ABSTRACT
Recent studies on palaeobiogeography, sedimentology and palaeomagnetism show that the Indian plate and the terranes of the Qinghai-Tibet plateau accreted to Eurasia during the Late Palaeozoic to Mesozoic did not drift northward across a vast ocean. At that time there was only an epeiric sea or a “limited ocean basin” rather than a “vast eastward opening Tethys”. With the acquisition of the data of geodetic leveling, GPS and fission track dating, the uplift rates of the Qinghai-Tibet plateau (QTP) have been inferred. The uplifting of the QTP can be subdivided into three major stages, the slow uplifting stage in Late Cretaceous-Oligocene, the intermediate uplifting stage in Miocene-Pliocene and the rapid uplifting stage in Pleistocene-Holocene. The uplift rates increased with time. There were probably two abrupt epochs: one was around Late Miocene and the other around Late Pliocene-Pleistocene. Based on the recent geological and geophysical data, we suggest that the causes of the rise of the QTP are complex and involve many factors. Our preliminary study indicates that the compression from the India terrane and the resistive force (or hysteresis effect) from the rigid blocks (the Tarim and Yangtze terranes), the thermal effects and expansion, and the isostatic adjustment in the recent period are the three major factors leading to the crustal shortening, thickening and uplifting of the plateau.
