南海晚渐新世滑塌沉积指示的地质构造事件

南海北部ODP1148站晚渐新世至早中新世沉积以滑塌堆积和长时间沉积缺失为主要特征.由构造活动引起的沉积间断始于渐新世中期28.5 Ma至早中新世23 Ma左右结束.主间断面位于25 Ma, 亦即滑塌沉积层的底界.4次沉积间断总共造成至少3 Ma沉积记录的缺失.综合岩性、古生物年代测定、地球化学等分析结果, 表明南海晚渐新世的海底扩张模式呈多次跳跃式, 并以“25 Ma事件”为型变高峰.这一系列构造活动是欧亚、澳大利亚、菲律宾-太平洋板块相互作用的结果, 直接导致南海向前期裂谷更发育, 红河大断裂左擦拉张更强的南部扩张的转型.1148站的滑塌沉积为此次南海扩张转型提供了直接的证据.      

An expression of Philippine Sea plate rotation: the Parece Vela and Shikoku Basins

The Philippine Sea plate, located between the Pacific, Eurasian and Australian plates, is the world's largest marginal basin plate. The motion of the Philippine Sea plate through time is poorly understood as it is almost entirely surrounded by subduction zones and hence, previous studies have relied on palaeomagnetic analysis to constrain its rotation. We present a comprehensive analysis of geophysical data within the Parece Vela and Shikoku Basins—two Oligocene to Miocene back-arc basins—which provide independent constraints on the rotational history of the Philippine Sea plate by means of their seafloor spreading record. We have created a detailed plate model for the opening of the Parece Vela and Shikoku Basins based on an analysis of all available magnetic, gravity and bathymetric data in the region. Subduction along the Izu–Bonin–Mariana trench led to trench roll-back, arc rupture and back-arc rifting in the Parece Vela and Shikoku Basins at 30 Ma. Seafloor spreading in both basins developed by chron 9o (28 Ma), and possibly by chron 10o (29 Ma), as a northward and southward propagating rift, respectively. The spreading orientation in the Parece Vela Basin was E–W as opposed to ENE–WSW in the Shikoku Basin. The spreading ridges joined by chron 6By (23 Ma) and formed a R–R–R triple junction to accommodate the difference in spreading orientations in both basins. At chron 6No (20 Ma), the spreading direction in the Parece Vela Basin changed from E–W to NE–SW. At chron 5Ey (19 Ma), the spreading direction in the Shikoku Basin changed from ENE–WSW to NE–SW. This change was accompanied by a marked decrease in spreading rate. Cessation of back-arc opening occurred at 15 Ma, a time of regional plate reorganisation in SE Asia. We interpret the dramatic change in spreading rate and direction from E–W to NE–SW at 20±1.3 Ma as an expression of Philippine Sea plate rotation and is constrained by the spacing between our magnetic anomaly identifications and the curvature of the fracture zones. This rotation was previously thought to have begun at 25 Ma as a result of a global change in plate motions. Our results suggest that the Philippine Sea plate rotated clockwise by about 4° between 20 and 15 Ma about a pole located 35°N, 84°E. This implies that the majority of the 34° clockwise rotation inferred to have occurred between 25 and 5 Ma from paleomagnetic data may have in fact been confined to the period between 15 and 5 Ma.     

East Asia plate tectonics since 15 Ma: constraints from the Taiwan region

15 Ma ago, a major plate reorganization occurred in East Asia. Seafloor spreading ceased in the South China Sea, Japan Sea, Taiwan Sea, Sulu Sea, and Shikoku and Parece Vela basins. Simultaneously, shear motions also ceased along the Taiwan–Sinzi zone, the Gagua ridge and the Luzon–Ryukyu transform plate boundary. The complex system of thirteen plates suddenly evolved in a simple three-plate system (EU, PH and PA). Beneath the Manila accretionary prism and in the Huatung basin, we have determined magnetic lineation patterns as well as spreading rates deduced from the identification of magnetic lineations. These two patterns are rotated by 15°. They were formed by seafloor spreading before 15 Ma and belonged to the same ocean named the Taiwan Sea. Half-spreading rate in the Taiwan Sea was 2 cm/year from chron 23 to 20 (51 to 43 Ma) and 1 cm/year from chron 20 (43 Ma) to 5b (15 Ma). Five-plate kinematic reconstructions spanning from 15 Ma to Present show implications concerning the geodynamic evolution of East Asia. Amongst them, the 1000-km-long linear Gagua ridge was a major plate boundary which accommodated the northwestward shear motion of the PH Sea plate; the formation of Taiwan was driven by two simple lithospheric motions: (i) the subduction of the PH Sea plate beneath Eurasia with a relative westward motion of the western end (A) of the Ryukyu subduction zone; (ii) the subduction of Eurasia beneath the Philippine Sea plate with a relative southwestward motion of the northern end (B) of the Manila subduction zone. The Luzon arc only formed south of B. The collision of the Luzon arc with Eurasia occurred between A and B. East of A, the Luzon arc probably accreted against the Ryukyu forearc.     

