THE CRETACEOUS-TERTIARY DEFORMATION OF THE LHASA BLOCK AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR CRUSTAL THICKENING IN TIBET

Journal article

The strong Tertiary deformation of the N margin of the Indian plate and of the Tsangpo suture zone is not matched by comparable deformation within the Lhasa block, yet the S margin of the block was the site of large-scale intrusive activity throughout the late Cretaceous. There is evidence that the Lhasa block was, in elevation as well as in magma type, an Andean margin by the end of the Cretaceous, and we suggest that the buoyancy force associated with the elevated crust was sufficient to inhibit compressional deformation within the S Lhasa block. This suggestion is tested quantitatively by treating the continental lithosphere as a thin viscous sheet containing an isostatically compensated elevation contrast. These calculations have implications for the mode of crustal thickening in N Tibet.-from Authors

Authors: England, P; Searle, M

• Publication status: Published
• Journal: TECTONICS
• Volume: 5
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 1-14
• Publication date: 1986-02-01
• DOI: 10.1029/TC005i001p00001
• ISSN: 0278-7407
• Language: English