Data from the Guide Basin in the NE Tibet over the past 13.7-10 Ma

A total of 3700 samples (~10 cm sampling resolution) were collected after removal of the weathered outcrop surface (this removed surface corresponds to a minimum of the uppermost 0.5 m). Approximately 5 g of each sample were ground into powder and passed through a 200-mesh sieve. Samples were measured by a portable energy-dispersive Innov-X Systems X-ray fluorescence spectrometer in geochemistry mode using beam 1 (50 kv) and beam (10 kv) at the Chinese University of Geoscience (Wuhan). About 0.5 g of each powdered sample was further sieved using a 150-mesh screen, and mineral contents were subsequently determined using a Olympus Terra BTX II X-Ray Diffraction Analyzer at the Chinese University of Geoscience (Wuhan). The measurement time for each sample was at least 25 min.