Qaidam Basin, northern Tibetan Plateau

10 The Qaidam Basin, especially its western part, is characterized by numerous 11 NW-trending folds and faults. Understanding the style and formation mechanism of 12 these structures is crucial for unravelling the deformation of the Qaidam basin, and 13 the broader tectonics of the northern part of the Tibetan Plateau. Based on seismic 14 data, we reconstruct the structural framework of the central part of the western 15 Qaidam Basin, and find that: (1) the structures in this area display positive flower 16 geometries in 2D seismic profiles and helicoidal shapes in 3D space; (2) these positive 17 flower structures began to develop during the middle to late Miocene (15-8 Ma); (3) 18 these positive flower structures are controlled by left-lateral basement faults and 19 formed in a random temporal sequence. The left-lateral features represent the 20 strike-slip component of distributed deformation, consistent with published GPS and 21 seismicity data for oblique convergence across the north of the Tibetan Plateau. 22 Revised manuscript Click here to download Manuscript Revised manuscript.docx