Abrupt uplift of Tibetan Plateau at the end of early Pleistocene and

　Global Geology, 12 ( 3 ) ∶
145 2155 ( 2009 ) doi: 1013969 / j1 issn11673 2973612009103104
Article ID : 1673 29736 ( 2009 ) 03 20145 211
Abrupt uplift of T ibetan Pla teau a t the end of early Ple istocene
and Austra la sian im pact even t
1
2
2
REN Shoumai , L IU Yongjiang and GE X iaohong
1. S tra teg ic R esea rch Cen ter of O il & Gas R esou rces, M in istry of L and & R esou rces, B eijing 100034, Ch ina
2. College of Ea rth S ciences, J ilin U n iversity, Changchun 130061, Ch ina
Abstract: The latest sharp up lift of the Tibetan Plateau and adjacent mountains occurred at the end of the early
Pleistocene. The up lift of the Plateau resulted from Late Mesozoic 22Cenozoic comp ressional structure due to the
subduction of the Indian Plate beneath the A sian continent. This event definitively effected the formation of ba2
sin2mountain relief, Cenozoic basin deformation, large scale aridity and desertification of western China. The
Australasian meteorites impact event happened ca. 018 Ma ago, located in the triangle area of the Indian Ocean
ridge ( 20 °
S /67 °
E ) . The impact may have resulted in an acceleration of speeding of the Indian Ocean ridge
pushing the Indian Plate to subduct rap idly northward. Thus, the impact event can give reasonable exp lanation
for the dynam ic background of the latest rap id up lift of the Tibetan Plateau and the continental deformation of
western China and even of the M iddle A sia.
Key words: abrup t up lift; Tibetan Plateau; early Pleistocene
Plateau, which started 40 M a ago in the eastern part
1 In troduction
In recent years, many studies focusing on the up 2
and 20 M a ago in the western part respectively
( Chung et a l. , 1998 ) . On the basis of paleom agnetic
lift chronology and dynam ics of the Tibetan Plateau
m easurem ents and fossil evidence from loess deposits
were published. Most researchers now agree that the
of northeastern Tibetan Plateau, som e authors noticed
Tibetan Plateau can be exp lained by oblique stepw ise
that the onset of A sian desertification occurred 22 M a
rise or multi2stage northward grow th ( Tapponnier et
a l. , 2001; Pan, 1999; Zhong et a l. , 1996; Amano
ago, which give more support about the up lift of Ti2
betan Plateau during the early M iocene ( Guo et a l. ,
& Taira, 1992; L i et a l. , 1986 ) ( Fig. 1 ) . Som e au2
2002 ) . Analyzing records of aeolian sedim ents from
thors have concluded that the Tibetan Plateau had al2
China and m arine sedim ents from the Indian and
ready risen up to 2 000 23 000 m before the M iocene
North Pacific oceans, som e authors identified three
based on the clim ate change around the Plateau
(W en, 1981; Sun, 1996 ) . B ased on the w idesp read
stages changes of A sian clim ates, that is, about 9 28
M a, 316 2216 M a and 216 M a, respectively. Thus, it
occurrence of potassic lavas in eastern and western Ti2
is suggested that the phased up lift of Tibetan Plateau
bet, even more accurate A r/ A r dating were p rovid2
happen late M iocene tim es (An et a l. , 2001 ) . How 2
ed to constrain the diachronous up lift of the Tibetan
ever, the question concern the tim e of Tibetan Plateau
40
39
Received 20 June, 2009; accep ted 7 July, 2009
Supported by Projects of NSFC (Nos. 40872127, 40572135)
146
Ren S. M. , L iu Y. J. and Ge X. H.
rising up to ～5 000 m imm ediately, several authors
Ge et a l. , 2002 ) . Therefore, there appears to be an
believe, based on m agnetic stratigraphy results at the
age puzzle when the rap id up lift of Tibetan Plateau did
front of western Kunlun Mountain, the J iuquan basin
occur.
and field studies in the W estern Qaidam Basin, all of
The aim of this study is to discuss magnitude of
them located on the northern Tibetan Plateau, that the
each up lift stage, mainly concentrating on the phase
rap id and maybe the latest up lift of p lateau occurred
111 2018 M a, and also to deal w ith the possible rela2
during the end of the early Pleistocene, about 111 2
tionship betw een the last up lift and the Australasian
017 M a ago ( Fang et a l. , 2001; Zhao et a l. , 2001;
impact event.
