Eco-environmental effects of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau uplift during the Quaternary in China

Abstract

The Qinghai–Tibet Plateau uplifted >3000 m in the Quaternary period. The average rate of uplift was 1–1.1 mm/year. The uplifting has remolded the geomorphology of China. The landform in China was changed from west-low and east-high to west-high and east-low in three steps. The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau uplift is an important factor that affected the climate and the environment of China in the Quaternary period. It controls atmospheric circulation and climatic change in Asia and even the northern hemisphere, by dividing the westerlies into two branches: south and north. The plateau gradually became a heat source in summer and a cold source in winter. The uplift had a decisive effect on the formation of the East-Asia monsoon, which increased the climatic differences between the glacial period and the interglacial period. The climate and environment of China are characterized by the influences of the plateau uplift. The east of China became the south-east monsoon area, whereas the south-west became the south-west monsoon area and the north-west turned into an arid inland region. The Gobi and large-scale deserts that formed in the inland basins are ceaselessly extending. The climate of northern China became more arid as the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau continued to uplift. The Plateau uplift affected glacial evolvement and loess formation, and propelled the migration of cold- and warm-blooded animals, which differed from other regions of the world at the same latitude.