Deciphering the interactions between tectonic and exhumation processes in the Tanggula Mountains (central-northern Tibetan Plateau) can provide insights into the processes of the Tibetan plateau uplift and its geomorphic evolution. In this study, we present new detrital apatite fission track (AFT) data from Cenozoic sediments of the Tuotuohe Basin (northeastern part of the Qiangtang terrane) and its periphery (including the Tanggula Mountains), with the aim to reconstruct the cooling history of the Tanggula Mountains during the Cretaceous and the Cenozoic era. Our results show that the provenance of detrital material evolved in the Tuotuohe Basin and highlight that previously deposited sediments were recycled into the Tuotuohe Basin at ∼ 27.5 Ma. The data further outline that the Tanggula Mountains and the Tuotuohe Basin experienced three major phases of tectonic uplift and exhumation: 122-106, 65-54, and 44-35 Ma. These exhumation-induced cooling phases might be related with three phases of primary tectonic activity, i.e., the collision between the Qiangtang and Lhasa terranes (central part of the Tibetan Plateau) that started during the Early Cretaceous, the collision of the Indian and Eurasian plates in the Early Cenozoic and finally, the "hard collision (the Indian and Eurasian continents)" that occurred during the Early Eocene-Oligocene.