The onset of Quaternary glaciations is a critical event in the climate and tectonic history of the Tibetan Plateau. The Shishapangma Glaciation, defined based on the till deposit from the northern slopes of Mt. Shishapangma, has been identified as the oldest glaciation on the Tibetan Plateau. However, the timing of this glaciation has not been constrained. We measured ¹⁰Be and ²⁶Al concentrations of a set of boulders on top of this till and simulated their complex exposure-burial histories. The simulated results indicate that the formation age of this till is likely around 835.2 ± 241.0 ka, representing the minimum timing of glacial onset on the Tibetan Plateau. The Shishapangma Glaciation is apparently much younger than the glacial onset in many other areas of the world, such as Europe and North America, and was likely driven by the coupled effect between tectonic uplift and climate cooling during the early–middle Pleistocene transition.

第四纪冰川的开始是青藏高原气候和构造历史上的一个关键事件。希夏邦马冰川是根据希夏邦马山北坡的冰碛物定义的，已被确定为青藏高原最古老的冰川。然而，这种冰川作用的时间并没有受到限制。我们测量了¹⁰ Be 和²⁶在此之上的一组巨石的 Al 集中，模拟了它们复杂的暴露-埋葬历史。模拟结果表明，该冰碛的形成年龄可能在 835.2 ± 241.0 ka 左右，代表青藏高原冰川发生的最小时间。希夏邦马冰川显然比世界上许多其他地区（例如欧洲和北美）的冰川开始年轻得多，并且可能是由更新世早中期过渡期间构造抬升和气候变冷之间的耦合效应驱动的。