View source for Tibetan Plateau

{{Short description|Plateau in Central, South and East Asia}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2020}}
{{Infobox mountain
| name = Tibetan Plateau
| other_name = {{lang|zh|青藏高原}} ({{lang|zh-Latn-pinyin|Qīng–Zàng Gāoyuán}}, Qinghai–Tibet Plateau)
| location = {{PRC}} ([[Tibet Autonomous Region|Tibet]], [[Qinghai]], Western [[Sichuan]], Northern [[Yunnan]], Southern [[Xinjiang]], Western [[Gansu]])<br />{{IND}} ([[Ladakh]], [[Jammu and Kashmir (union territory)]], North and East [[Himachal Pradesh]], Norther [[Uttarakhand]], Northern [[Arunachal Pradesh]], Northern [[Sikkim]], [[Darjeeling]])<br />{{PAK}}
 ([[Baltistan]])<br />{{AFG}} ([[Wakhan Corridor]])<br />{{NPL}} (Northern Nepal)<br />{{BTN}}<br />{{TJK}} (Eastern Tajikistan)<br />{{KGZ}} (Southern Kyrgyzstan)
| map_image = Tibet and surrounding areas topographic map.png
| map_caption = Tibetan Plateau and surrounding areas above 1600 m
| photo = Himalaya composite.jpg
| photo_caption = The Tibetan Plateau lies between the [[Himalaya]]n range to the south and the [[Taklamakan Desert]] to the north. (Composite image)
| range_coordinates = {{coord|33|N|88|E|type:mountain|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
| area_km2 = 2500000
| coordinates = 
| length_km = 2500
| width_km = 1000
| embedded = {{Infobox mapframe |wikidata=yes |zoom =4 |coord={{WikidataCoord|display=i}}}}
}}
The '''Tibetan Plateau''',{{efn|{{bo|t=བོད་ས་མཐོ།|w=bod sa mtho}}}}  also known as '''Qinghai–Tibet Plateau'''{{efn|<ref>{{cite book |title=River Morphodynamics and Stream Ecology of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau |first1=Zhaoyin |last1=Wang |first2=Zhiwei |last2=Li |first3=Mengzhen |last3=Xu |first4=Guoan |last4=Yu |publisher=CRC Press |date=30 March 2016 }}</ref>}} and '''Qing–Zang Plateau''',{{efn|<ref>{{cite book |title=Regional Hydrological Response to Climate Change |first1=J.A. |last1=Jones |first2=Changming |last2=Liu |first3=Ming-Ko |last3=Woo |first4=Hsiang-Te |last4=Kung |publisher=Springer Science & Business Media |date=6 December 2012 |page=360 }}</ref> [[Burmese language|Burmese]]: တိဘက်ကုန်းပြင်မြင့်; {{zh|c=青藏高原|p=Qīng–Zàng Gāoyuán}}; or as the '''Himalayan Plateau''' in [[India]]<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.amarujala.com/shimla/campus/research-by-india-and-usa-in-himalayan-region |title=हिमालयी क्षेत्र में जीवन यापन पर रिसर्च करेंगे अमेरिका और भारत}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/facebook-stories-of-strength-2019/in-little-tibet-a-story-of-how-a-displaced-people-rebuilt-life-in-a-distant-land/ |title=In Little Tibet, a story of how displaced people rebuilt life in a distant land |date=18 February 2020}}</ref>}} is a vast elevated [[plateau]] located at the intersection of [[Central Asia|Central]], [[South Asia|South]], and [[East Asia]]{{efn|<ref>''Illustrated Atlas of the World'' (1986) Rand McNally & Company. {{ISBN|0-528-83190-9}} pp. 164–65</ref><ref>''Atlas of World History'' (1998 ) HarperCollins. {{ISBN|0-7230-1025-0}} p. 39</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://dannyreviews.com/h/Tibetan_Empire.html |title=The Tibetan Empire in Central Asia (Christopher Beckwith) |access-date=19 February 2009 }}</ref><ref>Hopkirk 1983, p. 1</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Encyclopedia of Prehistory: East Asia and Oceania, Volume 3 |author1=Peregrine, Peter Neal |author2=Melvin Ember, etc. |name-list-style=amp |publisher=[[Springer Science+Business Media|Springer]] |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-306-46257-3 |page=32}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=North and East Asia |author=Morris, Neil |publisher=Heinemann-Raintree Library |year=2007 |isbn=978-1-4034-9898-4 |page=[https://archive.org/details/northeastasia0000morr/page/11 11] |url=https://archive.org/details/northeastasia0000morr/page/11 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Contractional and Extensional Tectonics During the India-Asia Collision |author=Webb, Andrew Alexander Gordon |publisher=[[ProQuest]] LLC |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-549-50627-0 |page=137 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=World regions in global context: peoples, places, and environments |author1=Marston, Sallie A. |author2=Paul L. Knox, Diana M. Liverman |publisher=[[Prentice Hall]] |year=2002 |isbn=978-0-13-022484-2 |page=[https://archive.org/details/worldregionsingl0000mars/page/430 430] |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/worldregionsingl0000mars/page/430 }}</ref>}} covering most of the [[Tibet Autonomous Region]], most of [[Qinghai]], western half of [[Sichuan]], Southern [[Gansu]] provinces in [[Western China]], southern [[Xinjiang]], [[Bhutan]], the [[Administrative divisions of India|Indian regions]] of [[Ladakh]] and [[Lahaul and Spiti district|Lahaul and Spiti]] ([[Himachal Pradesh]]) as well as [[Gilgit-Baltistan]] in [[Pakistan]], northwestern [[Nepal]], eastern [[Tajikistan]] and southern [[Kyrgyzstan]]. It stretches approximately {{convert|1000|km}} north to south and {{convert|2500|km}} east to west. It is the world's highest and largest [[plateau]] above sea level, with an area of {{convert|2500000|km2}} (about five times the size of [[Metropolitan France]]).<ref>{{cite web |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060112023503/http://java.nationalgeographic.com/studentatlas/clickup/deserts.html |title=Natural World: Deserts |work=National Geographic |url=http://java.nationalgeographic.com/studentatlas/clickup/deserts.html |archive-date=12 January 2006 }}</ref> With an average elevation exceeding {{convert|4500|m}}{{citation needed|date=June 2023}} and being surrounded by imposing [[mountain range]]s that harbor the world's two highest summits, [[Mount Everest]] and [[K2]], the Tibetan Plateau is often referred to as "the [[Roof of the World]]".

The Tibetan Plateau contains the [[river source|headwaters]] of the [[drainage basin]]s of most of the [[stream]]s and [[river]]s in surrounding [[region]]s. This includes the three longest rivers in [[Asia]] ([[Yellow River|the Yellow]], [[Yangtze]], and [[Mekong]]). Its tens of thousands of [[glacier]]s and other geographical and ecological features serve as a "[[water tower]]" storing water and maintaining [[streamflow|flow]]. It is sometimes termed the '''[[Third Pole]]''' because its [[ice field]]s contain the largest reserve of fresh water outside the polar regions. The impact of [[climate change]] on the Tibetan Plateau is of ongoing scientific interest.<ref name=FT83013>{{cite news |title=Tibet: life on the climate front line |url=http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/ee1f3f80-1029-11e3-a258-00144feabdc0.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221210/http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/ee1f3f80-1029-11e3-a258-00144feabdc0.html |archive-date=10 December 2022 |url-access=subscription |access-date=1 September 2013 |newspaper=Financial Times |date=30 August 2013 |author=Leslie Hook}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Liu |first1=Xiaodong |last2=Chen |year=2000 |title=Climatic warming in the Tibetan Plateau during recent decades |journal=International Journal of Climatology |volume=20 |issue=14 |doi=10.1002/1097-0088(20001130)20:14<1729::aid-joc556>3.0.co;2-y |via=Academia.edu |pages=1729–1742 |bibcode=2000IJCli..20.1729L |citeseerx=10.1.1.669.5900}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ni |first=Jian |year=2000 |title=A Simulation of Biomes on the Tibetan Plateau and Their Responses to Global Climate Change |journal=Mountain Research and Development |volume=20 |issue=1 |doi=10.1659/0276-4741(2000)020[0080:ASOBOT]2.0.CO;2 |pages=80–89 |s2cid=128916992 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Cheng |first1=Guodong |last2=Wu |s2cid=14450823 |date=8 June 2007 |title=Responses of permafrost to climate change and their environmental significance, Qinghai-Tibet Plateau |journal=Journal of Geophysical Research |volume=112 |issue=F2 |pages=F02S03 |doi=10.1029/2006JF000631 |bibcode=2007JGRF..112.2S03C|doi-access=free }}</ref>

== Description ==
The Tibetan Plateau is surrounded by the massive mountain ranges<ref>{{cite book |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=4q_XoMACOxkC&pg=PA6 |title=A Unique Geographical Unit |page=6 |isbn=978-7-5085-0665-4 |last1=Yang |first1=Qinye |last2=Zheng |first2=Du |year=2004|publisher=五洲传播出版社 }}</ref> of [[high-mountain Asia]]. The plateau is bordered to the south by the [[Himalayas|inner Himalayan range]], to the north by the [[Kunlun Mountains]], which separate it from the [[Tarim Basin]], and to the northeast by the [[Qilian Mountains]], which separate the plateau from the [[Hexi Corridor]] and [[Gobi Desert]]. To the east and southeast the plateau gives way to the forested gorge and ridge geography of the mountainous headwaters of the [[Salween River|Salween]], [[Mekong]], and [[Yangtze]] rivers in northwest [[Yunnan]] and western [[Sichuan]] (the [[Hengduan Mountains]]). In the west, the curve of the rugged [[Karakoram]] range of northern [[Kashmir]] embraces the plateau. The [[Indus River]] originates in the western Tibetan Plateau in the vicinity of [[Lake Manasarovar]].

The Tibetan Plateau is bounded in the north by a broad escarpment where the altitude drops from around {{convert|5000|m}} to {{convert|1500|m}} over a horizontal distance of less than {{convert|150|km}}. Along the escarpment is a range of mountains. In the west, the [[Kunlun Mountains]] separate the plateau from the Tarim Basin. About halfway across the Tarim the bounding range becomes the [[Altyn-Tagh]] and the Kunluns, by convention, continue somewhat to the south. In the 'V' formed by this split is the western part of the [[Qaidam Basin]]. The Altyn-Tagh ends near the Dangjin pass on the [[Dunhuang]]–[[Golmud]] road. To the west are short ranges called the Danghe, Yema, Shule, and Tulai Nanshans. The easternmost range is the Qilian Mountains. The line of mountains continues east of the plateau as the [[Qinling]], which separates the [[Ordos Plateau]] from Sichuan. North of the mountains runs the Gansu or [[Hexi Corridor]] which was the main silk-road route from [[China proper]] to the West.

