Funded by: DFG, CNR, NWO, APVV, SNF, TÜBITAK
Orogenic continental plateaus such as Tibet are major geologic features of the Earth. They are thousands of km2 large, have a flat and elevated interior (up to 5000m) characterized by arid conditions, and steep margins typically site of large precipitations. They also display anomalous crustal and lithospheric conditions. Plateaus have obvious interactions with climate patterns and it is thought that the uplift of Tibet caused the onset of monsoon circulation in Asia. Anatolia, the object of VAMP, is a small, young but fully representative continental plateau in Europe. Being easily accessible and having boundary conditions better constrained than larger counterparts, it can provide new fundamental knowledge on plateau formation.
