Late Quaternary slip-rate along the central Bangong-Chaxikang segment of the Karakorum fault, western Tibet

Journal Article · Fri Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 2016 · Geological Society of America, Bulletin

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1130/B31269.1· OSTI ID:1461734

Chevalier, Marie -Luce ^[1]; Van der Woerd, Jerome ^[2]; Tapponnier, Paul ^[3]; Li, Haibing ^[4]; Ryerson, Frederick J. ^[5]; Finkel, Robert C. ^[6]

---

1. Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, Beijing (People's Republic of China); Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, Paris cedex (France)
2. Univ. de Strasbourg, Strasbourg cedex (France)
3. Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, Paris cedex (France); Earth Observatory of Singapore (Singapore)
4. Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, Beijing (People's Republic of China)
5. Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
6. Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)

Insight into the spatial and temporal changes of slip-rate is essential to understand the kinematic role of large strike-slip faults in continental collision zones. Geodetic and geologic rates from present to several million years ago along the Karakorum fault range from 0 to 11 mm/yr. Here, we determine the first late Quaternary slip-rate at the southern end of the linear Bangong-Chaxikang segment of the Karakorum fault, using cumulative offsets (20–200 m) of fans and terraces at three sites, as well as 74 new ¹⁰Be surface-exposure ages to constrain the age of these offset geomorphic markers. The rate is >3 mm/yr at sites Gun and Chaxikang, and it is >1.7–2.2 mm/yr at the Gar fan site. Together with rates obtained along the southernmost Menshi-Kailas segment, the Karakorum fault slip-rate seems to increase southeastward from south of Bangong Lake to Kailas (from >3 to >8 mm/yr). These Karakorum fault slip-rate data (>3–8 mm/yr), together with the total length of the fault (>1000 km) and its initiation age (>13–23 Ma), confirm that the Karakorum fault is the major fault accommodating dextral strike-slip motion NE of the western Himalayas. Furthermore, the dextral Karakorum fault in the south and the conjugate left-lateral Longmu Co–Altyn Tagh fault system in the north are thus the major strike-slip faults of western Tibet, which contribute to eastward extrusion of Tibet.

• Research Organization: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)
• Grant/Contract Number: AC52-07NA27344
• OSTI ID: 1461734
• Report Number(s): LLNL-JRNL--695463; 825228
• Journal Information: Geological Society of America, Bulletin, Journal Name: Geological Society of America, Bulletin Journal Issue: 1-2 Vol. 128; ISSN 0016-7606
• Publisher: Geological Society of America
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

58 GEOSCIENCES