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A SHORT STORY ABOUT THE GEOLOGICAL HISTORY OF THE PAMIR
A SHORT STORY
ABOUT THE GEOLOGICAL HISTORY OF
THE PAMIR
Tina Lohr
review: Lothar Ratschbacher
University of Mining and Technology Freiberg
Institute of Geology, Department of Tectonophysics
February 2001
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A SHORT STORY ABOUT THE GEOLOGICAL HISTORY OF THE PAMIR
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Contents
Abstract
1
1.
Introduction
2
2.
2.1.
2.2.
Geological setting
The stratigraphy and development of the Pamiran syntax
Sedimentology changes of the western Tarim and Tadjik basins
during the Pamir overthrusting
4
4
From the former to the present position of the Pamir
8
3.
References
6
11
A SHORT STORY ABOUT THE GEOLOGICAL HISTORY OF THE PAMIR
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A SHORT STORY ABOUT THE GEOLOGICAL HISTORY OF
THE PAMIR
Abstract
The Pamir is a part of the Cenozoic orogenic belt of Asia. During the development of the
Pamir an enormous amount of Cenozoic crustal shortening was ascertained. Thick sequences
of sedimentary deposits have been shifted over 300 km in northern direction and an
accordingly amount of lithospere has been subducted into the asthenosphere beneath the
Pamir. This slab of lithosphere with a dip of about 45°, a downdip lengh of nearly 300 km and
a thickness of 20-25 km seems to be of continental origin. During this process the Pamir
closed the Tadjik-Yarkand basin and penetrated into the South Tien Shan.
The east-west-trending facies zones of Cretaceous and Paleogene sedimentary deposits within
the Tadjik-Yarkand basin are abruptly truncated at the western edge of the Pamir. Today, the
sediments crop out at the northern margin of the Pamir at least 200 km farther north. This 200
km displacement of sedimentary strata and an additional amount of internal shortening within
the Pamir of 100 km imply that the Northern Pamir has been displaced northward 300 km or
more with respect to the rest of Eurasia. The present rate of convergence across the Pamir is
about 20 mm/a.
1. Introduction
The young collision orogen in Middle Asian shows a wide variety of structural features
(Fig.1). From the Paleozoic to the Cenozoic continental blocks of Gondwana origin welded
with the Asian continental crust. Today, the Indian block penetrates into the Eurasian
landmass. During this collision the Indian subcontinent decreased its velocity to about one
third to nearly 44 mm/a (DeMets et al., 1990). This enormously amount of energy is effected
by the whole young orogen, but it is suggest that roughly half of the convergence might be
absorbed at the Trans-Alai Range along the northern arc of the Pamir (Fig. 2). This involve
A SHORT STORY ABOUT THE GEOLOGICAL HISTORY OF THE PAMIR
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an overthrusting of the Pamir onto the Alai Valley in the South Tien Shan at a rate of about
20 mm/a and crustal shortening over a N-S distance of more than 300 km was the result.
Figure 1. Simplified map of active tectonics in Asia (Twiss and Moores, 1992)
WK – western Kunlun, EK – eastern Kunlun
The collision of the Indian block with Eurasia implys the release of a hugh amount of kinetic
energy that is accomodated mostly by lithospheric thickening and lateral extrusion along great
strike-slip faults. The Pamiran syntax penetrated through the former Tadjik-Yarkland basin
into the South Tien Shan, forming the thrust belts of the Northern, Central and Southern
Pamir. In addition, material “flow” along great strike-slip faults into western and eastern
regions. The dextral Herat Fault and the sinistral Chaman Fault transfer material to the
southwest to build up the Hindu Kush. A similar process takes place at the eastern site of the
Pamir. The sinistral Altyn-Tagh and Karakash faults and the dextral Karakorum fault displace
the material towards southeast into the Tibet. From here it is transported into a southeastern
direction around the eastern syntax of the Himalaya. This region is characterize by large
strike-slip faults: the sinistral Kunlun, Kang-Ting and Kansu faults and the dextral Red River
Fault. The Kunlun Shan is seperated in an eastern Kunlun and a western Kunlun by the
sinistral Altyn-Tagh fault. This fault also separates the Tarim basin from the eastern Quaidam
basin.
A SHORT STORY ABOUT THE GEOLOGICAL HISTORY OF THE PAMIR
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Figure 2. Simplified map of the Pamir and surrounding regions (Burtman
and Molnar, 1993).
