Topographic Evolution and Climate Aridification during Continental Collision: Insights from Computer Simulations
Fig 8
Elevation profile of selected river basins that drain the plateau towards the intracontinental Tarim-like basin.
Two stages of the reference model setup are shown: a) 25 and b) 50 Myr (MS0). c) Shows the final stage of an identical setup disregarding lake evaporation (MS4). River pen size is scaled with water discharge. The colour of the river in the profiles indicates erosion (blue) and sedimentation (red) rates. The insets locate the river basin being displayed (in green) and show the distribution of erosion and sedimentation rates over the entire model domain (red and blue). Note that the river displayed in b results from a dramatic river capture of a N-draining river by a tributary of the Tarim basin (both visible in a). The Tarim basin turns a geomorphological base level for the plateau, and results 1300 m higher in MS4 (c) relative to MS0 (b).