Stepwise Lithospheric Delamination Leads to Pulsed Cenozoic Uplifts of Central Tien Shan

Abstract

AbstractThe Tien Shan provides an ideal site to study mechanism of intracontinental orogeny due to distant effect of Indo-Asian collision. We investigate lithospheric structures, in particular the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary (LAB), of Central Tien Shan (CTS) using S wave receiver functions. The results show distinct structures across the orogen. Under the southern CTS, the LAB is shallower than that of the Tarim Basin; a 50 km vertical offset implies that part of the lithosphere has been delaminated. Under the middle CTS, two phases of negative velocity gradient are obtained, which may indicate a new LAB and an ongoing delamination underneath. Under the northern CTS and Kazakh Shield northward, the lithosphere is stable although the LAB inclines southward slightly. The two periods of lithospheric delamination under the southern and middle CTS account well for pulsed uplifts of the Tien Shan at ~11-8 Ma and ~5-0 Ma, respectively.