Article
Geology
Bin Yong, Chi-Yuen Wang, Jiansheng Chen, Jiaqi Chen, D. A. Barry, Tao Wang, Ling Li
Summary: The Qiangtang Basin in the Tibetan Plateau, previously considered a dry region, is found to have a significant amount of missing water annually, which flows out of the basin through underground passages. This discovery challenges the traditional view of the basin's hydrology and calls for a rethink of the regional water balance.
Article
Geology
Wenjun Bi, Zhongpeng Han, Yalin Li, Chengming Li, Chengshan Wang, Jiawei Zhang, Jianyun Han, Haiyang He, Xinyu Qian, Tiankun Xu, Zining Ma
Summary: The deformation and cooling history of the Qiangtang terrane is controlled by various factors, experiencing different stages of structural deformation and rapid cooling at different times. The early evolution of the Qiangtang terrane since the Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous was influenced by northward flat subduction of the Bangong-Nujiang oceanic slab, oblique convergence between Lhasa and Qiangtang terranes, and northward intracontinental subduction beneath the Qiangtang terrane induced by the Indo-Asian collision.
INTERNATIONAL GEOLOGY REVIEW
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Meng Li, Baisha Weng, Denghua Yan, Wuxia Bi, Hao Wang
Summary: Study shows that most lakes in the Qiangtang Plateau on the Tibetan Plateau are expanding, mainly concentrated in the middle of the plateau; changes in lake area are influenced by variations in precipitation and glaciers, with seven different driving models proposed to explain the changes in lake area.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2022)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Pengju He, Chunhui Song, Yadong Wang, Yihu Zhang, Wenqi Chen, Qingquan Meng, Yuanhao Zhao
Summary: The Cenozoic tectonic evolution of the North Qaidam-Qilian Shan fold-thrust belt in the northern Tibetan Plateau plays a crucial role in understanding the tectonic rejuvenation and plateau growth. New apatite fission track data from Paleogene strata in the northern Qaidam Basin suggest a noticeable transition from heating to cooling after approximately 10 Ma, attributed to intensified thrusting and folding activities in the region since that time.
FRONTIERS IN EARTH SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Geology
Guoqing Xia, Chihua Wu, Ahmed Mansour, Xin Jin, Haisheng Yi, Gaojie Li, Qiushuang Fan, Zhiqiang Shi, Julian B. Murton, Junling Pei, Juan Pedro Rodriguez-Lopez
Summary: Intermittent cryospheric processes occurred in the midlatitude Northern Hemisphere during the late Eocene and Eocene-Oligocene transition, as evidenced by the presence of frost marks, ice-rafted debris (IRD), and glendonites in the Lunpola Basin of the central Tibetan Plateau. These cryospheric deposits, dated to approximately 36.2-31.8 Ma, provide robust continental evidence for the influence of the global cold snap EOT-1 on already glacierized high-altitude mountains, resulting in the development of ice fields, ice caps, and valley glaciers with proglacial lake systems.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Yuanyuan Sun, Yu Liang, Hu Liu, Jun Liu, Junliang Ji, Xue Ke, Xiaobo Liu, Yuxin He, Huanye Wang, Bin Zhang, Yongsu Zhang, Guangsheng Zhuang, Junling Pei, Yongxiang Li, Cheng Quan, Jianxing Li, Jonathan C. Aitchison, Weiguo Liu, Zhonghui Liu
Summary: Unusual geochemical indicators of marine signatures in the Cenozoic terrestrial strata of the Qaidam Basin suggest a mid-Miocene basin altitude close to sea level, providing evidence for the outward growth of the Tibetan Plateau and its subsequent uplift.
COMMUNICATIONS EARTH & ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Xudong Zhao, Huiping Zhang, Richard O. Lease, Ying Wang, Jianzhang Pang, Yifei Li, Ping Wang, Jiawei Zhang, Hao Xie, Yizhou Wang, Yaling Tao, Zifa Ma, Jianguo Xiong, Peizhen Zhang
Summary: The study of the Ninglang Basin reveals that a south-flowing drainage system existed around 45 million years ago, indicating early surface uplift in the eastern Tibetan Plateau. The research supports that the high topography of eastern Tibet was established in the late Eocene.
GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2023)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Fan Yi, Haisheng Yi, Guoqing Xia, Chihua Wu, Gaojie Li, Zhanhu Cai, Na Li
Summary: The Lower Jurassic oil shales in the Bilong Co area are the most important hydrocarbon source rocks in the southern Qiangtang Basin, deposited primarily from marine plankton/algae under suboxic conditions with minimal freshwater input. The deposition of these shales was driven by preservation rather than productivity, influenced by sluggish oceanic circulation and a hydrographically restricted setting.
