Uplift of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau: Lithospheric Structure and Structural Geomorphology of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

Through a review of the history of the study of the uplift of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and an analysis of various dynamic models of the uplift and on the basis of the strong inhomogeneity of the lithospheric structure of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and "tripartite" and "symmetric" structural geomorphologic pattern, the authors propose that the uplift of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is the result of integrated action of bidirectional differential subduction of the Indian block and the Tarim-Alxa block and the deep-seated thermal-uplift spreading beneath the interior of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Subduction is an important mechanism of the uplift and thermal-uplift spreading is the direct cause.