Jijun Li

The Qingzang movement: The major uplift of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

Thirty-five years ago, the idea of a young Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau was proposed based on a comprehensive investigation on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. This hypothesis suggested that the plateau began to rise from a planation surface (relict surface) that was less than 1000 m high formed during the Miocene to Pliocene. The fast uplift, i.e., the Qingzang Movement, began since ~3.6 Ma, evidenced by massive molasse deposits around the plateau margin and the synchronous occurrence of faulted basins within the plateau. However, later studies challenged this idea and suggested earlier (8, 14 or 35 Ma) formation of the huge plateau topography. Here we reevaluate the Qingzang Movement on the basis of our previous results and in light of new studies in the recent decades. The plateau margin has been subjected to intensive incision by very large drainages and shows the landscape characteristics of an “infant” stage of the geomorphological cycle. However, these drainages were not formed until 1.7–1.9 Ma; headwater erosion has not yet reached the hinterland of the plateau, so the interior of Tibet is free of significant erosion despite its lofty elevation, and remains an “old stage” landform. If the mean erosion rate is equivalent to the sum of clastic and soluble discharges of the modern rivers draining the Tibetan Plateau, it should have been worn down to a lowland within 8.6 Ma, ignoring tectonic uplift and isostasy. The massive conglomerate around the plateau margin began to deposit at about 3.6 Ma, indicating an increased relief after that time. Furthermore, the Hipparion fauna sites were widely distributed, and elephants, giraffes, and rhinos were abundant in the Qaidam Basin until the early Pliocene. Cenozoic climate change alone is not able to account for the dense occurrence of Hipparion fauna, unless the paleo-elevation of Tibet was lowered. The rise of Tibet since the Qingzang Movement has had a great influence on the Asian interior aridification.

Biomarkers challenge early Miocene loess and inferred Asian desertification

[1]xa0Fine-grained Miocene sediments from Tianshui Basin, northeastern Tibetan Plateau, have received intense attention recently because these sediments were identified as loess. The presence of early Miocene loess pushes the timing of initiation of inland Asian desertification from 8 Ma back to 22 Ma. However, mudflat/distal fan and shallow lake sediments of Miocene have also been reported in Tianshui Basin. Consequently, the origin of these fine-grained Miocene sediments in this area remains controversial. Here we investigate then-alkane biomarker characteristics of Neogene sediments from a north-south transect of exposures within Tianshui Basin and compare these molecular distributions with those published Quaternary loess to help resolve the disputed origin. We found thatn-C23 and n-C25 alkanes, sourced from either aquatic macrophytes or palustrine plants, are ubiquitous in the Miocene sediments from Tianshui Basin but are largely absent in Quaternary loess. This striking difference between n-alkane distributions in the Tianshui samples and the Quaternary loess casts doubt on an eolian origin for the Tianshui samples and challenges the hypothesis of an early Miocene onset of Asian interior desertification.

Understanding Miocene climate evolution in Northeastern Tibet: Stable carbon and oxygen isotope records from the Western Tianshui Basin, China

To investigate climate evolution during the Miocene, especially during the Middle Miocene climate transition on the northeastern Tibetan Plateau, stable oxygen and carbon isotopes of carbonates from a 288-m-thick lacustrine-fluvial sediment sequence covering the period from 17.1 to 6.1 Ma from Tianshui Basin, China, were analyzed. The relatively low stable oxygen isotope values indicate the prevalence of wet climate conditions during the period of 17.1–13.6 Ma, an interval corresponding to the well-known Middle Miocene Climate Optimum. The interval between 13.6 and 11.0 Ma (i.e., the late Middle Miocene) is marked by a progressive increase in the δ18O values, indicative of a decrease in precipitation, probably linked to the expansion of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet and global cooling since about 14 Ma. The climate in the study area continued to get drier as shown by the enrichment of the heavy oxygen isotope from 11 Ma. We attribute these stepwise climatic changes as revealed by our carbonate δ18O record from the northeastern Tibetan Plateau to the sustained global cooling that may have reduced moist transport to Central Asia, which in turn led to a permanent aridification.