Fig. 4: Growth stages manifested in the present-day Tibetan Plateau.

a Surface elevations (ETOPO1, https://doi.org/10.7289/V5C8276M) in regions of three stages of plateau evolution: pre-response stage (enclosed by red curve), first stage of response (enclosed by blue-dashed curve) and last stage of response (enclosed by cyan curve). b Schematic illustration of three stages of plateau evolution: a pre-response stage with a young partially molten zone being developed in the crust, the first stage by deepening the Moho discontinuity with minor uplift at the surface after the maturity of the partially molten zone in the crust, and the last stage by surface uplifting.