F ig. 1 O verv iew map of T ibetan Pla teau show in g ma jor fea tures (Modified after Yin et a l. , 2002 )
2 T im in g and effects of T ibetan
Pla teau rap id uplift
m ents, paleobiology and chronology suggested that the
In recent years more evidences from environ2
M a ago, respectively interrup ted by three p lanation
Tibetan Plateau experienced at least four stages of up 2
lift ca. 45 238 M a, 25 217 M a, 13 28 M a and 314 2117
A brup t up lift of Tibetan Plateau at the end of early Pleistocene and A ustralasian impact event
147
phases ( Pan, 1999; Zhong et a l. , 1996; Shi et a l. ,
thermolum inescence and radiocarbon dating of strath
1999 ) . However, there is a dispute as to when the
terraces in the Q ilian Shan, other scientists suggested
Plateau was up lifted to its p resent elevation. Previous
work show s that Cenozoic north 2south shortening of Ti2
that rock up lift rates appear steady and unrelated to
strath formation over the past 0. 9 M a ( Pan et a l. ,
betan lithosphere p robably caused significant surface
2003 ) . According to the paleomagnetic 2chronology
rising, perhap s to half of the p resent altitude by the
and loess2form ation of SW Tarim Basin, betw een the
Thinning of the high 2density mantle
southern Takhlam akan desert and the northern side of
early M iocene.
portion of the lithosphere during the M iocene which
the western Kunlun range, Fang et a l. ( 2002a,
2002b ) confirm ed that loess was formed at 0. 88 M a,
may allowed the thickening Tibetan crust to rise close
to its p resent elevation ( perhap s even higher) before
which imp lying p reviously dom inant west w ind has
～8 M a. Afterwards, slow east2west extension of Tibet
changed its direction and the circle current situation
p robably reduced the crustal thickness slightly and
has formed in Tarim B asin. This also indicates that a
may have reduced the elevation of the p lateau during
the late Cenozoic ( Fielding, 1996 ) . Some scientists
rap id up lift of the Tibetan Plateau, Pam irs and adja2
cent ranges have occurred at ca. 0188 M a. The 0. 84
concluded, based on the foliar analysis of Neogene
M a m agnetic data was also obtained by Zhao et a l.
flora recovered from the Nam ling basin ( Southern Ti2
( 2001 ) at the bottom of J iuquan conglomerate, which
bet) , that the up lift of the Tibetan Plateau was strong2
unconformable overlies on the early Pleistocene Yu2
ly diachronous w ith elevation of the south during the
m en Conglomerate in northern Q ilian Mountains. Both
early M iocene considerably p redating up lift in the
of dating support the tim e ( 0193 20184 M a ) of Kun2
north and that by 15 M a the basin floor was at an alti2
tude of 2 900 m compared to p resent 4 400 m eleva2
lun2Yellow R iver tectonic movem ent, the most impor2
tant movement in northeastern part of p lateau, result
tion ( Harris et a l. , 2001 ) . B ased on the clim ate
from the up lift of the Tibetan Plateau ( Shi et a l. ,
change, some authors suggest that the height of each
1999 ) . A lm ost at the sam e tim e, the sedim entation
tim e up lifting is no more than 2 000 m , extending the
p lateau area gradually from south to north, i. e. , from
the H im alaya 2Gangdese Range northward to the Q ian2
gtang2Kunlun Mountains. B etw een the early and m id2
dle Pleistocene, the Plateau was up lifted to an average
of 3 000 25 000 m ( Shi et a l. , 1999 ) . Every tim e the
p lateau underwent extrusion 2up lift due to collision and
stretch 2p lanation obviously accompany w ith multi2
phase and pulse subductions occurred ( Ge et a l. ,
2002 ) .
