On the basis of sedimentary sequences, regional unconformities, lithological associations and distributions of the Paleogene and the Neogene in the Tuotuohe River Basin on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, four shallowing-upward sequences consisting of, in an ascender order, the Tuotuohe Formation, Yaxicuo Formation, Wudaoliang Formation and Quguo Formation were recognized Combined with the basin evolution in the northern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau during Cenozoic, this research suggests that an initial collision between the India and the Eurasian plates occurred at the turn of the Cretaceous and the Paleogene before the 56.5 Ma, and further underwent three periods, i.e., the first collision (early than 56.5 Ma), then main collision (56.5~45.0 Ma) and pulsation intracontinental convergence (45~2.6 Ma) finally.