The study of the Cenozoic uplift in the Tibetan Plateau: A review

Lots of research work has been devoted to the tectonic uplift process of the Tibetan Plateau. Previous researches tried to determine the initial collage time between India and Eurasian plates (the collision between India and Eurasian plates), the uplift stages and the spatial-temporal outline, the time when the plateau reached the present elevation, the uplift dynamical mechanism, the relationship between the mineralization and the uplift of the plateau, the environmental variation and its response to the uplift of the Tibetan Plateau during Cenozoic in different areas by using a series of means or methods, such as geological structure analysis, tectonic thermo-chronology, sedimentology, palaeotology and paleomagnetism, and paleoaltimetry. The existing estimates of the time when India plate collided with Eurasian plate include 70Ma, 65Ma, 55Ma, 50Ma, 45 Ma, and 40~34Ma. The collision was not completed at a certain time, but lasted for 10~15Ma or so. There are several opinions concerning the collision style, i.e., the migration from west to east, the migration from east to west, and the migration in other directions. The uplift processes of the plateau were very different in space and time during Cenozoic. There were many dissimilar sub-divisions of the uplift stages, such as 3, 4, and 5 uplift stages. As for the time when the plateau reached the present elevation, there are five opinions, holding that it took place at 3.6 Ma, 13~8Ma, 26~20Ma, 40~35Ma and 55~45Ma respectively. There is still controversy concerning the uplift dynamical mechanism of the plateau, and four mechanisms are existent, i.e., collision, subduction, lateral extrusion, and lithosphere delamination. The multi-phases uplift and tectonic-magmatic evolution of the plateau resulted in complex and varied continental ore-forming processes. The uplift of the Tibetan Plateau during Cenozoic was coupled with the changes in environment and climate.