The tectonic evolution of the Tibetan Plateau

1988 ◽  
Vol 327 (1594) ◽  
pp. 379-413 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Late Jurassic ◽  
Middle Eocene ◽  
Late Triassic ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Peninsular India ◽  
Lhasa Terrane ◽  
Lateral Extrusion ◽  
Palaeomagnetic Data ◽  
Normal Thickness

The Tibetan Plateau, between the Kunlun Shan and the Himalayas, consists of terranes accreted successively to Eurasia. The northernmost, the Songban Ganzi Terrane, was accreted to the Kunlun (Tarim-North China Terrane) along the Kunlun-Qinling Suture during the late Permian. The Qiangtang Terrane accreted to the Songban-Ganzi along the Jinsha Suture during the late Triassic or earliest Jurassic, the Lhasa Terrane to the Qiangtang along the Banggong Suture during the late Jurassic and, finally, Peninsular India to the Lhasa Terrane along the Zangbo Suture during the Middle Eocene. The Kunlun Shan, Qiangtang and Lhasa Terranes are all underlain by Precambrian continental crust at least a billion years old. The Qiangtang and Lhasa Terranes came from Gondwanaland. Substantial southward ophiolite obduction occurred across the Lhasa Terrane from the Banggong Suture in the late Jurassic and from the Zangbo Suture in the latest Cretaceous-earliest Palaeocene. Palaeomagnetic data suggest successive wide Palaeotethyan oceans during the late Palaeozoic and early Mesozoic and a Neotethys which was at least 6000 km wide during the mid-Cretaceous. Thickening of the Tibetan crust to almost double the normal thickness occurred by northward-migrating north-south shortening and vertical stretching during the mid-Eocene to earliest Miocene indentation of Asia by India; Neogene strata are almost flat-lying and rest unconformably upon Palaeogene or older strata. Since the early Miocene, the northward motion of India has been accommodated principally by north south shortening both north and south of Tibet. From early Pliocene to the Present, the Tibetan Plateau has risen by about two kilometres and has suffered east-west extension. Little, if any, of the India Eurasia convergence has been accommodated by eastward lateral extrusion.

Three stages of arc migration in the Carboniferous-Triassic in northern Qiangtang, central Tibet, China: Ridge subduction and asynchronous slab rollback of the Jinsha Paleotethys

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yin Liu ◽  
Wenjiao Xiao ◽  
Brian F. Windley ◽  
Kefa Zhou ◽  
Rongshe Li ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Volcanic Rocks ◽  
Late Triassic ◽  
Geochemical Data ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Ridge Subduction ◽  
Temporal Relationships ◽  
Slab Rollback ◽  
Geodynamic Processes ◽  
Central Tibet

Carboniferous-Triassic magmatism in northern Qiangtang, central Tibet, China, played a key role in the evolution of the Tibetan Plateau yet remains a subject of intense debate. New geochronological and geochemical data from adakitic, Nb-enriched, and normal arc magmatic rocks, integrated with results from previous studies, enable us to determine the Carboniferous-Triassic (312−205 Ma), arc-related, plutonic-volcanic rocks in northern Qiangtang. Spatial-temporal relationships reveal three periods of younging including southward (312−252 Ma), rapid northward (249−237 Ma), and normal northward (234−205 Ma) migrations that correspond to distinct slab geodynamic processes including continentward slab shallowing, rapid trenchward slab rollback, and normal trenchward rollback of the Jinsha Paleotethys rather than the Longmuco-Shuanghu Paleotethys, respectively. Moreover, varying degrees of coexistence of adakites/High-Mg andesites (HMAs)/Nb-enriched basalt-andesites (NEBs) and intraplate basalts in the above-mentioned stages is consistent with the magmatic effects of slab window triggered by ridge subduction, which probably started since the Late Carboniferous and continued into the Late Triassic. The Carboniferous-Triassic multiple magmatic migrations and ridge-subduction scenarios provide new insight into the geodynamic processes of the Jinsha Paleotethys and the growth mechanism of the Tibetan Plateau.

