Drainage development related to blind thrust evolution along the Flaming Mountain, Turpan Basin, Xinjiang, NW China

This paper presents an investigation of drainage development at the western tip of the Flaming Mountain blind thrust anticline in the Turpan Basin, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, NW China. A Digital Elevation Model (DEM) derived from Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) stereo imagery, ASTER multispectral imagery, declassified Corona satellite photography and fieldwork have been used to classify the geomorphology of the western twenty kilometres of the fold. Fluvial stream morphology mapped from imagery, topographic profiles, and longitudinal stream profiles indicate stream deflections around the fold tip, water gaps, and wind gaps. These preserved geomorphic features in the latest uplifted and folded terrain indicate a dynamic link between erosional processes and tectonic uplift suggesting westward propagation of the blind thrust fold during the Quaternary.