Editorial preface to special issue: Continental evolution and sedimentary basins of the Tibetan Plateau and its environs

Abstract

Continental evolution is responsible for the evolution of orogenic belts and sedimentary basins. The India–Asia convergence during the late Mesozoic to Cenozoic and the resulting tectono-sedimentary processes in the Tibetan Plateau and and its environs are among the most spectacular manifestations of continental evolution and sedimentary basin formation in recent Earth history. The aim of this special issue is to explore continental evolution and sedimentary basins in central-southern Asia since the late Mesozoic, with a main focus on the India–Asia convergence and the resulting tectono-sedimentary, tectono-geomorphologic, and paleoclimatic/paleoenvironmental processes in the Tibetan Plateau and its environs during the late Cretaceous to Neogene. The issue comprises ten papers that address the significance of Continental Evolution and Sedimentary Basins of the Tibetan Plateau and its Environs since the middle Cretaceous, and that fall into three categories. (i) The first category addresses the paleogeography of the southern-central Tibetan Plateau during the Cretaceous to Paleogene. These studies decipher the multistage collision of Inida with Asia, the opening and closing of ocean basins, and the tectonic evolution of the major blocks (such as Tibetan Himalaya, Lhasa, and southern/western Qiangtang) and especially of the major Himalayan tectonostratigraphic units during the convergence history between India and Asia. (ii) The second category addresses the tectono-sedimentary and tectono-geomorphologic evolution of the eastern and northeastern margins of the Tibetan Plateau during the late Cretaceous to Neogene. (iii) The third and the final category addresses the tectono-sedimentary basin filling and/or paleoenvironmental processes during the late Eocene to Pliocene, which are recorded in the intermontane Kuche and Tajik basins in central Asia and thus may reflect the far-field influence of the post-collisional India–Asia convergence on these sedimentary basins.