The Andes Mountains are much taller than plate tectonic theories predict they should be, a fact that has puzzled geologists for decades.
The Andes Mountains are much taller than plate tectonic theories predict they should be, a fact that has puzzled geologists for decades. Mountain-building models tend to focus on the deep-seated compressional forces that occur when tectonic plates collide and send rocks skyward. A new study demonstrates how modern top-down models that account for climate-related factors combined with traditional bottom-up tectonic models can help uncover the perplexing history of the Andes Mountains.
The study, led by former University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign graduate student Jiashun Hu, Illinois geology professor Lijun Liu and California Institute of Technology professor Michael Gurnis, is published in the journal Nature Communications.
"The Andes are unique for their tectonic setting," Liu said. “The central portion of the range is abnormally tall for one formed by the relatively low compressional stress and weak plate interface coupling we think occurs when thin, dense oceanic crust subducts – or slides under – thick continental crust.”
Read more at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, News Bureau
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