Topographic architecture and drainage reorganization in Southeast China: Zircon U-Pb chronology and Hf isotope evidence from Taiwan

The uplift of Tibet Plateau and the marginal sea spreading have had important influence on the tectonic, landform and drainage system in East Asia, although the marginal sea spreading in shaping the topography and drainage reorganization in East Asia has been still controversial. Here we present U-Pb age and Hf isotopic composition of detrital zircon grains from Cenozoic sedimentary rocks in Taiwan to understand how the provenance and river systems evolved. Our data show that the U-Pb age spectra of detrital zircon grains in Paleogene sandstones are dominated by Yanshanian (180–67 Ma) zircon grains and with subordinate or nil Proterozoic and Archean zircon grains. These results are in contrast to those in Miocene rocks that are dominated by the Indosinian (257–205 Ma) zircon grains together with Yanshanian, Proterozoic and Archean population. The initial Hf isotope ratios [εHf(t)] of the zircon grains also display systematic change in Paleogene and Neogene strata. Our data demonstrate that the Hsuehshan Range and Western Foothills in Taiwan have the same sedimentary sources. The source region of Paleogene strata was mainly located at the coast in southeast China and migrated inland over time. The source might have reached the Lower Yangtze region during early Miocene. Although the mechanism of transport of sediments from the Lower Yangtze region to Taiwan is unclear, we speculate that the Minjiang River might have been larger in Early Miocene than the present and might have delivered inland material along the boundary of Yangtze and Cathaysia Blocks to Taiwan. These were then captured by the Yangtze River systems at some time after Late Miocene. This change corresponds to the time of the drainage reorganization in East Tibet, such as Yangtze River, and the regional subsidence resulting from the opening of marginal sea. The combined effects of Tibet uplift and opening of marginal sea might have shaped the topography and river system reorganization in East Tibet. The evolution of topography and drainage systems in southeast China seems to be mainly controlled by the opening of marginal sea.     

南海西北次海盆新生代构造 沉积特征及伸展模式 探讨

通过对穿越西北次海盆的3条地震测线以及一条深反射地震剖面的解释,对其新生代的构造 沉积特征进行研究,探讨了伸展模型,并进而对其新生代的构造演化过程和动力学机制进行了分析。结果显示：西北次海盆在30 Ma时开始发育,断层的活动期集中在渐新世,并大致以海盆中部的岩浆岩凸起为轴对称分布,对渐新统的沉积起控制作用。海盆扩张东强西弱,西部显示出更多的陆缘裂谷盆地的特征。25 Ma后扩张轴向南跃迁,西北次海盆的海底扩张运动停止,进入裂后沉降阶段。构造展布方向受到其南侧的中-西沙地块的影响,大致沿其北部边界展布。深反射地震剖面所反映的深部地壳结构也显示出大致沿海盆中轴对称的特征,显示研究区很可能为纯剪的变形模式。     

Abrupt shifts in the late Cenozoic environment of north-western China recorded in loess–palaeosol–red clay sequences

Aeolian deposits can provide a sensitive record of climatic change. Two abrupt changes in grain size and accumulation rate have been identified at c . 2.4–2.6 Ma and 1.1–1.2 Ma in the loess–palaeosol–red clay sequences from the Loess Plateau of China. These changes are apparent in two major stepwise increases in grain size and accumulation rate following two abrupt prominent change events of grain size, implying a two-step reorganization that was probably connected with two abrupt environmental change events. The correlation among different sections suggests that regional rather than local environmental processes are responsible for these changes. These changes likely record abrupt fluctuations in winter monsoon and the provenance of sediments associated with renewed Plio-Pleistocene uplift of the Tibetan plateau, and its role on climate and detrital sediment yield.     

