Wedge tectonics in South China: constraints from new seismic data.

Collisional orogens form when tectonic forces amalgamte fragments of Earth's continental lithosphere. The sutures between individual fragments, or terranes, are potential sites of weakness that facilitate subsequent continental breakup. Therefore, the lithospheric architecture of collisional orogens provides key information for evaluating the long-term evolution of the continental interior: for example, the South China Block (SCB), where the tectonic history is severely obscured by extensive surface deformation, magmatism, and metamorphism.

Direct structural evidence of Indian continental subduction beneath Myanmar.

Indian continental subduction can explain Cenozoic crustal deformation, magmatic activity and uplift of the Tibetan Plateau following the India-Asia collision. In the western Himalayan syntaxis and central Himalaya, subduction or underthrusting of the Indian Plate beneath the Eurasian Plate is well known from seismological studies. However, because information on the deep structure of the eastern Himalayan syntaxis is lacking, the nature of the Indian subduction slab beneath Myanmar and the related tectonic regime remain unclear.