The plateau is a high-altitude arid [[steppe]] interspersed with mountain ranges and large [[brackish water|brackish]] lakes. Annual precipitation ranges from {{convert|100|to|300|mm|in}} and falls mainly as [[hail]]. The southern and eastern edges of the steppe have grasslands that can sustainably support populations of nomadic herdsmen, although frost occurs for six months of the year. [[Permafrost]] occurs over extensive parts of the plateau. Proceeding to the north and northwest, the plateau becomes progressively higher, colder, and drier, until reaching the remote [[Changtang]] region in the northwestern part of the plateau. Here the average altitude exceeds {{convert|5000|m}} and winter temperatures can drop to {{convert|−40|°C}}. As a result of this extremely inhospitable environment, the Changtang region (together with the adjoining Kekexili region) is the least populous region in Asia and the third least populous area in the world after Antarctica and northern Greenland.

== Geology and geological history ==
[[File:Yamdrok Lake, Tibet 2.jpg|upright=1.2|thumb|[[Yamdrok Lake]] is one of the four largest lakes in Tibet. All four lakes are considered sacred [[pilgrimage]] sites in the local tradition.<ref name=Seibert>{{Cite web |url=http://homepage.boku.ac.at/seibert/yamdrok.htm  |author =Petra Seibert and Lorne Stockman |title=The Yamdrok Tso Hydropower Plant in Tibet: A Multi-facetted and Highly Controversial Project |access-date=29 June 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070805205251/http://homepage.boku.ac.at/seibert/yamdrok.htm |archive-date=5 August 2007 }}</ref>]]
{{Expand section|date=January 2011}}
{{Main|Geology of the Himalayas}}
The geological history of the Tibetan Plateau is closely related to that of the Himalayas. The Himalayas belong to the [[Alpine orogeny|Alpine Orogeny]] and are therefore among the younger mountain ranges on the planet, consisting mostly of uplifted [[sedimentary rock|sedimentary]] and [[metamorphic rock]]. Their formation is a result of a [[continental collision]] or [[orogeny]] along the [[convergent boundary]] between the [[Indo-Australian Plate]] and the [[Eurasian Plate]].

The collision began in the [[Cretaceous|Upper Cretaceous]] period about 70 million years ago, when the north-moving [[Indo-Australian Plate]], moving at about {{Convert|15|cm|4=0|abbr=on}} per year, collided with the [[Eurasian Plate]]. About 50 million years ago, this fast-moving Indo-Australian plate had completely closed the [[Tethys Ocean]], the existence of which has been determined by [[sedimentary rock]]s settled on the ocean floor, and the [[volcano]]es that fringed its edges. Since these sediments were light, they crumpled into mountain ranges rather than sinking to the floor. During this early stage of its formation in the Late Palaeogene, Tibet consisted of a deep palaeovalley bounded by multiple mountain ranges rather than the more topographically uniform elevated flatland that it is today.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Su |first1=T. |last2=Farnsworth |first2=A. |last3=Spicer |first3=R. A. |last4=Huang |first4=J. |last5=Wu |first5=F.-X. |last6=Liu |first6=J. |last7=Li |first7=S.-F. |last8=Xing |first8=Y.-W. |last9=Huang |first9=Y.-J. |last10=Deng |first10=W.-Y.-D. |last11=Tang |first11=H. |last12=Xu |first12=C.-L. |last13=Zhao |first13=F. |last14=Strivastava |first14=G. |last15=Valdes |first15=P. J. |last16=Deng |first16=T. |last17=Zhou |first17=Z.-K. |date=6 March 2019 |title=No high Tibetan Plateau until the Neogene |journal=[[Science Advances]] |volume=5 |issue=3 |pages=eaav2189 |doi=10.1126/sciadv.aav2189 |pmid=30854430 |pmc=6402856 |bibcode=2019SciA....5.2189S }}</ref> The Tibetan Plateau's mean elevation continued to vary since its initial uplift in the Eocene; isotopic records show the plateau's altitude was around 3,000 metres above sea level around the Oligocene-Miocene boundary and that it fell by 900 metres between 25.5 and 21.6 million years ago, attributable to tectonic unroofing from east–west extension or to erosion from climatic weathering. The plateau subsequently rose by 500 to 1,000 metres between 21.6 and 20.4 million years ago.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Jia |first1=Guodong |last2=Bai |first2=Yang |last3=Ma |first3=Yongjia |last4=Sun |first4=Jimin |last5=Peng |first5=Ping'an |date=March 2015 |title=Paleoelevation of Tibetan Lunpola basin in the Oligocene–Miocene transition estimated from leaf wax lipid dual isotopes |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0921818115000181 |journal=[[Global and Planetary Change]] |volume=126 |pages=14–22 |doi=10.1016/j.gloplacha.2014.12.007 |bibcode=2015GPC...126...14J |access-date=24 December 2022}}</ref> 
[[File:Jewel-Toned Lakes of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.1|Natural-colour satellite image of the Tibetan Plateau.]]
[[Palaeobotany|Palaeobotanical]] evidence indicates that the Nujiang Suture Zone and the Yarlung-Zangpo Suture Zone remained tropical or subtropical [[lowland]]s until the latest [[Oligocene]] or [[Early Miocene]], enabling biotic interchange across Tibet.<ref name="LiuEtAl2019">{{cite journal |last1=Liu |first1=Jia |last2=Su |first2=Tao |last3=Spicer |first3=Robert A. |last4=Tang |first4=He |last5=Deng |first5=Wei-Yu-Dong |last6=Wu |first6=Fei-Xiang |last7=Srivastava |first7=Gaurav |last8=Spicer |first8=Teresa |last9=Do |first9=Truong Van |last10=Deng |first10=Tao |last11=Zhou |first11=Zhe-Kun |date=15 June 2019 |title=Biotic interchange through lowlands of Tibetan Plateau suture zones during Paleogene |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0031018219300574#! |journal=[[Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology]] |volume=524 |pages=33–40 |doi=10.1016/j.palaeo.2019.02.022 |bibcode=2019PPP...524...33L |s2cid=135460949 |access-date=6 November 2022}}</ref> The age of east–west grabens in the Lhasa and Himalaya terranes suggests that the plateau's elevation was close to its modern altitude by around 14 to 8 million years ago.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Xu |first1=Qiang |last2=Ding |first2=Lin |last3=Zhang |first3=Liyun |last4=Cai |first4=Fulong |last5=Lai |first5=Qingzhou |last6=Yang |first6=Di |last7=Liu-Zeng |first7=Jing |date=15 January 2013 |title=Paleogene high elevations in the Qiangtang Terrane, central Tibetan Plateau |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0012821X1200684X |journal=[[Earth and Planetary Science Letters]] |volume=362 |pages=31–42 |doi=10.1016/j.epsl.2012.11.058 |bibcode=2013E&PSL.362...31X |access-date=13 December 2022}}</ref> Erosion rates in Tibet decreased significantly around 10 million years ago.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Tremblay |first1=Marissa M. |last2=Fox |first2=Matthew |last3=Schmidt |first3=Jennifer L. |last4=Tripathy-Lang |first4=Alka |last5=Wielicki |first5=Matthew M. |last6=Harrison |first6=T. Mark |last7=Zeitler |first7=Peter K. |last8=Shuster |first8=David L. |date=14 September 2015 |title=Erosion in southern Tibet shut down at ~10 Ma due to enhanced rock uplift within the Himalaya |journal=[[Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America]] |volume=112 |issue=39 |pages=12030–12035 |doi=10.1073/pnas.1515652112 |pmid=26371325 |pmc=4593086 |bibcode=2015PNAS..11212030T |doi-access=free }}</ref> The Indo-Australian plate continues to be driven horizontally below the Tibetan Plateau, which forces the plateau to move upwards; the plateau is still [[tectonic uplift|rising]] at a rate of approximately {{Convert|5|mm|4=1|abbr=on}} per year (although erosion reduces the actual increase in height).<ref>{{Cite book |author=Sanyal, Sanjeev |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/855957425 |title=Land of the seven rivers : a brief history of India's geography |date=10 July 2013 |publisher=Penguin Books |isbn=978-0-14-342093-4 |oclc=855957425}}</ref>

