Strath terraces of Jinshaan Canyon, Yellow River, and Quaternary tectonic movements of the Ordos Plateau, North China

Studies of the strath terraces in Jinshaan Canyon - where the Yellow River cuts through the Ordos Plateau in the continental interior of China - provide an opportunity to solve some of the critical problems associated with Quaternary tectonic movement of the plateau. Six strath terraces indicate that five episodes of regional epeirogenic uplift affected the Ordos Plateau during the Quaternary. The local tectonic deformation is superimposed on the regional epeirogenic uplift, expressed either as faulting or as non-uniform uplift induced by local arching. The results have important implications for understanding the relationship between the regional epeirogenic uplift of the Ordos Plateau and the uplift of the Qingzang Plateau, time lines of climate change in the regional epeirogenic uplift landscape, and the genesis of strath terraces associated with the through-flowing plateau drainage in the continental interior.