Collaborative Research: The Growth of the Tibetan Plateau - A Seismic Investigation of the Qilian Shan and Surrounding Tectonic Blocks

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The rise of the Tibetan plateau has profoundly changed the Earth's atmospheric circulation and climate. For this reason, it has been the prime site to understand the link between tectonics and climate change as well as the processes of continental collision. There are several competing hypotheses for the rise of the Tibetan plateau: a rapid and broad increase in the elevation of the plateau, an expansion of the plateau by continuous viscous flow of lower crust, or an expansion of the plateau by sequential and localized shear between coherent crust and mantle blocks. At the center of the competing scenarios is the question whether the plateau has grown upward en masse or outward over time. The best place to address this question is the northeast Tibetan plateau, where the plateau is at a nascent stage with features and dynamic processes in the crust and shallow mantle that are keys to the understanding of the mechanisms that may have operated for the entire Tibetan plateau.This collaborative project between U.S. and Chinese institutions acquires seismic data from the northeast Tibetan plateau. The research includes detailed studies to image the crust and mantle structures in the region, to test the current hypotheses against seismic observations, and to develop new models that integrate seismic observations and other geological constraints. The research also includes focused studies to analyze regional earthquake activity, which helps to mitigate earthquake hazards in one of the seismically most active areas in the interior of a continental plate.