Much of the Tibetan Plateau is of relatively low relief. The cause of this is debated among geologists. Some argue that the Tibetan Plateau is an uplifted [[peneplain]] formed at low altitude, while others argue that the low relief stems from [[erosion]] and [[sedimentary basin|infill]] of topographic depressions that occurred at already high elevations.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Lia, Jijun |author2=Ma, Zhenhua |author3=Li, Xiaomiao |author4=Peng, Tingjiang |author5=Guo, Benhong |author6=Zhang, Jun |author7=Song, Chunhui |author8=Liu, Jia |author9=Hui, Zhengchuang |author10=Yu, Hao |author11=Ye, Xiyan |author12=Liu, Shanpin |author13=Wang Xiuxi |year=2017 |title = Late Miocene-Pliocene geomorphological evolution of the Xiaoshuizi peneplain in the Maxian Mountains and its tectonic significance for the northeastern Tibetan Plateau |journal=[[Geomorphology (journal)|Geomorphology]] |volume=295 |pages=393–405 |doi= 10.1016/j.geomorph.2017.07.024|bibcode=2017Geomo.295..393L}}</ref> The current tectonics of the plateau are also debated. The best-regarded explanations are provided by the block model and the alternative continuum model. According to the former, the crust of the plateau is formed of several blocks with little internal deformation separated by major [[strike-slip fault]]s. In the latter, the plateau is affected by distributed deformation resulting from flow within the crust.<ref name="Shi_etal_2016">{{Cite journal |last1=Shi |first1=F. |last2=He |first2=H. |last3=Densmore |first3=A.L. |last4=Li |first4=A. |last5=Yang |first5=X. |last6=Xu |first6=X. |date=2016 |title=Active tectonics of the Ganzi–Yushu fault in the southeastern Tibetan Plateau |journal=[[Tectonophysics (journal)|Tectonophysics]] |volume=676 |pages=112–124 |doi=10.1016/j.tecto.2016.03.036|bibcode=2016Tectp.676..112S |url=http://dro.dur.ac.uk/18222/1/18222.pdf }}</ref>

