Geological Demolition Derby: New View On Tibetan Plateau's Rift Valleys

Geological Demolition Derby: New View On Tibetan Plateau's Rift Valleys


The rift valleys actually curve away -- some to the east, some to the west -- from the point where India is punching into the gut of Tibet.

"Everyone looked at the rifts and said they went north-south," said Paul Kapp, assistant professor of geosciences at the University of Arizona in Tucson. "I looked and said -- they're not."

His work contradicts a leading theory that suggests the rifts are a consequence of Tibet flowing slowly out over India's northern edge.

The new research indicates the Tibetan plateau is being compressed between the Indian subcontinent to the south and the solid wall of the North China block. As a result, Tibet is splitting much like an orange squeezed by a vise....cont'd

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/11/041116234241.htm