Shortening and asthenospheric flow drove Miocene vertical-axis rotations in the northern Tibetan Plateau: A palaeomagnetic study of the northeast Qaidam Basin of China

The timing and magnitude of upper crustal deformation in the northern Tibetan Plateau are important for testing models of plateau uplift and for understanding Cenozoic environmental variations and monsoon evolution in central and eastern Asia. Most published studies focus on the upward and outward growth of the northern Tibetan Plateau, whereas its tectonic, vertical-axis rotation history has received less attention. Here we evaluate paleomagnetic data from six stratigraphic sections in the northeastern Qaidam Basin of China, revealing a phase of clockwise rotation from ca. 20-11 Ma followed by counterclockwise rotation from ca. 11-5 Ma. We propose that differential crustal shortening and right-lateral shear drove early to middle Miocene clockwise rotation, whereas eastward flow of the Tibetan asthenosphere induced the post-middle Miocene counterclockwise rotation. These processes coincide with increased activity of first-order strike-slip faults in the northeastern plateau, emphasizing the important role of strike-slip faults in accommodating crustal deformation in northern Tibetan Plateau during the late Cenozoic.