THINNING OF THE THICKENED LITHOSPHERE AND ITS GEODYNAMIC CONSEQUENCE: APPLICATION FOR TIBETAN PLATEAU

As one of the most distinct tectonic blocks on the Earth’s surface, Tibetan Plateau draw great attention of the geoscientists from the world. Many authors have proposed various kinds of the mechanism to try to clarify the evolution of the plateau. While many studies are often restricted to crustal units, the important role of the mantle part of the lithosphere (mantle lithosphere) during and after the collision process has not been appreciated widely. The purpose of the paper is to investigate the dynamic process of the thinning (delamination and convective removal) of the thickened lithosphere and its influence upon the uplift of the plateau.1\ Thickened lithosphere root\;Parsons and McKenzie (1978) proposed that the continental lithosphere could be thought of as consisting of two distinct parts: the mechanical and thermal boundary layers. The lower, and hotter, part is the thermal boundary layer. Its viscosity is sufficiently low that the force of gravity acting on density contrasts between the thermal boundary layer and the underlying mantle lead to the episodic sinking of the thermal boundary layer and its replacement by hot asthenosphere. When continental crust shortens and thickens, the mantle directly beneath it must also be displaced downward. In other words, mountain building process shortens horizontally and thickens vertically the mechanical boundary layer, and presumably the thermal boundary layer. And the process stretches the isotherms vertically, thus reducing the geothermal gradient. Houseman’s numerical experiments (1981) show that thickening of the thermal boundary layer enhances the density contrasts between it and the underlying asthenosphere, and so leads to its removal and replacement with hot asthenosphere. This phenomenon is called the instability of the thickened lithosphere.