Drainage Density and Its Controlling Factors on the Eastern Margin of the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau

The drainage density (Dd) is an important index to show fluvial geomorphology. The study on Dd is helpful to understand the evolution of the whole hydrological and geomorphic process. Based on the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission 90-m digital elevation model, the drainage network of basins along the eastern margin of the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau is extracted using a terrain morphology-based method in ArcGIS 10.3, and Dd is calculated. The spatial characteristics of Dd are analyzed, and the relationship between Dd and its influencing factors, e.g., the topography, precipitation, and vegetation coverage, is explored. Our results show that terrains with a plan curvature ≥3 can represent the channels in the study area. Dd ranges from 2.5 to 0.1 km/km2, increases first, and then decreases from north to south on the eastern margin of the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau. Dd decreases with increasing average slope and average local relief. On the low-relief planation surfaces, Dd increases with increasing altitude, while on the rugged mountainous above planation surfaces, Dd decreases rapidly with increasing altitude. Dd first increased and then decreased with increasing mean annual precipitation (MAP) and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), and Dd reaches a maximum in the West Qinling Mountains with a semi-arid environment, indicating that Dd in different climatic regions of the eastern margin of the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau was mainly controlled by precipitation and vegetation.

Late Cretaceous granitoids of the Sikhote–Alin orogenic belt, southeastern Russia: implications for the Mesozoic geodynamic history of the eastern Asian continental margin

We present new U–Pb age data for granitoids in the Central Sikhote–Alin orogenic belt in SE Russia, which refute the established opinion about the absence of the Late Cretaceous magmatism at the eastern margin of the Paleo-Asian continent. It was previously thought that a period of magmatic quiescence occurred from 88 to 50 Ma, related to subduction of the Paleo-Pacific Plate under the eastern margin of the Paleo-Asian continent, although this is inconsistent with evidence from the Sikhote–Alin, Sakhalin, and Japan regions. Three suites of plutonic rocks with different ages were identified in this study. The first suite has ages of 105–92 Ma and formed in a syn-orogenic setting. The second (86–83 Ma) and third (ca. 73 Ma) suites formed during the post-orogenic stage of the Sikhote–Alin orogenic belt. The second and third suites were coeval with Late Cretaceous granitoids that formed in a suprasubduction continental arc known as the Eastern Sikhote–Alin volcanic–plutonic belt (ESAVPB). However, the studied rocks are located far inland from the ESAVPB. The ages of the studied granitoids coincide with the timing of a change in the angle of convergence between the Paleo-Pacific Plate and eastern margin of the Paleo-Asian continent. This change in motion of the oceanic plate with respect to the continental plate was probably caused by a rupture in the subducted slab (i.e., a slab tear), followed by asthenospheric upwelling and partial melting of the overlying crust, which ultimately generated post-orogenic intrusive magmatism.Supplementary material:https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.5738616