Variable Structural Style Along the Karakoram Fault Explained Using Triple-Junction Analysis of Intersecting Faults
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Variable structural style along the Karakoram fault explained using triple-junction analysis of intersecting faults N.S. Raterman* E. Cowgill Department of Geology, University of California, Davis, California 95616-8605, USA Ding Lin Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, People’s Republic of China ABSTRACT Co fault system likely initiated between 10 and small (<100-km-long) faults and have been geo- 3 Ma to accumulate 25–32 km of total left sep- graphically restricted to the San Andreas and Structural style along the active, NW-strik- aration. We suggest that the Gozha–Longmu Red River fault systems. In addition, the origin, ing, right-slip Karakoram fault in western Co fault system formed during late Miocene and thus general kinematic signifi cance of fault Tibet ranges from transpression in the north to Pliocene structural reorganization of the junctions such as that defi ned by the intersection (37° to 34°N) to transtension in the south (34° southwestern Altyn Tagh and southern Kara- of the San Andreas and Garlock faults, remains to 32°N). This transition in structural style koram fault systems to allow eastward migra- an open question (e.g., Bohannon and Howell occurs at a 27-km-wide bend in the fault. Our tion of the Tibetan Plateau and northward 1982; Spotila and Anderson, 2004). This defi - new neotectonic mapping has documented migration of the Pamir syntaxis. ciency in the understanding of the geometric the long-asserted structural linkage between and kinematic evolution of intersecting major the ENE-striking Gozha–Longmu Co fault Keywords: strike-slip faults, Himalayan orog- faults warrants further investigation of natural system and the similarly oriented active, left- eny, kinematics, fault zones, triple junctions. examples of such systems. slip Altyn Tagh fault to the northeast. This A number of very large active strike-slip mapping also indicated that the restraining INTRODUCTION fault systems cut the Indo-Asian collision zone bend in the Karakoram fault is located where (Fig. 1, inset), the largest active continental oro- this fault intersects the Gozha–Longmu Co Understanding the pattern of deformation that gen on Earth. As a result, this collision serves as extension of the Altyn Tagh fault to the west. occurs where two or more fault systems inter- an excellent natural laboratory to investigate the Additional observations from remotely sensed sect is a basic problem in determining how fault geometric and kinematic evolution of intersect- imagery suggest that the total left-separation systems help accommodate continental defor- ing major faults (Armijo et al., 1989; Molnar and along the Gozha–Longmu Co fault system is mation during orogenesis. Several studies have Tapponnier, 1978; Peltzer et al., 1989; Tappon- 25–32 km. We use the new neotectonic map- addressed this problem. Bohannon and Howell nier and Molnar, 1977). These structures have ping and published slip rates to develop a (1982) examined the intersection between the strike lengths in excess of 1000 km and cumula- simple kinematic model for the main active San Andreas and Garlock faults and argued that tive displacements of several hundred kilometers faults in western Tibet to explore the genetic slip on the Garlock fault may have infl uenced or more (Armijo et al., 1989; Molnar and Tap- relationship between slip along the Gozha– the formation of the Big Bend and the Big Pine ponnier, 1975; Molnar and Tapponnier, 1978; Longmu Co fault system and the geometric fault. Work by Wang et al. (1998) demonstrated Peltzer et al., 1989; Tapponnier and Molnar, and kinematic evolution of the Karakoram that slip along the Xianshuihe–Xiaojiang fault 1977). One of the clearest zones of intersection fault. This model combines published geodetic resulted in an ~60-km-wide defl ection of the between two major strike-slip faults within this and Quaternary slip rates with the known Red River fault. Additional studies of the San collision zone occurs in western Tibet, where fault geometries and demonstrates that the Andreas system and Eastern California shear the 325°-striking, right-slip Karakoram fault lies transition from transpression to transtension zone have used geodetic data to show that fault near the southwest end of the Gozha–Longmu along the Karakoram fault can be explained intersections are often associated with increased Co extension of the 070°-striking, left-slip Altyn by differential motions between the NW Hima- strain rates (King and Cocco, 2001; Snay et al., Tagh fault (Fig. 1) (e.g., Peltzer et al., 1989). The laya, the Tianshuihai terrane, and the Tibetan 1996) and may result in transient strain accumu- active, left-slip Gozha–Longmu Co fault system Plateau. These motions produce bending