An Early Cretaceous extinct spreading center in the northern Natal valley

We have identified an extinct E–W spreading center in the northern Natal valley on the basis of magnetic anomalies which was active from chron M11 (133 Ma) to 125.3 Ma, just before chron M2 (124 Ma) in the Early Cretaceous. Seafloor spreading in the northern Natal valley accounts for approximately 170 km of north–south motion between the Mozambique Ridge and Africa. This extension resolves the predicted overlap of the continental (central and southern) Mozambique Ridge and Antarctica in the chron M2 to M11 reconstructions from Mesozoic finite rotation parameters for Africa and Antarctica. In addition, the magnetic data reveal that the Mozambique Ridge was an independent microplate from at least 133 to 125 Ma. The northern Natal valley extinct spreading center connects to the spreading center separating the Mozambique Basin and the Riiser-Larsen Sea to the east. It follows that the northern Mozambique Ridge was either formed after the emplacement of the surrounding oceanic crust or it is the product of a very robust spreading center. To the west the extinct spreading center connects to the spreading center separating the southern Natal valley and Georgia Basin via a transform fault. Prior to chron M11, there is still a problem with the overlap of Mozambique Ridge if it is assumed to be fixed with respect to either the African or Antarctic plates. Some of the overlap can be accounted for by Jurassic deformation of the Mozambique Ridge, Mozambique Basin, and Dronning Maud land. It appears though that the Mozambique Ridge was an independent microplate from the breakup of Gondwana, 160 Ma, until it became part of the African plate, 125 Ma.     

Strontium-calcium ratios in Cenozoic planktonic foraminifera

The $\text{Sr}\text{Ca}$ ratio and other parameters have been measured in fossil planktonic foraminifera from the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean basins in order to evaluate the $\text{Sr}\text{Ca}$ ratio of seawater during the last 75 million years. Results on well-preserved samples indicate that the ratio has increased to its present value by 10–15% during the Cenozoic, and that minima occurred between 55-45 Ma and 10-5 Ma, when the ratio was 15–25% less than at present. The long-term increase may reflect either decreasing deposition of aragonite with a high $\text{Sr}\text{Ca}$ ratio in shallow seas, or decreasing seafloor spreading rates and consequently decreasing hydrothermal supply of Ca during the Cenozoic. Other geologic evidence suggests that the Eocene minimum (near 50 Ma) may have resulted from increased aragonite sedimentation, while the Late Miocene minimum (between 10-5 Ma) may have been caused by an increased rate of seawater-basalt exchange when seafloor spreading rates increased on the East Pacific Rise near 10 Ma.     

南海新生代碳酸盐台地淹没事件记录的海底扩张

本文通过对南海4个碳酸盐台地及其淹没事件的分析来阐明南海海底扩张的演化史.南海碳酸盐台地出现在最大海底扩张期,淹没事件出现在海底扩张和地壳下降速率进一步加快时期,因而它记录了海底扩张的阶段性和不均一性.南海共经历了早中新世晚期(距今17±0.5 Ma)、晚中新世早期(距今10.0～8.2 Ma)和上新世早期(距今3.4～3.0 Ma)等3次大的淹没事件,表明南海经历了3次大的海底扩张,短暂淹没事件是与海底扩张有关的各种地质事件的反映.     

Plate movements, ductile deformation and geochronology of the Sanbagawa belt, SW Japan: tectonic significance of 89–88 Ma Lu–Hf eclogite ages

Prograde P–T paths and thermal modelling suggest metamorphism in the Sanbagawa belt represents unusually warm conditions for subduction-type metamorphic belts, and these likely reflect conditions of a convergent margin a few million years before the arrival of an active spreading ridge. Radiometric age data and kinematic indicators of ductile deformation suggest the Sanbagawa belt formed in a Cretaceous convergent margin associated with a plate movement vector that had a large sinistral oblique component with respect to the belt, the East Asian margin. Plate reconstructions for the Cretaceous to Tertiary for this region show that the only plausible plate compatible with such motion at this time is the Izanagi plate. These reconstructions also show that progressively younger sections of the Izanagi plate were subducted beneath eastern Asia, i.e. a spreading ridge approached, until 85–83 Ma when the Izanagi Plate ceased to exist as an independent plate. The major reorganization of plates and associated movements around this time is likely to be the age of major interaction between the ridge and convergent margin. The ridge-approach model for the Sanbagawa metamorphism, therefore, predicts that peak metamorphism is a few million years older than this age range. New Lu–Hf dating of eclogite in the Sanbagawa belt gives ages of 89–88 Ma, in excellent agreement with the prediction. Combining this estimate for the peak age of metamorphism with published P–T-t results implies vertical exhumation rates of greater than 2.5 cm yr⁻¹. This high rate of exhumation can explain the lack of a significant thermal overprint in the Sanbagawa belt during subduction of the ridge.     