With 7495 m the Pik Kommunizma in Tadschikistan is the highest point within the Pamir.
Other adjacent states are Afghanistan and China. The Pamiran orogen has an extention of 500
to 600 km N-S as well as E-W.
The Pamir is lateraly limited by two basins: the Tarim Basin and the Tadjik Depression. The
northern margin is marked by the South Tien Shan, the Hindu Kush is the southwestern
border and Kunlun Shan, Karakorum and Himalaya are situated in the southeast. The Tibetian
high plateau lies between the Kunlun Shan and the Karakorum (Fig. 2).
2. Geological setting
2.1. The stratigraphy and development of the Pamiran syntax
The Pamir is characterized by a thick continental crust of about 70 km (Chen and Molnar,
1981; Holt and Wallace, 1990). Geophysical observations show an oblique subduction zone
submerges to the SSE (Billington et al., 1977) beneath the Pamir. This subduction zone
indicate a large Mesozoic thrust fault at the Trans-Alai range.
A SHORT STORY ABOUT THE GEOLOGICAL HISTORY OF THE PAMIR
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The Pamir is subdivided into four main zones: Nothern, Central, Rushan-Pshart and Southern
Pamir (Fig. 3).
The Northern Pamir represents the late Paleozoic suture zone between the Central Pamir and
the rest of Asia. This suture zone wraps around the Pamir, from the western Hindu Kush in
Afghanistan, through the Northern Pamir to the Kunlun of northern Tibet. The area of the
Northern Pamir contains mainly Carboniferous igneous and sedimentary rocks of an oceanic
environment. These are dominantly mafic rocks and tholeiitic basalts covered by limestone,
siltstone and sandstone (Budanov and Pashkov, 1988; Leven, 1981). More westernly in the
Darvaz Range serpentine melange crops out which is overlained by a mighty layer of pillow
basalt with tholeiitic character (Pospelov, 1987). In the upper Carboniferous the oceanic
succession is covered by conglomerate and limestone (Pospelov, 1987). These marine
sedimentary strata imply the existence of an activ continental margin at the northern part of
the Northern Pamir with a southward dipping of the subduction zone. This ocean basin closed
in late Carboniferous time. In the south of the Northern Pamir andesitic rocks are exposed
containing sediments of Carboniferous age. They are assumed to be remnants of an island arc
or of an intracontinental rift – but details are not clear. A similar geological situation as in the
Northern Pamir has been derived in the eastern continuation of the Pamir, in the Kunlun Shan
as well as in the western continuation in the Hindu Kush.
Figure 3. Structural map of the Pamiran syntax, Takjik Depression and
surrounding regions. Sutures of ophiolite belts are shown by heavy black lines.
NP – Northern Pamir, CP – Central Pamir, SP – Southern Pamir. (Burtman and
Molnar, 1993)
The Central Pamir is an area which contains deformed and metamorphosed Precambrian and
Paleozoic rocks – sedimentary deposits of sandstone, limestone and marl. Evidence of
volcanic activities has not been found. The suggestion of a plattform is based upon the
deposition of detrital and carbonatic sediments in shallow water from late Paleozoic to early
Jurassic time. Therefore, this part of the Pamir is assumed to be another continental fragment
which collided with Asia probably in the middle Jurassic.
The Rushan-Pshart zone marks the late Mesozoic suture of the Southern Pamir to the Central
Pamir. This region represents a Perm/Trias alternation of marine sediments, predominantly
A SHORT STORY ABOUT THE GEOLOGICAL HISTORY OF THE PAMIR
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limestone and radiolarite, and rocks of magmatic origin like pillow-basalt, andesite, tuffs and
also lenses of ultramafic rocks. Deep-water terrigenous deposits of Jurassic and Cretaceous
age complete this succession. These deposits were covered by Cretaceous redbeds. The
Rushan-Pshart zone is an important area of latest Paleozoic to early Mesozoic rifting and the
formation of a small ocean basin (Shvol’man, 1978) which closed in the late Jurassic or early
Cretaceous time. Although ophiolites do not crop out continously along this Mesozoic sutur, a
relatively continuosly belt seems to be around the western syntax of the Himalaya. Therefore,
the Rushan-Pshart zone marks a localized convergence, but a major oceanic terrain may not
have been consumed. The Rushan-Pshart zone seems to correlate with the Farah Rud basin in
western Afghanistan (Boulin, 1981; Burtman 1982).
