The variety of subaerial active salt deformations in the Kuqa fold-thrust belt (China) constrained by InSAR

Surface salt bodies in the western Kuqa fold-thrust belt of northwestern China allow study of subaerial salt kinematics and its possible correlations with weather variations. Ephemeral subaerial salt exposure during the evolution of a salt structure can greatly impact the subsequent development and...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Earth and planetary science letters 2016-09, Vol.450, p.83-95
Main Authors: Colón, Cindy, Webb, A. Alexander G., Lasserre, Cécile, Doin, Marie-Pierre, Renard, François, Lohman, Rowena, Li, Jianghai, Baudoin, Patrick F.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Belts
Decoupling
Deformation
InSAR
Interferometric synthetic aperture radar
Kuqa fold-thrust belt
Missions
namakiers
Rainfall
salt deformation
Sciences of the Universe
Surface chemistry
Time series analysis
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Summary:Surface salt bodies in the western Kuqa fold-thrust belt of northwestern China allow study of subaerial salt kinematics and its possible correlations with weather variations. Ephemeral subaerial salt exposure during the evolution of a salt structure can greatly impact the subsequent development and deformation of its tectonic setting. Here, we present a quantitative time-lapse survey of surface salt deformation measured from interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) using Envisat radar imagery acquired between 2003 and 2010. Time series analysis and inspection of individual interferograms confirm that the majority of the salt bodies in western Kuqa are active, with significant InSAR observable displacements at 3 of 4 structures studied in the region. Subaerial salt motion toward and away from the satellite at rates up to 5 mm/yr with respect to local references. Rainfall measurements from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) and temperature from a local weather station are used to test the relationship between seasonality and surface salt motion. We observe decoupling between surface salt motion and seasonality and interpret these observations to indicate that regional and local structural regimes exert primary control on surface salt displacement rates. •Surface displacement maps reveal subaerial salt bodies across Kuqa FTB are active and deformation heterogeneously.•Subaerial salt displacements are decoupled from local weather conditions.•Regional and local structural regimes are likely to exert primary control on surface salt displacement rates.
ISSN:0012-821X
1385-013X
DOI:10.1016/j.epsl.2016.06.009