Initial growth of the Northern Lhasaplano, Tibetan Plateau in the early Late Cretaceous (ca. 92 Ma)

Research Article| April 10, 2019 Initial growth of the Northern Lhasaplano, Tibetan Plateau in the early Late Cretaceous (ca. 92 Ma) Wen Lai; Wen Lai 1State Key Laboratory of Mineral Deposits Research, School of Earth Sciences and Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Xiumian Hu; Xiumian Hu † 1State Key Laboratory of Mineral Deposits Research, School of Earth Sciences and Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China †Corresponding author: huxm@nju.edu.cn. Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Eduardo Garzanti; Eduardo Garzanti 2Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Università di Milano-Bicocca, Milano 20126, Italy Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Gaoyuan Sun; Gaoyuan Sun 1State Key Laboratory of Mineral Deposits Research, School of Earth Sciences and Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China3College of Oceanography, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, China Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Carmala N. Garzione; Carmala N. Garzione 4Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14627, USA Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Marcelle BouDagher Fadel; Marcelle BouDagher Fadel 5Department of Geological Sciences, University College London, London WC1E6BT, UK Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Anlin Ma Anlin Ma 1State Key Laboratory of Mineral Deposits Research, School of Earth Sciences and Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Author and Article Information Wen Lai 1State Key Laboratory of Mineral Deposits Research, School of Earth Sciences and Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China Xiumian Hu † 1State Key Laboratory of Mineral Deposits Research, School of Earth Sciences and Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China Eduardo Garzanti 2Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Università di Milano-Bicocca, Milano 20126, Italy Gaoyuan Sun 1State Key Laboratory of Mineral Deposits Research, School of Earth Sciences and Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China3College of Oceanography, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, China Carmala N. Garzione 4Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14627, USA Marcelle BouDagher Fadel 5Department of Geological Sciences, University College London, London WC1E6BT, UK Anlin Ma 1State Key Laboratory of Mineral Deposits Research, School of Earth Sciences and Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China †Corresponding author: huxm@nju.edu.cn. Publisher: Geological Society of America Received: 28 Aug 2018 Revision Received: 11 Dec 2018 Accepted: 01 Feb 2019 First Online: 10 Apr 2019 Online Issn: 1943-2674 Print Issn: 0016-7606 © 2019 Geological Society of America GSA Bulletin (2019) 131 (11-12): 1823–1836. https://doi.org/10.1130/B35124.1 Article history Received: 28 Aug 2018 Revision Received: 11 Dec 2018 Accepted: 01 Feb 2019 First Online: 10 Apr 2019 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Search Site Citation Wen Lai, Xiumian Hu, Eduardo Garzanti, Gaoyuan Sun, Carmala N. Garzione, Marcelle BouDagher Fadel, Anlin Ma; Initial growth of the Northern Lhasaplano, Tibetan Plateau in the early Late Cretaceous (ca. 92 Ma). GSA Bulletin 2019;; 131 (11-12): 1823–1836. doi: https://doi.org/10.1130/B35124.1 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Refmanager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentBy SocietyGSA Bulletin Search Advanced Search Abstract Constraining the growth of the Tibetan Plateau in time and space is critical for testing geodynamic models and climatic changes at the regional and global scale. The Lhasa block is a key region for unraveling the early history of the Tibetan Plateau. Distinct from the underlying shallow-marine limestones, the Jingzhushan and Daxiong formations consist of conglomerate and sandstone deposited in alluvial-fan and braided-river systems. Both units were deposited at ca. 92 Ma, as constrained by interbedded tuff layers, detrital zircons, and micropaleontological data. Provenance and paleocurrent analyses indicate that both units were derived from the same elevated source area located in the central-northern Lhasa block. These two parallel belts of coeval conglomerates record a major change in paleogeography of the source region from a shallow seaway to a continental highland, implying initial topographic growth of an area over 160,000 km2, named here the Northern Lhasaplano. The early Late Cretaceous topographic growth of the Northern Lhasaplano was associated with the demise of Tethyan seaways, thrust-belt development, and crustal thickening. The same paleogeographic and paleotectonic changes were recorded earlier in the Northern Lhasaplano than in the Southern Lhasaplano, indicating progressive topographic growth from north to south across the Bangong-Nujiang suture and Lhasa block during the Cretaceous. Similar to the Central Andean Plateau, the Northern Lhasaplano developed by plate convergence above the oceanic Neo-Tethyan subduction zone before the onset of the India-Asia collision. You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.