rate in the Qaidam Basin and loess p lateau show a
rap id change during 111 2019 M a ( Sun & L iu,
2000 ) . The Siw alik belt, the frontal thrust system of
the H im alayas, show s Plio 2Pleistocene conglomerate
deposits (Upper Siw alik ) , which are overthrusted by
M iocene form ations ( Lower Siw alik ) at the front of
the wedge and along internal faults. Structure map s
show that thrust sheets are laterally rep laced and sim 2
ultaneously emp laced ( Chalaron et a l. , 1995 ) . The
According to analyzing the stratigraphy, sedi2
increase of heavy m ineral contents on the B engal Fan
mentary characteristics and evolution of fauna and flo2
at ca. 0. 9 M a show s that the Siw alik fault of the
ra, som e authors inferred that the elevation of the
southern H im alaya was also active during that tim e
Kunlun Pass area was not higher than 1 500 m , and
( Am ano et a l. , 1992 ) . The sedim entation rate of the
only a low relief divide existed betw een the Qaidam
B engal fan was also changed rap idly during 1 2018 M a
Basin and the Kunlun Pass B asin in the period be2
tw een 111 and 016 M a (W u et a l. , 2001 ) . On the
support rap id up lift of the Plateau and a p ronounced
basis of loess2paleosoil coup lets, paleom agnetic work,
change of elevation betw een 111 and 018 M a.
( Einsele et a l. , 1996 ) . A ll the above cited appear to
148
Ren S. M. , L iu Y. J. and Ge X. H.
( a ) Donggou to Yueyashan structure p rofile in Qaidam Basin. ( b ) Gansen to Lenghu No. 4 structure p rofile in Qaidam Basin. ( c)
South to North structure p rofile in J iuxi Basin. ( d) South to North structure p rofile in Tu2Ha Basin. 1. Q igequan Formation of the
Quaternary. 2. Xiyu Formation of the Quaternary. 3. Yumen conglomerate of the Quaternary. 4. Shizigou Formation in Tertiary. 5.
Youshashan Formation in Tertiary. 6. Shulehe Group in Tertiary. 7. Baiyanghe Group in Tertiary. 8. Huoshagou Group in Tertiary.
9. Upper Ganchaigou Formation in Tertiary. 10. Lower Ganchaigou Formation in Tertiary. 11. Luluohe Formation in Tertiary. 12.
Tertiary. 13. Cretaceous. 14. Lower Cretaceous. 15. Jurassic. 16. Triassic. 17. Perm ian. 18. Carboniferous. 19. Upper to M id2
dle Carboniferous. 20. Silurian. 21. Devonian. 22. Lower Paleozoic. 23. Presinian. 24. Indo 2Sinian granite. 25. Paleozoic Ocean2
ic Crust. 26. Subduction accretionary wedge of the oceanic crust. 27. Precambrian continental crust. 28. Thrust fault. 29. M iaobei
I fault. 30. M iaobei II fault. 31. Bainan fault. 32. Xinm inbao fault. 33. Q ilianshan northern boundary fault. 34. Kuantanshan
southern boundary fault.
F ig. 2 Prof iles of M esozo ic2Cenozo ic tecton ic deforma tion in Northwest Ch ina ba sin s
A brup t up lift of Tibetan Plateau at the end of early Pleistocene and A ustralasian impact event
149
The m ap of the left corner show ing the locations
of the four p rofiles, Profile a & b w ith the unconform i2
am , Tarim , Tu 2Ha ( Fig. 2 2d ) and Junggar basins,
ty over Q1 in Qaidam B asin suggest that this structure
event happen after the Q igequan Formation ( 019 2018
cene ( 019 2018 M a ) .
