The goal of this project is to study the possible feedback between topography, deformation, atmospheric circulation and climate in the NE portion of the Tibetan plateau. The proposal seeks to understand the timing and spatial pattern of plateau uplift and from this, infer the mechanism of uplift (density foundering and/or channel flow) and determine what effect, if any, the uplift had on climate change at local, regional and global scales. To do this, the PIs will employ a variety of methods and personnel:
Molnar: project coordinator, analysis of GPS, gravity and seismic data, modeling of deformation and atmospheric interactions; Burbank: magnetostratigraphy, sed. structures, U-Pb dating of zircons, structures and balanced cross sections ; Clark: structures and balanced cross sections, U-Th/He dating, analysis of gravity and seismic refraction data ; Garzione: U-Pb detrital zircons, oxygen and carbon isotopes of basin sediments, structures and balanced cross sections; Kirby: structures and balanced cross sections, subset of U-Th/He dating; Farley: U-Th/He dating; Roe: atmospheric modeling (utilizing oxygen data); Chinese collaborators: magnetostratigraphy, apatite fission track, provision of GPS and seismic data.
