Holocene marine chronologies for three segments of the Coastal Range o
f east Taiwan indicate that there has been broadly uniform uplift of a
bout 3-5 mm/yr during the past 8000 yr. Previous reports have cited lo
cal Holocene uplift rates as high as 14 mm/yr, and geodetic measuremen
ts indicate uplift of as much as 20 mm/yr. Furthermore, the seismic re
cord reflects contraction of 26-54 mm/yr, whereas the Luzon volcanic a
re is here being subducted beneath Eurasia at an average rate of 68 mm
/yr. We attribute the discrepancies in both uplift and contractional m
easurements to distributed deformation between upthrust imbricate slic
es of an accreted sediment prism, the vertical component being taken u
p by serial reverse slip on the thrusts that bound the slices and the
horizontal component being taken up by serial strike slip along the th
rusts.