The tectonic framework and spatial allocation of the archipelagic arc-basin systems on the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau

The geology of the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau as the bulk of the eastern Tethyan tectonic domain is interpreted within the framework of archipelago orogenesis. On the basis of the long-term field investigation and plentiful data available, the Tethyan evolution is considered to be closely bound up with the breakup and assembly of the three (Laurasia, Gondwana and Pan-Cathaysian) continental strips on the globe. The Tethys Ocean went through a variety of evolutionary processes from initiation and development,through collapse and consumption, to closure and orogenesis, and was always controlled by the evolution of the global oceanic-continental spatio-temporal patterns. The tectonic units are divided for the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau and its adjacent areas according to the ideas about the transition of the global oceanic-continental tectonic regimes, archipelagic arc-basin systems and orogenic processes, and the fundamental features of varying tectonic units are described in detailed.