Assembly of Tibet (IMAGE)

Science China Press

Assembly of Tibet

Caption

Tibet was assembled by a succession of Gondwanan tectonic blocks (terranes) colliding with Eurasia over a period of about 200 million years. The Kunlun-Qaidam terrane accreted in the Triassic and India was the most recent to arrive near the beginning of the Cenozoic. Each collision contributed to a complex topography that existed before the India-Eurasia collision began. The junctions between the terranes are marked by sutures (the Ayimaqin-Kunlun suture zone (AKSZ) between the Kunlun-Qaidam and the Hoh Xil-Songpan Ganzi terrane, the Jingsha suture zone (JSZ) between the Hoh Xil-Songpan Ganzi and the Qaidam terranes, the Bangong-Nujiang suture zone (BNSZ) between the Qaidam and Lhasa blocks, and the Yarlung-Tsangpo suture zone (YTSZ) between the Lhasa block and the Himalayan thrust belt). The red circles show key fossil sites that have contributed to mapping ancient topography throughout the Tibetan region.

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