As a hot topic in Earth sciences, the Qinghai‐Tibet Plateau has accumulated a large amount of sedimentary‐related data. We constructed a dataset of detrital components for Qinghai‐Tibet Plateau from 63 peer‐reviewed publications. The dataset thus comprises 1813 Late Proterozoic to Pleistocene sandstones from 84 stratigraphic units. For each sample, we present details on reference, detrital composition, GPS, geographic location, depositional age, tectonic setting and depositional environment. It becomes a high‐quality dataset after the information on each sandstone sample was standardized and reviewed by sedimentary experts. The dataset can be used for regional geoscience studies, exploring the general laws of the source‐to‐sink process. The dataset may also be useful in the field of utilities, such as assisting in finding suitable building stones, helping oil and gas and mineral exploration, and so forth.
River-fed dune fields characterized by relatively low quartz content are much more common on Earth than generally assumed, and the aeolian dune field system in the Yarlung Tsangpo (Upper Brahmaputra) river catchment is considered a typical example. As one of the highest-altitude fluvial-aeolian systems on Earth, the dune fields in different wide tracts of the Yarlung Tsangpo valley, made of sand entirely blown from the adjacent river bed, provides an excellent natural laboratory in which to investigate the diverse factors controlling textural and compositional changes induced by aeolian processes. To this aim, the textural (grain-size, roundness) and compositional (petrography, heavy minerals) properties of multiple size classes of fluvial and aeolian sands were quantified. The results show that sediment composition is markedly controlled by grain size, with greater intrasample than intersample variability. Grain-size controlled compositional differences cannot be exclusively ascribed to hydraulic-sorting effects. Independent of their density or shape, quartz, sedimentary rock fragments, zircon, apatite, and epidote grains are observed to be on average smaller than feldspars, volcanic rock fragments, and pyroxenes. This indicates that the original size of minerals in source rocks also played a significant role, limiting their availability in finer (e.g., garnet) or coarser (e.g., apatite) classes. In the river-fed dune system, the lower content of phyllosilicates and higher grain roundness could represent useful criteria to distinguish aeolian from fluvial sand. The efficient aeolian abrasion of riverfed sediments on the Tibetan Plateau may be an effective mechanism for the production of dust deposited as vast loess covers during the Quaternary.
The Namche Barwa Syntaxis (NBS) is one of the most productive detrital factories on Earth. Previous studies have shown that the NBS supplies large amounts of sediment to the Brahmaputra River, although the sources and controlling factors of sediment production have not been ascertained in detail. This study presents petrographic and heavy‐mineral data for 43 sand samples collected in the Yarlung and Parlung river catchments covering the entire NBS and surrounding areas. Combined with U–Pb ages of detrital zircons, our data indicate that 89 ± 11% of Yarlung River sediments downstream of the NBS are produced in the Yarlung and Parlung gorges. The annual sediment flux of the Yarlung River increases by a factor of 20 within ca. 250 km from upstream of the NBS (ca. 10 Mt) to downstream (ca. 200 Mt/a). The Yarlung and Parlung gorges, representing only ca. 1% of the Yarlung‐Brahmaputra catchment area, contribute 74 ± 9% of the total Brahmaputra sediment flux. Average interannual erosion rates in the Yarlung and Parlung gorges corresponding to these fluxes are calculated to be 9.2 ± 1.2 mm/a and 6.5 ± 2.1 mm/a respectively. Focused erosion of the Namche Barwa Complex and Yarlung Suture Zone in the gorge, where high‐grade metamorphic rocks are exposed, is a consequence of high channel steepness (ksn values up to 800–1800), high stream power and extreme events including frequent earthquakes and landslides. The coupling between surface erosion and tectonic uplift in the Yarlung Gorge is in full agreement with the tectonic aneurism model of NBS evolution.
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