In:
Geophysical Research Letters, American Geophysical Union (AGU), Vol. 46, No. 14 ( 2019-07-28), p. 8375-8386
Abstract:
Animals and plants in many regions had to survive a gradual drying and cooling environment during the Late Miocene epoch (ca. 12–5 Ma). Exploring the drivers and mechanisms behind Late Miocene climate change is helpful when considering current global warming trends. Although the exact reason for these Late Miocene changes remains unclear, two suspects have been identified, that is, a decline in CO 2 levels and/or regional tectonic activity. In this study we used microbial cell membrane lipid fossils to reconstruct the quantitative paleotemperatures and paleoaltitudes of the Xining Basin, on the northeastern Tibetan Plateau, during the Late Miocene. Our results revealed a surficial uplift event (~10.5–8 Ma) delineated by the identification of a rapid cooling process during a period that experienced constant sea surface temperatures, leading to an increasingly dry climate and ecosystem changes over large areas. Moreover, the amplitude of this cooling over land appears to have been less than that observed over the ocean during the CO 2 ‐dominated Late Miocene cooling event (~7–5.4 Ma). Therefore, we would posit that regional tectonic activities played a more important role than CO 2 levels in the changes to terrestrial climate patterns and ecosystems during the Late Miocene.
Type of Medium:
Online Resource
ISSN:
0094-8276
,
1944-8007
DOI:
10.1029/2019GL082805
Language:
English
Publisher:
American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Publication Date:
2019
detail.hit.zdb_id:
2021599-X
detail.hit.zdb_id:
7403-2
SSG:
16,13
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