MARINE AND PETROLEUM GEOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Yihu Zhang, Chunhui Song, Pengju He, Qingquan Meng, Yadong Wang, Zhiyao Zhou, Weijian Ma, Jun Guo
Summary: Through studying the Nangqian Basin, the deformation and growth of the eastern Tibetan Plateau during the Mesozoic are discovered. The sedimentary sequences in the Nangqian Basin show three phases of coarse clastic deposition, indicating simultaneous regional deformation. The tectonic development history of the Nangqian region suggests that the growth of the Tibetan Plateau is episodic and synchronous but with varying amplitudes.
JOURNAL OF ASIAN EARTH SCIENCES
(2023)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Caixia Hu, Wanming Yuan, Zhidan Zhao, Li Yang, Zirui Feng, Shujiong Hong, Mingming Zhao, Shiyu Li
Summary: The Chakabeishan area in Northwest China has undergone four tectonic activity stages, with ages ranging from 159-144 Ma, 114-100 Ma, 72 Ma, and 52-32 Ma. Thermal history modelling revealed three episodes of uplift at 120-60 Ma, 60-18 Ma, and 18-0 Ma. The area is characterized by multi-stage mineralization, mainly occurring in the Late Jurassic-Cretaceous.
JOURNAL OF ASIAN EARTH SCIENCES
(2023)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Heng Peng, Jianqiang Wang, Chiyang Liu, Ming Ma, Qian Ma, Keliang Li, Jinli Pan, Jiaoli Li, Yang Qin, Qiangwang Xie, Massimiliano Zattin
Summary: This study used apatite fission-track analysis to determine the uplift and exhumation history of the eastern Qilian Shan in the Tibetan Plateau. The results showed that the main stage of growth and thickening occurred during the Middle Jurassic-Early Cretaceous, and the Late Cretaceous was a period of intense uplift and deformation. The cooling of the eastern margin of the Qilian Shan during the Late Eocene-Early Miocene was attributed to crustal extension. The study also found no evidence of intense reactivation in the late Cenozoic period in the Xiji region. These findings have implications for regional hydrocarbon exploration.
MARINE AND PETROLEUM GEOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Daniel E. Ibarra, Jingen Dai, Yuan Gao, Xinghai Lang, Pengzhen Duan, Zongjun Gao, Jiquan Chen, Katharina Methner, Lijuan Sha, Hui Tong, Xu Han, Dicheng Zhu, Yalin Li, Juxing Tang, Hai Cheng, C. Page Chamberlain, Chengshan Wang
Summary: Based on the comparison of triple oxygen isotopes, it is found that substantial uplift of the Gangdese Arc in southern Lhasa occurred by 63 to 61 million years ago before the collision of the Indian and Eurasian continental plates. This high palaeoelevation estimate challenges previous assumptions about the necessity of continent-continent collision for the formation of substantial topography in southern Tibet.
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Zhongbao Zhao, Haijian Lu, Shiguang Wang, Haibing Li, Chao Li, Dongliang Liu, Jiawei Pan, Yong Zheng, Minkun Bai
Summary: Research indicates that the relatively low and flat topography of the Qiangtang Terrane (QT) in the Tibetan Plateau (TP) was mostly formed before 40 million years ago. The QT experienced multiple-stage uplift processes, controlled by crustal thickening before 40 million years ago and lithospheric mantle delamination during the Oligocene.
FRONTIERS IN EARTH SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Geology
Xiang-Fei Zhang, Wen-Chang Li, Rui Wang, Liang Zhang, Kun-Feng Qiu, Yu-Qin Wang
Summary: Thermochronology is an effective tool to study the uplift and exhumation history of ore deposits. This study focused on the Xiuwacu tungsten-molybdenite deposit in the Yidun Terrane, Eastern Tibetan Plateau, revealing a history of rapid cooling and subsequent gradual cooling of the deposit over millions of years. The study suggests there may be potential for discovering concealed orebodies at depth beneath the current mining level at Xiuwacu.
ORE GEOLOGY REVIEWS
(2021)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Lijun Shen, Jian Wang, Xiugen Fu, Hengye Wei, Jiafeng Zhao, Sa Xiao, Chunyan Song
Summary: By analyzing the stable isotope results of the lacustrine carbonate cement and pollen assemblages from the middle Eocene Suonahu Formation, this study reveals the paleoclimate and paleoelevation characteristics of the northern Qiangtang basin in the central Tibetan Plateau during the middle Eocene. The results suggest that the Suonahu Formation was deposited in lacustrine-evaporation environments with a subtropical-temperate vegetation type. The reconstructed paleoelevation of the northern Qiangtang terrane during the middle Eocene-early Oligocene was approximately 2830 meters, 2200 meters lower than the present-day elevation.
JOURNAL OF ASIAN EARTH SCIENCES
(2023)