since 3–6 Ma after loss of ~17 times drainage area and 4–17 times discharge. The drainage area and discharge gained by the Siang river triggered enormous incision causing aneurysm leading to the accelerated growth of the Tsangpo gorge and affected regional tectonics. This paleo-drainage reorganization is reflected in the Mio-Pliocene sedimentation pattern in the southern Tibet-Himalaya and foreland basins.

Formation Mechanism for Upland Low-Relief Surface Landscapes in the Three Gorges Region, China

“…This interpretation has usually assumed that the river network has been static in structure and has ignored the impacts of divide migration and reorganization of the river basin as part of the area's geomorphologic evolution. In contrast, more recent theory refers to a "river piracy" concept, in which it is argued that formation of an in situ, low-relief surface can be promoted by feedback from a lost drainage area [9,10]. These two views may be complementary, but it is important to determine which formation mechanism has been dominant in an active tectonic region [11].…”

Process inference from topographic fractal characteristics in the tectonically active Northwest Himalaya, India

“…The landscape evolution studies in the Himalayan terrain have primarily focused on the relative role of tectonic uplift and (or) climate (e.g. Gabet et al ., 2004; Hilley and Strecker, 2004; Bookhagen et al ., 2005; Whipple, 2009; Korup and Weidinger, 2011; Anoop et al ., 2012; Godard et al ., 2014; Olen et al ., 2016; Dey et al ., 2016a,b; Nennewitz et al ., 2018; Jaiswara et al ., 2019), whereas the role of lithology has not received major emphasis except for a few limited studies (Attal and Lavé, 2006; Barnes et al ., 2011; Allen et al ., 2013; Ellis and Barnes, 2015; Strong et al ., 2019). However, lithology has been advocated as an important control of landscape evolution in the tectonically passive landscapes (Gallagher and Brown, 1997; Weissel and Seidl, 1997; Gunnell et al ., 2003; Gunnell and Harbor, 2010; Scharf et al ., 2013; Mandal et al ., 2017; Guha and Jain, 2020).…”

Active Deformation Pattern in the Western Flank of the Central Taurides, Southern Margin of the Central Anatolian Plateau: Inferences From Geomorphic Markers and Kinematic Indicators

“…In erosional landscapes, identifying knickpoints plays an important role in the interpretation of active tectonic deformation (Keller & Pinter, 2002; Kirby & Whipple, 2012; Pavano et al., 2016). As a response to tectonic perturbations, lithological variations, increasing stream flow rates, increasing sediment flux and landslides; new boundaries forms known as the knickpoints, between the downstream region that is adjusting to the new energy state and the upstream reach where the former state is maintained (Chen et al., 2015; Jaiswara et al., 2019; Kirby & Whipple, 2012). Knickpoints are generally classified as “vertical‐step knickpoints” and “slope‐break knickpoints,” according to the morphology of the channel segments in the slope‐area plots.…”