Middle Miocene to earliest Pliocene sedimentological and geochemical records of climate change in the western Qaidam Basin on the NE Tibetan Plateau

Song, Chunhui; Hu, Sihu; Han, Wenxia; Zuyi, Tao; Fang, Xiaomin; Gao, Junping; Wu, Fuli

doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2013.12.022

Cited by 73 publications

(37 citation statements)

References 73 publications

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“…Despite the long-term stability of δ 18 O pp and δ 18 O pp gradients, many sedimentary records in Central Asia indicate step-wise shifts into an increasingly arid climate through the Cenozoic (Abels et al, 2011;Bosboom et al, 2014a;Dupont-Nivet et al, 2007;Licht et al, 2014;Liu et al, 2014;Lu et al, 2010;Song et al, 2014;Zhang et al, 2013). The discrepancy between these records and our conclusion of approximately constant δ 18 O through time may be explained by two factors.…”

Section: Quantifying the Role Of Westerly Moisture Transportcontrasting

confidence: 78%

Role of the westerlies in Central Asia climate over the Cenozoic

Caves

Winnick

Graham

et al. 2015

Earth and Planetary Science Letters

175

137

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There remains substantial debate concerning the relative roles of tectonics and of global climate in pacing the evolution of aridity in Central Asia over the Cenozoic. Tibetan Plateau uplift, variable monsoonal strength, Paratethys retreat, and reduced moisture transport from the North Atlantic have all been hypothesized to drive aridity in Central Asia. Distinguishing between these mechanisms requires knowledge of moisture transport pathways to Central Asia through time. Presently, Central Asia receives recycled, high δ 18 O moisture that has been transported across Eurasia by the westerlies, while southern Tibet receives low δ 18 O moisture distilled by passage over the Himalaya. Here, we reconstruct the spatial distribution of oxygen isotopes in precipitation since the early Eocene, using a compilation of δ 18 O data from 2750 sedimentary carbonate samples. Across Asia, the spatial distribution of paleo-precipitation δ 18 O remains remarkably similar through time, with low δ 18 O values in the lee of the Himalaya in southern Tibet, constant, high δ 18 O values in Central Asia, and intermediate values on the central Plateau despite independent evidence for substantial changes in both topography and climate through time.These results suggest that a long-standing topographic feature has continuously blocked southerly moisture, and subsequent progressive uplift of the Tibetan Plateau has had little impact on Central Asian climate. In turn, southerly monsoonal moisture has never persistently extended northward of the central Plateau. As a result, the westerlies have remained the dominant moisture source in Central Asia since at least the early Eocene. Therefore, sedimentary aridity indicators in Central Asia, such as loess deposition, are controlled by the trans-Eurasian, westerly moisture flux rather than Tibetan Plateau uplift.

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Section: Quantifying the Role Of Westerly Moisture Transportcontrasting

confidence: 78%

Role of the westerlies in Central Asia climate over the Cenozoic

Caves

Winnick

Graham

et al. 2015

Earth and Planetary Science Letters

175

137

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…The curved southern ATF partly forms the northern boundary of the Qaidam Basin (Wang, 1997;van der Woerd et al, 2001;Li et al, 2006). Song et al (2014). The red circles mark the locations of the Miran River section (Ritts et al, 2008), the Xorkol Basin (Yue et al, 2003), the Aksay Basin (Ritts et al, 2004), respectively.…”

Section: Geological Setting and Stratigraphymentioning

confidence: 99%

Detrital apatite fission track evidence for provenance change in the Subei Basin and implications for the tectonic uplift of the Danghe Nan Shan (NW China) since the mid-Miocene

Zheng

Sun

et al. 2015

Journal of Asian Earth Sciences

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“…In other words, the main body of the plateau might have been of certain scale much earlier. However, the northern TP and its surrounding areas, for instance, the Pamirs (Burtman, 2000;Sobel et al, 2011), the Tianshan Mountains (Sun et al, 2004;Charreau et al, 2005), the Kunlun Mountains (Zheng et al, 2000;Wang et al, 2003), the Altun mountains Song et al, 2014) and the Qilian Mountains (Zheng et al, 2003;Fang et al, 2005Fang et al, , 2007Zhang et al, 2014) experienced significant uplifts since the Miocene as well. Particularly the northeastern and eastern sides of the plateau constantly expanded outward, and the northeastern plateau experienced a certain level of uplift since the late Miocene or even during the Pliocene (Zheng et al, 2000;Li et al, 2014a,b).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%