How do continental plateaus grow? Climate-tectonic interactions in Tibet, Anatolia and the Central Andes

大陆高原是如何生长的？

• 批准号: 385721-2010
• 负责人: Schoenbohm, Lindsay
• 金额: $ 1.82万
• 依托单位: University of Toronto
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2012
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2012-01-01 至 2013-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=507639
• 关键词: How; do; continental; plateaus; grow

Continental plateaus are some of the most striking features on the surface of the Earth, fundamentally altering the Earth's regional and even global climate, and encompassing among the most seismically active places on Earth. However, they remain relatively poorly understood tectonic features. Why do they form in some settings and not others? Does climate play a role in preserving them or in triggering their formation in the first place? What mechanisms (faults, folds, processes deep in the tectonic plate) allow them to grow both higher and wider over time? How does lateral movement along faults helps accommodate their growth? My students and I will seek to address these questions on each of Earth's major plateaus: the Andean Plateau in NW Argentina, the western end of the Tibetan Plateau in China, and on the Anatolian Plateau in eastern Turkey. My research team will create geologic and geomorphic maps in the field and using satellite imagery. We will collect data from faults and use surface exposure dating of geomorphic surfaces (e.g. river terraces, glacial moraines) cut by these faults to measure how fast they are moving. Finally, we will use landscape indicators such as watershed shape, river profiles and glacial snowline to determine regional patterns of uplift and deformation. Ultimately, this interdisciplinary research will contribute to constraining the connection between deep Earth processes, uplift, climate and deformation within the three largest plateaus on Earth. The insights gained through this work will contribute to understanding climate-tectonic interactions, seismic hazards and mountain building in other regions and at other times in Earth's history.

大陆高原是地球表面最引人注目的特征之一，它从根本上改变了地球的区域甚至全球气候，并且是地球上地震最活跃的地区之一。然而，人们对它们的构造特征仍然知之甚少。为什么它们在某些环境中形成，而在其他环境中不形成？气候对它们的保存起了作用，还是在它们形成的最初阶段起了作用？是什么机制（断层、褶皱、构造板块深处的作用）使它们随着时间的推移变得更高更宽？沿断层的横向运动如何有助于适应它们的生长？我的研究小组将利用卫星图像在野外绘制地质和地貌地图。我们将从断层收集数据，并利用这些断层切割的地貌表面（如河流阶地、冰川冰碛）的表面暴露年代测定来测量它们的移动速度。最后，我们将利用流域形状、河流剖面和冰川雪线等景观指标来确定区域隆升和变形模式。最终，这项跨学科的研究将有助于限制地球上三个最大的高原的深层地球过程，隆起，气候和变形之间的联系。通过这项工作获得的见解将有助于理解其他地区和地球历史上其他时期的气候构造相互作用、地震灾害和造山活动。