Propagating extrusion tectonics in Asia: New insights from simple experiments with plasticine

Research Article| December 01, 1982 Propagating extrusion tectonics in Asia: New insights from simple experiments with plasticine P. Tapponnier; P. Tapponnier 1Laboratoire de Physique et Mécanique des Matériax Terrestres, Institut de Physique du Globe, Université P. et M. Curie, 4 Place Jussieu, 75230 Paris, France Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar G. Peltzer; G. Peltzer 1Laboratoire de Physique et Mécanique des Matériax Terrestres, Institut de Physique du Globe, Université P. et M. Curie, 4 Place Jussieu, 75230 Paris, France Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar A. Y. Le Dain; A. Y. Le Dain 1Laboratoire de Physique et Mécanique des Matériax Terrestres, Institut de Physique du Globe, Université P. et M. Curie, 4 Place Jussieu, 75230 Paris, France Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar R. Armijo; R. Armijo 1Laboratoire de Physique et Mécanique des Matériax Terrestres, Institut de Physique du Globe, Université P. et M. Curie, 4 Place Jussieu, 75230 Paris, France Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar P. Cobbold P. Cobbold 2Centre Armoricain d'Etude Structurale des Socles, Université de Rennes, 35042 Rennes, France Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Author and Article Information P. Tapponnier 1Laboratoire de Physique et Mécanique des Matériax Terrestres, Institut de Physique du Globe, Université P. et M. Curie, 4 Place Jussieu, 75230 Paris, France G. Peltzer 1Laboratoire de Physique et Mécanique des Matériax Terrestres, Institut de Physique du Globe, Université P. et M. Curie, 4 Place Jussieu, 75230 Paris, France A. Y. Le Dain 1Laboratoire de Physique et Mécanique des Matériax Terrestres, Institut de Physique du Globe, Université P. et M. Curie, 4 Place Jussieu, 75230 Paris, France R. Armijo 1Laboratoire de Physique et Mécanique des Matériax Terrestres, Institut de Physique du Globe, Université P. et M. Curie, 4 Place Jussieu, 75230 Paris, France P. Cobbold 2Centre Armoricain d'Etude Structurale des Socles, Université de Rennes, 35042 Rennes, France Publisher: Geological Society of America First Online: 01 Jun 2017 Online ISSN: 1943-2682 Print ISSN: 0091-7613 Geological Society of America Geology (1982) 10 (12): 611–616. https://doi.org/10.1130/0091-7613(1982)10<611:PETIAN>2.0.CO;2 Article history First Online: 01 Jun 2017 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Permissions Search Site Citation P. Tapponnier, G. Peltzer, A. Y. Le Dain, R. Armijo, P. Cobbold; Propagating extrusion tectonics in Asia: New insights from simple experiments with plasticine. Geology 1982;; 10 (12): 611–616. doi: https://doi.org/10.1130/0091-7613(1982)10<611:PETIAN>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 Plane indentation experiments on unilaterally confined blocks of plasticine help us to understand finite intracontinental deformation and the evolution of strike-slip faulting in eastern Asia. Several large left-lateral strike-slip faults may have been activated successively, essentially one at a time. The experiments suggest that the penetration of India into Asia has rotated (≈25°) and extruded (≈800 km) Indochina to the southeast along the then left-lateral Red River fault in the first 20 to 30 m.y. of the collision. This process can account for the opening of the South China Sea before late Miocene time. Extrusion tectonics then migrated north, activating the Altyn Tagh fault as a second major left-lateral fault and moving southern China hundreds of kilometres to the east. As this occurred, Indochina kept rotating clockwise (as much as 40°), but the sense of motion reversed on the Red River and other strike-slip faults in the south. Opening of the Mergui basin and Andaman Sea (up to the present) also appears to be a simple kinematic consequence of the extrusion. Recent rifts in northeastern China and Yunnan may be considered incipient analogs of the South China and Andaman Seas. Other Tertiary tectonic features such as the sedimentary basins of the Gulf of Thailand may be explained as collisional effects, if one uses our experiments as a guide. The experiments also suggest that a major left-lateral strike-slip fault and rift system will propagate across the Tien Shan, Mongolia, and Baikal to the Sea of Okhotsk. This content is PDF only. Please click on the PDF icon to access. First Page Preview Close Modal You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.