近日，南方科技大学胡佳顺团队揭示了正在进行的印度-欧亚大陆碰撞主要由苏门答腊-爪哇板块拉力驱动。2025年8月19日出版的《自然—地球科学》杂志发表了这项成果。
自古第三纪早期以来，印度-欧亚大陆的持续融合导致了青藏高原的形成。然而，这种长期趋同的主要驱动机制仍存在争议，限制了人们对大陆碰撞动力学的理解。
研究组通过将高分辨率、板块边界分辨率的全球对流模型与观测约束相结合，对这种收敛的各种驱动力进行了整体量化。尽管不同的力可以产生观察到的板块运动，但他们表明，当除了板块运动外，还使用印度-澳大利亚板块内应力和应变率作为约束时，主要驱动力可以得到明确的约束。
具体来说，研究组发现印度-澳大利亚板块内应力方向转变的位置对板块边界力的相对强度高度敏感。当板块运动和这种应力方向转变同时吻合时，他们发现苏门答腊-爪哇俯冲的板块拉力是印度-欧亚大陆趋同的主要驱动力，大陆碰撞起着整体阻力，排除了地幔基底阻力的次要作用。研究组认为，自青藏高原隆升开始以来，来自邻近俯冲带的板块牵引一直是其主要驱动力，因此这可能是地球历史上的一个特殊事件。
附：英文原文
Title: Ongoing India–Eurasia collision predominantly driven by Sumatra–Java slab pull
Author: Zheng, Qunfan, Hu, Jiashun, Gurnis, Michael, Chen, Ling, Shi, Yaolin, Bao, Xueyang, Yang, Yingjie
Issue&Volume: 2025-08-19
Abstract: Continued India–Eurasia convergence since the early Palaeogene has led to the formation of the Tibetan Plateau. Yet the primary driving mechanisms of this protracted convergence remain debated, limiting our understanding of continental collision dynamics. Here we provide a holistic quantification of various driving forces to this convergence by integrating high-resolution, plate-boundary-resolving global convection models with observational constraints. Whereas different forces can produce the observed plate motion, we show that the primary driving force can be definitively constrained when Indo-Australian intraplate stress and strain rates are used as constraints in addition to plate motions. Specifically, we identify that the position of the transition in stress orientation within the Indo-Australian plate is highly sensitive to the relative strength of plate-boundary forces. When the plate motion and this stress-orientation transition are fit simultaneously, we find slab pull from Sumatra–Java subduction is the predominant driving force of India–Eurasia convergence with continental collision exerting an overall resisting force and rule out mantle basal drag playing more than a secondary role. We suggest slab pull from adjacent subduction zones has been the primary driver of the uplift of the Tibetan Plateau since its onset and so this may be an exceptional event in Earth’s history.
DOI: 10.1038/s41561-025-01771-8
Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-025-01771-8