Crustal rheology of the Himalaya and Southern Tibet inferred from magnetotelluric data

M. J. Unsworth; A. G. Jones; W. Wei; G. Marquis; S. G. Gokarn; J. E. Spratt; Paul Bedrosian; John Booker; Chen Leshou; Greg Clarke; Li Shenghui; Lin Chanhong; Deng Ming; Jin Sheng; Kurt Solon; Tan Handong; Juanjo Ledo; Brian Roberts

doi:10.1038/nature04154

Crustal rheology of the Himalaya and Southern Tibet inferred from magnetotelluric data

M. J. Unsworth^*, A. G. Jones, W. Wei, G. Marquis, S. G. Gokarn, J. E. Spratt, Paul Bedrosian, John Booker, Chen Leshou, Greg Clarke, Li Shenghui, Lin Chanhong, Deng Ming, Jin Sheng, Kurt Solon, Tan Handong, Juanjo Ledo, Brian Roberts

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

509 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The Cenozoic collision between the Indian and Asian continents formed the Tibetan plateau, beginning about 70 million years ago. Since this time, at least 1,400 km of convergence has been accommodated by a combination of underthrusting of Indian and Asian lithosphere, crustal shortening, horizontal extrusion and lithospheric delamination. Rocks exposed in the Himalaya show evidence of crustal melting and are thought to have been exhumed by rapid erosion and climatically forced crustal flow. Magnetotelluric data can be used to image subsurface electrical resistivity, a parameter sensitive to the presence of interconnected fluids in the host rock matrix, even at low volume fractions. Here we present magnetotelluric data from the Tibetan-Himalayan orogen from 77°E to 92°E, which show that low resistivity, interpreted as a partially molten layer, is present along at least 1,000 km of the southern margin of the Tibetan plateau. The inferred low viscosity of this layer is consistent with the development of climatically forced crustal flow in Southern Tibet.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	78-81
Number of pages	4
Journal	Nature
Volume	438
Issue number	7064
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/nature04154
Publication status	Published - 3 Nov 2005
Externally published	Yes

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Unsworth, M. J., Jones, A. G., Wei, W., Marquis, G., Gokarn, S. G., Spratt, J. E., Bedrosian, P., Booker, J., Leshou, C., Clarke, G., Shenghui, L., Chanhong, L., Ming, D., Sheng, J., Solon, K., Handong, T., Ledo, J., & Roberts, B. (2005). Crustal rheology of the Himalaya and Southern Tibet inferred from magnetotelluric data. Nature, 438(7064), 78-81. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature04154

@article{20408faad33549668a675dce481199a6,

title = "Crustal rheology of the Himalaya and Southern Tibet inferred from magnetotelluric data",

abstract = "The Cenozoic collision between the Indian and Asian continents formed the Tibetan plateau, beginning about 70 million years ago. Since this time, at least 1,400 km of convergence has been accommodated by a combination of underthrusting of Indian and Asian lithosphere, crustal shortening, horizontal extrusion and lithospheric delamination. Rocks exposed in the Himalaya show evidence of crustal melting and are thought to have been exhumed by rapid erosion and climatically forced crustal flow. Magnetotelluric data can be used to image subsurface electrical resistivity, a parameter sensitive to the presence of interconnected fluids in the host rock matrix, even at low volume fractions. Here we present magnetotelluric data from the Tibetan-Himalayan orogen from 77°E to 92°E, which show that low resistivity, interpreted as a partially molten layer, is present along at least 1,000 km of the southern margin of the Tibetan plateau. The inferred low viscosity of this layer is consistent with the development of climatically forced crustal flow in Southern Tibet.",

author = "Unsworth, {M. J.} and Jones, {A. G.} and W. Wei and G. Marquis and Gokarn, {S. G.} and Spratt, {J. E.} and Paul Bedrosian and John Booker and Chen Leshou and Greg Clarke and Li Shenghui and Lin Chanhong and Deng Ming and Jin Sheng and Kurt Solon and Tan Handong and Juanjo Ledo and Brian Roberts",

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Unsworth, MJ, Jones, AG, Wei, W, Marquis, G, Gokarn, SG, Spratt, JE, Bedrosian, P, Booker, J, Leshou, C, Clarke, G, Shenghui, L, Chanhong, L, Ming, D, Sheng, J, Solon, K, Handong, T, Ledo, J & Roberts, B 2005, 'Crustal rheology of the Himalaya and Southern Tibet inferred from magnetotelluric data', Nature, vol. 438, no. 7064, pp. 78-81. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature04154

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T1 - Crustal rheology of the Himalaya and Southern Tibet inferred from magnetotelluric data

AU - Unsworth, M. J.

AU - Jones, A. G.

AU - Wei, W.

AU - Marquis, G.

AU - Gokarn, S. G.

AU - Spratt, J. E.

AU - Bedrosian, Paul

AU - Booker, John

AU - Leshou, Chen

AU - Clarke, Greg

AU - Shenghui, Li

AU - Chanhong, Lin

AU - Ming, Deng

AU - Sheng, Jin

AU - Solon, Kurt

AU - Handong, Tan

AU - Ledo, Juanjo

AU - Roberts, Brian

PY - 2005/11/3

Y1 - 2005/11/3

N2 - The Cenozoic collision between the Indian and Asian continents formed the Tibetan plateau, beginning about 70 million years ago. Since this time, at least 1,400 km of convergence has been accommodated by a combination of underthrusting of Indian and Asian lithosphere, crustal shortening, horizontal extrusion and lithospheric delamination. Rocks exposed in the Himalaya show evidence of crustal melting and are thought to have been exhumed by rapid erosion and climatically forced crustal flow. Magnetotelluric data can be used to image subsurface electrical resistivity, a parameter sensitive to the presence of interconnected fluids in the host rock matrix, even at low volume fractions. Here we present magnetotelluric data from the Tibetan-Himalayan orogen from 77°E to 92°E, which show that low resistivity, interpreted as a partially molten layer, is present along at least 1,000 km of the southern margin of the Tibetan plateau. The inferred low viscosity of this layer is consistent with the development of climatically forced crustal flow in Southern Tibet.

AB - The Cenozoic collision between the Indian and Asian continents formed the Tibetan plateau, beginning about 70 million years ago. Since this time, at least 1,400 km of convergence has been accommodated by a combination of underthrusting of Indian and Asian lithosphere, crustal shortening, horizontal extrusion and lithospheric delamination. Rocks exposed in the Himalaya show evidence of crustal melting and are thought to have been exhumed by rapid erosion and climatically forced crustal flow. Magnetotelluric data can be used to image subsurface electrical resistivity, a parameter sensitive to the presence of interconnected fluids in the host rock matrix, even at low volume fractions. Here we present magnetotelluric data from the Tibetan-Himalayan orogen from 77°E to 92°E, which show that low resistivity, interpreted as a partially molten layer, is present along at least 1,000 km of the southern margin of the Tibetan plateau. The inferred low viscosity of this layer is consistent with the development of climatically forced crustal flow in Southern Tibet.

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VL - 438

SP - 78

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JO - Nature

JF - Nature

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ER -

Crustal rheology of the Himalaya and Southern Tibet inferred from magnetotelluric data

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