First discovery of mud volcanoes in central Qiangtang, northern Tibet, China

During this time, a large number of mud volcanoes were firstly discovered in central Qiangtang，Qinghai-Tibet Plateau，and some of the eruptive material contain rocks wrth asphalt veins．In the area，mud volcano groups outcrop above the Quaternary sediments，and they were significantly controlled by new tectonic faulting movement．The discovery of mud volcanoes where there are eruptive materials containing asphalt veins indicate that there had been large-scale hydrocarbon migration and accumulation in central Qiangtang，asphalt veins should be embodied between those interlayer fissures of lacustrine limestone of the Paleogene Suonahu group，and the asphalt vein belongs to interlayer type．All theses findings show that Cenozoic sedimentary basin in Qiangtang has a very good petroleum prospect．