| Paper No. 182-9 | ||
| Presentation Time: 3:55 PM-4:10 PM | ||
| A THIN VISCOUS SHEET APPROACH TO HIMALAYAN CURVATURE | ||
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BENDICK, Rebecca, Department of Geological Sciences, Univ of Colorado, campus box 399, Boulder, CO 80309-0399, bendick@cires.colorado.edu. The Himalayan boundary between India and Eurasia exhibits a distinct geometric form which appears to be stable over long periods of time and large deformations. This simple arcuate shape may be reproduced in a finite-element numerical model based on a thin viscous fluid sheet when the pressure across one boundary of the sheet is near-lithostatic and the boundary is allowed to deform over time. The mechanism of boundary organization in this case is analogous to that which produces round bubbles; pressures outside and inside the fluid balance and fluid in the sheet flows in such a way as to produce a constant curvature boundary. For a sheet with one lithostatic and two shearing boundaries, cuspate syntaxes also arise. This model predicts velocities within the sheet which are everywhere arc-normal as well as very high rates of syntaxial strain, two phenomena which have been observed in the Tibetan and Himalayan regions. | ||
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2002 Denver Annual Meeting (October 27-30, 2002)
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| Session No. 182 Kinematics of the Himalayan-Tibetan Orogen—Comparing the Present with the Past Colorado Convention Center: C205 1:30 PM-5:30 PM, Tuesday, October 29, 2002 | ||
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