Why the Central Andes are Larger than the Himalaya

The Central Andean and Himalayan orogenic belts provide an ideal natural experiment to test the potential role of climate in controlling orogeny. Approximately equal in age and along-strike length, both orogenic wedges are forming in plate-marginal convergent tectonic settings: The Andes in a retroarc setting and the Himalaya in a collisional setting against the Tibetan backstop. The Central Andes orogenic wedge is volumetrically and aerially nearly twice as large as the Himalayan orogenic wedge, despite the Himalaya having accommodated at least three times more tectonic shortening. The Himalaya exports at least four times more sediment owing to much greater erosion rates as signified by widespread Cenozoic metamorphic rocks and very young.

Speaker: Peter DeCelles, University of Arizona

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