Underthrusting of the Tarim Lithosphere Beneath the Western Kunlun Range, Insights From Seismic Profiling Evidence

Abstract

Continental underthrusting is one of mechanisms of growth of the Tibetan Plateau (Meyer et al., 1998; Tapponnier et al., 2001). Quantifying it over the tens-of-millions-year time scale remains challenging. For the Indian subcontinent that is currently connecting with the active Indian Ocean mid-ridge, its underthrusting rates can be estimated by sea floor magnetic lineations (Molnar & Tapponnier, 1975). Yet, for parts of the Asian continent which passively underthrusted southwards beneath the Tibetan Plateau in the context of the India-Asia collision (

Kinematics of Cenozoic Shortening of the Hotan Anticline Along the Northwestern Margin of the Tibetan Plateau (Western Kunlun, China)

“…This would be in line with the findings at the scale of our investigated area where the shortening absorbed north of the Tiklik thrust increases from ∼35 to ∼64 km westward (Figure 7). This is also suspected at a much larger scale when compared to some of the cross sections published west of our study area (e.g., Jiang et al, 2013;Wang et al, 2021).…”

“…Five major anticlines are recognized in this outer part of the range, from west to east: the Yecheng‐Pishan, Kekeya, Fusha, Pusikai, and Hotan anticlines (Figure 1c). They mainly correspond to blind imbricated thrusts and duplex structures (e.g., Guilbaud et al., 2017; Laborde et al., 2019; Li et al., 2021; Sun et al., 2019; Wang et al., 2016, 2021), as well as to one large blind ramp anticline known as the Hotan anticline (Cheng et al., 2017; Jiang et al., 2013). These structures develop where the shortening is transferred upward from the lower detachment in the middle to upper Cambrian series to the shallowest one at the base of the Cenozoic Tarim strata.…”

“…The structural geometry proposed for the Hotan anticline is very different from other foothill anticlines further west (i.e., Yecheng‐Pishan, Kekeya, Fusha, and Pusikai anticlines), which are interpreted as blind imbricated thrusts and duplexes (e.g., Chen et al., 2018; Guilbaud et al., 2017; Jiang et al., 2013; Laborde et al., 2019; Li et al., 2016a, 2021; Sun et al., 2019; Wang et al., 2013, 2016, 2021, Figure 1c). Published seismic profiles reveal that near the Karakax and Yurungkax rivers (Figure 3a), the Hotan anticline rather corresponds to a major fault‐bend fold over a north‐verging ramp (the Hotan thrust) climbing from the Cambrian detachment level upward to the Paleocene detachment level (Cheng et al., 2017; Jiang et al., 2013; Jiang & Li, 2014).…”

“…Balanced cross sections indicate that a large part of the total shortening across this range was accommodated by thin‐skinned tectonics within its foothills, with structures propagating into the southwestern Tarim Basin (Laborde et al., 2019 and references therein) (Figures 1c and 1d). Despite a growing number of studies documenting the deep structure of this outer part of the WKR from seismic profiles (e.g., Cheng et al., 2017; Jiang et al., 2013; Li et al., 2021; Lu et al., 2016; Sun et al., 2019; Wang et al., 2016, 2021) quantitative constraints are still missing to document the long‐term temporal evolution of deformation in this region.…”

Impact of Decelerating India‐Asia Convergence on the Crustal Flow Kinematics in Tibet: An Insight From Scaled Laboratory Modeling

“…Some workers suggested that rigid Tarim block at the northern margin and the Sichuan basin in the eastern flank are pushed northward and eastward, respectively in the course of the India‐Asia collision (Pan & Shen, 2017; S. Wang, Chen, et al., 2021). In fact, the GPS observations support this hypothesis (Liang et al., 2013; Zhang et al., 2004).…”