Cenozoic uplift and deformation of the Tibetan Plateau: the geomorphological evidence

Abstract

Abstract An erosion surface, interpreted as a pediplain, is traced across the Tibetan Plateau. As a result of faulting and warping, its elevation now varies from approximately 4500-6000m. It was cut across folded and thrust Eocene strata and mid-Miocene granites, but was dislocated by major faults before the Pliocene. Its age is thought to be mid- to late Miocene. Crustal shortening after pediplanation is small. If the crust beneath the Plateau was thickened by deformation during crustal shortening, the thickening must mainly have occurred before the pediplanation.