Influence of the Tibetan Plateau uplift on the Asian monsoon-arid environment evolution

Abstract

As one of the most important geological events in Cenozoic era, the uplift of the Tibetan Plateau (TP) has had profound influences on the Asian and global climate and environment evolution. During the past four decades, many scholars from China and abroad have studied climatic and environmental effects of the TP uplift by using a variety of geological records and paleoclimate numerical simulations. The existing research results enrich our understanding of the mechanisms of Asian monsoon changes and interior aridification, but so far there are still a lot of issues that need to be thought deeply and investigated further. This paper attempts to review the research on the influence of the TP uplift on the Asian monsoon-arid environment, summarize three types of numerical simulations including bulk-plateau uplift, phased uplift and sub-regional uplift, and especially to analyze regional differences in responses of climate and environment to different forms of tectonic uplifts. From previous modeling results, the land-sea distribution and the Himalayan uplift may have a large effect in the establishment and development of the South Asian monsoon. However, the formation and evolution of the monsoon in northern East Asia, the intensified dryness north of the TP and enhanced Asian dust cycle may be more closely related to the uplift of the main body, especially the northern part of the TP. In this review, we also discuss relative roles of the TP uplift and other impact factors, origins of the South Asian monsoon and East Asian monsoon, feedback effects and nonlinear responses of climatic and environmental changes to the plateau uplift. Finally, we make comparisons between numerical simulations and geological records, discuss their uncertainties, and highlight some problems worthy of further studying.Tibetan Plateau, tectonic uplift, Asian monsoon, inland aridity, environmental evolution, geological record, numerical simulation Citation:Liu X D, Dong B W.

The Asian Monsoon and its Future Change in Climate Models: A Review

“…Recent modeling studies have demonstrated the different roles of the Himalayas and various regions of Tibetan Plateau uplift on Asian monsoons (Zhang et al 2012). For a review of modeling studies of the Tibetan Plateau uplift and monsoon, refer to Liu and Dong (2013). Modeling studies suggest that the first uplift corresponded to an intensification of the Indian summer monsoon, and the second and the third caused intensification of the East Asian summer and winter monsoons.…”

Provenance fluctuations of aeolian deposits on the Chinese Loess Plateau since the Miocene

“…Modeling results indicate that the Asian interior became more arid due to the thermal and dynamic effects of the Tibetan Plateau (NTP), particularly due to the growth of northern Tibet Liu and Dong, 2013). Sensitivity experiments with different ranges and elevations for the Himalayan-Tibetan region reveal that stepwise growth of the Tibetan Plateau can result in a precipitation decrease in central Asia and an intensified westerly jet .…”

“…The uplift of high mountains in the Asian interior would also have affected atmospheric circulation patterns including the westerly jet and the East Asian monsoon Liu and Dong, 2013). The results of numerical modeling indicate that the phased growth of the Tibetan Plateau resulted in strengthening of the westerly jet and the winter monsoon in East Asia .…”

“…Most of the paleoclimatic interpretations of the proxies generated from the aeolian deposits were based on the hypothesis of a stable dust provenance since the Miocene (Jahn et al, 2001;Chen and Li, 2011). However, both isotopic evidence and modeling results reveal that the dust sources may have shifted significantly in response to regional tectonic events and global climate changes Li, 2011, 2013;Shi et al, 2011;Liu and Dong, 2013) Therefore, investigation of fluctuations in the provenance of aeolian deposits on the CLP could potentially provide valuable insights into possible tectonic-climate links.…”

Modeling the climate effects of different subregional uplifts within the Himalaya-Tibetan Plateau on Asian summer monsoon evolution

“…Regarding the climatic effect of the TP uplift, several numerical studies [16−18] have shown that the uplift of the Himalaya-TP had a significant influence on the development and evolution of Asian monsoons, and the aridity of Central Asia has gradually intensified with the TP uplift [19]. The climatic effects of the TP uplift changed little when used global coupled ocean-atmosphere models [18,20] or the boundary conditions of the Pliocene [21].…”