Link between global cooling and mammalian transformation across the Eocene–Oligocene boundary in the continental interior of Asia

Evidence in the world’s ocean current system indicates an abrupt cooling from 34.1 to 33.6?Ma across the Eocene–Oligocene boundary at 33.9?Ma. The remarkable cooling period in the ocean, called the Eocene–Oligocene transition (EOT), is correlated with pronounced mammalian faunal replacement as shown in terrestrial fossil records. For the first time within Asia, a section is magnetostratigraphically dated that also produces mammalian fossils that span the Late Eocene—Early Oligocene transition. Three fossil assemblages revealed through the EOT (34.8, 33.7, and 30.4?Ma) demonstrate that perissodactyl faunas were abruptly replaced by rodent/lagomorph-dominant faunas during climate cooling, and that changes in mammalian communities were accelerated by aridification in central Asia. Three fossil assemblages (34.8, 33.7, and 30.4?Ma) within the north Junggar Basin (Burqin section) tied to this magnetostratigraphically dated section, reveal that perissodactyl faunas were abruptly replaced by rodent/lagomorph-dominant faunas during climate cooling, and that changes in mammalian communities were accelerated by aridification in central Asia. The biotic reorganization events described in the Burqin section are comparable to the Grande Coupure in Europe and the Mongolian Remodeling of mammalian communities. That is, the faunal transition was nearly simultaneous all over the world and mirrored global climatic changes with regional factors playing only a secondary role.     

Seafloor magnetic lineation off the Otway/West Tasmania Basins: ridge jumps and the subsidence history of the southeast Australian margins

The seafloor off the Otway/West Tasmanian Basins has an east‐west magnetic lineation attributable to seafloor spreading and notionally identified with the set of seafloor spreading anomalies A8‐A20. Anomaly A20 (45 Ma) lies immediately south of a magnetic quiet zone that extends northward past the continent‐ocean boundary (COB). The Southeast Indian Ocean has a constant angular width between the formerly conjugate margins of Australia and Antarctica, consistent with spreading that started along the entire margin about 96 Ma.The proximity of A20 to the Australian COB in some spreading ridge segments is therefore postulated as due to jumps of the spreading ridge to Australia with concomitant transfer of the older oceanic part of the Australian Plate to the Antarctic Plate. Accordingly, the age of the oldest seafloor at the COB in seven original ridge segments is estimated to step from about 96 to 82, 79, and 75 Ma. Break‐up marks a change in the subsidence of the margin from rapid, during rifting by continental extension, to slow during thermal subsidence of the seafloor. Subsequent ridge jumps to the COB are expected to cause uplift or at least still‐stand of the adjacent continental margin. The subsidence history of the Otway/West Tasmanian margin, as indicated by oil exploration wells, is sympathetic with the timing of the postulated ridge jumps in the adjacent seafloor, as is that of the Great Australian Bight Basin with adjacent seafloor to the west, and of the Bass and Gippsland Basins with the Tasman Sea adjacent to the east. The growth of structure at 80 Ma in the outer Gippsland Basin corresponds with a jump to Australia of the Tasman Sea ridge at 82 and 75 Ma, and at 65 Ma in the Great Australian Bight and Otway Basins to a ridge jump to Australia of the adjacent seafloor. The growth of structure at 60 Ma in the Bass Basin and at 55 Ma in the Gippsland Basin corresponds with the abandonment of the Tasman Sea ridge at A24 (55 Ma) during a re‐organization of spreading in the southwest Pacific.     