M a BP ) . Profile c w ith the same discordance over Q1
Plateau resulted from Indian p late subduction under
in Junxi basin near to Kuantan Shan indicates that the
the Eurasia continent along Siw aliks belt during the
sim ilar event also happend after the Yum en Formation
early Pleistocene ( Chalaron et a l. , 1995 ) . Follow ing
( 019 2018 M a BP ) . Profile d w ith Q1 strata apart for
the above interp retation, the authors naturally think
thrust faults in Tu 2Ha basin, located in the NE of the
what kind of power created the rap id subduction of the
Tarim basin, which suggest that the same event oc2
Indian p late under Eurasia continent w ith the pulse
curred after the Xiyu Formation ( 019 2018 M a B P ) .
continent ( A 2type ) subduction and caused so large 2
have occurred p robably at the end of the early Pleisto2
Some researchers think that up lift of the Tibetan
Furthermore, the ostracoda and mollusc fossil as2
scale deformation in W estern China, not only affecting
semblages in the Q iangtang Form ation of the Kunlun
the huge M esozoic 22Cenozoic block assem bly in the
Pass are very sim ilar to those in the Qaidam B asin,
the N ihewan Basin ( North China ) and Yuanmou B a2
Qaidam , Hexi Corridor, Tarim , Tu 2ha and Juggar ba2
sin ( South China ) at that tim e, suggesting sim ilar en2
ges, shaped the B asin 2Mountain relief of Northwest
vironm ental conditions for these basins in the Pliocene
China, but also caused large 2scale drought and deser2
and early Pleistocene ( Yin et a l. , 1996; W ang et
a l. , 1999 ) . Sim ilar sedim entary facies of the early
tification in northwestern China ( Fang et a l. , 2001,
2002a ) .
Pleistocene in Qaidam and Gonghe basins have also
3 Ev idences for Austra la sian im pact
even t
been found. Comparing them w ith Kunlun Pass basin,
could be consider that the Qaidam , Gonghe and Kun2
lun pass B asins possibly formed a huge uniform basin
during the early Pleistocene, in other words, the Ti2
betan Plateau have not really appeared before the ear2
ly Pleistocene. Only after 0. 8 M a the largest Quater2
nary glacier occurred on the Tibetan Plateau ( Shi et
a l. , 1999 ) . According to paleomagnetic data of the
sins, and the up lift of Kunlun, Q ilian, Tianshan ran2
The Australasian tektites yield formation ages of
40
39
～0176 ±0102 M a, based on laser fusion A r/ A r
data ( Izett & Obradovich, 1992 ) , are found in Aus2
tralia, Indonesia ( Borneo, Java and B elitung Is2
land ) , M alaysia, Indochina ( V ietnam , Cam bodia
and Laos) , Thailand, South China and Philipp ines,
covering at least one 2tenth of the Earthπs surface. M i2
Kunlun Pass, the early Pleistocene paleolatitude was
32110 °
N ( now 35169 °
N ) , which reveals that the
crotektites belonging to the Australasian strewn field
Kunlun Mountain Pass has been pushed northwards
have been found in deep 2sea sedim ents from the Indi2
ca. 400 km ( Q ian & Zhang, 1997 ) after the early
an Ocean, western Pacific Ocean and the Philipp ine
Pleistocene. The pushing and shifting to north were
blocked off by the A lashan massif, resulting in the
Sea. They have a stratigraphic and form ation age of
～017 M a ( Gentner et a l. , 1970 ) . The Australasian
Q ilian Mountains up lift by both 2side extrusion and the
strewn fields contain 100 m illion tonnes of glass,
Cenozoic deformation in the Qaidam B asin ( Fig. 2 2a
based on studies of the range in which m icrotektites
and 2 2b, see the fold and thrust structure ) and Hexi
are scattered ( Glass, 1990 ) .
corridor ( Fig. 2 2c ) . Therefore, as m app ing revealed,
Leigongmoπ, a kind of m icrotektite, has been
found by Chinese geologist in 1927 ( Zhang, 1927 ) .
an angular unconform ity developed after early Pleisto2
cene in those basins ( Fig. 2 ) , which imp lies that the
It has been p roved that the m icrotektite w ith the 018
last period of oil2gas reservoirs formation and M esozo2
M a age belongs to the South China large m icrotektite
ic 2Cenozoic deform ation of the Hexi Corridor, Qaid2
group which sp read in Bose basin of Guangxi, Guang2
150
Ren S. M. , L iu Y. J. and Ge X. H.
dong, Hainan and South China Sea ( Schuetzler et
a l. , 1994; W ang et a l. , 2000; Hou et a l. , 2000 ) .
