RECENT RESEARCH PROGRESS IN OXYGEN-ISOTOPE PALEOALTIMETRY

An empirical relationship was found between elevation and oxygen isotope composition of lacustrine carbonate and surface water by analysing the relationships between modern meteoric water, temperature and altimetry. Oxygen isotope paleoaltimetry provides surface elevation information that is crucial to deciphering the topographic evolution of mountain belts. This method can be used to quantitatively estimate the elevation of the mountains and thus it provides a new way to reconstruct the history of mountain uplifts. This paper reviews the results about the paleoelevation of the Tibetan Plateau and compares the differences between this method and others, and it is found that oxygen isotope paleoaltimetry has its own limitations in terms of practical application. Due to the influences of various factors, such as sampling location, curve fitting model and so on, specific analysis is needed.