During the last 250 Myr the geology of SE Asia has been determined by two major events: the closure of the Tethys Ocean during the Mesozoic (250 65 Myr) and the collision of the Indian craton with South Asia during the Cenozoic (65 Myr to present). Both events were accompanied by extensive volcanic activity and had a major influence on the climate and the environnient. The Tibetan plateau plays a central role in the development of recent models of orogeny and Cenozoic global climate changes. The variation of the continental climate is registered in lacustrine and loess sediments in a vast area adjacent to the plateau itself. Attempts at global climate modeling are based on correlation between continental "proxy data" and comparison with the marine record. It can be concluded that progressive cooling of the earths climate in the Late Cenozoic is related to the uplift of the Tibet plateau. But climatic deterioration is either progressive or affected by sudden "short climatic events" and modeling suffers from uncertainties, a major concern is that the timing of the uplift itself is not well documented. One objective of the project is to contribute indirectly to this issue. It is well established that peaks of volcanism are related to major tectonic events of mountain building. In northwestern Tibet, the eruption of ultra potassic rocks was initiated some 13 Myr ago. This is interpreted to result from an asthenospheric rise related to plateau uplift. In Yunnan region, similar rocks are found that are however for a large part older and emplaced from 35 Myr to recent. Should it be concluded that uplift of this part of the plateau occurred at a much earlier date than in the northwestern area? Other contributors have addressed this issue in several recently published short papers, but the project will carry out detailed observations in relatively restricted areas, so far neglected by most international teams in order to elucidate the occurrence of potassic mantle derived volcanism in eastern Tibet. GIS technology (in cooperation with the RMCA-KMMA-MRAC) will be employed to guide field work and to integrate structural, geochemical, geochronological and paleomagnetic data. The Chinese geological maps have been digitized so far, and are complemented with 3D digital terrain models as well as satellite imagery in order to delineate the large scale tectonic féatures (shear zones associated with older metamorphic zones) and confront these observations with those published by international teams. Geochernical investigation will be carried out by laser ICP MS and datings will be performed by the stepwise heating and laser Ar Ar method. Extensive paleomagnetic measurements will be carried out. First attempts to apply fission track dating to farther constrain the uplift of the Tibet plateau is being considered. All the datasets will be compiled into a GIS system to enable better interpretation of the results.