[1] Mountain building at convergent margins requires tectonic forces that can overcome frictional resistance along large-scale thrust faults and support the gravitational potential energy stored within the thickened crust of the orogen. A general, dynamic model for this process is still lacking. Here we propose that mountain belts can be classified between two end-members. First, those of “slab...

[1] Large topographic belts along convergent margins have been recognized with the ability to slowdown the kinematics of subduction over geologically short time periods (i.e., few Myr), because their associated gravitational spreading provides significant resistive force within the framework of plate tectonics. The record of past and present-day plate kinematics provides important constraints o...

The observation that major Himalayan rivers flow parallel to and down the axis of anticlines oriented transverse to the primary structural grain of the range has puzzled geomorphologists for decades. Although there is a general consensus that the courses of trans-Himalayan rivers predate the Himalayan orogeny, the close association of rivers and structural highs would not be expected to result ...