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{{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 = China ([[Tibet Autonomous Region|Tibet]], [[Qinghai]], Western [[Sichuan]], Northern [[Yunnan]], Southern [[Xinjiang]], Western [[Gansu]]) India ([[Ladakh]], [[Lahaul and Spiti district|Lahaul & Spiti]]), Pakistan
([[Gilgit Baltistan]]) Nepal (Northern Nepal) Bhutan Tajikistan (Eastern Tajikistan) Kyrgyzstan (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
}}

The '''Tibetan Plateau''' ({{bo|t=བོད་ས་མཐོ།|w=bod sa mtho}}), also known as the '''Qinghai–Tibet Plateau'''<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> or the '''Qing–Zang Plateau'''<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> ({{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]] in Central Asia<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>, South Asia and East Asia,<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 |authors=Marston, Sallie A. and 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]], Northwestern [[Yunnan]], Western half of [[Sichuan]], Southern [[Gansu]] provinces in [[Western China]], the [[Administrative divisions of India|Indian regions]] of [[Ladakh]] and [[Lahaul and Spiti district|Lahaul and Spiti]] ([[Himachal Pradesh]]) as well as [[Bhutan]]. 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}} and being surrounded by imposing mountain ranges 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 streams in surrounding regions. 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 fields contain the largest reserve of fresh water outside the polar regions. The impact of [[global warming]] on the Tibetan Plateau is of intense 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|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}}</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}}</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
}}
</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]].

[[File:Aba County Aba Prefecture Sichuan China.jpg|upright=1.2|thumb|[[Tibetan Buddhism|Tibetan Buddhist]] [[stupa]] and houses outside the town of [[Ngawa Town|Ngawa]], on the Tibetan Plateau.]]
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 Changthang 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.
[[File:TibetplateauA2002144.0440.500m.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|NASA satellite image of the south-eastern area of Tibetan Plateau. [[Brahmaputra River]] is in the lower right.]]

== Geology and geological history ==
{{Expand section|date=January 2011}}
{{Main|Geology of the Himalaya}}
[[File: Lake Yamdroktso.jpg|upright=1.2|thumb|[[Yamdrok Lake]] is one of the three largest sacred lakes in Tibet.]]
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. 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.{{citation needed|date=May 2019}}

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 |authors=Lia, Jijun; Ma, Zhenhua; Li, Xiaomiao; Peng, Tingjiang; Guo, Benhong; Zhang, Jun; Song, Chunhui; Liu, Jia; Hui, Zhengchuang; Yu, Hao; Ye, Xiyan; Liu, Shanpin; 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 is much debated. The two end-member models are the block model, in which the crust of the plateau is formed of several blocks with little internal deformation separated by major [[strike-slip fault]]s. In the alternative continuum model, the plateau is affected by distributed deformation resulting from flow within the crust.<ref name="Shi_etal_2016">{{Cite journal |last=Shi |first=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 |volume=676 |pages=112–124 |doi=10.1016/j.tecto.2016.03.036}}</ref>

==Environment==
[[File:Tibet, a walk into no where.JPG|thumb|upright=1.2|Typical landscape]]
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}}</ref> and species of [[snow leopard]], [[wild yak]], [[Donkey#Feral donkeys and wild asses|wild donkey]], 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 shrub 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]]
* 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 Langcang 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:Nomads near Namtso.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Pastoral nomads camping near [[Namtso]].]]
{{Main|History of Tibet}}
[[File:Nomad camp near Tingri Tibet. 1993i.jpg|thumb|300px|Nomad camp near [[Tingri (town)|Tingri]], Tibet. 1993]]
[[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|url=https://www.sciencemag.org/lookup/doi/10.1126/science.aat8824|journal=Science|language=en|volume=362|issue=6418|pages=1049–1051|doi=10.1126/science.aat8824|pmid=30498126|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 ==
=== Role in monsoons ===
{{Main|Monsoon}}
[[File:Jewel-Toned Lakes of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Natural-colour satellite image of the Tibetan Plateau]]

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.

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==
[[File:Himalayas.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|The Himalayas as seen from space looking south from over the Tibetan Plateau.]]
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 km2 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}}
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}}</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/>

===Effects of climate change===
{{main|Effects of global warming}}
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:
{{quote|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 |title = Global warming benefits to Tibet: Chinese official |date=18 August 2009 |agency = Agence France-Presse }}</ref>}}

== See also ==
* [[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]]

== 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}}
* [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]
* [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

{{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: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]]

Tibetan Plateau - Revision history

imported>Vesperius at 00:00, 18 August 2021