Identification of the strike slip system of Maergaichaka fault, Tibet, China, using remote sensing data

The tectonic evolution of the India-Asia collision provides great insight to the inland deformation of Tibet plateau. There are two radically different interpretations of the development of the Tibet plateau: doubling the crust by the replacement of Tibetan upper mantle by the under thrust Indian continental crust, or by the interior shortening of the Tibet crust by the thrust fault systems in Tibet plateau. Based on the detailed field investigation, the geomorphological markers on the Landsat ETM images at different scales are used to constrain the localization, displacement along the Maergaichaka fault, Tibet, China. By the Chaoyang Lake-Maergaichak Lake, a strike slip system, including a semi-flower structure, which comprises a complex combination of the structural patterns of M-T and M-P was identified. Though there are intensive thrust related structures near the Maergaichak fault, the remote sensing and GPS results indicates that the left-lateral slip of the fault has mainly accommodated the shortening of the India-Eurasian lithospheric plates.