scholarly journals Magnetostratigraphy of Cenozoic deposits in the western Qaidam Basin and its implication for the surface uplift of the northeastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau

2015 ◽  
Vol 430 ◽  
pp. 271-283 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hong Chang ◽  
Leyi Li ◽  
Xiaoke Qiang ◽  
Carmala N. Garzione ◽  
Alexander Pullen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Qaidam Basin ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Surface Uplift ◽  
Western Qaidam Basin

scholarly journals Late Cenozoic continuous aridification in the western Qaidam Basin: evidence from sporopollen records

2013 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 1485-1508 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y. F. Miao ◽  
X. M. Fang ◽  
F. L. Wu ◽  
M. T. Cai ◽  
C. H. Song ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Middle Miocene ◽  
Qaidam Basin ◽  
East Asian ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Late Cenozoic ◽  
Plateau Uplift ◽  
Western Qaidam Basin ◽  
Global Cooling ◽  
Tibetan Plateau Uplift

Abstract. Cenozoic climate changes in inner Asia provide a basis for understanding linkages between global cooling, the Tibetan Plateau uplift, and possibly the development of the East Asian monsoon. Based on the compiled palynological results from the western Qaidam Basin, this study reconstructed an 18 Ma record of changing vegetation and paleoclimates since the middle Miocene. Thermophilic taxa percentages were highest between 18 and 14 Ma and decreased after 14 Ma, corresponding closely with the Middle Miocene Climatic Optimum (MMCO) between 18 and 14 Ma and the following global climatic cooling. After 3.6 Ma, the thermophilic taxa percentages further decreased, showing the inevitable relations with the ice-sheets enlargement in the North Hemisphere. During the same period of time, the increase in xerophytic taxa percentages and decrease in conifers percentages imply aridification in both the basin and surrounding mountains since 18 Ma. These results indicate that global cooling mainly controlled the climate change from a relative warm-wet stage to a cold-dry stage during the late Cenozoic at the western Qaidam Basin, and that the Tibetan Plateau uplift also contributed in contrast to the East Asian summer monsoon.

Late Plio-Pleistocene humidity fluctuations in the western Qaidam Basin (NE Tibetan Plateau) revealed by an integrated magnetic–palynological record from lacustrine sediments

2015 ◽  
Vol 84 (3) ◽  
pp. 457-466 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Herb ◽  
Andreas Koutsodendris ◽  
Weilin Zhang ◽  
Erwin Appel ◽  
Xiaomin Fang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Summer Monsoon ◽  
Qaidam Basin ◽  
Lacustrine Sediments ◽  
Winter Monsoon ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Arid Environments ◽  
Asian Winter Monsoon ◽  
Western Qaidam Basin ◽  
Dry Conditions

Deciphering the climatic evolution of the Tibetan Plateau region during the Plio-Pleistocene is hampered by the lack of continuous archives and proxy datasets indicative of moisture availability. Here we assess the suitability of magnetic susceptibility (χ) measured on lacustrine sediments as a paleohydrological proxy based on material from drill core SG-1 (2.69–0.08 Ma) from the western Qaidam Basin. Our assessment is based on directly comparing χ with theArtemisia/Chenopodiaceae (A/C) pollen ratio, which represents a sensitive, well-established proxy for moisture changes in arid environments. We find that higher and lower χ values represent drier and less dry conditions, respectively, for the Late Plio-Pleistocene. Less dry phases were likely caused by transiently increased influence of the westerlies and/or decreased influence of the Asian winter monsoon on glacial–interglacial time scales. An exception from this relationship is the interval between ~ 1.9 and 1.3 Ma, when the SG-1 χ record exhibits a 54 ka cyclicity, which may indicate summer monsoon influence on the Qaidam Basin during that time. After ~ 1.3 Ma, the summer monsoon influence may have ceased due to global cooling, with the consequence that the Asian winter monsoon and the westerlies exerted a stronger control on the hydrology of the Qaidam Basin.

scholarly journals Cenozoic uplift of the Tibetan Plateau: Evidence from the tectonic–sedimentary evolution of the western Qaidam Basin

2012 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 175-187 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yadong Wang ◽  
Jianjing Zheng ◽  
Weilin Zhang ◽  
Shiyuan Li ◽  
Xingwang Liu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Qaidam Basin ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Sedimentary Evolution ◽  
Western Qaidam Basin

scholarly journals Linking deeply-sourced volatile emissions to plateau growth dynamics in southeastern Tibetan Plateau

