DISPLACEMENT HISTORY OF THE GANGDESE THRUST, ZEDONG WINDOW, SOUTHEASTERN TIBET

Determining the timing, magnitude, and location of deformation due to the Indo\|Asian collision is widely acknowledged as an important step in understanding how the lithosphere responds during continental collision. Thus a puzzling result of geological investigations of the Lhasa Block over the past two decades has been the apparent lack of significant Tertiary deformation there. Perhaps the most important structural feature of the Lhasa Block is the south\|directed Gangdese Thrust System, which developed along its southern edge. The thrust system, which separates the Andean\|type batholith of southern Asia from rocks of Indian affinity, is obscured at most locations across southeastern Tibet by backthrusts of the younger, north\|directed Renbu Zedong Thrust System. The best documented site where both thrusts are exposed is a structural window near Zedong.