The age of 0183 M a m icrotektites also have been
found in Taiw an ( personal correspondence ) . The
source crater for the Australasian strewn field has not
been found.
However, based on a variety of evi2
dences, some authors have suggested that it must be
somewhere in Indochina w ith a diameter betw een 32
and 114 km ( Glass et a l. , 1994; Lee et a l. , 2000;
Hartung et a l. , 1994 ) , but they also think that fur2
ther research is needed. After studying unm elted im 2
pact ejecta associated w ith the Australian M icrotektite
layer, some researchers referred that the geographic
variations in m icrotektite concentrations is located in
central Cambodia at about 12 °N , 106 °E ( W u &
Glass, 1997 ) . O ther authors, based on the location
and chem istry of M ung Nong2type and sp lash 2form
F ig. 3 M ap of Austra la sian strewn f ield
tektites, suggest that the source region could be lim it2
ed to an area in eastern Thailand and southern Laos,
cean ridge. All locations where Australasian tektites
an area about 250 km in diameter centered at 16 °
N,
105 °
E ( Schnetzler & Garvin, 1993 ) . According to
( Xs mean have been found on land) and m icrotektites
( solid circles m ean have been found p reviously and
more coeval m icrotektites discovered in the Indian O 2
open circles mean found in recent years) have been
cean, some authors concluded that the Australasian e2
found are included Modified after Glass et a l.
vent m ust have been m uch larger than p reviously sup 2
( 1996 ) , L i et a l. ( 1993 ) .
posed, having its center located perhap s in the trian2
During the M id 2Pleistocene, the global clim ate
gle area of Indian Ocean ridge at about 20 °
S, 67 °
E
system underwent a number of significant changes,
(W an et a l. , 1996 ) . It is possible that the Indochi2
most clearly rep resented betw een 1. 18 M a and 0. 9
nese crater has been totally eroded away or is deep
M a. Surface ocean cooling is evident at all sites from
covered by sedim ents perhap s in the M ekong delta or
the A tlantic and equatorial Pacific Oceans. This cool2
Indian Ocean. The largest ablated tektite, which di2
ing phase is accompanied by enhanced inputs of ma2
am eter reaches up to ～1212 mm , has been found in
rine carbon to the ocean floor, suggesting that the
the central Indian Ocean ( Glass et a l. , 1996 ) . Con2
strength of the biological pump increased during this
tim e (M cclymont et a l. , 2003 ) . Samp les from the
temporary m icrotektites have been also found from Lu2
ochuan p rofile in the Chinese loess p lateau (L i et a l. ,
hole of 17957 22 on South China Sea showed that the
1993 ) . The B runhes2M atsuyam a geom agnetic reversal
sub 2trop ic type content of foram in ifera in the surface
0. 78 M a or before ( Glass et a l. , 1967 ) . A ll of them
layer of seawater increased gradually during 019 2018
M a (W ang et a l. , 2000 ) . Increase of the radiolarian
may illustrate that the Autralasian strewn field m ust
abundance level in the southern part of the South Chi2
may have been triggered by this large im pact during
na Sea also has been observed at the beginning of 019
have been much larger than p reviously considered
( Fig. 3 ) .