Late Cenozoic rotations of the Juan de Fuca Ridge and the Gorda Rise: A case study

In response to at least one change in the direction of sea-floor spreading, the Juan de Fuca Ridge and Gorda Rise have rotated approximately 20° clockwise with respect to geographic North during the last 10 million years. The rotation histories of these ridge segments have been determined from the ages and azimuths of linear magnetic anomalies within the corresponding “zed” patterns. In each case the rotations were systematic and occurred between about 9 and 3 Ma B.P. Significantly, the rotations occurred in a number of discrete stages during each of which the rates of rotation were approximately constant; rotation rates range from 1.3 to 8.6°/Ma.Though the rotation histories of these spreading centers are generally similar, some changes in the rotation rates are not synchronous, and until 3 Ma B.P., the Juan de Fuca Ridge had a 5–10° more easterly trend than the Gorda Rise. For the last 3 million years both ridge segments have had stable trends near 19°E of North.On a time scale of millions of years, ridge reorientation may be regarded as a continuous process wherein the rotation of the spreading center results from asymmetric spreading. Discontinuous changes in the degree of asymmetric spreading are required to account for observed changes in rotation rate. If the orthogonal arrangement of spreading centers and transform faults represents a least-work condition in which the resistance to plate motions is minimized by minimizing the lengths of ridge segments, as suggested previously, and if the rate at which the system seeks to reduce the total resistance after a change in spreading direction is maximum, it follows that the degree of asymmetric spreading, and hence the rate of rotation, are inversely proportional to the resistance to motion on transform faults. Thus, the various stages of rotation of the Juan de Fuca Ridge and Gorda Rise probably reflect different stress conditions on the Blanco Fracture Zone.It is difficult to account for the different trends of the Juan de Fuca Ridge and Gorda Rise largely because the Gorda Block is not behaving as a rigid plate and because the Mendocino Fracture Zone is not a transform fault. However, the fact that the Gorda Rise has had a stable trend for 3 million years, in spite of the deformation of an adjacent plate, suggests that the motion of the Gorda Block is not controlled by the motions of the vast Pacific and North American Plates, and that the Driving mechanism is “felt” directly at the ridge.     

青藏高原隆升的主因—大陆板块内的盆-山碰撞作用

在地壳运动中,盆地和山脉的形成机制是不可分割而有联系的。上地幔的波动起伏引起地壳上部物质的分配,在重力均衡作用的支配下,地壳物质由上地幔的隆升区域向拗陷区域蠕动,因而形成大陆板块内的盆地和山脉的分异和盆-山运动。高耸的喜马拉雅山和青藏高原就是塔里木盆地、卡拉库姆盆地和印-恒盆地等巨大盆地的扩张作用挤压而造成的。盆-山运动是真正的造山运动。     

Antarctica‐Australia fit resolved by satellite mapping of oceanic fracture zones

Sea floor spreading between Antarctica and Australia was resolved into two stages: (1) fast (27 mm/year), from the present to 49 Ma on a northerly azimuth constrained by well mapped fracture zones; and (2) slow (4.5 mm/year), from 49 Ma to break‐up at 96 Ma. A northwesterly azimuth was inferred by interpolation between the position of the continents at 49 Ma and the initial fit of the continents at break‐up at 96 Ma; during this stage, jumps to Australia of the spreading ridge west of the Spencer‐George V Fracture Zone were postulated to have transferred parts of the Australian Plate to Antarctica. Recently acquired satellite gravity trends confirm the inferred northwesterly azimuth and ridge jumps of the early spreading stage.     

High‐precision U–Pb age and duration of the latest Devonian (Famennian) Hangenberg event,and its implications

Precise U–Pb zircon dates from three volcanic ash beds that bracket the Hangenberg Shale in the Holy Cross Mountains, Poland, constrain the age and duration of one of the most significant palaeobiological events of the Palaeozoic Era, the Hangenberg Event. It is linked to a terminal Devonian global shift from greenhouse to icehouse climate conditions, a global transgression, and widespread black shale deposition. Our results constrain the Hangenberg Event to between 358.97 ± 0.11 Ma and 358.89 ± 0.20 Ma, with a calculated duration of 0.05 +0.14/?0.05 Ma. A third, underlying ash bed yielded a distinctly older age of 359.97 ± 0.46 Ma. The duration of ~50–100 ka. for the event is comparable to those of Quaternary glaciations, and is consistent with both a glacio‐eustatic origin for the eustatic fluctuations and changes in ocean chemistry that led to this major reorganization of the biosphere.     

