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Relatively recent construction of the Tien Shan inferred from GPS measurements of present-day crustal deformation rates

Nature volume 384, pages 450–453 (1996)Cite this article

Abstract

THE Tien Shan—a high, seismically active intracontinental mountain belt, 1,000–2,000 km north of the Himalaya—has grown as a result of India's collision with Asia1. The crustal shortening (~ 200 ± 50 km; refs 2, 3) and thickening that gave rise to the Tien Shan accommodates only a small fraction of India's total penetration into Asia (2,000—3,000km), and the temporal relationship of deformation in this belt to the India–Asia collision remains unclear. Here we report geodetic measurements of the Tien Shan, using the Global Positioning System (GPS), that indicate that the current crustal shortening rate is nearly half of India's convergence rate with Eurasia in this area4. We infer a total shortening rate for the Tien Shan of ~20 mm yr−1, which is approximately twice that inferred previously from the extrapolation of slip rates in the Holocene3 and earthquake-induced displacements during this century5, suggesting that the rate of mountain building in this region has accelerated several-fold since the onset of collision ~50–55 Myr ago6,7. If, as we argue, the current shortening rate can be extrapolated to geological timescales, then our results suggest that most of the Tien Shan has been constructed during the past 10 Myr, perhaps in response to an increased horizontal force following an abrupt rise of the Tibetan plateau8,9.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Kyrgyz Institute of Seismology, Kyrgyz Academy of Sciences, Asanabai 52/1, Bishkek, 720060, Krygyzstan

    K. Ye. Abdrakhmatov

  2. Kazselezashchita (Kazakh Agency for Protection against Mud Flows and Landslides), 8th of March Street, 70, 480100, Almaty, Kazakhstan

    S. A. Aldazhanov

  3. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02139, USA

    B. H. Hager, T. A. Herring, P. Molnar, S. V. Panasyuk, R. E. Reilinger & B. J. Souter

  4. Department of Geological Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, 47401, USA

    M. W. Hamburger

  5. Kazgeodeziya (Main Agency for Geodesy and Cartography of the Republic of Kazakhstan), Tole Bi Street 155/26, Almaty, 480096, Kazakhstan

    K. B. Kalabaev

  6. Scientific Center for Engineering Geology and Environment, Russian Academy of Sciences, PO Box 145, Moscow, 101000, Russia

    V. I. Makarov

  7. Institute of Physics of the Earth, Russian Academy of Sciences, B. Gruzinskaya 10, Moscow, 123810, Russia

    M. T. Prilepin

  8. Institute of Geology, Kyrgyz Academy of Sciences, Erdkindik Prospect 30, Bishkek, 720481, Kyrgyzstan

    I. S. Sadybakasov

  9. Electromagnetic Field Expedition, Institute of High Temperatures, Russian Academy of Sciences, Bishkek, 720451, Kyrgyzstan

    Yu. A. Trapeznikov & A. V. Zubovich

  10. Kyrgyzgeodeziya (Government Agency for Geodesy and Cartography of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan), Ulitsa Kievskaya 107, Bishkek, 720001, Kyrgyztan

    V. Ye. Tsurkov

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Abdrakhmatov, K., Aldazhanov, S., Hager, B. et al. Relatively recent construction of the Tien Shan inferred from GPS measurements of present-day crustal deformation rates. Nature 384, 450–453 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1038/384450a0

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