Surface uplift, uplift of rocks, and exhumation of rocks Philip England Department of Earth Sciences, Oxford University, Oxford OX1 PA, England Peter Molnar Department of Earth, Aimospheric, and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology ‘Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139 ABSTRACT Uplift ofthe surface of mountain belts requires forces that are comparable in magnitude to those associated with plate motion, and therefore determination of rates of surface uplift could provide impor- ‘ant information on the dynamies of mountain ranges. Rates of uplift ‘ofthe surfaces of mountain ranges have not, however, ben quantified sufficiently well that they provide useful constraints on those proc- ‘esses. Many reports of surface uplift in mountain ranges are based on mistaking exhumation of rocks or uplift of rocks for surface uplift, and provide no information whatsoever on the rates of surface uplit. UPLIFT. AND EXHUMATION ‘What is plified with Respect to What ‘The purposs ofthis paper are (1) to make clear why in tectonics, the rate of uplift ofthe surface with respect tothe goid isthe important uplift rate to measure and (2) o draw attention to the origins ofthe confusion ‘suroonding some attempts to make such measurements. ‘The word “uplift fers to diplacement inthe direction opposite to the gravity veto. A displacements only defined when bot the object slsplaced and the fame of reference are specie. Confusion has arisen frequen in the stevctual geology and tectonics literature beause ether the objeto the frame of ference sno specie sometimes neither. “The objcts most commonly considered when the word “uplift is wed in tectonic context are rocks and part of Earth's surface. The fame of reference sed is usualy attached ier to Eats surface or tothe ‘geod, Tete are, therefore, thre kinds of dplacement to which the ters “uplift” and “pl ate” are applied 1. Displacement of Earth’ surface with respect tothe oi we refer to this displacement as “surface uplift." Is important o recognize that spot heights aely of interest in tectonic problems. The sae of etonie processes cootoling mountain buildings at least tha ofthe crustal thick- ‘ess (230 amy; when we refer to “the surface” we mean therefore, the interface between rock and air (or wate) over a region whose area is at least 107-104 kn? When we rel to "surface eight” and “surlace pli” ‘we haven mind quantities obtained by averaging elevation and changes in clevation over surface areas ofthat sie (For example, whereas the pak of Mu Everest i nearly 9 km high the surface height averaged over 1° squares in latitude and longitude in the neighborhood of Mt. Evers is bout 5 kms the later quantity she important one in our discussion: se Frank, 1972; Molnar and Lyon-Caen, 1988; andthe next sein, below) 2, Displacement of rocks wih espect tothe geoid: we refer to this splacement as “uplift f rocks.” 3, Displacement of rocks with espect tothe surface: we fer otis 10® Nom for cast thickneses ranging from 35 to 70 km (Eneland and Houseman, 1989, Appendix A) and the ate of working asad with srface uplift ate of I mye" is about 35 0 70 mWom 'A major concer of this paper is with surface uplift that sno aso- ciated with changes in crustal thicknes. The most plausible mechanism causing such uplift is the application of norm stresses to the base ofthe lithosphere by convection in the mantle (eg, Houseman and England, 1986). England and Houseman (1986) suggested tht the convective i stabiliy of the thickened continental thosphere (Houseman et al, 1981) could lead to the rapid thinning of the mane part of the lithosphere beneath mountain ranges and a rapid increas in surface height, without change in crustal thickness. Uplift ofthis nature would requite a rate of working of about 100 mW-m ® fr a uplift rate of Imm ‘The shear stresses resisting motion on major thrust faut ar of prob ably about 100 MPa (Molnar and England, 1990). The rate of working sociated with lp on faults the proiuct ofthe shear tres andthe ate ‘Of slip. For lip at 20 mae"! on a faut along which the shear ste is 100 MP, power is disipate at a rate of 60 mW; thus surface uplift ata rte of about I mmyr may represent a significant fraction of the work done in creating a mountin range, Isosatcally compensated exhumation, acting alone, reduces the ‘rust thickness nd lowers the surface height Whether such exhumation ress from tectonic activity oF from erosion, the gravitational potential ‘nergy of the lithosphere decreases. The change in potential energy ofa column of lithosphere associated with uplift of the rocks within i cannot ‘be quanto unless the rates ofboth exhumation and change of surface height are known, ‘Thus the only uplift that is associsted with a quantifiable amount of ‘work done against gravity is surface uplift. For this reason, and because that amount of work is large surface uplift i the displacement that one should measure in order to abain information aboot the tectonic forces acting in mountain belts. MEASURING RATES OF