Lithospheric Evolution and Geodynamic Process of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau:An Inspiration from the Yadong-Golmud-Ejin Geoscience Transect

The Tibet Geoscience Transect (Yadong-Golmud-Ejin) has revealed the basic structures, tectonic evolution and geodynamic process of the lithosphere of the Qinghai-Tibet plateau. The evidence of northward thrusting of the Indian plate beneath the Himalayans on the southern margin and to southward compression of the Alxa block on the northern margin has been found. They were the driving forces causing the plateau uplift. The plateau is a continent resulting from amalgamation of eight terranes. These tenanes are separated by sutures or large-scale faults, and different terranes have different lateral inhomogeneities and multi-layered lithospheric structures. At depths of about 20-30 km of the crust in the ulterior of the plateau there commonly exists a low-velocity layer. It is an uncoupled layer of the tectonic stress; above the layer, the upper crustal slices were thrust and overlapped each other and the rocks underwent brittle deformation, thus leading to shortening and thickening of the upper crust Belo