Convective removal of the Tibetan Plateau mantle lithosphere by ~26 Ma

During the late Oligocene–early Miocene there were several major geological events in and around the Tibetan Plateau (TP). First, crustal shortening deformation ceased completely within the TP before ~25 Ma and instead adakitic rocks and potassic–ultrapotassic volcanics were emplaced in the Lhasa terrane since 26–25 Ma. Several recent paleoelevation reconstructions suggest an Oligocene–early Miocene uplift of 1500–3000 m for the Qiangtang (QT) and Songpan–Ganzi (SG) terranes, although the exact timing is unclear. As a possible response to this uplift, significant desertification occurred in the vicinity of the TP at 26–22 Ma, and convergence between India and Eurasia slowed considerably at 26–20 Ma. Subsequently, E–W extension was initiated no later than 18 Ma in the Lhasa and QT terranes. In contrast, the tectonic deformation around the TP was dominated by radial expansion of shortening deformation since 25–22 Ma. The plateau–wide near–synchroneity of these events calls for an internally consistent model which can be best described as convective removal of the lower mantle lithosphere. Geophysical and petrochemical evidence further confirms that this extensive removal occurred beneath the QT and SG terranes. The present review concludes that, other than plate boundary stress, the internal stress within the TP lithosphere could have contributed to rapid wholesale uplift and a series of concomitant tectonic events, accompanied by major aridification, since ~26 Ma.