Geologists shed light on the Tibetan Plateau origin puzzle: an open-and-shut perspective
Monday, June 22, 2020 - 07:30
in Earth & Climate
Earth's geographical surfaces formed over millions of years, and various theories aim to explain their formation. The most popular theory, called plate tectonics, states that Earth's outermost layer is a dynamic system consisting of slowly moving plates, also known as tectonic plates. As theses plates move, they come close to each other and collide, or drift away from or slide past each other, causing tension or rupture along their boundaries. During the enormous compression force along the rupture line of two plates, a slab of the earth can uplift. The uplifted piece of land gives rise to geographical structures such as mountains or plateaus on the landscape of the earth.