Subduction initiation and the rise of the Shillong Plateau

摘要

Discrepancies between geodetically and geologically estimated thrust fault slip rates are generally viewed as a methodological problem. Even when slip rate is steady over geological time, a discrepancy may exist because each method is sensitive to different deformation processes. However, this offers a tool to estimate the partitioning of convergence between footwall and hanging wall deformation, and therefore a way to discriminate among orogenic styles. Here we investigate one such discrepancy for the Shillong Plateau, a basement-cored contractional orogen within the Himalayan foreland basin. Using a regional block model to explain the modern geodetic velocity field and explicit uncertainty analysis of the geologic rates, we show that this discrepancy cannot be reconciled simply by invoking uncertainties in individual methods.