The Southern Pamir is subdivided into the Southwestern Pamir and the Southeastern Pamir
because of the distingtly different geology. Metamorphosed Precambrian rocks and Mesozoic
and Paleogene granits are the dominat rocks exposed in the Southwestern Pamir (Pashkov and
Budanov, 1990). The oldest rocks in the Southeastern Pamir are late Carboniferous to early
Permian sandstone, siltstone, clay and limestone. This sequence is followed by Triassic
limestone, radiolarite and siltstone which contains rare basaltic lava and tuff. The Jurassic
unconformity of reef limestone is overlained by Cretaceous sediments including
conglomerates as well as dacit, andesite, tuff and limestone. The folding took place in Jurassic
time and the tectonic reactivation in Cenozoic time when deformation occurred throughout
the Pamir.
Euf
N
Eurasia
Northern Pamir
Paleozoic
suture
Central
Pamir
RushanPshart zone
Mesozoic
suture
Southern Pamir
India
S
Shyok-Indus-Tsang-po
suture
Figure 4. North-South cross-section through the different continental blocks, collided with Eurasia.
The Indus-Tsang-po suture zone is a third belt of ophiolites follows the Tsang-po and Indus
valley in southern Tibet, wraps around the Southern Pamir, and seems to continue into
southern Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran. In the west, this belt diverges into separat ophiolitic
belts (e.g., Shyok suture) that surround fragments of continental crust or ancient island arcs.
Together, the Indus-Tsang-po and Shyok ophiolite belts represents the suture zone of a
northdipping subduction zone due to the Cenozoic penetration of the Indian prong into the
southern margin of Eurasia. Commonly, the Shyok suture is associated with the Pangong
suture (Fig. 3) further east.
The remnants of three ocean basins described above bend around the syntax of the Pamir from
the west in Afghanistan to the east across the Tibetan plateau. Two of them, the late Paleozoic
suture and the early Cenozoic Indus-Tsang-po suture, seem to mark zones were a wide area of
oceanic lithosphere was subducted to great depths and where fragments of continental crust
moved over long distances to collide with southern Eurasia (Fig. 4). The sutures are closer
together in the Pamiran syntax then father east or west, indicating stronger shortening in the
Pamir than in the Tibet and Hindu Kush.
A SHORT STORY ABOUT THE GEOLOGICAL HISTORY OF THE PAMIR
2.2.
8
Sedimentology changes of the western Tarim and Tadjik basins
during the Pamir overthrusting
Before the beginning of the collision between India and Eurasia in Late Eozean time a wide
sedimentary basin, the Tadjik-Yarkand basin, occupied the region now covered by the Pamir.
It extends over the whole Tadjik Depression to the Yarkand Depression at the western end of
the Tarim basin. Late Cretaceous and Paleogene marine sediments were deposited within this
basin. But these east-west-trending facies zones were trunced abruptly by the Vakhsh and
Trans-Alai overthrusts (Fig. 3). During the penetration of the Pamir over this depression into
the South Tien Shan, the sedimentary cover was scraped of the basement and transported into
northern direction.
The Tadjik sedimentary basin is divided into two domains by the Vakhsh and Trans-Alai
overthrusts. The “Tien Shan” domain comprises the South Tien Shan and the central and
western parts of the Tadjik Depression. The “Outer Pamir” domain includes the Pamir Alai
region and the eastern part of the Tadjik Depression. Paleomagnetic measurements in both
areas show large declination anomalies in the outer Pamir domain, but not in the Tien Shan
domain. The facies zones in the Tien Shan domain have not been much distorted. The
stratigraphy of the outer Pamir zone changed gradually. In the Early Cretaceous a largely
nonmarine sequence of sandstone but also marine sediments like limestone, marl and clay
were deposited in this area. The thickness of sedimentation increased from the north up to the
south to about 1400 meter. The greatest extention of the Tadjik sedimentary basin is assumed
to have been established in Late Cretaceous time. Sedimentary rocks of marine or lagoonal
environment reached a thickness of about 1300 meter and contained sandstone, gypsum, clay,
limestone and conglomerates. Paleogene marine conditions prevailed in the center of the
basin. The oldest nonmarine sandstone and clay were deposited in Early Oligocene time at the
margin of the depression. In the more inner parts the sedimentation continued to the upper
Early Oligocene. The marine deposits of predominatly limestone, marl and sandstone were
accumulated to 1300 meter. In late Eocene time, soon after the beginning of the collision
between India and Eurasia, the isolation of the Tadjik and Yarkand parts of the basin had
began. A 4 to 6 km thick sequence of nonmarine Neogene sediment was accumulated within
the basin. This accumulation correlates with the raise of the Pamir and the South Tien Shan.