三水盆地中渐新世火山记录的新建与南海扩张

三水盆地是南海北部邻区陆域唯一具有新生代火山活动记录的盆地,最晚一期火山喷发时间是38Ma,也是南海北部陆域已知的在南海扩张之前最晚的火山喷发年代。应用K-Ar同位素年代测定方法,首次发现三水盆地存在29.27±1.52Ma的玄武岩和28.25±1.14Ma的流纹岩,构造判别图解指示其产出环境是板内拉张,与盆地之前火山类型一致,为双峰式火山岩,玄武岩具有与洋岛玄武岩相似的地球化学特征,流纹岩具有与A型花岗岩相似的地球化学特征,且玄武岩与流纹岩均与其他地区地幔柱成因火山岩具有相似的地球化学特征。这一代表板内破裂的双峰式火山记录将南海北部陆缘的火山喷发活动从早先已知的古新世—中始新世延续至渐新世中期,众所周知,南海的开裂起始时间约在32Ma,对于南海扩张期间周边陆域是否存在相关联的火山活动及建立南海早期开裂模式具有重要意义。     

Late Cretaceous oceanic plate reorganization and the breakup of Zealandia and Gondwana

New ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages of igneous rocks clarify the nature, timing and rates of movement of the oceanic Pacific, Phoenix, Farallon and Hikurangi plates against Gondwana and Zealandia in the Late Cretaceous. With some qualifications, cessation of spreading at the Osbourn Trough is dated c. 79 Ma, i.e. 30–20 m.y. later than 110–100 Ma Hikurangi Plateau-Gondwana collision. Oceanic crust of pre-84 Ma is confirmed to be present at the eastern end of the Chatham Rise, and a 99–78 Ma intraplate lava province erupted across juxtaposed Zealandia, Hikurangi Plateau and oceanic crust. We propose a new regional tectonic model in which a mechanically jammed Hikurangi Plateau resulted in the dynamic propagation of small, kinematically misaligned short-length 110–84 Ma spreading centres and long-offset fracture zones. It is only from c. 84 Ma that geometrically stable spreading became localized at what is now the Pacific-Antarctic Ridge, as Zealandia started to split from Gondwana.     

Origin of the Xigaze ophiolite, Yarlung Zangbo suture zone, southern Tibet

The Xigaze ophiolite, (Tibet) displays unusual lithological, petrological, textural, and structural characteristics. There are no large masses of cumulate gabbros, but dolerite intrusives throughout the whole ophiolite sequence, some of which were intruded into already serpentinized peridotites, only minor residual harzburgites and dunites in dominantly Iherzolitic peridotites equilibrated at low temperatures and pressures, and relatively low-temperature deformation structures in the uppermost peridotites. These features suggest a very low heat flow at the spreading center where the Xigaze ophiolite was formed, in good agreement with a discontinuous and slowly-accreting spreading center origin. However, this ophiolite does not represent a typical mid-oceanic ridge ophiolite; rather it was formed in a small basin located at the southern margin of Eurasia, hence within a preexisting oceanic lithosphere. The opening of the nearly N-S Xigaze paleo-ridge resulted from the W-E drift of Africa relative to Eurasia from 180 to 110 Ma. The N-S emplacement onto the continent of the Xigaze ophiolite, formed 120 to 110 Ma ago, can be correlated to changes in direction of motion of the African and Indian plates: a primary intra-oceanic thrusting event probably occurring at 110 or 85 Ma and the final obduction near 50 Ma during the India-Eurasia collision.     

Climate, exposed source-rock lithologies, crustal uplift and surface erosion: a theoretical analysis calibrated with data from the Alps/North Alpine Foreland Basin system

Paleofloristic data imply that paleoclimate changed in the Swiss Alps at the Oligocene/Miocene boundary from humid and hot conditions toward a climate with high temperature and low humidity. The aridization is associated with a change in depositional pattern from alluvial fans to lakes and floodplains, suggesting decreasing sediment discharge. A further 25-40% decrease of sediment discharge occurred at ca. 20 Ma when the orogenic core of the Alps became exposed to the surface. We applied a surface processes model to explore potential controls on the pattern of sediment discharge and on the evolution of the Alpine drainage basin. The model is based on the presumption that the rates of fluvial incision into bedrock are proportional to shear-stress exerted by the flowing water. The model results imply that the paleoclimate change resulted in an instantaneous decrease of sediment discharge and a vertical topographic growth until steady-state conditions between erosional and crustal mass flux are established. However, exposure of the crystalline core of the Alps at ca. 20 Ma is likely to have resulted in the 25-40% decrease of sediment discharge and the reorganization of the drainage pattern from an orogen-normal to an orogen-parallel orientation of dispersion.