Some characteristics of the orogenic belts in Qinghai-Tibet plateau

Abstract

The Qinghai-Tibet plateau can be divided into a northern and a southern part, with the Kunlun central thrust forming the boundary. The nothern orogenic belts developed on the rigid basement, starting with rifting and geosynclines in the preorogenic stage, followed by collision to form mountains, and postorogenic deformation, mainly producing overthrusting and overlapping structures. The southern counterparts developed on a flexible basement, characterized by strong activity, and polycyclic opening and closing, with well defined oceanic basins and widespread terrigenous deposits on both flanks in the preorogenic stage, and complicated deformation in the postorogenic stage with a large number of strike-slip faults besides overthrusting and overlapping structures. The overall tectonic framework is a series of unique orogenic belts in the Qinghai-Tibet plateau. There are numerous orogenic belts developed in the Qinghai-Tibet plateau, such as the Himalayas, Gangdise, Tanggula, Hoh Xil, Kunlun and Qilian mountains. These belts provide valuable information on the evolution of the lithosphere. Therefore, it is important to summarize the main characteristics of the orogenic belts.