A comparison of the distorted facies zones of the outer Pamir domain with the undistorted
facies zones of the Tien Shan domain allow to calculate the amount of northward
displacement of the Pamir with respect to the South Tien Shan to about 200 kilometers. This
displacemant is supported by a detachment of Tithonium gypsum and salt deposits,
underlying the Cretaceous and Paleogene cover within the Tadjik-Yarkand basin.
The Tarim basin was created by the collision of the Changtang block with Eurasia during the
Late Triassic – Early Jurassic and the Mega-Lhasa block during the Late Jurassic – Early
Cretaceous (Fig. 5). The northern margin of the Tarim basin is overthrust by the western Tien
Shan and its western margin is overthrust by the Pamir (Tapponnier and Molnar, 1979). A
narrow and deep early to middle Jurassic transtensional basin within the Tarim basin is a
result of the tectonical regime at that time. This basin was formed by a dextral strike-slip
system produced pull-apart basins.
A SHORT STORY ABOUT THE GEOLOGICAL HISTORY OF THE PAMIR
9
Figure 5. Schematic map of Central Asia showing
locations of major tectonic boundaries and faults in the
Himalayan orogenic system (Sobel, 1999).
The largest faults of this system are a northwest trending dextral strik-slip fault located in the
northwestern edge of the Tarim basin within the western Tien Shan and another dextral strikeslip fault on the southwestern margin of the basin along the Kunlun Shan. The first one has
been reactivated as the Talas-Ferghana fault (Fig. 2) and the second one probaby is an
ancestor to the Late Cenozoic Main Pamir Thrust (This thrust appears to be a continuation of
the Paleozoic suture Fig. 3). The southwestern Tarim basin contains a sequence of more than
six kilometers of fluvial and lacustrine deposits, the majority of this Mesozoic - Cenozoic
sequence is presently buried by Neocene deposits. The basin sequence is subdivided into four
stratigraphic successions. The lower one represents a thick, but spatially small transtensional
basin of Early to Middle Jurassic age. It contains sediments of humid environment: lacustrine,
swamp and braided fluvial systems. Also alluvial fan systems characterize this sequence at its
base. The second stratigraphic succession is built up by a broad but thin compressional basin
which existed during the Upper Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous time. The more arid
conditions allowed only low-energy meandering fluvial and alluvial plain systems. The third
stratigraphic succession represented an epicontinental sea connected to the Tethys seaway
probaby through the Tadjik basin during the Middle Cretaceous up to the Eocene. Therefore
shallow marin deposits are typical. The last succession is the Neogene foreland basin and is
filled with arid fluvial and lacustrine sediments. The onset of the closure of the western Tarim
basin may be during the Early Oligocene.
The existance of a marine environment in the outer Pamir domain of the Tadjik sedimentary
basin was only few time earlier and longer then in the eastern part of the Tadjik-Yarkand
basin.
3.
From the former to the present position of the Pamir
Paleomagnetic measurements from the outer zone of the Pamir corroborate the bending of
the structural belts (Bazhenov and Burtman, 1990). The fold axes trend parallel to the arc of
the Pamir. The declinations vary perfectly with the trends of these fold axes. Therefore, it is
assumed that folding preceded the rotation of the structural belts of the Pamir (Bazhenov and
A SHORT STORY ABOUT THE GEOLOGICAL HISTORY OF THE PAMIR
10
Burtman, 1981, 1982). The paleomagnetic reconstruction of the former position of the Pamir
arc produced a location 300 to 700 km farther south of its present limit with respect to
Eurasia. This amount of at least 300 km is a compound of the more than 200 km
displacement of the fazies zones within the Tadjik Depression and an additional amount of
more than 100 km internal crustal shortening within the Pamir, occurred in Cenozoic time.
The calculated positions from Early Cretaceous to present time are shown in Fig.6.
Figure 6. Map showing present and reconstructed positions of the outer Pamir
arc from paleomagnetic data. (Burtman and Molnar, 1993).
