Existence of a continental-scale river system in eastern Tibet during the late Cretaceous–early Palaeogene

Xudong Zhao, Huiping Zhang (), Ralf Hetzel, Eric Kirby, Alison R. Duvall, Kelin X. Whipple, Jianguo Xiong, Yifei Li, Jianzhang Pang, Ying Wang, Ping Wang, Kang Liu, Pengfei Ma, Bo Zhang, Xuemei Li, Jiawei Zhang and Peizhen Zhang
Additional contact information
Xudong Zhao: Lhasa National Geophysical Observation and Research Station, State Key Laboratory of Earthquake Dynamics, Institute of Geology, China Earthquake Administration
Huiping Zhang: Lhasa National Geophysical Observation and Research Station, State Key Laboratory of Earthquake Dynamics, Institute of Geology, China Earthquake Administration
Ralf Hetzel: Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, University of Münster
Eric Kirby: Department of Earth, Marine, and Environmental Sciences, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Alison R. Duvall: Department of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Washington
Kelin X. Whipple: School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University
Jianguo Xiong: Lhasa National Geophysical Observation and Research Station, State Key Laboratory of Earthquake Dynamics, Institute of Geology, China Earthquake Administration
Yifei Li: Key Laboratory of Computational Geodynamics, College of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences
Jianzhang Pang: Lhasa National Geophysical Observation and Research Station, State Key Laboratory of Earthquake Dynamics, Institute of Geology, China Earthquake Administration
Ying Wang: Lhasa National Geophysical Observation and Research Station, State Key Laboratory of Earthquake Dynamics, Institute of Geology, China Earthquake Administration
Ping Wang: School of Geography, Nanjing Normal University
Kang Liu: School of Earth Sciences and Engineering, Sun Yat-Sen University
Pengfei Ma: Department of Earth Science and Engineering, Taiyuan University of Technology
Bo Zhang: State Key Laboratory of Geological Processes and Mineral Resources, School of Earth Sciences and Resources, China University of Geosciences (Beijing)
Xuemei Li: Lhasa National Geophysical Observation and Research Station, State Key Laboratory of Earthquake Dynamics, Institute of Geology, China Earthquake Administration
Jiawei Zhang: Lhasa National Geophysical Observation and Research Station, State Key Laboratory of Earthquake Dynamics, Institute of Geology, China Earthquake Administration
Peizhen Zhang: Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Zhuhai)

Nature Communications, 2021, vol. 12, issue 1, 1-10

Abstract: Abstract The establishment of continental-scale drainage systems on Earth is largely controlled by topography related to plate boundary deformation and buoyant mantle. Drainage patterns of the great rivers in Asia are thought to be highly dynamic during the Cenozoic collision of India and Eurasia, but the drainage pattern and landscape evolution prior to the development of high topography in eastern Tibet remain largely unknown. Here we report the results of petro-stratigraphy, heavy-mineral analysis, and detrital zircon U-Pb dating from late Cretaceous–early Palaeogene sedimentary basin strata along the present-day eastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau. Similarities in the provenance signatures among basins indicate that a continental-scale fluvial system once drained southward into the Neo-Tethyan Ocean. These results challenge existing models of drainage networks that flowed toward the East Asian marginal seas and require revisions to inference of palaeo-topography during the Late Cretaceous. The presence of a continent-scale river may have provided a stable long-term base level which, in turn, facilitated the development of an extensive low-relief landscape that is preserved atop interfluves above the deeply incised canyons of eastern Tibet.

Date: 2021
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-27587-9

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