Millennial slip rates along the eastern Kunlun fault: Implications for the dynamics of intracontinental deformation in Asia

MOTIVATIONThe rates and distribution of slip on Asian strike-slip faults, both ancient and modern, play a central role in conceptual models of the way in which continental lithosphere deforms in response to continental collision.Early recognition of the scale and extent of recent activity along these structures (Tapponnier and Molnar, 1977) led to models that considered eastward displacement of internally rigid blocks of Tibetan lithosphere to be the primary means by which ongoing convergence of India with Eurasia was accommodated (e.g., Molnar and Tapponnier, 1975;Tapponnier et al., 1982).An alternative view, that these faults represent slip along preexisting anisotropy in a continuously deforming medium, arose out of considerations of the strength of common constituents of continental lithosphere and the forces generated during crustal thickening (e.g., England and McKenzie, 1982;Houseman and England, 1993).This debate has stimulated numerous investigations into displacement rates along active faults in Asia, including the Altyn Tagh (e.g.