Intense Late Cenozoic Crustal Shortening in Southern Qiangtang, Western China

The magnitude of Cenozoic crustal shortening within the Tibetan plateau is a question of key importance in the models for its development. Earlier investigators proposed that the Cenozoic shortening within the plateau is generally less than 40%. Here, we present two exactly constrained structural sections, which show that the late Cenozoic crustal shortening within southern Qiangtang is upto 57-67%. This indicates that the internal crustal shortening within the plateau can play a vital role in the doubling of the crust of the Tibetan plateau.