M a ( Yang et a l. , 2002 ) . Those inferred a tempera2
The dashed line indicates the boundary of the
ture increase existing in the Southwest Pacific Ocean
strewn field. The dotted line delineates the Indian O 2
and Indian Ocean during 019 2018 M a. Recent de2
A brup t up lift of Tibetan Plateau at the end of early Pleistocene and A ustralasian impact event
151
tailed paleomagnetic data consistently records a de2
in the air when the huge aerolite hit the Earth. So,
crease in paleointensity in the Pacific and A tlantic O 2
the actual power of the aerolite impact is possible
ceans app roxim ately 15 ka p rior to the B runhes/
M atuyama transition ( Lee et a l. , 2000 ) , suggesting
more than its original weight. W hen aerolites im pac2
that geomagnetic reversal was closely related to the
through the crust into the upper mantle, and then re2
Australasian im pact event.
bound back for gravity balancing; those could result
B ased on the estim ates of environmental effects of
ting to the Indian Ocean crust, they would penetrate
in mantle material flooding ( D ressler et a l. , 1991;
M ajor A steroid Impacts ( M ichael, 2001 ) , when a
Shi, 1995 ) . Thereby, we think that this im pact event
large stony asteroid, diam eter is 5 km , w ith a speed
should be not only the real reason for mantle p lume
of 22 km per second strike land, sim ultaneously ki2
form ation in the p resent triangular area of the Indian
netic energy p roduces the sam e as 10 m illions of meg2
Ocean, but also for dynam ic m echanism s causing the
atons of TNT, the crater diameter, from rim to rim , is
Indian Ocean crust expanding in pulse, and sequen2
close to 100 km. Dust and debris fallout covers the
tially pushed the Indian p late to move toward north.
ground and causes severe m ud flow s in a radius of
B ased on paleomagnetic data, the speed of the north2
1 100 km. The area for firestorm ignition due to radi2
ern Indian p late decreased from 250 mm a 21 to 45 mm
ation from ballistic reentry of ejecta may reach the re2
a 21 during the 55 250 M a interval ( Klootw ijk et a l. ,
Some characteristics de2
1992 ) due to the collision and combination w ith the
scribed above seem to coincide w ith the events repor2
Hereby, we speculate that clim ate changes, geomag2
Eurasian continent, and kep t at 20 mm a 21 from 38
M a to 1 M a (W yllie, 1975 ) , and is today 60 270 mm
a 21 (D ing et a l. , 1989; M a et a l. , 2001 ) . The sed2
netic reversal and regional biomass extinctions be2
im entary rates of the early and m iddle Pleistocene, of
tw een 019 2018 M a should be the result of the Austral2
the Tarim basin, were changed suddenly from 2819
asian im pact event. A lthough, some authors doubted
km ka 21 to 1616 km ka 21 ( Xu et a l. , 2003 ) . W hat
that the appearance of impact event maybe later than
these changes occurred ( personal correspondence ) , a
p rocess changed the speed of the northward drift of the
possible p roblem is a very difficult period to date, be2
yet. B ased on the above mentioned, a diagram show 2
ing beyond the range of many dating techniques but
ing the chronology relationship of various events is
not old enough for others. It is not easy to obtain the
m app ing ( Fig. 4 ) . From this diagram , we can find
accurate age of marine sedim ents where m icrotektites
that the ages of events relate to the up lift of Tibet Plat2
stayed for using core 2bushing drill, because it m akes
eau are concentrated betw een 1M a and 018 M a. This
the soft layer thinner than the actual thickness.
is sim ilar to the Australasian tektite impact happened,
4 D iscussion
therefore, we suppose that this impact m ay have been
gion of 5 000 km radius.
ted in connection w ith the Australasian im pact event.
