Abstract:

 The QinghaiTibet Plateau is the highest, the latest and the most extensive plateau in the world. The layered landscape is a typical landform feature of the QinghaiTibet Plateau; the study of its formation is of great significance for understanding the process of QinghaiTibet Plateau uplifting and the evolution of the climate. This paper discusses the formation of the layered landscape on the QinghaiTibet Plateau based on the field investigation and the observed data analysis. We focus on the analysis of nowadays landform features of the QinghaiTibet Plateau and put forward that the main surface and the peak surface were formed in the plateau uplifting process. Under the intensive compression by the subduction and collision between the India plate and the Eurasian plate, the coactions of internal and external processes caused the uplift of the QinghaiTibet Plateau. The internal process had the characteristics of the differentially wholly uplifting. We hope this study could provide some new ideas and basis for the research on the uplifting of the QinghaiTibet Plateau.

Key words:  QinghaiTibet Plateau; planation surface; steplike landforms; plateau uplift