==Environment==
[[File:YangpachenValley.jpg|thumb|[[Yangbajain]] valley to the north of [[Lhasa]]]]
The Tibetan Plateau supports a variety of ecosystems, most of them classified as [[montane]] grasslands. While parts of the plateau feature an [[alpine tundra]]-like environment, other areas feature monsoon-influenced shrublands and forests. [[Species diversity]] is generally reduced on the plateau due to the elevation and low precipitation. The Tibetan Plateau hosts the [[Tibetan wolf]],<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1016/j.gecco.2018.e00455|title=The unique genetic adaptation of the Himalayan wolf to high-altitudes and consequences for conservation|journal=Global Ecology and Conservation|volume=16|pages=e00455|year=2018|last1=Werhahn|first1=Geraldine|last2=Senn|first2=Helen|last3=Ghazali|first3=Muhammad|last4=Karmacharya|first4=Dibesh|last5=Sherchan|first5=Adarsh Man|last6=Joshi|first6=Jyoti|last7=Kusi|first7=Naresh|last8=López-Bao|first8=José Vincente|last9=Rosen|first9=Tanya|last10=Kachel|first10=Shannon|last11=Sillero-Zubiri|first11=Claudio|last12=MacDonald|first12=David W.|doi-access=free|hdl=10651/50748|hdl-access=free}}</ref> and species of [[snow leopard]], [[wild yak]], [[kiang|wild ass]], cranes, vultures, hawks, geese, snakes, and [[water buffalo]]. One notable animal is the [[Euophrys omnisuperstes|high-altitude jumping spider]], that can live at elevations of over {{convert|6500|m|ft}}.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cbc.ca/documentaries/natureofthings/2008/wildchina/wildchina3.html|title=Wild China: The Tibetan Plateau|website=The Nature of Things|publisher=Canadian Broadcasting Corporation|access-date=21 March 2013}}</ref>

[[Ecoregion]]s found on the Tibetan Plateau, as defined by the [[World Wide Fund for Nature]], are as follows:
* The [[Pamir alpine desert and tundra]] covers the western end of the Tibetan Plateau where it transitions to the [[Pamir Mountains]]
* The [[North Tibetan Plateau–Kunlun Mountains alpine desert]] covers the northwestern limits of the Tibetan Plateau along the [[Kunlun Mountains]]
* The [[Karakoram–West Tibetan Plateau alpine steppe]] covers the westernmost parts of the Tibetan Plateau and [[Ladakh]]
* The [[Northwestern Himalayan alpine shrub and meadows]] on the edges mountains bordering the extreme west of the Tibetan Plateau
* The [[Central Tibetan Plateau alpine steppe]] covers most of the central portions of the Tibetan Plateau and the eastern [[Changtang]]
* The [[Western Himalayan alpine shrub and meadows]] covers the southwestern plateau in the [[Garuda Valley]] region
* The [[Qaidam Basin semi-desert]] located in the [[Qaidam Basin]] on the northern Tibetan Plateau
* The [[Qilian Mountains subalpine meadows]] covering the [[Qilian Mountains]] in the northernmost portions of the plateau
* The [[Qilian Mountains conifer forests]] covering parts of the mountain ranges in the northeastern Tibetan Plateau
* The [[Tibetan Plateau alpine shrublands and meadows]] covering a swath of the central and northeastern Tibetan Plateau
* The [[Yarlung Tsangpo arid steppe]] in the [[Yarlung Tsangpo]] river Valley, where most of the permanent human population on the Tibetan Plateau lives
* The [[Eastern Himalayan alpine shrub and meadows]] cover the southern Tibetan Plateau on the north side of the [[Himalayas]]
[[File:Nomads near Namtso.jpg|thumb|Pastoral nomads camping near [[Namtso]].]]
* The [[Southeast Tibet shrub and meadows]] cover the southeastern and eastern parts of the plateau and are generally rainier than the other high-altitude Tibetan Plateau regions
* The [[Northeastern Himalayan subalpine conifer forests]] reach up mountain valleys in the southern plateau and contain some of the highest altitude forests in the world
* The [[Nujiang Lancang Gorge alpine conifer and mixed forests]] cover the mountain valleys that reach {{cvt|500|km|mi}} into the southeastern Tibetan Plateau
* The [[Hengduan Mountains subalpine conifer forests]] cover the southeasternmost mountain valleys on the plateau
* The [[Qionglai–Minshan conifer forests]] cover the eastern edges of the plateau and are the densest forests to be found anywhere on the Tibetan Plateau

== Human history ==
[[File:Aba County Aba Prefecture Sichuan China.jpg|thumb|left|[[Tibetan Buddhism|Tibetan Buddhist]] [[stupa]] and houses outside the town of [[Ngawa Town|Ngawa]], on the Tibetan Plateau.]]
{{Main|History of Tibet}}
Extinct humans ([[Denisovan|Denisovans]]) lived on the Tibetan plateau from around 200,000 to 40,000 years ago. this is according to a study published in ''[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Extinct humans survived on the Tibetan plateau for 160,000 years |url=https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/07/240703131710.htm |access-date=2024-07-06 |website=ScienceDaily |language=en}}</ref> 

