Enhanced Quaternary Exhumation in the Central Three Rivers Region, Southeastern Tibet

Xiaoming Shen; Yuntao Tian; Ying Wang; Lin Wu; Yingying Jia; Xiudang Tang; Haijia Lei; Xiaoping Yuan; Yukui Ge; Jing Liu-Zeng

doi:10.3389/feart.2021.741491

Frontiers in Earth Science (Sep 2021)

Enhanced Quaternary Exhumation in the Central Three Rivers Region, Southeastern Tibet

Xiaoming Shen,
Yuntao Tian,
Ying Wang,
Lin Wu,
Yingying Jia,
Xiudang Tang,
Haijia Lei,
Xiaoping Yuan,
Yukui Ge,
Jing Liu-Zeng

Affiliations

Xiaoming Shen: National Institute of Natural Hazards, Ministry of Emergency Management of China, Beijing, China
Yuntao Tian: Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Geodynamics and Geohazards, School of Earth Sciences and Engineering, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
Ying Wang: State Key Laboratory of Earthquake Dynamics, Institute of Geology, China Earthquake Administration, Beijing, China
Lin Wu: State Key Laboratory of Lithospheric Evolution, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Bejing, China
Yingying Jia: National Institute of Natural Hazards, Ministry of Emergency Management of China, Beijing, China
Xiudang Tang: National Institute of Natural Hazards, Ministry of Emergency Management of China, Beijing, China
Haijia Lei: National Institute of Natural Hazards, Ministry of Emergency Management of China, Beijing, China
Xiaoping Yuan: School of Earth Sciences, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, China
Yukui Ge: State Key Laboratory of Earthquake Dynamics, Institute of Geology, China Earthquake Administration, Beijing, China
Jing Liu-Zeng: Institute of Surface Earth System Science, Tianjin University, Tianjin, China

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2021.741491
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 9

Abstract

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The roles of tectonics and climate in the global increased erosion rates during the Quaternary have been the subject of active debate. The Three Rivers Region, strongly influenced by continental convergence between India and Eurasia and change in Asian monsoon climate, is an ideal place to study the interactions between tectonics and surface processes. Here we report new apatite (U-Th)/He data from an elevation transect that reveal a phase of rapid exhumation since ∼2.6 Ma in the Dulong batholith in the central Three Rivers Region, southeastern Tibetan Plateau. Based on stream profile analysis and compiled thermochronological data in the region, we demonstrate that the tectonic uplift caused by the high-strain at the corner of Indian-Eurasia convergence is responsible for the enhanced exhumation in the central Three Rivers Region in the Quaternary. Our new results highlight that the continuous plate convergence towards the plateau interior has dominated the uplift and deformation in the southeastern Tibet in the Quaternary.

Published in Frontiers in Earth Science

ISSN: 2296-6463 (Online)
Publisher: Frontiers Media S.A.
Country of publisher: Switzerland
LCC subjects: Science
Website: https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/earth-science

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