Cenozoic Paleotopographic Evolution of the Tibetan Plateau

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9973222RowleyThe Tibetan Plateau is the largest region of high topography on earth, and is clearly related to the Himalayan collision between India and Asia. Due to a limited understanding of the tectonic history of the region, Geodynamic models concerning the timing and nature of plateau uplift have been difficult to assess. Existing models make predictions regarding the initial timing, rate, duration and spatial distribution of crustal thickening, however available data fails to provide unequivocal tests of these predictions. One of the most serious absences from current data is a quantitative estimate of paleoaltitude through time that can be used to discriminated between models. This project will attempt to take advantage of altitudional dependence of the oxygen isotopic makeup of precipitation by use of non-marine lacustrine carbonate-containing, Cenozoic basin deposits. Many other factors affect the isotopic makeup of such deposits, but if a signal can be identified, it would provide key data about the uplift history of the Tibetan plateau that could refine and test models of Himalayan orogenesis.