[[Nomad]]s on the Tibetan Plateau and in the [[Himalayas]] are the remainders of nomadic practices historically once widespread in Asia and Africa.<ref>{{cite web
|author=David Miller
|url = http://www.asianart.com/exhibitions/miller/index.html
|title=Nomads of Tibet and Bhutan
|publisher=asinart.com
|access-date=10 February 2008
}}
</ref> Pastoral nomads constitute about 40% of the ethnic [[Tibetan people|Tibetan]] population.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/picture_gallery/06/asia_pac_tibetan_nomads/html/1.stm In pictures: Tibetan nomads] BBC News</ref> The presence of nomadic peoples on the plateau is predicated on their adaptation to survival on the world's [[grassland]] by raising livestock rather than crops, which are unsuitable to the terrain. Archaeological evidence suggests that the earliest human occupation of the plateau occurred between 30,000 and 40,000 years ago.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Zhang|first1=X. L.|last2=Ha|first2=B. B.|last3=Wang|first3=S. J.|last4=Chen|first4=Z. J.|last5=Ge|first5=J. Y.|last6=Long|first6=H.|last7=He|first7=W.|last8=Da|first8=W.|last9=Nian|first9=X. M.|last10=Yi|first10=M. J.|last11=Zhou|first11=X. Y.|date=2018-11-30|title=The earliest human occupation of the high-altitude Tibetan Plateau 40 thousand to 30 thousand years ago|journal=Science|language=en|volume=362|issue=6418|pages=1049–1051|doi=10.1126/science.aat8824|pmid=30498126| bibcode=2018Sci...362.1049Z |issn=0036-8075|doi-access=free}}</ref> Since colonization of the Tibetan Plateau, Tibetan culture has adapted and flourished in the western, southern, and eastern regions of the plateau. The northern portion, the [[Changtang]], is generally too high and cold to support permanent population.<ref name="historical atlas">{{cite book |last1=Ryavec|first1=Karl |title= [[A Historical Atlas of Tibet]] |year = 2015 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn = 9780226732442 }}</ref> One of the most notable civilizations to have developed on the Tibetan Plateau is the [[Tibetan Empire]] from the 7th century to the 9th century AD.

== Impact on other regions ==
[[File:TibetplateauA2002144.0440.500m.jpg|thumb|NASA satellite image of the south-eastern area of Tibetan Plateau. [[Brahmaputra River]] is in the lower right.]]

=== Role in monsoons ===
{{Main|Monsoon}}
Monsoons are caused by the different amplitudes of surface temperature seasonal cycles between land and oceans. This differential warming occurs because heating rates differ between land and water. Ocean heating is distributed vertically through a "mixed layer" that may be 50 meters deep through the action of wind and buoyancy-generated [[turbulence]], whereas the land surface conducts heat slowly, with the seasonal signal penetrating only a meter or so. Additionally, the [[specific heat capacity]] of liquid water is significantly greater than that of most materials that make up land. Together, these factors mean that the heat capacity of the layer participating in the seasonal cycle is much larger over the oceans than over land, with the consequence that the land warms and cools faster than the ocean. In turn, air over the land warms faster and reaches a higher temperature than does air over the ocean.<ref name="Oracle">Oracle Thinkquest Education Foundation. [http://library.thinkquest.org/C003603/english/monsoons/causesofmonsoons.shtml monsoons: causes of monsoons.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090416181043/http://library.thinkquest.org/C003603/english/monsoons/causesofmonsoons.shtml |date=16 April 2009 }} Retrieved on 22 May 2008.</ref> The warmer air over land tends to rise, creating an area of [[low pressure]]. The pressure anomaly then causes a steady wind to blow toward the land, which brings the moist air over the ocean surface with it. Rainfall is then increased by the presence of the moist ocean air. The rainfall is stimulated by a variety of mechanisms, such as low-level air being lifted upwards by mountains, surface heating, convergence at the surface, divergence aloft, or from storm-produced outflows near the surface. When such lifting occurs, the air cools due to expansion in lower pressure, which in turn produces [[condensation]] and precipitation.
[[File:Himalayas.jpg|thumb|left|The Himalayas as seen from space looking south from over the Tibetan Plateau.]]
In winter, the land cools off quickly, but the ocean maintains the heat longer. The hot air over the ocean rises, creating a low-pressure area and a breeze from land to ocean while a large area of drying high pressure is formed over the land, increased by wintertime cooling.<ref name="Oracle"/> Monsoons are similar to [[sea breezes|sea and land breezes]], a term usually referring to the localized, [[diurnal cycle]] of circulation near coastlines everywhere, but they are much larger in scale, stronger and seasonal.<ref>{{cite web|publisher=[[BBC]] Weather|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041101181531/http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/features/understanding/monsoon.shtml|archive-date=1 November 2004|title= The Asian Monsoon|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/features/understanding/monsoon.shtml}}</ref> The seasonal monsoon wind shift and weather associated with the heating and cooling of the Tibetan plateau is the strongest such monsoon on Earth.

==Glaciology: the Ice Age and at present==
{{ anchor | Ice | Glaciology }}
[[File:Tibet Midui Glacier,Autumn colour.jpg|thumb|Midui Glacier in [[Nyingchi]]]]
Today, Tibet is an important heating surface of the atmosphere. However, during the [[Last Glacial Maximum]], an approximately {{convert|2400000|km2|sqmi}} ice sheet covered the plateau.<ref>{{cite journal|first=Matthias|last=Kuhle|year=1998|title=Reconstruction of the 2.4 Million km<sup>2</sup> Late Pleistocene Ice Sheet on the Tibetan Plateau and its Impact on the Global Climate|journal=Quaternary International|volume=45/46|pages=71–108|doi=10.1016/S1040-6182(97)00008-6|bibcode=1998QuInt..45...71K}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Kuhle|first=M|year=2004|chapter=The High Glacial (Last Ice Age and LGM) ice cover in High and Central Asia|title=Development in Quaternary Science 2c (Quaternary Glaciation – Extent and Chronology, Part III: South America, Asia, Africa, Australia, Antarctica)|editor1-last=Ehlers|editor1-first=J.|editor2-last=Gibbard|editor2-first=P.L.|pages=175–99}}</ref><ref name=K1999>{{cite journal|last=Kuhle|first=M.|year=1999|journal=GeoJournal|volume=47|issue=1–2|title=Tibet and High Asia V. Results of Investigations into High Mountain Geomorphology, Paleo-Glaciology and Climatology of the Pleistocene|pages=3–276|doi=10.1023/A:1007039510460| s2cid=128089823 }}
See chapter entitled: "Reconstruction of an approximately complete Quaternary Tibetan Inland Glaciation between the Mt. Everest and Cho Oyu Massifs and the Aksai Chin. – A new glaciogeomorphological southeast-northwest diagonal profile through Tibet and its consequences for the glacial isostasy and Ice Age cycle".</ref> Due to its great extent, this glaciation in the subtropics was an important element of [[radiative forcing]]. With a much lower latitude, the ice in Tibet reflected at least four times more radiation energy per unit area into space than ice at higher [[latitude]]s. Thus, while the modern plateau heats the overlying atmosphere, during the Last Ice Age it helped to cool it.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Kuhle|first=M.|year=1988|title=The Pleistocene Glaciation of Tibet and the Onset of Ice Ages – An Autocycle Hypothesis|journal=GeoJournal|volume=17|issue=4|id=Tibet and High-Asia I. Results of the Sino-German Joint Expeditions (I)|pages=581–96|doi=10.1007/BF00209444| s2cid=129234912 }}</ref>