UPLIFT AND EXHUMATION Uplift Measuring the uplift of a point requires measuring its change in clevation. Measuring surface uplift over finite area requires measuring, of ‘estimating the change in elevation ofa points on the surface ofthat area ‘Only where the rate of eosin is ero do measurements of displacements ‘of points onthe surface reflect regional surface displacements. ‘Determination ofthe rate of surface uplift depends upon the preserva- tion of a sequence of rocks deposited during that uplift, and upon those ‘rocks containing evidence of surface elevation at the times oftheir depos- tion. When the uplift takes place far above sea level these conditions are ‘not easily met; erosion is more common than deposition in mountzinous regions, and few features preserved in erestial sediments reflect directly the surface height atthe time of depsition. Tn some cases, sediments o sedimentary rocks containing evidence of their elevation atthe time of deposition have ben uplifted over large areas with litle apparent accompanying erosion, so that it is reasonable to regard the uplift ofthese rocks as a measure of the surface uplit. For example, the uplit of coastal terraces provides valuable information on rates of surface movement in tetoncaly active area (eg, Lajie, 1986). In some cases, an observation of uplifted rock provides valuable evidence cof surface uplift even when the erosion of the region is unquantifid. For ‘example, the widespread oocurrence in southern and western Tibet of Cretaceous marine limestone ata present altitude of $ km provies the ‘mast definitive constraint on the magnitude of Cenozoic surface uplift in that region. tis often not possible, however, oinfer rates of surface displacement solely from the present positions of rocks that are far above sea level. For ‘example, the presence of Cretaceous marine limestones in Tibet gives no {information on when, nr at what rate, thee uplift occurred. In particular, ‘we cannot distinguish bewwoen a recent surface uplift anda rocent surface subsidence in the region on the basis of the present elevation of those rocks ‘A method that offers some promise for determining paleoeleva- ‘ions, and hence surface uplift ras, relies on using paleontology as a paleoclimatic tol. Climates vary markedly with elevation and paleonto- logical observations can yield information on paleocimate (eg, Wolte, 1971, 1978, 1979). This approach must be used with caution because, in ‘addition to depending on elevation, climates also vary with latitude, and hhave changed, both regionally and sloally, over geologic time. The procedure involves, therefor, fs inferring changes in climate in an area of interes from changes with time of floral assemblages that are known to be sensitive 1 temperature and rainfall (eg, Meyer, 1986; Wolle, 1978; Wolfe and Schora, 1989), Secular climatic changes oocurrng over the ‘same interval are detected by observation of organisms that lived at sen level im the same general region and at the same time, Local climatic ‘changes are then corrected for regional secular changes before being used to infer elevation changes in the area of interest (eg, Meyer, 1986) Exhumation ‘The magnitude of the exhumation a rock has undergone may be inferred from geobarometry. Geothermometry, coupled with an estimate ‘ofthe ambient geothermal gradient, may also yield Bounds on the exhuma- tion of rocks. Geobarometes and geothermometers contain no informa tion about time, so these techniques alone cannot yield a rate of ‘exhumation. | The cooling age of a minerl should record the time at which it ‘became cool enough to retain the daughter products or the fision tracks produced by the decay of radioactive isotopes, The diferent temperatures, At which minerals close with respect to the illerent products of radioac- tive decay allow determination of a set of times when a rock cooled below various Blocking temperatures. With the assumption ofa thermal profil the rat of exhumation cam be calculated from such measurement, fer- ences of eshumation rates from fsion tracks and radiometric ages ae one (of the major advances in geochronology over the past 20 yr (eg, Clarke and Sager, 1969). HAVE THE SURFACES OF MOUNTAIN RANGES RISEN RAPIDLY? “Many reported ates of pli in mountain ranges, weated imply or cpl as rate of surface uplift, are too rapid to be accounted for by nowa rates of crustal thickening; eg the aes of 4-Simmye™! quoted by Copeland etal. (1987) for Souther Tibet, of 1-100 mamye"! by Xu (4981) forthe whole of Tibet, and of 7 mmr“! by Benjamin eta. (1987 forthe Andes: Furthermore, there are regions in which the reported Surface uplift apareny postatestsoni avy, and others in which GEOLOGY, December 1930the surface eights are believed to have been increasing at tme when the tectonic activity suggests rasa thinning ICuplift were demonstrated to occur at rates faster than can be ‘explained by crustal thickening, that demonstration would provide impor- ‘ant information on the proceses occurring inthe region. However, most