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>

Palaeomagnetic results from the Tibetan Plateau

1988 ◽  
Vol 327 (1594) ◽  
pp. 239-262 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Frame Of Reference ◽  
Blocking Temperature ◽  
High Coercivity ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Present Position ◽  
Lhasa Terrane ◽  
Igneous Province ◽  
Oriented Samples ◽  
Qiangtang Terrane

Palaeomagnetic measurements were carried out on 1325 oriented samples collected from 246 sites on a traverse of the Tibetan Plateau from Lhasa to Golmud in 1985, crossing the Lhasa Terrane, Qiangtang Terrane, and Kunlun Terrane. High blocking temperature, high coercivity, statistically grouped magnetizations were isolated from the following units: Lhasa Terrane — Cretaceous Takena Formation, mid-Cretaceous Nagqu volcanics, mid-Cretaceous Qelico volcanics; Qiangtang Terrane - Norian Batang Group volcanics, Kimmeridgian Yanshiping Group, Paleocene to Eocene Fenghuoshan Group; Kunlun Terrane — Visean to Namurian Dagangou Formation, dykes of the Triassic igneous province. The Triassic data from the Kunlun Terrane, Triassic and Lower Tertiary data from the Qiangtang Terrane and the Cretaceous data from the Lhasa Terrane indicate palaeolatitudes ca . 20° S of their present position within the Eurasian frame of reference. A possible interpretation is that the terranes successively accreted to Eurasia and remained in the southern position until the convergence of India drove them northward via a process of tectonic shortening and/or displacement of continental crust. The Carboniferous data from the Kunlun Terrane are consistent with moderate Southern Hemisphere latitude, well separated from Eurasia which was in the Northern Hemisphere at this time, implying the existence of ocean crust between these blocks during the Carboniferous.

Lower Cretaceous Strata in the Lhasa Terrane, Tibet, with Implications for Understanding the Early Tectonic History of the Tibetan Plateau

2007 ◽  
Vol 77 (10) ◽  
pp. 809-825 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. L. Leier ◽  
P. G. DeCelles ◽  
P. Kapp ◽  
G. E. Gehrels
Keyword(s):  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Lower Cretaceous ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Lhasa Terrane ◽  
Tectonic History ◽  
History Of

Late Triassic orogenic assembly of the Tibetan Plateau: constraints from magmatism and metamorphism in the east Lhasa terrane

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yanfei Chen ◽  
Zeming Zhang ◽  
Richard M Palin ◽  
Zuolin Tian ◽  
Hua Xiang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Crustal Thickening ◽  
Late Triassic ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Plate Convergence ◽  
Lhasa Terrane ◽  
The North ◽  
Tectonic History ◽  
Peak Metamorphism ◽  
Tethys Ocean ◽  
Lower Crustal

Abstract The early Mesozoic evolution of the Lhasa terrane, which represents a major component of the Himalayan-Tibetan orogen, remains highly controversial. In particular, geological units and events documented either side of the eastern Himalayan syntaxis (EHS) are poorly correlated. Here, we report new petrological, geochemical and geochronological data for co-genetic peraluminous S-type granites and metamorphic rocks (gneiss and schist) from the Motuo–Bomi–Chayu region of the eastern Lhasa terrane, located on the eastern flank of the EHS. Zircon U–Pb dating indicates that these units record both Late Triassic magmatic (216–206 Ma) and metamorphic (209–198 Ma) episodes. The granites were derived from a Paleoproterozoic crustal source with negative zircon εHf(t) values (–5.5 to –16.6) and TDM2 model ages of 1.51–1.99 Ga, and are interpreted to have formed by crustal anatexis of nearby metasediments during collisional orogeny and crustal thickening. The gneisses and schists experienced similar upper amphibolite-facies peak metamorphism and associated partial melting, followed by decompressional cooling and retrograde metamorphism. These rocks were buried to lower-crustal depths and then exhumated to the surface in a collisional orogenic setting during plate convergence. From comparison of these data to other metamorphic belts with similar grades and ages, and association of coeval granitic magmatism widespread in the central-east Lhasa terrane, we propose that the studied co-genetic magmatism and metamorphism in the Motuo–Bomi–Chayu region records Late Triassic accretion of the North Lhasa and South Lhasa terranes, which represents the first evidence of the Paleo-Tethys ocean (PTO) closure in this part of Asia. These data provide new constraints on the spatial and temporal evolution of the Paleo-Tethyan Wilson Cycle and provide a ‘missing link’ to correlate the geology and tectonic history of the Lhasa terrane continental crust on either side of the EHS.

