St Andrews Research Repository

St Andrews University Home
View Item 
  •   St Andrews Research Repository
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • View Item
  •   St Andrews Research Repository
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • View Item
  •   St Andrews Research Repository
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • View Item
  • Login
JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

Raising the Gangdese Mountains in southern Tibet

Thumbnail
View/Open
Cawood_2017_JGRSE_GangdeseMountains_FinalPublishedVersion.pdf (1.438Mb)
Date
01/2017
Author
Zhu, Di-Cheng
Wang, Qing
Cawood, Peter A.
Zhao, Zhi-Dan
Mo, Xuan-Xue
Keywords
Crustal thickness
Gangdese Batholith
Paleoelevation
Driving mechanism of uplift
Southern Tibet
GE Environmental Sciences
NDAS
Metadata
Show full item record
Altmetrics Handle Statistics
Altmetrics DOI Statistics
Abstract
The surface uplift of mountain belts is in large part controlled by the effects of crustal thickening and mantle dynamic processes (e.g., lithospheric delamination or slab breakoff). Understanding the history and driving mechanism of uplift of the southern Tibetan Plateau requires accurate knowledge on crustal thickening over time. Here we determine spatial and temporal variations in crustal thickness using whole-rock La/Yb ratios of intermediate intrusive rocks from the Gangdese arc. Our results show that the crust was likely of normal thickness prior to ca. 70 Ma (~37 km) but began to thicken locally at ca. 70 − 60 Ma. The crust reached (58 − 50) ± 10 km at 55 − 45 Ma extending over 400 km along the strike of the arc. This thickening was likely due to magmatic underplating as a consequence of rollback and then breakoff of the subducting Neo-Tethyan slab. The crust attained a thickness of 68 ± 12 km at ca. 20 − 10 Ma, as a consequence of underthrusting of India and associated thrust faulting. The Gangdese Mountains in southern Tibet broadly attained an elevation of >4000 m at ca. 55 − 45 Ma as a result of isostatic surface uplift driven by crustal thickening and slab breakoff, and reached their present-day elevation by 20 − 10 Ma. Our paleoelevation estimates are consistent not only with the C − O isotope-based paleoaltimetry but also with the carbonate clumped isotope paleothermometer, exemplifying the promise of reconstructing paleoelevation in time and space for ancient orogens through a combination of magmatic composition and Airy isostatic compensation.
Citation
Zhu , D-C , Wang , Q , Cawood , P A , Zhao , Z-D & Mo , X-X 2017 , ' Raising the Gangdese Mountains in southern Tibet ' , Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth , vol. 122 , no. 1 , pp. 214-223 . https://doi.org/10.1002/2016JB013508
Publication
Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth
Status
Peer reviewed
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/2016JB013508
ISSN
2169-9356
Type
Journal article
Rights
© 2016, American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved. This work has been made available online in accordance with the publisher’s policies. This is the final published version of the work, which was originally published at: https://doi.org/10.1002/2016JB013508
Description
This research was financially supported by the MOST of China (No. 2016YFC0600304 and No. 2016YFC0600407), the Strategic Priority Research Program (B) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (XDB03010301), the National Science Foundation of China (41225006 and 41472061), and the MOST Special Fund from the State Key Laboratory of Geological Processes and Mineral Resources (China University of Geosciences).
Collections
  • University of St Andrews Research
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/10023/11262

Items in the St Andrews Research Repository are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.

Advanced Search

Browse

All of RepositoryCommunities & CollectionsBy Issue DateNamesTitlesSubjectsClassificationTypeFunderThis CollectionBy Issue DateNamesTitlesSubjectsClassificationTypeFunder

My Account

Login

Open Access

To find out how you can benefit from open access to research, see our library web pages and Open Access blog. For open access help contact: openaccess@st-andrews.ac.uk.

Accessibility

Read our Accessibility statement.

How to submit research papers

The full text of research papers can be submitted to the repository via Pure, the University's research information system. For help see our guide: How to deposit in Pure.

Electronic thesis deposit

Help with deposit.

Repository help

For repository help contact: Digital-Repository@st-andrews.ac.uk.

Give Feedback

Cookie policy

This site may use cookies. Please see Terms and Conditions.

Usage statistics

COUNTER-compliant statistics on downloads from the repository are available from the IRUS-UK Service. Contact us for information.

© University of St Andrews Library

University of St Andrews is a charity registered in Scotland, No SC013532.

  • Facebook
  • Twitter