and lation, secular variation in fault slip rates, and separates the Tianshuihai terrane to the north- transtension along the central and southern earthquake clustering (e.g., Peltzer et al., 2001). west from the Tibetan Plateau to the southeast Karakoram, respectively, and movement of Still other studies have shown that fault inter- (Fig. 1) (Liu, 1993). Evaluation of the extent to the Tibetan Plateau at a rate of 6–13 mm/ sections play fundamental roles in how fault which the Altyn Tagh and Karakoram faults may yr toward the east-southeast relative to the systems geometrically evolve and transfer strain infl uence one another requires investigation of Pamirs. We also fi nd that the Gozha–Longmu throughout an orogen (Ando et al., 2004; Spotila the geometric and kinematic evolution of the and Anderson, 2004; Van der Woerd et al., 1999). zone of intersection between them (Avouac and *E-mail: [email protected]. Most of these previous studies have focused on Tapponnier, 1993; Molnar and Tapponnier, 1975, Geosphere; April 2007; v. 3; no. 2; p. 71–85; doi: 10.1130/GES00067.1; 7 fi gures; 1 table, 1 online map. For permission to copy, contact [email protected] 71 © 2007 Geological Society of America Downloaded from http://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/geosphere/article-pdf/3/2/71/893719/i1553-040X-3-2-71.pdf by guest on 28 September 2021 Raterman et al. K 75°E o 81°E 2004a; Phillips et al., 2004; Searle, 1996). Its n g u r S vertical extent remains to be determined. h a Tarim Basin n China Figure 2 Previous work along the Karakoram fault has Altyn Tagh F. established that the late Miocene to recent slip W Pamirs estern Kunlun Shan direction along the fault north of its intersec- Karak 36˚N ax Fault tion with the Gozha–Longmu Co fault (34.5°N latitude) differs from that observed to the south. ~150 km Tianshuihai separation of the Along the northern Karakoram fault, transpres- Baltoro granite o F. ha C sional deformation is suggested by Neogene to Goz Tajikistan S out h K Quaternary fault strands that have both thrust ai las T Co F. hr Longmu and strike-slip kinematics (Searle et al., 1998) NW Himalaya us t and apatite fi ssion-track ages that indicate 5 Ma Pakistan Tibetan Plateau to recent rapid exhumation of the ranges fl ank- High Himalay Exhumed Pangong Maximum extension ing the fault (Foster et al., 1994). In contrast, Range (Baltoro directions 85o ± 28o 33°N Granite + Tangtse Leucogranite) transtensional deformation is suggested along Shi quan a he F. the southern portion of the Karakoram fault K a ra by active normal faults and tension gash data k o ra o o (Murphy and Burgess, 2006; Murphy et al., m 89 ± 5 F . 2000, 2002; Ratschbacher et al., 1994), as well as reconstructed offset terraces and moraines S S o ou u th t K h ai (Brown et al., 2002; Chevalier et al., 2005). T las ib Thr eta ˚ ust n De Although this variation in structural style is a tac Gurla Mandhata hm e India nt fi rst-order characteristic of late Cenozoic slip 81°E 0 km 100 along the Karakoram fault, the cause of this variation remains poorly understood. Figure 1. Simplifi ed map of major Cenozoic structures in western portion of India- Here we investigate the extent to which this Asia collision zone. Blue corner ticks delineate area shown in dynamic Web-based map pronounced variation in structural style along (http://dx.doi.org/10.1130/GES00067.s1, which is shown in simplifi ed form in Figure 2. the Karakoram fault may be due to the relative Arrows with wedges indicate the mean extension directions (arrow) and error (wedge) motions between the NW Himalaya, the Tian- compiled from measurements of normal faults and tension gashes near the southern Kara- shuihai terrane, and the Tibetan Plateau (Fig. 1) koram fault (Ratschbacher et al. [1994] in the north and Murphy et al. [2000] in the south). and associated slip along the Gozha–Longmu Co Map is simplifi ed from Murphy et al. (2000) and Phillips et al. (2004). Black earthquake extension of the Altyn Tagh fault. We present new focal mechanisms are from Harvard Centroid Moment Tensor (CMT) catalog (http://www. (Fig. 2, red faults) and compiled (Fig. 2, orange, seismology.harvard.edu/CMTsearch.html). Green earthquake focal mechanisms are from yellow, and blue faults) neotectonic mapping of Armijo et al. (1986). Inset shows location of Figure 1 in context of major structures within the region encompassing the intersection of the the India-Asian collision zone. western Altyn Tagh and Karakoram faults. We then review previously published work on the slip rates of these faults and combine them with 1977; Peltzer and Tapponnier, 1988; Tapponnier 87°E to 90°E, the fault is thought to extend to the the newly mapped fault geometries to construct and Molnar, 1976; Tapponnier et al., 1982). base of the lithosphere (Wang et al., 2003; Witt- a simple kinematic model of the intersection of The Altyn Tagh fault (Fig.