reports of anomalous rats of surface uplift are based on misconception, even if such uplift may in fact have oocurred, These misconceptions abound in the structural geology and tectonics literature, but are les ‘common among geodesis, sedimentologists, and geomorphologiss who ae accustomed tous the gooid as a reference level fa the subsections that follow we cite papers providing individual examples ofthe mistakes that we discuss so thatthe reader may recognize such mistakes when they are encountered elsewhere. It is not ou intention to provide an exhaustive lis. ‘of papers containing such mistakes, nr to imply thatthe papers we cite are les than excellent in other respec. Mistaking Uplift of Rocks fr Surface Uptit Uplift rocks can yield reliable estimates of rates of surface uplift ‘when they have nt been appreciably dissected by exsion (above). The smstakes we discuss in this tion aise principally from overtookng the isostatic adjustment that accompanies erosion. ostatc adjusimeat takes ploe.on time scale of about 108 ye (eg. Cathles, 1975). In consequence, even the most rapid rates of regional erosion (afew millimetres pe yea, «8, Bloom, 1978) do not cause the surface to depart from is sostatcally balanced level by more than afew tens of mets. (For an iocoeect infeence, based on exhumation rates, ofthe rate of sottic adjustment see arson etal (1989}) ‘The uplift of ome of the rocks onthe surface ofa region is sometimes «rroneousl used to infer the change in mean surface elevation ofthe entre region. Consider a portion ofthe surface whose elevation is governed only by erosion and isstatic adjustment to the eason. The (purely hypotet- cal) situation in which erosion occurs at precisely the same rte over the whole surfce is not clevant, because sich erosion would leave 20 ‘markers from which uplift could be infered, and only exhumation could be determined. In any actual region subjet to erosion, ome portions of te land surface are denuded more rapidly than others because of the influence of rock types, rock structure, drainage patters, and rin Tsostatic response 10 such diferent eesion is regional i, the litho: sphere moves upward in response othe average removal of lead over an area of 10* km? oc more (See Tsubo, 1983, p. 203-210), Erosion reduces the thickness of the crit and, in the absence of other influences, the surface therefore moves downward with espect tothe geoid as eresion ‘occurs, while individual rocks remaining on or below the surface move upward with spect othe geoid. These individual rocks (or for example, seodetic markers tached to them) provide the basis fr a determination ‘of upif, but unless precise coretion s made forthe influence of regional erosion andthe sostatic response tit, sucha determination appies tothe ‘uplift of rock, not surface up. Geodetic techniques realy provide present surface heights and re- surveys can yield the displacement of benchmarks onthe srfce. Dis- placement of benchmarks, however, donot yield reiable determination ofthe change of surface height. Most geodetic networks are ot con- structed wih the intent of determining rates of surface uplift but, even i they wer, the only points in @ network that could be reoccupied repeat: edly forthe purposes of determining uplift rates ae those not washed away ‘or buried between surveys. Thus ina region hs undergoing osatically compensied eosin, the markers that remain move upward while the ‘mean surfice elevation fall. Geodetic determinations of uplift are, thee- fore, generally determinations ofthe uplit of rocks ony. An example of the interpretation of rock uplift s surface uplift may be found in Schaee and Jeanrchar's (1974) discussion of leveling across the Swiss Als GEOLOGY, Decter 1990 Although morphological features such as raised river terraces or ‘ised peneplains may tellus about surface uplift the logic ofthe preceding paragraphs applies to them alo, if they have been disected. De Sitter (1952) reported a Miocene, and therefore post-tctonc, erosion surface at an elevation of 700-900 m on the north slope of the Pytences which he extrapolated to about 3000 m at the center of the range. From this he inferred an increase in surface height of the Pyrenees by about 2000 ma since the Miocene epoch. This surface is nt continuous, however, but has ‘een highly dissected by streams that created the prseot juvenile land- scape. Hence, the surface uplift i surely less than 2000 m and might be negative. The uplift of rocks that de Siter (1952) reported might not be tectonically driven at all, but rather the result of denudation and its re- tional iscstatc compensation. Whereas it might be posible to make a correction forthe isostatic response to erosion over a large region it is probably impessibe to use the relative elevation or te incision of smaller features such as river terraces to ascertain regional rates of surface uplift. Mistaking Exhumation for Surface Uplift ‘Geobarometry and geothermometry provide estimates of exhumation and, combined with geochronology, of