Weilin Zhang

The Xining subbasin of the Longzhong basin holds the longest continuous Cenozoic stratigraphic record at the margin of the northeastern Tibetan Plateau. Despite a rich biostratigraphic content (including the Xiejia mammal fauna), the tectonic evolution of the basin is largely unconstrained. In this study we present stratigraphic, biostratigraphic, and magnetostratigraphic results that provide a basis for reconstructing the Cenozoic tectonic evolution of the Xining basin with respect to adjacent regions of the northeastern Tibetan Plateau. Magnetostratigraphic analysis from three red bed sections in the Xining basin indicates continuous deposition at low and nearly constant accumulation rates (average 2.2 cm/kyr) from 52.0 to 17.0 Ma. We interpret this result to indicate that no major regional tectonic event implying large sediment accumulation variations has affected the Xining basin deposition during this considerable time window. In detail, accumulation rate variations outline a three‐stage evolution with 1.8 cm/kyr from 52.0 Ma to 34.5 Ma, 4.1 cm/kyr from 34.5 to 31.0 Ma, and 2.3 cm/kyr from 31.0 to 17.0 Ma. The second‐order increase between 34.5 and 31.0 Ma can be interpreted to result from either a distal tectonic event or to be of climatic origin. Although the region was tectonically quiescent for much of the Cenozoic, tectonic activity occurred during basin initiation (or reactivation) at circa 55.0–52.5 Ma and during intense basin deformation after 17.0 Ma.

Mitochondrial dysfunction underlies many prevalent diseases including heart disease arising from acute ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury. Here, we demonstrate that mitophagy, which selectively removes damaged or unwanted mitochondria, regulated mitochondrial quality and quantity in vivo . Hypoxia induced extensive mitochondrial degradation in a FUNDC1-dependent manner in platelets, and this was blocked by in vivo administration of a cell-penetrating peptide encompassing the LIR motif of FUNDC1 only in wild-type mice. Genetic ablation of Fundc1 impaired mitochondrial quality and increased mitochondrial mass in platelets and rendered the platelets insensitive to hypoxia and the peptide. Moreover, hypoxic mitophagy in platelets protected the heart from worsening of I/R injury. This represents a new mechanism of the hypoxic preconditioning effect which reduces I/R injury. Our results demonstrate a critical role of mitophagy in mitochondrial quality control and platelet activation, and suggest that manipulation of mitophagy by hypoxia or pharmacological approaches may be a novel strategy for cardioprotection.

Knowledge of the topographic evolution of the Tibetan Plateau is essential for understanding its construction and its influences on climate, environment, and biodiversity. Previous elevations estimated from stable isotope records from the Lunpola Basin in central Tibet, which indicate a high plateau since at least 35 Ma, are challenged by recent discoveries of low-elevation tropical fossils apparently deposited at 25.5 Ma. Here, we use magnetostratigraphic and radiochronologic dating to revise the chronology of elevation estimates from the Lunpola Basin. The updated ages reconcile previous results and indicate that the elevations of central Tibet were generally low (<2.3 km) at 39.5 Ma and high (3.5 to 4.5 km) at ~26 Ma. This supports the existence in the Eocene of low-elevation longitudinally oriented narrow regions until their uplift in the early Miocene, with potential implications for the growth mechanisms of the Tibetan Plateau, Asian atmospheric circulation, surface processes, and biotic evolution.

The uplift of the Tibet Plateau (TP) during the Miocene is crucial to understanding the evolution of Asian monsoon regimes and alpine biodiversity. However, the northern Tibet Plateau (NTP) remains poorly investigated. We use pollen records of montane conifers ( Tsuga , Podocarpus , Abies , and Picea ) as a new paleoaltimetry to construct two parallel midrange paleoelevation sequences in the NTP at 1332 ± 189 m and 433 ± 189 m, respectively, during the Middle Miocene [~15 million years ago (Ma)]. Both midranges increased rapidly to 3685 ± 87 m in the Late Miocene (~11 Ma) in the east, and to 3589 ± 62 m at ~7 Ma in the west. Our estimated rises in the east and west parts of the NTP during 15 to 7 Ma, together with data from other TP regions, indicate that during the Late Miocene the entire plateau may have reached a high elevation close to that of today, with consequent impacts on atmospheric precipitation and alpine biodiversity.