Convergent flow in a two-layer system and mountain building

Details Convergent flow in a two-layer system and mountain building Convergent flow in a two-layer system and mountain building

2009-07-14

arxiv.org/abs/0907.2347v2

Physics of Fluids 22(5) 056603 (2010)

Physics

Geophysics

Accepted by Physics of Fluids

Scientific paper

10.1063/1.3431740

With the purpose of modelling the process of mountain building, we investigate the evolution of the ridge produced by the convergent motion of a system consisting of two layers of liquids that differ in density and viscosity to simulate the crust and the upper mantle that form a lithospheric plate. We assume that the motion is driven by basal traction. Assuming isostasy, we derive a nonlinear differential equation for the evolution of the thickness of the crust. We solve this equation numerically to obtain the profile of the range. We find an approximate self-similar solution that describes reasonably well the process and predicts simple scaling laws for the height and width of the range as well as the shape of the transversal profile. We compare the theoretical results with the profiles of real mountain belts and find and excellent agreement.

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