Late Cenozoic landscape evolution along the Ailao Shan Shear Zone, SE Tibetan Plateau: evidence from fluvial longitudinal profiles and cosmogenic erosion rates

In tectonically active regions, geomorphic features, such as catchment slopes, terraces, and river profiles can be interpreted in the context of tectonic and climatic forcing; however, distinguishing tectonic impacts from other factors such as pre-existing geologic complexities and climate changes is challenging. We use fluvial longitudinal profiles, catchment slopes, and catchment mean erosion rates derived from in-situ cosmogenic 10Be and 26Al to examine the late Cenozoic landscape evolution of the Ailao Shan Shear Zone (ASSZ) in the southeastern Tibetan Plateau. The trunk stream of the Red River, flowing along the eastern side of the shear zone, consists of three sections with distinct channel parameters, separated by knickzones (the Midu, Ejia, and Nansha sections from NW to SE). Tributaries to the Red River within the Ailao Shan Shear Zone in the Ejia and Nansha sections consistently display two channel segments (upper low-gradient and middle steep channel segments); a third set of lower, less steep channel segments are identified only along the tributaries in the Nansha section. Catchment mean erosion rates contrast sharply along strike: ca. 300 m/Myr in the Ejia section and ca. 100 m/Myr in the Nansha section. Collectively, our results provide strong evidence that: 1) two waves of incision induced by pulsed and declining regional uplift are propagating up the Red River shaping the background pattern of river incision; 2) vertical fault displacements, river reorganization and additional factors locally affect river profile morphology. Normalized steepness indices (ksn), catchment slopes, and knickzone distribution vary systematically along the Ailao Shan Shear Zone, indicating long-wavelength regional surface uplift during plateau growth in the middle-late Miocene, which points to a tectonic model involving crustal thickening and diffuse or continuous deformation in the southeastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau.