Abstract: Tectonic movement and climatic change are two fundamental factors for the formation of river terraces. However no consistent point of view was reached at present to end the argument between climatic change and tectonic movement which was considered to be the dominant factor controlling the formation of river terraces. By focusing on the river terraces flowing along the Yellow River around the Ordos Plateau, this paper attempts to figure out the controlling factor to the formation of the Yellow River terraces through chronological comparison among which of river terraces formation, uplift of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and transition period from glacial to interglacial. The comparison indicates a fact that most of terraces along the present Yellow River channel around the Ordos Plateau were formed synchronously with tectonic movements around the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. However, no clear relations can be found between the transitional time span from glacial to interglacial period and formation of the Yellow River terraces. Such a comparison supports the idea that the driving force for the formation of river terraces around the Ordos Plateau was tectonic movements instead of climatic change.

Key words: climatic change, Ordos Plateau, river terraces, uplift