Deformation between the highly oblique Yakutat–North American plate boundary and the Eastern Denali fault

This study investigates the spatial and temporal pattern of rock exhumation inboard of the highly oblique Yakutat–North American plate boundary. We aim to quantify how far deformation is transferred inboard of the Fairweather transform plate boundary and across the Eastern Denali fault. We present new detrital apatite and zircon fission track data from 27 modern drainages collected on both sides of the Eastern Denali fault and from the Alsek and Tatshenshini River catchments that drain the mountainous region between the Fairweather fault and the Eastern Denali fault. By integrating our data with published bedrock and detrital geochronology and thermochronology, we show that exhumation reaches much farther inboard (>100 km) of the Fairweather fault than farther north in the St. Elias syntaxial region (<30 km). This suggests that the entire corridor between the Fairweather and Eastern Denali faults exhumed since mid-Miocene time. The Eastern Denali fault appears to be the backstop, and late Cenozoic exhumation northeast of the fault is very limited

The exhumation of the westernmost Tien Shan (Tajikistan, Uzbekistan)

Abstract HKT-ISTP 2013 A

Identifying spatial variations in glacial catchment erosion with detrital thermochronology

Understanding the spatial distribution of glacial catchment erosion during glaciation has previously proven difficult due to limited access to the glacier bed. Recent advances in detrital thermochronology provide a new technique to quantify the source elevation of sediment. This approach utilizes the tendency of thermochronometer cooling ages to increase with elevation and provides a sediment tracer for the elevation of erosion. We apply this technique to the Tiedeman Glacier in the heavily glaciated Mount Waddington region, British Columbia. A total of 106 detrital apatite (U‐Th)/He (AHe) and 100 apatite fission track (AFT) single‐grain ages was presented from the modern outwash of the Tiedemann Glacier with catchment elevations between 530 and 3960 m. These data are combined with nine AHe and nine AFT bedrock ages collected from a ~2400 m vertical transect to test the hypotheses that erosion is uniformly or nonuniformly distributed in the catchment. A Monte Carlo sampling model and Kuiper statistical test are used to quantify the elevation range where outwash sediment is sourced. Model results from the AHe data suggest nearly uniform erosion in the catchment, with a preference for sediment being sourced from ~2900 to 2700 m elevation. Ages indicated that the largest source of sediment is near the present‐day ELA. These results demonstrate the utility of AHe detrital thermochronology (and to a lesser degree AFT data) to quantify the distribution of erosion by individual geomorphic processes, as well as some of the limitations of the technique.Key PointsDetrital thermochronometers record spatial pattern of erosionNearly uniform erosion under the present‐day glacierThe largest observed source area of erosion is near the ELAPeer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/112265/1/jgrf20399-sup-0001-supinfo.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/112265/2/jgrf20399.pd

Tectonic control on rock uplift, exhumation, and topography above an oceanic ridge collision: Southern Patagonian Andes (47°S), Chile

International audienceThe subduction of bathymetric anomalies at convergent margins can profoundly affect subduction dynamics, magmatism, and the structural and geomorphic evolution of the overriding plate. The Northern Patagonian Icefield (NPI) is located east of the Chile Triple Junction at ~47°S, where the Chile Rise spreading center collides with South America. This region is characterized by an abrupt increase in summit elevations and relief that has been controversially debated in the context of geodynamic versus glacial erosion effects on topography. Here we present geomorphic, thermochronological, and structural data that document neotectonic activity along hitherto unrecognized faults along the flanks of the NPI. New apatite (U-Th)/He bedrock cooling ages suggest faulting since 2–3 Ma. We infer the northward translation of an ~140 km long fore-arc sliver—the NPI block—results from enhanced partitioning of oblique plate convergence due to the closely spaced collision of three successive segments of the Chile Rise. In this model, greater uplift occurs in the hanging wall of the Exploradores thrust at the northern leading edge of the NPI block, whereas the Cachet and Liquiñe-Ofqui dextral faults decouple the NPI block along its eastern and western flanks, respectively. Localized extension possibly occurs at its southern trailing edge along normal faults associated with margin-parallel extension, tectonic subsidence, and lower elevations along the Andean crest line. Our neotectonic model provides a novel explanation for the abrupt topographic variations inland of the Chile Triple Junction and emphasizes the fundamental effects of local tectonics on exhumation and topographic patterns in this glaciated landscape