The rise of the Tibetan plateau is thought to have intensified the Indian monsoon. So the history of when and how it rose could improve the understanding of climate history and long-term climate change. Some think that the plateau rose in blocks, progressively from south to north, after the India subcontinent collided into Asia some 50 million years ago. Others suspect that this neat model might be overly simplistic. To resolve this debate, researchers have studied the elevation history of various sites on the plateau. Geologists have inferred elevation from the composition of oxygen isotopes in ancient rain and snow that fell on the plateau, and are preserved in rocks and lake sediments.
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