Wind is one of the major processes modifying the land surface in the Hami Basin, as evidenced by wind deflation gravel lags, yardangs, and gravel mantled eolian ripples. We report erosion rates for the Hami Basin using cosmogenic 10Be measurements. Bedrock erosion rates average 0.121 ± 0.0293 mm yr−1, which is similar to those of other wind‐eroded arid basins in East Asia, but is anomalously low when modern near‐surface wind speeds are considered. We posit that interglacial periods experienced lower erosion rates than glacial periods, and that the Hami Basin was likely once a larger dust producer than at present, with Pleistocene dust emissions driven by the eolian deflation of alluvial terrace deposits as well as bedrock weathering and abrasion. Wind erosion and dust production in the Hami Basin was largely regulated by the synoptically controlled spatial‐temporal distribution of precipitation and subsequent landscape evolution since at least the late Pleistocene.

The tectonic properties of the Nanping‐Ninghua tectonic belt (NNTB) play a crucial role in understanding the tectonic evolution of the Wuyi orogenic belt, which is related to the Neoproterozoic‐Paleozoic tectonic evolution of the Cathaysian Block. In this study, We present comprehensive petrological, geochronological, and geochemical data on the metavolcanic rocks from the Louqian Formation in Changting, Fujian Province. Our results show that volcanism in Changting occurred between 740.4 and 723.5 Ma, based on zircon U–Pb data for the metavolcanic rocks. The metavolcanic rocks have SiO2 contents ranging from 68.22 to 71.56 wt %, high Al2O3 and Na2O + K2O contents (13.30–15.19 wt % and 7.56–8.25 wt %, respectively), and low CaO, MgO, and FeOT contents (0.09–1.25 wt %, 0.72–0.96 wt %, and 1.57–3.16 wt %, respectively). These samples are enriched in large‐ion lithophile elements (LILEs) such as Ba and Rb, and depleted in high‐field‐strength elements (HFSEs) including Nb, Ta, and Ti, with significant negative Eu anomalies, indicating an affinity for arc igneous rocks. Based on previous geological studies, we suggest that the NNTB formed in an active continental margin environment during the Nanhua Period. The subduction of oceanic crust led to the formation of the volcanic belt along the Nanping‐Ninghua continental margin, which was active until 696 Ma. During the Neoproterozoic, the North and South Wuyi terranes did not merge to form a single Wuyi terrane, and the Cathaysia Block was composed of several terranes.

Understanding the role of southeastern Tibet thrust faults in the development of the plateau topography is key to our assessment of the geodynamic processes shaping the continental topography. Detailed structure analysis along the ~400 km long Jinhe-Qinghe thrust belt (JQTB) indicates post late Eocene thrust motion with a minor left-lateral component, inducing ~0.6 to 3.6 km of apparent vertical offset across the fault. The exhumation history of the Baishagou granite, based on the thermal modeling (QTQT) of new apatite (U-Th)/He and fission-track ages, suggests an accelerated exhumation rate (~0.42 km/Myr) between 20 and 15 Ma, corresponding to ~1.7-2.4 km of exhumation. We interpret that fast exhumation as due to the activation of the Nibi thrust, a northern branch of the JQTB resulting in the creation of significant relief across the JQTB in the Early Miocene. When compared with previous studies it appears that Cenozoic exhumation and relief creation in southeastern Tibet cannot be explained by a single mechanism. Rather, at least three stages of relief creation should be invoked. The first phase is an Eocene NE-SW compression partly coeval with Eocene sedimentation. During the Late Oligocene to Early Miocene, coevally with Indochina extrusion, the second thrusting phase occurred along the Yulong and Longmenshan thrust belts, and then migrated to the JQTB at 20-15 Ma. A third phase involved the activation of the Xianshuihe fault and the re-activation of the Longmenshan thrust belt and the Muli thrust. Uplift in the hanging wall of thrust belts appears to explain most of the present-day relief in the southeastern Tibetan Plateau.