Proceedings of the Symposium on Qinghai-Xizang (Tibet) Plateau. Geological and ecological studies

Beijing: Science Press. New York: Gordon and Breach, Science Publishers, Inc, 1981. First edition, 2 volumes, 8vo, pp. [4], xxv, [5], 974; [2], xiv, 975-2138; numerous maps, illustrations, tables, graphs, etc. throughout; some edge wear but overall a fine set in original green cloth stamped in silver on spine, preserving the original dust jackets. The Tibetan Plateau is "a treasury of information on natural sciences. Yet, over the long years this plateau was approached by only a few scientists and it remained enshrouded in mystery ... Scientists both in China and abroad have long cherished the desire to explore into the unknown and to bring this hidden treasury of information to light. A serious effort was started in China in the early fifties to study the plateau, and in the years that followed, altogether seven large-scale scientific expeditions to Xizang were organized by Academia Sinica, with more than 1,400 scientific workers participating ... Not only were many significant findings made but research on a wide range of disciplines was done. As a result, knowledge about the plateau attained a new level. It was against this background that the International Symposium ... sponsored by Academia Sinica, was held in Beijing from May 25 to June 1, 1980, whose aim it was to provide an opportunity to scientists both in China and abroad to summarize and exchange results of their research on the plateau, focusing on the rise of the plateau and its effects on man and the natural environments. "More than 240 scientists attended the symposium, of which 160 were Chinese scientists and over 80 were well-known scholars from 18 foreign countries ... Many papers of high scientific value were read at the symposium, which brought together practically all the important results of research on the plateau obtained over the last thirty years. With a view to providing reference for further research on the plateau, the proceedings of the symposium are now compiled into a comprehensive book of two volumes. Volume one gives an overall account of the geology, the geological history and the origin of the plateau while Volume two is concerned with the effects of the rise of the plateau on fauna and flora there, their characteristics and evolution and the formation, evolution and differentiation of the geographic environments of the plateau.