exhumation rates (see above). A bre inspection of the uncertainties involved in these measurements indi- cates that they cannot provide quantitative information on rates of change of surface height. ‘The lowest temperature associated with a cooling age is 0-100 °C. (Faure, 1986); therefore, the amount of exhumation determined from cooking ages is likely tobe atleast 1-3 km, Exhumation of this magnitude §s lage or completely compensated icsaicaly, so that any escociated change in mean surface height would be a small fraction (usually 10%-20%) ofthe exhumation eg, Tsuboi, 1983, Chapter 13). Moreover calculation of exhumation rates from rates of cooling of rocks requires & knowledge ofthe temperature profil at the time the cooling ocurred. The cerors involved in estimating transient temperature profiles at mes inthe geological past are difclt to quantify and are rarely quoted (ee Zeit 1985, fora discussion). Those errs are probably never less than 20%, and ‘may often be much more Estimates of exhumation bythe use of geother- ‘mometers and geobarometers are aso subject to uncertainties (eg, Powell and Holland, 1988) that exceed in magnitude the changes in surface height that would accompany the exhumation. Thus exhumation ats can ell us nothing about surface uplift rats, “Most reports of surface uplift based on cooling ages assume that an increase in exhumation rate reflects an increase in surface height, perhaps ‘om the grounds that erosion rates generally increase with surface height. ‘This asumption may be correct, but there are two strong arguments sgainst accepting it unquestioned, First, erosion rats depend on other factors than surface height. Second, the exhumation may not be by erosion tall. Erosion rates certainly do depend strongly on surface height, but they can also vary by an order of magnitude with changes in rainfall eg, Bloom, 1978, Table 123). In regions that are clos to isostatic equilibrium, exhumation is accompanied by a decrease in surface height. Thus an ‘increase in erosion rte may simply reflect a change in climate alone and 2 ‘more rapid lowering ofthe surface. The marked climatic changes in the las few million years may, for example, be responsible for increased rates ‘of denudation, and the craton of dramatic morphology, without any sociated surface uplift (Molnar and England, 1990). ‘The past 15 yr have brought an appreciation that many mountain ranges may have undergone important phases of extension (eg, Molnae and Tapponnier, 1975, 1978; Molnar and Chen, 1983; Plat, 1986). Such extension can produce rapid exhumation of rocks and lowering of the surface beight. Rates of tectonic exhumation ike rates of erosion, cannot ‘be used to determine mean elevation. A. quick glance at regions of active nsextension should convince anyone that there is no strong coreaton be- «ween rates of tectonic exhumation and surface height. Continental cust of the Aegean region is largely below sea level, and is extending at about 3 10-5"! (ackson and McKenzie, 1988); the surface of Tibet i at an tlttude of $ km and is extending about tn times more slowly (Molnar and Lyon-Caen, 1989). Summary ‘The uncertany in estimates of exhumation is larger than any likely ‘change in surface height accompanying the exhumation, and therefore inferences of exhumation from cooling ages, geobarometry, and geother- mometry are useless as indicators of changes in surface height. Further- ‘more, the common assumption that a measured exhumation rate and its associated rate of surface displacement have the sme sign may well be ‘wrong. The mistake of equating an exhumation rate based on rates of cooling of rocks witha rate of surface uplift has boen made often, as by Copeland et al. (1987) for Tibet, Zeter (1985) forthe Himalaya, and Benjamin etal. (1987) for the Andes. “Mistaking Changes in Climate for Changes in Surface Height ‘Changes in floral and faunal assemblages recoded in the sedimentary socks ofa region ae often regarded as indications of changes in surface clevation (eg, Xu [1981] and references cited in Powell (1986]). One problem with such inferences is that a wide variety of indicators, from ‘oxygen isotopes in foraminifera to plant esis from low elevations, show ‘that there has been a pronounced cooling of Earth's surface since the ‘beginning ofthe Cenozoic Era, The magnitude ofthis coling depends on latitude and may have been greater than 15 °C at middle to high latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere (Shackleton and Kennett, 1975; Wolfe, 1978). A drop in surface temperature of ~10 °C appears to have occurred inthe Northern Hemisphere a te end ofthe Eocene Epoch (Savin etal, 1975; Wolfe, 1978). Another phase of cooling appears to have begun, at least at high latitudes, in mile Miocene time (16-14 Ma) (Savin eta, 1975; Shackleton and Kennett, 1975). Wang (1984) inferred a compara: ‘ble Miocene drop, of roughly $-6 °C, in northern China. There is consid erable evidence fora global cooling begining atthe end of Miocene time (Kennett, 1982) and the