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
present position of the outer arc of the Pamir
reconstructed position for the beginning of Neogene time
reconstructed position for early Cretaceous time
summary of paleomagnetic declinations from early Cretaceous sites
A slab of lithosphere has been underthrust beneath the Pamir. Seismicity shows a zone of
intermediate-depth earthquakes dipping south-southeast beneath the Pamir (Fig. 7). The
earthquakes occur mostly in a narrow zone not more than 30 km thick (Isacks and
Barazangi, 1977) but emerge from depths between 150 and 300 km. This seems to imply a
slablike body of presumably cold material (Billington et al., 1977; Roecker et al., 1980) with
a thickness of 20-25 km underthrust beneath the Pamir and the Hindu Kush. Precisely
located earthquakes reveal a gap between the seismic zones beneath the Hindu Kush and the
Pamir (Chatelain et al., 1980). Seismicity below the Hindu Kush defines a zone that dips
steeply north-northwestward to a depth of more than 300 km (Fig. 8).
The continental crust of the Pamir has a thickness of about 70 km (Chen and Molnar, 1981;
Holt and Wallace, 1990), from 75 km in the Northern Pamir to 65 km in the Central and
Southern Pamir (Beloussov et al., 1980). This is in contrast to the 40 km thin crust beneath
the Tadjik Depression. In the west of the depression the lithosphere thins to 32.5 km
(Kulagina et al., 1974). This reveal an eastward dip of the Moho of 5° to 6°.
The composition of the slab subducted beneath the Pamir is uncertain. Because of the
proportions of this slab, it is assumed that the Pamir may be an island arc and that a small
ocean, as an extention of the Black Sea or the Caspian Sea occupied the present area of the
Pamir (Chatelain et al., 1980; Leith 1985). To control this theory a detailed investigation of
seismic wave velocities was introducted. Due to the existance of oceanic lithosphere beneath
an island arc high wave velocities were expected. But the opposite was descend: lower Pand S-wave velocities near the seismic zone than outside it (Roecker, 1982)!
A SHORT STORY ABOUT THE GEOLOGICAL HISTORY OF THE PAMIR
11
Figure 7. Cross-section of seismicity and topography
through the Pamir (Burtman and Molnar, 1993).
An explanation for the lower wave velocities could be the subduction of relatively thin
continental crust beneath the Pamir (Roecker, 1982). But, is a subduction of continental
crust into the asthenosphere possible? The continental crust seems to be too buoyant to
submerge into the asthenosphere because of its much lower density. Calculations for several
simple subduction conditions show that continental crust of a thickness of about 35 km
should be too buoyant to submerge into the asthenosphere (McKenzie, 1969; Molnar and
Gray, 1979). In contrast, crust with thickness of about 10 km should sustain such
subduction. In connection with other petrophysical parameters the possibility of deep
subduction
of about 20 km thick
continental
crust
cannot
be
eliminated
(Molnar and Gray,
1979). The
discovery of the highpressure
minerals Coesit and
Ellenbergerit founded
in
the
Western Alps and in
Norway
indicate the subduction
of
continental crust in
great depth
of more than 100 km.
Thus, there
are no reasons for
presuming
that continental crust
never
is
subducted!
A SHORT STORY ABOUT THE GEOLOGICAL HISTORY OF THE PAMIR
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Figure 8. Block diagram illustrating lithospheric
structure of the Pamir-Hindu Kush region (Burtman
and Molnar, 1993).
References
Bazhenov, M. L., and Burtman, V.S., 1981, Formation of the Pamir-Punjab syntaxis:
Implications from paleomagnetic
investigations of Lower Cretaceous and Paleogene rocks of the Pamirs, in Contemporary scientific researches in Himalaya:
Dehra Dun, India, Bishen Singh Mahendra Pal Sing, p. 71-81.
A SHORT STORY ABOUT THE GEOLOGICAL HISTORY OF THE PAMIR
13
Bazhenov, M. L., and Burtman, V.S., 1982, The kinematics of Pamir arc: Geotectonics, v. 16 (English translation), p. 288301.
Bazhenov, M. L., and Burtman, V.S., 1990, Stuctural arcs of the Alpine Belt: Carpathians-Caucasus-Pamir (in Russian):
Moscov, Nauka, 168 p.
