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Palaeo-altimetry of the late Eocene to Miocene Lunpola basin, central Tibet

Nature volume 439, pages 677–681 (2006)Cite this article

Abstract

The elevation history of the Tibetan plateau provides direct insight into the tectonic processes associated with continent–continent collisions. Here we present oxygen-isotope-based estimates of the palaeo-altimetry of late Eocene and younger deposits of the Lunpola basin in the centre of the plateau, which indicate that the surface of Tibet has been at an elevation of more than 4 kilometres for at least the past 35 million years. We conclude that crustal, but not mantle, thickening models, combined with plate-kinematic solutions of India–Asia convergence, are compatible with palaeo-elevation estimates across the Tibetan plateau.

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Figure 1: Generalized tectonic map of the Himalaya–Tibet region, and details of the Lunpola basin.
Figure 2: Sample elevations versus predicted elevations of modern stream waters in central Tibet.
Figure 3: Δ(δ 18 O w ) versus predicted elevations derived from Lunpola carbonates.
Figure 4: Predicted elevation history of the Tibetan plateau north of the Indus-Yarlung Tsangpo suture (IYZS) at the longitude of 90° E, and the India–Asia convergence.

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Acknowledgements

Particular thanks are extended to D. Schrag for use of his laboratory at Harvard University for the oxygen and carbon isotopic analyses. We thank M. Haizhou of the Salt Lake Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining, for logistical assistance and arranging access to sites in northern and central Tibet. We also thank A. Cyr for assistance in the field. D.B.R. thanks fellow members of the Earth System Evolution Program of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research for discussion and comments. This work was funded by the National Science Foundation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of the Geophysical Sciences, The University of Chicago, 5734 S. Ellis Avenue, Illinois, 60637, Chicago, USA

    David B. Rowley

  2. Department of Geology, Miami University, 114 Shideler Hall, Ohio, 45056, Oxford, USA

    Brian S. Currie

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Correspondence to David B. Rowley.

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Rowley, D., Currie, B. Palaeo-altimetry of the late Eocene to Miocene Lunpola basin, central Tibet. Nature 439, 677–681 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature04506

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