Plestooene Epoch was a time of major slaciations ‘A second problem asociated with using terrestrial species to infer surface height changes is that some methods for estimating climatic change from the fossil reord appear tobe les reliable than others. Wolfe (1971) dlscussed crtialy the practice of inferring climatic conditions on purely taxonomic grounds, and advocated strongly the use of criteria based on the physiognomic characteris of the plans in the fossil record, Powell (1986) put forward a “model” forthe tectonics of Asia thet {ncuded, among other distinctive features, 30 my. pause inthe conver- sence of the Indian plate with Asia during atime ($0-20 Ma) when 2 considerable amount of geophysical evidence suggest tha it moved 1500 4km northward (Molnar and Tapponnier, 1975). This model is closely linked to an assumed history of uplift ofthe surface ofthe plateau (Powell, 1986, p. 85), whose principal feature is an accelerating vse in surface ‘neigh fom about 1500 to 5000 m since Inte Miocene time, that is based ‘on taxonomic changes inthe peleobotanical record. The proposed rate of uplift isnot, in isl, particularly remarkable. What makes the proposal intriguing i chat, i tis corect, about 3500 m of uplift would have ‘ocurred at a time of active normal faulting and casa thinning (Armijo et al, 1986). Iostatic compensation ofa thinning crust would inthe absence of other process, require subsidence, not uplift of the surface. I such uplift could be demonstrated and quantified, it would place an important constraint on process taking place in the upper mantle beneath Tibet (England and Houseman, 1989), 7% Unfortunately, in addition to containing mistakes ofthe character of those discussed above, the proposed history of uplift of Tibet is based on the following faulty inferences from paleobological data. Many of the ‘observations on which this history is based were made in the margins of the plateau, particularly on the north slope ofthe Himalaya, where the tectonic history is very different from that ofthe interior ofthe plateau itis ot necessarily corect to assume thatthe species preserved in deposits at the edge ofthe plateau inhabited its interior atthe same time. Moreover, few or none ofthe studies took account ofthe simultaneous global change ‘in climate when interpreting the local changes in ra as indicating surface uplift. For example, drop in mean surface temperature of 10°C owing o climatic changes since the late Miooene would if not accounted for, yield ‘an apparent surface uplift of shout 1500 m for s lapse rate of 6 °C/m. Tis not our intention to advocate a particular history of climate or uplift ofthe Tibetan plateau, but to indicate that curent estimates of surface uplift ofthe region are likely tobe inaccurate as wel as fandamen- tally qualitative because they have not been assigned meaningful ‘unceriinis CONCLUSIONS ‘We are aware of no reliable, quantitative estimates of rates of surface ‘uplift in mountain ranges that place useful constraints on tectonic proc cesses, Many observations reported as yielding rates of surface uplift in ‘mountain ranges are in fact observations of exhumation, and hence not of ‘uplift tall. Some observations provide reliable measures of the uplift of rocks, but because erosion rates canbe high, the mean surface elevations ‘may be decreasing while the rocks are uplifting. Finally, some inferences of ‘pli may be contaminated by secular climatic change. Paleobiology appears to offer the possibilty of determining quant tively changes inthe surface elevation of mountain ranges, by employing, criteria based on the physiognomy of plants inthe fossil record (Wolte, 1971, 1979; Meyer, 1986), and by taking proper account of changes in climate. Incorrect inferences of surface uplit may infuence studies of dynam- ies of other systems than the solid Earth. It seems entirely plausible tht surface uplit could profoundly affect global climate (Birchfield and ‘Weertman, 1982). Ruddiman and Raymo (1988) suggested that a rapid increase inthe clevation of mountain ranges and plateaus in the past few zillion years is, n fact, responsible fr a fundamental change in global climate. 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Geological Survey Profesional Paper 106, 37 Wolfe JA, and Scho, ILE, 1989, Paleoeclogi, aleocliatc and evsutionry ‘Sgnifcance of the Olgncene Creede fra, Colorado: Paleobiology ¥. 15, 180-198. Xu Ren, 198, Vepetational changes inthe past and pli of Qinghai Xiang ‘stay, Lis Dong Sheng. Geological and ecco studies of Qing ‘izang plateau, Volume I: Being, Science Pres. 139-144, ‘eiter, P1985, Cooling hry ofthe NW Himalys, Paks! Tectonics, v4, pia ACKNOWLEDGMENTS "This work wae supported bya Royal Soity Guest Research Fellowship o Molnar, and by Nato Exvconment Research Couns Graat GRS/TO32 and [ational Aeronautics aod Space Admitsraon Grant NAGS-795, We tank [KBarke and T. Gardner fr help reviews Manuszpt wexved March 9 1990 Revised manu eeied June 28, 190 Manasxpt accepted July 18,1990 ‘GEOLOGY, December 190 un