Belousssov, V. V., and 11 others, 1980, Structure of the lithosphere along deep seismic sounding profile: Tien Shan-PamirsKarakorum-Himalayas: Tectonophysics, v. 70, p. 193-221.
Billington, S., Isacks, B. L., and Barazangi, M., 1977, Spatial distribution and focal mechanisms of mantle earthquakes in
the Hindu-Kush-Pamir region: A contorted Benioff zone: Geology, v.5, p. p. 699-704.
Boulin, J., 1981, Afghanistan sructure, greater India concept and eastern Tethys evotlution: Tectonophysics, v. 72, p. 261287.
Budanov. B. I., and Pachkov, B. R., 1988, On the scale of early Carboniferous and Permian vulcanism in the eastern part of
the Northern Pamir (in Russian): Bulletin MOIP (of the Moscow Society for the Investigation of Nature), Geological
Section, v, 63, p. 33-38.
Burtman, V. S., 1982, Development of the Pamir-Punjab syntaxis: Geotectonics (English translation), v. 16, p. 383-388.
Burtman, V. S., and Molnar, P., 1993, Geological and geophysical evidence for deep subduction of continental crust
beneath the Pamir: Geological Society of America Special Paper, 281, p. 76.
Chatelain, J.-L., Roecker, S. W., Hatzfeld, D. and Molnar, P., 1980, Microearthquake seismicity and fault plane solutions in
the Hindu-Kush region and their tectonic implication: Journal of Geophysical Research, v. 85, p. 1365-1387.
Chen, W.-P., and Molnar, P., 1981, Constraints on the seismic wave velocity structure beneath the Tibetian Plateau and
their tectonic implications: Journal of Geophysical Research, v. 86, p. 5937-5962.
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101, p. 425-478.
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Isacks, B. L., and Barazangi, M., 1977, Geometry of Benioff zones: Lateral segmentation and downwards bending of the
subducted lithosphere, in Twalwani, M., and Pitman, W. C. III, ids., Island arcs, deep sea trenches, and bach-arc basins:
Maurice Ewing Series 1, Washington, D.C., American Geophysical Union, p. 99-114.
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precursors of earthquades in prediction polygons: Moscow, Nauka, p. 70-84.
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Leven, E. Ya., 1981, The age of Paleozoic volcanogenic formations of the Northern Pamir (in Russian): Izvestiya, Akademi
Nauk, USSR, Geology Series, 9, p. 137-140.
Matte, Ph., and eight others, 1996, Tectonics of western Tibet, between the Tarim and the Indus: Earth and Planetary
Science Letters, 142, p. 311-330.
Pashkov, B.R., and Budanov, V. I., 1990, The tectonics of the zone of intersection between the Southeastern and
southwestern Pamir (in Russian): Geotektonika, no. 3, p. 70-79.
Pospeloc, I I., 1987, Formations and tectonic development of the late Variscides of the South Tien Shan and Northern
Pamir (in Russian), in Pushcharov, Yu. M., and Khvorova, I. V., eds., Early geosynclinal formations and structures:
Moscow. Nauke, p. 149-178.
Roecker, S. W., and six others, 1980, Seismicity and fault plane solutions of intermediate depth earthquakes in the PamirHindu Kush region: Journal of Geophysical Research, v. 85, p. 1358-1364.
Roecker, S. W., Tucker, B., King, J., and Hatzfeld, D., 1982, Estimates of Q in Central Asia as a function of frequency and
depth using the coda of locally recorded earthquakes: Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, v. 72, p. 129-149.
Ruzhentsev, S. V., and Shvol’man, V. A., 1982, The Pamirs, in Mahel, M.,ed., Alpine structural elements: CarpathianBalkan-Caucasus-Pamir orogenic zone: Bratislava, VEDA, p. 115-130.
Shvol’man, V. A., 1978, Relicts of the Mesotethys in the Pamirs: Himalayan Geology, v. 8, Part 1, p.369-378.
Sobel, E. R., 1999, Basin Analysis of the Jurassic-Lower Cretaceous southwest Tarim basin, NW China: GSA Bulletin, v.
111, n. 5.
Tapponnier, P. P., and Molnar, P., 1979, Active faulting and Cenozoic tectonics of the Tien Shan, Mongolia, and Baykal
regions: Journal of Geophysical Research, v. 84, p. 3425-2459.
Twiss, R. J., and Moores, E. M., 1992, Strutural Geology, figure p. 115