Topographic ooze: Building the eastern margin of Tibet by lower crustal flow

Research Article| August 01, 2000 Topographic ooze: Building the eastern margin of Tibet by lower crustal flow Marin Kristen Clark; Marin Kristen Clark 1Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Leigh Handy Royden Leigh Handy Royden 1Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Author and Article Information Marin Kristen Clark 1Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA Leigh Handy Royden 1Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA Publisher: Geological Society of America Received: 15 Dec 1999 Revision Received: 24 Apr 2000 Accepted: 10 May 2000 First Online: 02 Jun 2017 Online ISSN: 1943-2682 Print ISSN: 0091-7613 Geological Society of America Geology (2000) 28 (8): 703–706. https://doi.org/10.1130/0091-7613(2000)28<703:TOBTEM>2.0.CO;2 Article history Received: 15 Dec 1999 Revision Received: 24 Apr 2000 Accepted: 10 May 2000 First Online: 02 Jun 2017 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Permissions Search Site Citation Marin Kristen Clark, Leigh Handy Royden; Topographic ooze: Building the eastern margin of Tibet by lower crustal flow. Geology 2000;; 28 (8): 703–706. doi: https://doi.org/10.1130/0091-7613(2000)28<703:TOBTEM>2.0.CO;2 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Refmanager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentBy SocietyGeology Search Advanced Search Abstract Topography extracted from swath profiles along the northern, southern, and eastern margins of the Tibetan Plateau show two end-member morphologies: steep, abrupt margins and long-wavelength, low-gradient margins. Because the lack of significant upper crustal shortening across much of the eastern plateau margin implies that the crustal thickening occurs mainly in the deep crust, we compare regional topographic gradients surrounding the plateau to model results for flux of a Newtonian fluid through a lower crustal channel of uniform thickness. For an assumed 15-km-thick channel, we estimate a viscosity for the lower crust of 1018 Pa · s beneath the low-gradient margins, 1021 Pa · s beneath the steep margins, and an upper bound of 1016 Pa · s beneath the plateau. These results indicate that the large-scale morphology of the eastern plateau reflects fluid flow within the underlying crust; crustal material flows around the strong crust of the Sichuan and Tarim Basins, creating broad, gentle margins, and "piles up" behind the basins creating narrow, steep margins. These results imply that this portion of the Eurasian crust was heterogeneous, but largely weak, even prior to construction of the Tibetan Plateau. You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.