Indian p late? There is no accurate report up to now
a very close call for the rap id up lift of the Tibetan
A lthough there is no obvious and imm ediate evi2
Plateau and that speed changing m ight have taken
dence to support that the Australasian tektite im pact
p lace 019 2018 M a ago. If this hypothesis is right, the
had anything to do w ith the rap id up lift of the Tibetan
Australasian im pact event can p rovide the continental
Plateau, the authors arbitrarily im aged that the 019
kinetic background for the Indian Plate pulse subduc2
M a “M id 2Pleistocene Revolution ” ( M PR ) , which
tion along the Siw aliks belt and the formation of the
gave rise to the global clim ate change and the form a2
basin 2mountains relief in W estern China. The rap id
tion of“W estern Pacific W arm pond ”may be related
and strongest up lift of the Tibetan Plateau and adja2
to this im pact event. Most aerolithologists agree that
cent mountains perhap s occurred at the end of early
m icrotektites formed from the quick m elt coagulation
Pleistocene based on the appearance of coeval molasse
152
Ren S. M. , L iu Y. J. and Ge X. H.
deposits around the p lateau ( Huang et a l. , 1980; Ge
w ind circle current. The up lift, resulting from the In2
et a l. , 2002 ) .
This up lift made the whole p lateau
dian p late pulse subduction, is an extrusion up lift
rise to 4 000 25 000 m eters elevation and controlled the
rather than stretch up lift due to gravity equilibrium or
hot swell (L i, 1986; Cui et a l. , 1994 ) .
relief formation that caused m iddle A sian seasonal
F ig. 4 D ia gram show in g chronology rela tion sh ip of var ious even ts
After m icrotektites have been found by astrono2
mers and geologists in Australia, the eastern edge of
Africa, M adagascar, M alaysia and around the Indian
Ocean in offshore drillings, the hypothesis of the Aus2
tralasian impact event was put forward. The authors
discussed further the potential relationship betw een
the abrup t up lift of the Tibetan Plateau and this im 2
pact event because these p rocesses happened synchro2
nously at the end of the early Pleistocene. W hether
reasonable or not, we think that more scientific re2
sults, related to chronology, the range and panorama
of the Australasian im pact event, need more be no2
ticed. A lso the change of seawater temperature and
the m igration events of the sea biota from the Indian
Ocean, South China Sea, the W est Pacific Ocean and
adjacent regions at the end of early Pleistocene need
more attention to.
5 Conclusion s
The latest sharp up lift of the Tibetan Plateau and
adjacent mountains occurred at the end of the early
Pleistocene. This Plateau rising which resulted from
comp ressional structure due to the continent pulse
subduction of Indian Plate beneath A sian continent.
This event definitively effects the formation of the ba2
sin 2mountain relief, M esozoic 22Cenozoic basin deform 2
ation, large scale aridity and desertification whole
western China. The Australasian im pact event of me2
teorites happened ca. 018 M a ago, located in the tri2
angle area of the Indian Ocean ridge ( 20 °
S, 67 °
E).
The impact may have resulted in a rap id extension of
the Indian Ocean ridge, pushing the Indian Plate sub2
ducts rap idly to the north. Thus, the impact event can
give reasonable exp lanation for the dynam ic back2
A brup t up lift of Tibetan Plateau at the end of early Pleistocene and A ustralasian impact event
153
ground of the latest rap id up lift of the Tibetan Plat2
Fang X M , Shi Z T, Yang S L , et a l. 2002a. Loess in the
eau, specific effects of continental tectonics of western
Tian Shan and its imp lications for the development of the
China and even of M iddle A sia.
Gurbantunggut Desert and drying of northern Xinjiang.
Ch inese S cience B u lletin , 47 (16) : 1381 21387.
Acknowledgem en ts
Fang X M , L L Q , Yang S L , et a l. 2002b. Loess in Kunlun
W e thank Prof. Franz Neubauer, Prof. B. P.
Mountains and its imp lications on desert development and
Glass and Prof. MA W enpu for comm ents and criti2
Tibetan Plateau up lift in west China. S cience in Ch ina
cism s on this paper. Their comments and suggestions
Fielding E J. 1996. Tibet up lift and erosion. Tectonophysics,
are extremely valuable for imp rovements of our m anu2
scrip t. W e are also grateful to L IU Tungsheng and
( Ser. D ) , 45 ( 4 ) : 289 2299.
260 ( 1 /3 ) : 55 284.
Ge X H , L iu Y J, Ren S M. 2002. Up lift dynam ics of Q ing2
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