Journal
PALAEOGEOGRAPHY PALAEOCLIMATOLOGY PALAEOECOLOGY
Volume 299, Issue 1-2, Pages 30-38Publisher
ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV
DOI: 10.1016/j.palaeo.2010.10.026
Keywords
Pollen; Qaidam Basin; Tibetan Plateau; Miocene; East Asian monsoon
Funding
- CAS [KZCX2-YW-Q09-04]
- NSFC [40802041, 40871098, 40920114001]
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Thick Cenozoic deposits in the Qaidam Basin provide great potential for understanding the tectonic history, paleoclimatic changes, and evolution of the East Asian Monsoon. This study examines the pollen record from the KC-1 core for the interval covering the later Early to Late Miocene (18-5 Ma). Thermophilic taxa percentages are high between 18 and 14 Ma and decrease after this time, a pattern which fits well with the Middle Miocene Climatic Optimum (MMCO) between 18 and 14 Ma and global climatic cooling after 14 Ma. During the same period, xerophytic taxa percentages gradually increase and those of the conifers gradually decrease, suggesting an aridification process in the Qaidam region driven by the gradual strengthening of the East Asian winter monsoon (EAWM) and weakening of the East Asian summer monsoon (EASM). The global climate cooling process appears to have driven the climatic development of the Qaidam Basin region throughout the Miocene, but the uplift of the Tibetan Plateau also contributed. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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