scholarly journals Constructing the Eastern Margin of the Tibetan Plateau During the Late Triassic

2018 ◽  
Vol 123 (12) ◽  
pp. 10,449-10,459 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qiong-Yao Zhan ◽  
Di-Cheng Zhu ◽  
Qing Wang ◽  
Peter A. Cawood ◽  
Jin-Cheng Xie ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Late Triassic ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Eastern Margin

Palaeomagnetic constraints on Himalayan-Tibetan tectonic evolution

1988 ◽  
Vol 326 (1589) ◽  
pp. 177-188 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
South China ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Indian Subcontinent ◽  
Eastern China ◽  
Crustal Thickening ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
South China Block ◽  
The South ◽  
Palaeomagnetic Data

Palaeomagnetic data from the Lhasa, Qiangtang and Kunlun Terranes of the Tibetan Plateau are used with data from stable Eurasia, eastern China and Indochina, to test different models of crustal thickening in the Tibetan Plateau, to attempt a Carboniferous palaeogeographic reconstruction, and to calculate the relative motion between the South China Block and the Indochina Block. The data suggest that since the onset of the India—Eurasia collision, the Lhasa Terrane has moved 2000 + 800 km north with respect to stable Eurasia. This indicates that strong internal defomation must have taken place in southern Eurasia since the collision, and thus challenges the model of large-scale underthrusting of the Indian subcontinent beneath the Tibetan Plateau as the mechanism for crustal thickening in Tibet. Palaeomagnetic results from the Kunlun Terrane show that it was at 22° south latitude during the Carboniferous. A Carboniferous reconstruction is presented in which the Kunlun and Qiangtang Terranes, several Indochina terranes, and the North and South China Blocks are grouped together. These units of continental crust all share the specific tropical and subtropical Cathaysian flora, and the group is therefore called the Cathaysian composite continent. To test the model of propagating extrusion tectonics, we have used newly available palaeomagnetic results from South China and Indochina to calculate probable displacements. This exercise suggests a rotation of about 8° of Indochina with respect to the South China Block that is smaller than the predicted rotation of 40°, A large eastward translation of the South China Block relative to the Indochina Block of about 1500 km is consistent with the palaeomagnetic data.

scholarly journals Preface

1988 ◽  
Vol 327 (1594) ◽  
pp. 3-4
Keyword(s):  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
Unique Feature ◽  
Tibet Plateau ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Southern Tibet ◽  
The Past ◽  
Collision Tectonics ◽  
The World ◽  
Normal Thickness

The Tibetan Plateau is a unique feature of the Earth’s surface. Its elevation, 5 km above sea level, and a crust twice the normal thickness, have long been recognized as resultin g from the collision o f the Indian and Eurasian continents. The region is regarded as the prime example of collision tectonics. However, because Tibet was for long virtually inaccessible to geologists from the rest of the world, the mechanism by which the Plateau evolved and by which the crust was doubled in thickness, remained speculative. During the past two decades, Chinese geologists have explored and systematically mapped much of this vast and largely uninhabited region ; Academia Sinica mounted a series of geological expeditions. The results of this and other work were presented at an international symposium on the Qinghai—Xizang (Tibet) Plateau in Beijing in 1980 and demonstrated on a traverse through southern Tibet from Lhasa to Kathmandu .

Quantifying the P-T-t conditions of north-south Lhasa terrane accretion: new insight into the pre-Himalayan architecture of the Tibetan plateau

2014 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 91-113 ◽  
Author(s):  
O. M. Weller ◽  
M. R. St-Onge ◽  
M. P. Searle ◽  
D. J. Waters ◽  
N. Rayner ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Lhasa Terrane ◽  
Terrane Accretion ◽  
Insight Into

Late Triassic granitoids of the eastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau: Geochronology, petrogenesis and implications for tectonic evolution

Lithos ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 96 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 436-452 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Xiao ◽  
H.F. Zhang ◽  
J.D. Clemens ◽  
Q.W. Wang ◽  
Z.Z. Kan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Tectonic Evolution ◽  
Late Triassic ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Eastern Margin
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