Cenozoic clockwise rotation of the northeastern Tibetan Plateau

Vertical–axis rotations recorded by paleomagnetic results from the northeastern Tibetan Plateau afford new insights into the tectonic processes related to the growth of the Tibetan Plateau. The Qinling Mountain is a special orogenic belt that bridges the crustal shortening of the northeastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau in the west with the extensional North China block in the east. In this study, we focus on the intermountain basins across the West Qinling Mountain. We present geochronological and paleomagnetic results from the basalt and redbed sequences from the Cretaceous–Cenozoic basins within the West Qinling Mountain. Constrained by precise ages, our paleomagnetic results reveal that approximately 10–20◦ clockwise vertical–axis rotation occurred across the West Qinling Mountain during the middle to late Miocene, indicating a significant period of outward growth of the Tibetan Plateau.