You are on page 1of 13

Open Journal of Nature Science , 2016, 4(2), 229-241

Published Online May 2016 in Hans. http://www.hanspub.org/journal/ojns


http://dx.doi.org/10.12677/ojns.2016.42028

Summary and Current Status of


the Research Models for the
Tibetan Plateau Uplift
Qinzhong Ma
Earthquake Administration of Shanghai Municipality, Shanghai
Received: May 9th, 2016; accepted: May 24th, 2016; published: May 31st, 2016
Copyright 2016 by author and Hans Publishers Inc.
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution International License (CC BY).
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Abstract
For more than half a century, many geoscientists at home and abroad have carried out multi-disciplinary research on the formation and evolution of the Tibetan Plateau. Various views and hypothesis of the tectonic formation models appeared successively. With the development of science
and technology as well as the steady accumulation of the latest data, some existing models constantly are challenged and corrected, and new models unceasing put forward. In this paper the
tracks of eleven models are followed and reviewed concisely, and the problem of the lack of some
patterns and questions also are introduced briefly. The research status about the tectonic evolution and deformation models are also teased. It is hoped to benefit to comprehensively understanding the tectonic evolution and deformation models of the Tibetan Plateau.

Keywords
Tibetan Plateau, India Plate, Eurasian Plate, Uplift Mechanism

20165920165242016531

: . [J]. , 2016, 4(2): 229-241.


http://dx.doi.org/10.12677/ojns.2016.42028

11

1.
(40 Ma),
,,

[1] [2]

2.
2.1.
1924 E. Argrand [3]

Argrand
1973 C. Powell
Conaghan [4]
( 1)

[5]

S
[6]

230

Figure 1. The double crust model for the formation of underthrusting of the Indian lithosphere under the Tibean plateau
1.

2.2.
( 2)1973 J. Dewey K. Burke [7]

50% 3 cm 35 Ma
EnglandMckenzje [8]
Vilotte [9]

L. [5]
( 60 Ma)
Harrison [10]

2.3.
W. Zhao W. J. Morgan 1985 [11] 1987 [12]
( 3)

1979
,[13]
[14]-[19]

2.4.
Tapponnier[20]-[25]80(4)
1500~2000 km(35~40
km)(60~70 km)

()

231

Figure 2. The rigid indenter model for the formation of the Tibetan Plateau
2.

Figure 3. Injecting and hydraulic uplifting model for the formation of the Tibetan Plateau (according to W. Zhao et al. [11])
3. ( W. Zhao [11])

40%~60%

15% [27] 1911 1967


2 cm
[5]Harrison
[10]

2.5.
1981 Houseman [28]
()
1~3 km P. Molnar
1993 [29]
(5.5 km)

( 5)

2.6.
1994 S. D. Wllett [30]

232

Figure 4. Continental extrusion model for the formation of the Tibetan Plateau, the movement direction of each block is indicated by an arrow in which the number identifies the stage of lateral extrusion (according to Ji S. C, et al. [26])
4. (
[26])

Figure 5. Small Scale mantle convection model for the formation of the Tibetan Plateau (According to Molnar, et al. [29])
5. ( Molnar [29])

(
)
(
)

( 6)

2.7.
[31]

233

Figure 6. Subduction model of Asian lithospheric mantle for the formation of the Tibetan Plateau (According to S. D. Wllett,
et al. [30])
6. ( S. D. Wllett [30])

[32] 45 Ma
25~18 Ma
5 Ma

2.8.
1986 Mattauer. M [33]

1998 [34] INDEPTH


()
()

( 7)

234

Figure 7. Comprehensive crustal structures map from Himalaya to Qilian (according to Zeng R. S, et al. [34])
7. ([34])

2.9.
1997 T. J. Owens G. Zandt
[35]

(
8)
1999 G. Kosorew R. Kind [36] Owens Zandt

50 km (80 km ) 200~250 km

50~100 km 200~250 km

410 km 660 km ()
( 9)

2.10.
1999

235

Figure 8. Tectonic underplating interpretation model for the formation of the Tibetan Plateau (According to T. J. Owens, et
al. [35])
8. ( T. J. Owens [35])

