Mountain building processes in Taiwan
Mountain-building processes, such as those observed in the European Alps, the Pyrenees, and the Southern Alps of New Zealand, can be understood through the model of orogenic wedge deformation. However, previous models have struggled to accurately reproduce the complex tectonic structures, metamorphic temperatures, and rapid erosion seen in Taiwan using the orogenic wedge concept. This study introduces a new thermal-mechanical model of the orogenic wedge. The model incorporates a strong and vertical backstop, a realistic geothermal gradient, lithology- and slope-dependent erosion, brittle-ductile transitions of geological materials, and the decollement geometry to replicate the complex structures of the Taiwan orogenic belt. This new research method not only can comprehend the orogenic mechanism of Taiwan, but also can help study other orogenic wedges globally. The research was published in Science Advances in August 2024. The corresponding authors of the paper are Associate Research Fellow Eh Tan of the Institute of Earth Sciences, Academia Sinica, and Professor Yuan-Hsi Lee of the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, National Chung Cheng University. Co-authors include Jia-Bin Chang and Ming-Jung Zheng, both master's graduates from National Chung Cheng University, and Chase J. Shyu, a TIGP doctoral student at Academia Sinica.
Article link: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adp8056
Post by Academia Sinica: https://www.sinica.edu.tw/en/News_Content/36/2718
