Deformation, erosion and sedimentation in collisional orogens : case studies from eastern Tibet and southwestern China

This dissertation addresses aspects of the tectonics of regions adjacent to the eastern Himalayan syntaxis. The first chapter describes the Tertiary Gonjo basin, includes structural and sedimentologic observations, and interprets these as a record of limited upper crustal shortening during and immediately after early Tertiary (- 40 Ma) time. The record of Cenozoic shortening of the upper crust cannot account for the gradient of crustal thicknesses from eastern Tibet southeast into Yunnan province. The second chapter provides a review of the regional geology of western Yunnan and the detailed structural geology of the region around the first bend of the Jinsha (Yangzi) river. Structures record a long history of multiple deformation generations, including early Mesozoic metamorphism and cooling, west-directed transport along thrusts and nappes in late Mesozoic time, limited Tertiary shortening and transtensional deformation from Pliocene to present time. The third chapter provides a synoptic view of the active tectonics around the eastern Himalayan syntaxis and integrates geologic mapping, slip-rate estimates, remote sensing, seismicity and geodesy. Fault slip rates are inferred by modeling the elastic deformation near major faults and the motions of a small number of crustal blocks.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2006

Author dc:creator

• Studnicki-Gizbert, Christopher Terrance

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• B. Clark Burchfiel.

• Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/38250

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/38250