Temporal‐Spatial Structure of Intraplate Uplift in the Qinghai‐Tibet Plateau

Abstract: The intraplate uplift of the Qinghai‐Tibet Plateau took place on the basis of breakup and assembly of the Precambrian supercontinent, and southward ocean‐continent transition of the Proto‐, Paleo‐, Meso‐ and Neo‐Tethys during the Caledonian, Indosinian, Yanshanian and Early Himalayan movements. The intraplate tectonic evolution of the Qinghai‐Tibet Plateau underwent the early stage of intraplate orogeny characterized by migrational tectonic uplift, horizontal movement and geological processes during 180–7 Ma, and the late stage of isostatic mountain building characterized by pulsative rapid uplift, vertical movement and geographical processes since 3.6 Ma. The spatial‐temporal evolution of the intraplate orogeny within the Qinghai‐Tibet Plateau shows a regular transition from the northern part through the central part to the southern part during 180–120 Ma, 65–35 Ma, and 25–7 Ma respectively, with extensive intraplate faulting, folding, block movement, magmatism and metallogenesis. Simultaneous intraplate orogeny and basin formation resulted from crustal rheological stratification and basin‐orogen coupling that was induced by lateral viscous flow in the lower crust. This continental dynamic process was controlled by lateral flow of hot and soft materials within the lower crust because of slab dehydration and melted mantle upwelling above the subducted plates during the southward Tethyan ocean‐continent transition processes or asthenosphere diapirism. Intraplate orogeny and basin formation were irrelevant to plate collision. The Qinghai‐Tibet Plateau as a whole was actually formed by the isostatic mountain building processes since 3.6 Ma that were characterized by crust‐scale vertical movement, and integral rapid uplift of the plateau, accompanied by isostatic subsidence of peripheral basins and depressions, and great changes in topography and environment. A series of pulsative mountain building events, associated with gravity equilibrium and isostatic adjustment of crustal materials, at 3.6 Ma, 2.5 Ma, 1.8–1.2 Ma, 0.9–0.8 Ma and 0.15–0.12 Ma led to the formation of a composite orogenic belt by unifying the originally relatively independent Himalayas, Gangdisê, Tanghla, Longmenshan, Kunlun, Altyn Tagh, and Qilian mountains, and the formation of the complete Qinghai‐Tibet Plateau with a unified mountain root after Miocene uplift of the plateau as a whole.