Controls on the formation and distribution of mineralization in continental collisional settings remain unclear. However, our synthesis of diverse geophysical data sets from the eastern margin of Tibet revealed that differential crustal rotation played a key role in the production of a variety of mineralization types. Due to Cenozoic continental collision between India and Eurasia, the elongated continental blocks in the eastern margin of Tibet were extruded and reoriented. Prior to block extrusion in the Eocene, two giant porphyry-skarn ore clusters formed at the boundaries between the central segment and both the northern and southern segments of the Jinshajiang-Ailaoshan suture zone. These crustal segment boundaries displayed counterclockwise rotation, due to clockwise rotation of the central segment relative to both the essentially immobile northern and southern segments, combined with crust-mantle decoupling. This is considered to have induced crustal friction and resultant generation of fertile magmas that formed the porphyry-skarn Cu-Au deposits. During Oligocene–Miocene block extrusion, differential rotation of upper crust occurred on the western and eastern sides of the north-northwest–trending Central Axis fault in the Lanping-Simao basin. Two Oligocene–Miocene Mississippi Valley–type ore clusters occur on fault segments with anomalous differential rotation of 70° to 80°, suggesting that this differential rotation resulted in local extension with consequent ore-fluid influx.

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The lateral distribution of the magnetic layer beneath the Tarim Craton and its environs was estimated from spectral analysis using the newest high-resolution aeromagnetic dataset of mainland China, which is enlarged by EMAG2. As a proxy, the Curie point depth (CPD) provides a comprehensive view of a crust-scale thermal regime, accounted for the depth at which magnetite becomes paramagnetic, and the correspondence of the CPD with the tectonic regime indicates that the CPD is useful for delineating the regional crustal thermal structure. Furthermore, lateral variations in CPD provide useful insights into the lithospheric thermal state of the Tarim Craton and its surrounding areas and can be related to ancient and active tectonics, such as geothermal activity, seismicity, and mineral-petroleum generation. In the Tarim interior, the NW domain covering the Bachu Uplift and its surrounding areas corresponds to the minimum magnetic CPD signature geometry of this area, which is most likely linked to the Permian Tarim plume-lithosphere interaction. In contrast, the other domains are characterized by large CPD values (up to 50 km), which are floored by a Precambrian basement without the Permian magmatism modification. Moreover, the estimated CPD values are consistent with surface heat flow measurements with an inverse correlation, which can assist in identifying the potential area for mineral deposits and hydrocarbon fields. Earthquakes are mostly concentrated in the gradient and transition zones of the Curie surface, suggesting that these abrupt variation domains in the crustal thermal structure act as a secondary mechanism for earthquake generation.