|
|
 |
|||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||||||
| JOURNAL HOME | HELP | CONTACT PUBLISHER | SUBSCRIBE | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |
1 Department of Geosciences, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003, USA
2 Code 923, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771, USA
3 Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Mail Stop 300-233, 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, California 91109, USA
Differences in the topography of central Nepal and Bhutan are characterized by map and profile patterns of elevation, slope, relief, and stream gradients. Nepal exhibits a narrow hinterland zone of extreme relief, steep slopes and channels, and deep fluvial dissection and a wide foreland zone of lower relief; active shortening on the Main Frontal thrust occurs far outboard of the steep topography. In contrast, Bhutan has two high-relief zones separated by a narrow, low-relief step in the topographic and river profiles; the southern zone has the higher relief, rising abruptly from the Main Frontal thrust to a series of 4000 m peaks, whereas the northern zone consists of low-relief, high-elevation, plateau-like terrain cut by widely spaced, steep-walled valleys. Spatial relationships between these geomorphic features, and geologic contrasts, are used to examine scenarios of tectonic and surface-process interactions. The observations favor a model of along-strike segmentation in which timing differences in the varying balance of uplift and erosion produce spatial differences of topographic and geologic patterns, although other interpretations are possible.
Key Words: Himalaya • Bhutan • Nepal • topography • tectonics • erosion
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
|
 |
|
  X. Robert, P. van der Beek, J. Braun, C. Perry, M. Dubille, and J.-L. Mugnier Assessing Quaternary reactivation of the Main Central thrust zone (central Nepal Himalaya): New thermochronologic data and numerical modeling Geology, August 1, 2009; 37(8): 731 - 734. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 A. A. Velasco, V. L. Gee, C. Rowe, D. Grujic, L. S. Hollister, D. Hernandez, K. C. Miller, T. Tobgay, M. Fort, and S. Harder Using Small, Temporary Seismic Networks for Investigating Tectonic Deformation: Brittle Deformation and Evidence for Strike-Slip Faulting in Bhutan Seismological Research Letters, July 1, 2007; 78(4): 446 - 453. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 N. Harris Channel flow and the Himalayan-Tibetan orogen: a critical review Journal of the Geological Society, May 1, 2007; 164(3): 511 - 523. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
D. Grujic, I. Coutand, B. Bookhagen, S. Bonnet, A. Blythe, and C. Duncan Climatic forcing of erosion, landscape, and tectonics in the Bhutan Himalayas Geology, October 1, 2006; 34(10): 801 - 804. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
A. Richards, R. Parrish, N. Harris, T. Argles, and L. Zhang Correlation of lithotectonic units across the eastern Himalaya, Bhutan Geology, May 1, 2006; 34(5): 341 - 344. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 M. P. Searle, R. D. Law, and M. J. Jessup Crustal structure, restoration and evolution of the Greater Himalaya in Nepal-South Tibet: implications for channel flow and ductile extrusion of the middle crust Geological Society, London, Special Publications, January 1, 2006; 268(1): 355 - 378. [Abstract] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 T. A. Little, S. Cox, J. K. Vry, and G. Batt Variations in exhumation level and uplift rate along the obliqu-slip Alpine fault, central Southern Alps, New Zealand Geological Society of America Bulletin, May 1, 2005; 117(5-6): 707 - 723. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
| JOURNAL HOME | HELP | CONTACT PUBLISHER | SUBSCRIBE | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |
