2026-03-25
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A new study by Chinese scientists reveals that the Qinghai Shizang Plateau did not experience a steady continuous rise,
but underwent two distinct cycles of dramatic uplift and fall.
Published in the journal Geology.
The research was led by scientists from the Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry under the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
By linking deep underground activities to changes on the plateau's surface,
the findings offer new insights into how massive mountain plateaus form.
The team focused on two intermountain basins.
Within the Gangdai Mountains in the southern part of the plateau,
known as the Roof of the World, The sedimentary layers in these basins function like geological diaries,
preserving detailed records of land form changes.
Over tens of millions of years, the team discovered that the two basins.
Formed tens of millions of years apart, share striking similarities in their hydrological systems.
Their water systems both shifted from open to closed and then back to open.
The scientists explained that, before a rapid uplift, the basins were relatively open.
Receiving input from complex external river systems.
As the terrain rose swiftly to form towering mountain barriers, they cut off rivers and isolated the basins.