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Maoliang Zhang ◽  
Zhengfu Guo ◽  
Sheng Xu ◽  
Peter H. Barry ◽  
Yuji Sano ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Growth Dynamics ◽  
High Elevation ◽  
Fault System ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Southeastern Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Surface Uplift ◽  
Multi Stage ◽  
Geodynamic Processes ◽  
Underlying Mechanisms

AbstractThe episodic growth of high-elevation orogenic plateaux is controlled by a series of geodynamic processes. However, determining the underlying mechanisms that drive plateau growth dynamics over geological history and constraining the depths at which growth originates, remains challenging. Here we present He-CO2-N2 systematics of hydrothermal fluids that reveal the existence of a lithospheric-scale fault system in the southeastern Tibetan Plateau, whereby multi-stage plateau growth occurred in the geological past and continues to the present. He isotopes provide unambiguous evidence for the involvement of mantle-scale dynamics in lateral expansion and localized surface uplift of the Tibetan Plateau. The excellent correlation between 3He/4He values and strain rates, along the strike of Indian indentation into Asia, suggests non-uniform distribution of stresses between the plateau boundary and interior, which modulate southeastward growth of the Tibetan Plateau within the context of India-Asia convergence. Our results demonstrate that deeply-sourced volatile geochemistry can be used to constrain deep dynamic processes involved in orogenic plateau growth.

Paleolake salinity evolution in the Qaidam Basin (NE Tibetan Plateau) between ~42 and 29 Ma: Links to global cooling and Paratethys sea incursions

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chengcheng Ye ◽  
Yibo Yang ◽  
Xiaomin Fang ◽  
Weilin Zhang ◽  
Chunhui Song ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Middle Eocene ◽  
Qaidam Basin ◽  
Regional Climate ◽  
Regional Climate Change ◽  
Driving Mechanism ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Early Oligocene ◽  
Global Cooling

<p>Global cooling, the early uplift of the Tibetan Plateau, and the retreat of the Paratethys are three main factors that regulate long-term climate change in the Asian interior during the Cenozoic. However, the debated elevation history of the Tibetan Plateau and the overlapping climate effects of the Tibetan Plateau uplift and Paratethys retreat makes it difficult to assess the driving mechanism on regional climate change in a particular period. Some recent progress suggests that precisely dated Paratethys transgression/regression cycles appear to have fluctuated over broad regions with low relief in the northern Tibetan Plateau in the middle Eocene–early Oligocene, when the global climate was characterized by generally continuous cooling followed by the rapid Eocene–Oligocene climate transition (EOT). Therefore, a middle Eocene–early Oligocene record from the Asian interior with unambiguous paleoclimatic implications offers an opportunity to distinguish between the climatic effects of the Paratethys retreat and those of global cooling.</p><p>Here, we present a complete paleolake salinity record from middle Eocene to early Miocene (~42-29 Ma) in the Qaidam Basin using detailed clay boron content and clay mineralogical investigations. Two independent paleosalimeters, equivalent boron and Couch’s salinity, collectively present a three-staged salinity evolution, from an oligohaline–mesohaline environment in the middle Eocene (42-~34 Ma) to a mesosaline environment in late Eocene-early Oligocene (~34-~29 Ma). This clay boron-derived salinity evolution is further supported by the published chloride-based and ostracod-based paleosalinity estimates in the Qaidam Basin. Our quantitative paleolake reconstruction between ~42 and 29 Ma in the Qaidam Basin resembles the hydroclimate change in the neighboring Xining Basin, of which both present good agreement with changes of marine benthic oxygen isotope compositions. We thus speculated that the secular trend of clay boron-derived paleolake salinity in ~42-29 Ma is primarily controlled by global cooling, which regulates regional climate change by influencing the evaporation capacity in the moisture source of Qaidam Basin. Superimposed on this trend, the Paratethys transgression/regression cycles served as an important factor regulating wet/dry fluctuations in the Asian interior between ~42 and ~34 Ma.</p>

Clay minerals and isotopes of Pleistocene lacustrine sediments from the western Qaidam Basin, NE Tibetan Plateau

2018 ◽  
Vol 162 ◽  
pp. 382-390 ◽  
Author(s):  
Minghui Li ◽  
Shurui Sun ◽  
Xiaomin Fang ◽  
Chunhong Wang ◽  
Zhengrong Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Clay Minerals ◽  
Qaidam Basin ◽  
Lacustrine Sediments ◽  
Western Qaidam Basin ◽  
Ne Tibetan Plateau

Miocene Olivine Leucitites in the Hoh Xil Basin, Northern Tibet: Implications for Intracontinental Lithosphere Melting and Surface Uplift of the Tibetan Plateau

2020 ◽  
Vol 61 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yue Qi ◽  
Qiang Wang ◽  
Ying-Tang Zhu ◽  
Lian-Chang Shi ◽  
Ya-Nan Yang
Keyword(s):  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Lithospheric Mantle ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Nd Isotope ◽  
Northern Tibet ◽  
Surface Uplift ◽  
Enriched Mantle ◽  
Magmatic Rocks ◽  
Low Degree ◽  
Pliocene Magmatism

Abstract The generation of Miocene–Pliocene post-collisional magmatic rocks in northern Tibet was coeval with surface uplift, meaning that understanding the petrogenesis of these rocks should provide clues to the mechanism of uplift of the Tibetan Plateau. However, the nature of the source(s) of Miocene–Pliocene post-collisional rocks is unresolved, especially for potassic–ultrapotassic rocks. This study focuses on 16 Ma olivine leucitites in the Hoh Xil Basin of northern Tibet, which display the lowest SiO2 (43·4–48·8 wt%) contents of all Miocene–Pliocene magmatic rocks in northern Tibet and have high MgO (4·85–8·57 wt%) contents and high K2O/Na2O (>1) ratios. Whole-rock geochemical compositions suggest that the olivine leucitites did not undergo significant fractional crystallization or crustal assimilation. All samples are enriched in large ion lithophile elements relative to high field strength elements, and they exhibit uniform whole-rock Sr–Nd isotope [(87Sr/86Sr)i = 0·7071–0·7077 and εNd(t) = −3·1 to −3·9] and olivine O isotope (5·8–6·6 ‰, mean of 6·2 ± 0·2 ‰, n = 21) compositions. We propose that the olivine leucitites were derived by low-degree partial melting of phlogopite-lherzolite in garnet-facies lithospheric mantle. Given the tectonic evolution of the Hoh Xil Basin and adjacent areas, we suggest that southward subduction of Asian (Qaidam block) lithosphere after India–Asia collision transferred potassium and other incompatible elements into the lithospheric mantle, forming the K-enriched mantle source of the Miocene–Pliocene potassic–ultrapotassic rocks. Removal of lower lithospheric mantle subsequently induced voluminous Miocene–Pliocene magmatism and generated >1 km surface uplift in the Hoh Xil Basin.

scholarly journals Monitoring 40-Year Lake Area Changes of the Qaidam Basin, Tibetan Plateau, Using Landsat Time Series

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 343 ◽  
Author(s):  
Huiying Li ◽  
Dehua Mao ◽  
Xiaoyan Li ◽  
Zongming Wang ◽  
Cuizhen Wang
Keyword(s):  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Human Impacts ◽  
Qaidam Basin ◽  
Salt Lakes ◽  
Anthropogenic Factors ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Lake Area ◽  
Landsat Images

Areal changes of high-altitude inland lakes on the Qaidam Basin (QB) of the Tibetan Plateau are reliable indicators of climate change and anthropogenic disturbance. Due to the physical difficulties to access, our knowledge of the spatial patterns and processes of climatic and human impacts on the Basin has been limited. Focusing on lake area changes, this study used long-term Landsat images to map the patterns of lakes and glaciers in 1977, 1990, 2000, and 2015, and to monitor the spatially explicit changes of lakes between 1977 and 2015. Results revealed that the total number of lakes (area > 0.5 km2) increased by 18, while their total area expanded by 29.8%, from 1761.5 ± 88.1 km2 to 2285.9 ± 91.4 km2. Meanwhile, glaciers have decreased in area by 259.16 km2 in the past four decades. The structural equation model (SEM) was applied to examine the integrative effects of natural and anthropogenic factors on lake area. Precipitation change exhibited the most significant influence on lake area in the QB from 1977 to 2000, while human activities also played an important role in the expansion of lakes in the QB in the period 2000–2015. In particular, extensive exploitation of salt lakes as mining resources resulted in severe changes in lake area and landscape. The continuously expanding salt lakes inundated the road infrastructure nearby, posing great threats to road safety. This study shed new light on the impacts of recent environmental changes and human interventions on lakes in the Qaidam Basin, which could assist policy-making for protecting the lakes and for strengthening the ecological improvement of this vast, arid basin.

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