BEIJING, July 11 (Reuter) - Chinese and U.S. scientists will work together to try to explain mysteriously low ozone levels in an "ozone valley" over the western Tibet-Qinghai plateau, the China Daily newspaper said on Tuesday.

The scientists will research the causes and environmental impact of the ozone valley, which forms each year between June and October and where ozone volume is about 11 percent less than that over the East China Sea at the same latitude, it said.

Chinese scientists have suggested the ozone valley might be caused by rising airflows over the Tibet-Qinghai plateau during summer. The rising air carries pollutants to the upper atmosphere where they react with, and destroy, ozone, the newspaper said.

The earth's ozone layer acts as a protective skin against harmful radiation from the sun, but scientists are concerned that pollution is thinning the layer in many places -- with potentially disastrous results, including greatly increased skin cancer rates.

Scientists from a number of leading Chinese institutes will work with experts from the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to study the ozone valley, it said.