Effects of Tibetan Plateau Growth, Paratethys Sea Retreat and Global Cooling on the East Asian Climate by the Early Miocene

Paleobotanical and sedimentological records indicate that marked climatic and environmental transitions had taken place in East China by the early Miocene. These transitions were driven by paleogeographic and global climatic shifts, but the respective roles of these shifts in the Asian climate remai...

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Published inGeochemistry, geophysics, geosystems : G3 Vol. 22; no. 6
Main Authors Zhang, Ran, Jiang, Dabang, Zhang, Zhongshi, Zhang, Chunxia
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Washington John Wiley & Sons, Inc 01.06.2021
Wiley
Subjects
Annual precipitation
Atmospheric models
Climate change
Climate effects
Cooling
Early Miocene
East Asia
Global cooling
Growth
Miocene
Paratethys Sea retreat
Plant diversity
Precipitation
Records
Tibetan Plateau growth
Tibetan Plateau
China
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Summary:Paleobotanical and sedimentological records indicate that marked climatic and environmental transitions had taken place in East China by the early Miocene. These transitions were driven by paleogeographic and global climatic shifts, but the respective roles of these shifts in the Asian climate remain unclear. Here, we use the low‐resolution Norwegian Earth System Model and Community Atmosphere Model version 4 to compare the effects of Tibetan Plateau (TP) growth, Paratethys Sea retreat and global cooling on the East Asian climate change that occurred by the early Miocene. The modeling results indicate that these three factors had clearly different climatic effects in East China. In particular, TP growth increased annual precipitation in East China, while Paratethys Sea retreat and global cooling generally decreased annual precipitation in East China. In addition, the three factors studied all drove aridification in inland Asia. Considering the increased precipitation, arid/semiarid‐to‐humid shift in vegetation and high plant diversity present in East China by the early Miocene, as shown in geological records, TP growth thus played a major role in these respects. Key Points Tibetan Plateau (TP) growth increased annual precipitation in East China Paratethys Sea retreat and global cooling decreased annual precipitation in East China TP growth, Paratethys Sea retreat and global cooling all drove aridification in inland Asia
ISSN:1525-2027
1525-2027
DOI:10.1029/2021GC009655