Abstract
Arising from: D. B. Rowley & B. S. Currie Nature 439, 677–681 (2006); Rowley & Currie reply
The determination of palaeo-elevation has emerged in the past 15 years as an important tool for constraining physical processes that govern the formation of mountain belts. Rowley and Currie1 report palaeo-elevations for the Lunpola basin within the Tibetan plateau and claim that these elevations are incompatible with 'mantle-thickening models' for mountain formation. We show here that their data do not support this conclusion and, indeed, are consistent with its opposite. The Tibetan plateau could have risen by a kilometre or more as its dense lower lithosphere sank into the underlying mantle.
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References
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Molnar, P., Houseman, G. & England, P. Palaeo-altimetry of Tibet. Nature 444, E4 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature05368
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nature05368
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Palaeo-altimetry of Tibet (reply)
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