This cooling had multiple effects on regional climate. Without the [[thermal low]] pressure caused by the heating, there was no [[monsoon]] over the [[Indian subcontinent]]. This lack of monsoon caused [[pluvial|extensive rainfall]] over the [[Sahara]], expansion of the [[Thar Desert]], more dust deposited into the [[Arabian Sea]], and a lowering of the [[life zone|biotic life zones]] on the Indian subcontinent. Animals responded to this shift in climate, with the [[Javan rusa]] migrating into India.<ref name=K2001>{{cite journal|first=Matthias|last=Kuhle|year=2001|title=The Tibetan Ice Sheet; its Impact on the Palaeomonsoon and Relation to the Earth's Orbital Variations|journal=Polarforschung|volume=71|pages=1–13|issue=1/2}}</ref>

In addition, the glaciers in Tibet created [[glacial lake|meltwater lakes]] in the [[Qaidam Basin]], the [[Tarim Basin]], and the [[Gobi Desert]], despite the strong evaporation caused by the low latitude. [[Rock flour|Silt]] and clay from the glaciers accumulated in these lakes; when the lakes dried at the end of the ice age, the silt and clay were [[aeolian processes|blown]] by the [[katabatic wind|downslope wind]] off the Plateau. These airborne fine grains produced the enormous amount of [[loess]] in the Chinese lowlands.<ref name=K2001/>

===Frozen biological samples===
[[File:Zhong-2021_Guliya_ice_cap.png|thumb|left|The location where ice core was taken, and the age of the dead microorganisms found at different depths.]]
Ice of the plateau provides a valuable window to the past. In 2015, researchers studying the Plateau reached the top of the  Guliya [[glacier]], with ice thickness of {{cvt|310|m}}, and drilled to a depth of {{cvt|50|m}} in order to recover [[ice core]] samples. Due to the extremely low [[biomass]] in those 15,000-year-old samples, it had taken around 5 years of research to extract 33 viruses, of which 28 were new to science. None had survived the extraction process. [[Phylogenetic]] analysis suggests those viruses infected [[plant]]s or other microorganisms.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Zhong|first1=Zhi-Ping|last2=Tian|first2=Funing|last3=Roux|first3=Simon|last4=Gazitúa|first4=M. Consuelo|last5=Solonenko|first5=Natalie E.|last6=Li|first6=Yueh-Fen|last7=Davis|first7=Mary E.|last8=Van Etten|first8=James L.|last9=Mosley-Thompson|first9=Ellen|last10=Rich|first10=Virginia I.|last11=Sullivan|first11=Matthew B. |last12=Thompson |first12=Lonnie G. |date=20 July 2021|title=Glacier ice archives nearly 15,000-year-old microbes and phages|journal=Microbiology|volume=9|issue=1 |page=160 |doi=10.1186/s40168-021-01106-w |pmid=34281625 |pmc=8290583 |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/07/210720120538.htm |title=15,000-year-old viruses discovered in Tibetan glacier ice |date=20 July 2021 |website=[[ScienceDaily]] |access-date=14 August 2023}}</ref>

===Climate change===
{{See also|Effects of climate change|Retreat of glaciers since 1850}}
The Tibetan Plateau contains the world's third-largest store of ice. Qin Dahe, the former head of the [[China Meteorological Administration]], issued the following assessment in 2009:
{{blockquote|Temperatures are rising four times faster than elsewhere in China, and the Tibetan glaciers are retreating at a higher speed than in any other part of the world. In the short term, this will cause lakes to expand and bring floods and mudflows. In the long run, the glaciers are vital lifelines for Asian rivers, including the [[Indus]] and the [[Ganges]]. Once they vanish, water supplies in those regions will be in peril.<ref>{{cite news |url = https://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5g1eE4Xw3njaW1MKpJRYOch4hOdLQ |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100123192540/http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5g1eE4Xw3njaW1MKpJRYOch4hOdLQ |url-status = dead |archive-date = 23 January 2010 |title = Global warming benefits to Tibet: Chinese official |date=18 August 2009 |agency = Agence France-Presse }}</ref>}}The Tibetan Plateau contains the largest area of low-[[latitude]] glaciers and is particularly vulnerable to global warming. Over the past five decades, 80% of the glaciers in the Tibetan Plateau have retreated, losing 4.5% of their combined areal coverage.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Liu |first1=Yongqin |last2=Ji |first2=Mukan |last3=Yu |first3=Tao |last4=Zaugg |first4=Julian |last5=Anesio |first5=Alexandre M. |last6=Zhang |first6=Zhihao |last7=Hu |first7=Songnian |last8=Hugenholtz |first8=Philip |last9=Liu |first9=Keshao |last10=Liu |first10=Pengfei |last11=Chen |first11=Yuying |last12=Luo |first12=Yingfeng |last13=Yao |first13=Tandong |date=September 2022 |title=A genome and gene catalog of glacier microbiomes |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/s41587-022-01367-2 |journal=Nature Biotechnology |language=en |volume=40 |issue=9 |pages=1341–1348 |doi=10.1038/s41587-022-01367-2 |pmid=35760913 |s2cid=250091380 |issn=1546-1696}}</ref>