Figure 9. Receiver function image of the eastern Tibetan Plateau (according to G. Kosorew, et al. [36])
9. ( G. Kosorew [36])

[37]

( 10)

236

Figure 10. Sketch map of new model for two layer Wedge plates 0f synchronous movement in collision orogenic zone of
Himalaya (according to Teng J W, et al. [37])
10. ([37])

2.11.
[38]

15~20 300 km

400
km 200 km [34] Kosarev [36]
400
km

( 11)

3.
11
60 km~70
km

20
70

80

90

237

Figure 11. Collision dynamic model for the uplift of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (according to Xu Z Q, et al. [38])
11. ([38])

1) [39]-[41]

2)
Clark[42]channel flow

.[43] [46]

3) (YZSZ)2000 km
[44] [45]
[46]

[18]

238

4.

[47]

(12231202700)(41090292)
(XH12016)

(References)
[1]

, . [M]. : , 1998.

[2]

, , , . [M]. : , 1998.

[3]

Argrand, E. (1924) In Comptes Rendus. Congress Geologique International, The Proceedings of the 13th International
Geological Congress, Liege, Belgium, Vol. 1, 171.

[4]

Powell, C.M. and Conaghan, P.J. (1973) Plate Tectonics and the Himalayas. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 20,
1-12. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0012-821X(73)90134-9

[5]

L. , . [M]. , . : , 1986: 148-152.

[6]

, , , . [J]. ,
1980, 23(3): 254-268.

[7]

Dewey, J.F. and Burke, K.C.A. (1973) Tibetan, Variscan and Precambrian Reactivation: Products of Continental Collision. The Journal of Geology, 81, 683-692. http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/627920

[8]

England, P. and Mckenzie, D. (1982) A Thin Viscous Sheet Model for Continental Deformation. Geophysical Journal
International, 70, 295-321. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-246X.1982.tb04969.x

[9]

Vilotte, J.P., Daignieres, M. and Madariaga, R. (1982) Numerical Modeling of Intraplate Deformation: Simple Mechanical Models of Continental Collision. Journal of Geophysical Research, 87, 10709-10728.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/JB087iB13p10709

[10] Harrison, T.M., Copeland, P., Kidd, W.S.F. and Yin, A. (1992) Raising Tibet. Science, 255, 1663-1670.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.255.5052.1663
[11] Zhao, W.L. and Morgan, W.J. (1985) Uplift of Tibetan Plateau. Tectonics, 4, 359-369.
[12] Zhao, W.L. and Morgan, W.J. (1987) Injection of Indian Crust into Tibetan Lower Crust: A Two-Dimensional Finite
Element Model Study. Tectonics, 6, 489-504. http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/TC006i004p00489
[13] , , , . [J]. , 1979(6): 608-616.
[14] . [M]//:
. : , 2006: 65-70.
[15] . [J]. , 1999, 19(1): 1-10.
[16] . [J]. , 2002, 21(7): 370-376.
[17] , . [J]. ,
2003, 23(1): 27-34.

