Climatic and tectonic controls on the fluvial morphology of the Northeastern Tibetan Plateau (China)

Xianyan WANG, VANDENBERGHE Jef, Huayu LU, VAN BALEN Ronald

Figure 4 Schematic diagram illustrating the geomorphologyical evolution of the Xining basin and the formation of the relict surface (modified after Wang et al., 2012). Firstly, the tectonic basin was formed before the Mesozoic (I). Then, the surrounding mountains eroded and the basin was filled (II,i). As a last stage in this step, limited and very local erosion in the basin might have slightly lowered the surface formed in II (i), ultimately resulting in the formation of a peneplain surface (II, ii). Finally, tectonic uplift caused the Huangshui to incise vertically into the surface, producing a terrace sequence (III).