This region is also liable to suffer damages from permafrost thaw caused by climate change.
[[File:Ran_2022_QTP_Permafrost_damages_2050.png|thumb|Detailed map of Qinghai–Tibet Plateau infrastructure at risk from permafrost thaw under the SSP2-4.5 scenario.]]
{{excerpt|Permafrost#Infrastructure|paragraphs=5|files=no}}

== See also ==
[[File:Gyantse.jpg|thumb|The old town of [[Gyantse]] and surrounding fields.]]
* [[Annexation of Tibet by the People's Republic of China]]
* [[Bayan Har block]]
* [[Central Tibetan Administration]]
* [[Geography of Tibet]]
* [[Geology of the Himalaya]]
* [[Tibet (1912–1951)]]
* [[Tibetan culture]]
* [[Tibetan sovereignty debate]]
* [[Tibetan diaspora]]

== Notes ==
{{notelist}}

== References ==
=== Citations ===
{{Reflist}}

=== Sources ===
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book |last=Hopkirk |first=Peter |author-link = Peter Hopkirk |title=Trespassers on the Roof of the World: The Secret Exploration of Tibet |year=1983 |publisher=J. P. Tarcher |isbn = 978-0-87477-257-9 }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Brantingham |first1=P. J. |name-list-style=amp |last2=Xing |first2=G. |s2cid=13534630 |year=2006 |title=Peopling of the northern Tibetan Plateau |journal=World Archaeology |volume=38 |issue=3 |pages=387–414 |doi = 10.1080/00438240600813301 }}
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Tibetan Plateau}}
{{Wiktionary|Tibetan Plateau}}
* [http://asiasociety.org/onthinnerice ON THINNER ICE 如履薄冰 (by GRIP, Asia Society and MediaStorm)]
* [http://thethirdpole.net The Third Pole: Understanding Asia's Water Crisis]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20020724112745/http://web.ukonline.co.uk/michael.magee/awwls/00/wls104.html The End of Earth's Summer]
* [https://books.google.com/books?id=4q_XoMACOxkC&pg=PA62 Long Rivers and Distant Sources]
* [http://www.agu.org/pubs/crossref/1996/96EO00264.shtml "Roof of the Earth" Offers Clues About How Our Planet Was Shaped] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121031061655/http://www.agu.org/pubs/crossref/1996/96EO00264.shtml |date=31 October 2012 }}
* [http://www.plateauperspectives.org/ Plateau Perspectives (international NGO)]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20030721043521/http://www.mala.bc.ca/~earles/tibet-uplift-feb03.htm Leaf morphology and the timing of the rise of the Tibetan Plateau]
* {{Cite web |url=http://weather.msn.com/local.aspx?wealocations=wc:CHXX0331 |title=Weather in the eastern Chang Tang |access-date=9 May 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060319115440/http://weather.msn.com/local.aspx?wealocations=wc:CHXX0331 |archive-date=19 March 2006 |url-status=bot: unknown }}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070510185558/http://www.plateauperspectives.org/tibetan_PAs.htm Protected areas of the Tibetan Plateau region]
* {{WWF ecoregion|id=pa1011|name=North Tibetan Plateau-Kunlun Mountains alpine desert}}
* [http://www.asianart.com/exhibitions/miller/index.html Photos of Tibetan nomads]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/19970501040126/http://www.agu.org/sci_soc/EOSsokhabi.html "Roof of the Earth" Offers Clues About How Our Planet Was Shaped]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20150201221817/http://www.thirdpolecast.com/ Contemporary lifestyle and language learning center from Tibet lhasa, the official language of Tibetan. podcast.]
* [https://www.exploretibet.com/tibetan-history/ Tibetan History]-The true history of any region cannot be fully understood without knowing the basic characteristics of a region and of its inhabitants

{{Tibet topics}}
{{Plateaus of China}}
{{Geography topics}}
{{Physical geography topics}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Tibetan Plateau| ]]
[[Category:Plateaus of Asia]]
[[Category:Plateaus of China]]
[[Category:Plateaus of India]]
[[Category:Plateaus of Pakistan]]
[[Category:Landforms of Tibet]]
[[Category:Landforms of Jammu and Kashmir]]
[[Category:Landforms of Ladakh]]
[[Category:Landforms of Central Asia]]
[[Category:Landforms of East Asia]]
[[Category:Landforms of South Asia]]
[[Category:Regions of Asia]]
[[Category:Montane ecology]]
[[Category:Physiographic provinces]]
[[Category:Geology of the Himalaya]]