239


[18] , . [J]. , 2003, 10(4): 590-598.
[19] . , [J]. , 2006, 25(1): 15-19.
[20] Tapponnier, P. and Molnar, P. (1976) Slip-Line Field Theory and Large-Scale Continental Tectonics. Nature, 264,
319-324. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/264319a0
[21] Tapponnier, P. and Molnar, P. (1977) Active Faulting and Tectonics in China. Journal of Geophysical Research, 82,
2905-2930. http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/JB082i020p02905
[22] Tapponnier, P., Peltzer, G., Le Dain, A.Y., Armijo, R. and Cobbold, P. (1982) Propagating Extrusion Tectonics in Asia:
New Insights from Simple Experiments with Plasticine. Geology, 10, 611-616.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1130/0091-7613(1982)10<611:PETIAN>2.0.CO;2
[23] Tapponnier, P., Peltzer, G. and Armijo, R. (1986) On the Mechanics of the Collision between India and Asia. Geological Society of London Special Publication, 19, 113-157. http://dx.doi.org/10.1144/gsl.sp.1986.019.01.07
[24] Peltzer, G. and Tapponnier, P. (1988) Formation and Evolution of Strike-Slip Faults, Rifts, and Basins during the IndiaAsia Collision: An Experimental Approach. Journal of Geophysical Research, 93, 15085-15117.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/JB093iB12p15085
[25] Tapponnier, P and Molnar, P. (1979) Active Faulting and Cenozoic Tectonics of the Tien Shan, Mongolia and Baykal
Regions. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 84, 3452-3459. http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/JB084iB07p03425
[26] , , , . [J]. , 2008, 82(12): 1644-1667.
[27] Tapponnier, P., Lacassin, R., Leloup, P.H., Schrer, U., Zhong, D.L., Wu, H.W., Liu, X.H., Ji, S.C., Zhang, L.S. and
Zhong, J.Y. (1990) The Ailao Shan/Red River Metamorphic Belt: Tertiary Left-Lateral Shear between Indochina and
South China. Nature, 343, 431-437. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/343431a0
[28] Houseman, G.A., McKenzie, D.P. and Molnar, P. (1981) Convective Instability of A Thickened Boundary Layer and
Its Relevance for the Thermal Evolution of Continental Convergent Belts. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid
Earth, 86, 6115-6132. http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/JB086iB07p06115
[29] Molnar, P., England, P. and Martinod, J. (1993) Mantle Dynamics, Uplift of the Tibetan Plateau, and the Indian Monsoon. Reviews of Geophysics, 31, 357-396. http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/93RG02030
[30] Willett, S.D. and Beaumont, C. (1994) Subduction of Asian Lithospheric Mantle Beneath Tibet Inferred from Models
of Continental Collision. Nature, 369, 642-645. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/369642a0
[31] . [J]. : , 1995(1): 1-9.
[32] , . [J]. , 1996, 26(4): 289-295.
[33] Mattauer, M (1986) Intracontinental Subduction, Crust-Mantle Dcollement and Crustal-Stacking Wedge in the Himalayas and Other Collision Belts. Geological Society of London Special Publication, 19, 37-50.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1144/GSL.SP.1986.019.01.02
[34] , , . [J]. , 1998, 41(1):
49-60.
[35] Owens, T.J. and Zandt, G. (1997) Implications of Crustal Property Variations for Models of Tibetan Plateau Evolution.
Nature, 387, 37-43. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/387037a0
[36] Kosarev, G., Kind, R., Sobolev, S.V., Yuan, X., Hanka, W. and Oreshin, S. (1999) Seismic Evidence for a Detached
Indian Lithospheric Mantle beneath Tibet. Science, 283, 1306-1309. http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.283.5406.1306
[37] , , , . [J]. ,
1999, 42(4): 481-494.
[38] , , , . : [J]. ,
2004, 11(4): 329-343.
[39] Xiao, X.C., Liu, X., Gao, R., Kao, H. and Luo, Z.H. (2001) Collision Tectonics between the Tarim Block (Basin) and
the Northwestern Tibet Plateau: New Observations from a Multidisciplinary Geoscientific Investigation in the Western
Kunlun Mountains. Acta Geologica Sinica (English Edition), 75, 126-132.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1755-6724.2001.tb00514.x
[40] , , , . [J]. , 2002, 21(2): 63-68.
[41] , . [J]. , 2004, 50(3): 285294.
[42] Clark, M.K. and Royden, L.H. (2000) Topographic Ooze: Building the Eastern Margin of Tibet by Lower Crustal Flow.
Geology, 28, 703-706. http://dx.doi.org/10.1130/0091-7613(2000)28<703:TOBTEM>2.0.CO;2

240


[43] , , . [J]. , 2014, 41(3): 675697.
[44] , , . [J]. , 2011,
44(1): 1-9.
[45] Yang, J.-S., Robinson, P.T., Jiang, C.-F. and Xu, Z.-Q. (1996) Ophiolites of the Kunlun Mountains, China and Their
Tectonic Implications. Tectonophysics, 258, 215-231. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0040-1951(95)00199-9
[46] , , , . [J]. , 2015, 58(1):
103-124.
[47] , . [M]. , . : , 1971.

241

You might also like