This project will implement the initial phase of a multi-year, international cooperative project to collect deep seismic reflection data across the Himalaya/Tibet Plateau collision zone, the type example of a continent-continent collision. The goal of the project is to delineate the major structual features of the Tibetan lithosphere that have evolved during the collision process, and through this contribute substantially to an understanding of the evolution of continental lithosphere as a whole. During the initial phase of the project the principal investigators intend to carry out, in cooperation with the Ministry of Geology and Mineral Resources of the People's Republic of China (MGMR), a test survey of approximately 100 km length in order to (1) define the logistical requirements for deep reflection profiling in this unique area, and (2) address a key geologic problem relating to the evolution of the plateau. This initial test is an essential prelude to full scale profiling across the Himalaya/Tibet Plateau region.
