The late Eocene rise of SE Tibet formed an Asian ‘Mediterranean’ climate

Chenyuan Zhao; Zhongyu Xiong; Alex Farnsworth; Robert A. Spicer; Songlin He; Chao Wang; Deng Zeng; Fulong Cai; Houqi Wang; Xiaolong Tian; Paul J. Valdes; Ciren Lamu; Jing Xie; Yahui Yue; Lin Ding

doi:10.1016/j.gloplacha.2023.104313

The late Eocene rise of SE Tibet formed an Asian ‘Mediterranean’ climate

Chenyuan Zhao
, Zhongyu Xiong^*
, Alex Farnsworth
, Robert A. Spicer
, Songlin He
, Chao Wang
, Deng Zeng
, Fulong Cai
, Houqi Wang
, Xiaolong Tian
, Paul J. Valdes
, Ciren Lamu
, Jing Xie
, Yahui Yue
, Lin Ding^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article (Academic Journal) › peer-review

41 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Southeastern (SE) Tibet forms the transition zone between the high interior Tibetan Plateau and the lowlands of southwest China. So understanding the elevation history of SE Tibet, a biodiversity hotspot, enlightens our understanding of the interactions between tectonics, monsoon dynamics and biodiversity. Here we reconstruct the uplift history of the Markam Basin, SE Tibet, during the middle−late Eocene based on U − Pb dating, plant fossil assemblages, and stable and clumped isotope analyses. Our results suggest that the floor of the Markam Basin was at an elevation of 2.6 ± 0.9 km between 42 Ma and 39 Ma, where the mean annual air temperature (MAAT) was 13.2 ± 2.4 °C. The basin then rose rapidly to 3.8 (+0.6/−0.8) km before 36 Ma. Integrated with existing paleoelevation data, we propose that the high plateau boundary (∼3.0 km) of SE Tibet formed during the late Eocene. Numerical climate modeling with realistic paleo-landscapes shows that with the rise of SE Tibet, a Mediterranean-like climate developed in the region characterized by bi-modal precipitation with two wet seasons in boreal spring and autumn. The high topographic relief of SE Tibet, coupled with this distinctive Mediterranean-like climate system, helped develop the high biodiversity of the Hengduan Mountains.

Original language	English
Article number	104313
Number of pages	14
Journal	Global and Planetary Change
Volume	231
Early online date	23 Nov 2023
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloplacha.2023.104313
Publication status	Published - 1 Dec 2023

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
We appreciate editor Jimin Sun and two anonymous reviewers for their help in improving our manuscript. This study was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China Basic Science Center for Tibetan Plateau Earth System ( 41988101 ), the Second Tibetan Plateau Scientific Expedition and Research Program ( 2019QZKK0708 ), the Strategic Priority Research Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences ( XDA20070301 ) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China ( 42202243 , 41941016 ).

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023

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SDG 13 Climate Action

Keywords

Clumped isotope
Eocene
Paleoelevation
Plant fossil
SE Tibet
‘Mediterranean’ climate

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title = "The late Eocene rise of SE Tibet formed an Asian {\textquoteleft}Mediterranean{\textquoteright} climate",

abstract = "Southeastern (SE) Tibet forms the transition zone between the high interior Tibetan Plateau and the lowlands of southwest China. So understanding the elevation history of SE Tibet, a biodiversity hotspot, enlightens our understanding of the interactions between tectonics, monsoon dynamics and biodiversity. Here we reconstruct the uplift history of the Markam Basin, SE Tibet, during the middle−late Eocene based on U − Pb dating, plant fossil assemblages, and stable and clumped isotope analyses. Our results suggest that the floor of the Markam Basin was at an elevation of 2.6 ± 0.9 km between 42 Ma and 39 Ma, where the mean annual air temperature (MAAT) was 13.2 ± 2.4 °C. The basin then rose rapidly to 3.8 (+0.6/−0.8) km before 36 Ma. Integrated with existing paleoelevation data, we propose that the high plateau boundary (∼3.0 km) of SE Tibet formed during the late Eocene. Numerical climate modeling with realistic paleo-landscapes shows that with the rise of SE Tibet, a Mediterranean-like climate developed in the region characterized by bi-modal precipitation with two wet seasons in boreal spring and autumn. The high topographic relief of SE Tibet, coupled with this distinctive Mediterranean-like climate system, helped develop the high biodiversity of the Hengduan Mountains.",

keywords = "Clumped isotope, Eocene, Paleoelevation, Plant fossil, SE Tibet, {\textquoteleft}Mediterranean{\textquoteright} climate",

author = "Chenyuan Zhao and Zhongyu Xiong and Alex Farnsworth and Spicer, \{Robert A.\} and Songlin He and Chao Wang and Deng Zeng and Fulong Cai and Houqi Wang and Xiaolong Tian and Valdes, \{Paul J.\} and Ciren Lamu and Jing Xie and Yahui Yue and Lin Ding",

note = "Funding Information: We appreciate editor Jimin Sun and two anonymous reviewers for their help in improving our manuscript. This study was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China Basic Science Center for Tibetan Plateau Earth System ( 41988101 ), the Second Tibetan Plateau Scientific Expedition and Research Program ( 2019QZKK0708 ), the Strategic Priority Research Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences ( XDA20070301 ) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China ( 42202243 , 41941016 ). Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2023",

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T1 - The late Eocene rise of SE Tibet formed an Asian ‘Mediterranean’ climate

AU - Zhao, Chenyuan

AU - Xiong, Zhongyu

AU - Farnsworth, Alex

AU - Spicer, Robert A.

AU - He, Songlin

AU - Wang, Chao

AU - Zeng, Deng

AU - Cai, Fulong

AU - Wang, Houqi

AU - Tian, Xiaolong

AU - Valdes, Paul J.

AU - Lamu, Ciren

AU - Xie, Jing

AU - Yue, Yahui

AU - Ding, Lin

N1 - Funding Information: We appreciate editor Jimin Sun and two anonymous reviewers for their help in improving our manuscript. This study was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China Basic Science Center for Tibetan Plateau Earth System ( 41988101 ), the Second Tibetan Plateau Scientific Expedition and Research Program ( 2019QZKK0708 ), the Strategic Priority Research Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences ( XDA20070301 ) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China ( 42202243 , 41941016 ). Publisher Copyright: © 2023

PY - 2023/12/1

Y1 - 2023/12/1

N2 - Southeastern (SE) Tibet forms the transition zone between the high interior Tibetan Plateau and the lowlands of southwest China. So understanding the elevation history of SE Tibet, a biodiversity hotspot, enlightens our understanding of the interactions between tectonics, monsoon dynamics and biodiversity. Here we reconstruct the uplift history of the Markam Basin, SE Tibet, during the middle−late Eocene based on U − Pb dating, plant fossil assemblages, and stable and clumped isotope analyses. Our results suggest that the floor of the Markam Basin was at an elevation of 2.6 ± 0.9 km between 42 Ma and 39 Ma, where the mean annual air temperature (MAAT) was 13.2 ± 2.4 °C. The basin then rose rapidly to 3.8 (+0.6/−0.8) km before 36 Ma. Integrated with existing paleoelevation data, we propose that the high plateau boundary (∼3.0 km) of SE Tibet formed during the late Eocene. Numerical climate modeling with realistic paleo-landscapes shows that with the rise of SE Tibet, a Mediterranean-like climate developed in the region characterized by bi-modal precipitation with two wet seasons in boreal spring and autumn. The high topographic relief of SE Tibet, coupled with this distinctive Mediterranean-like climate system, helped develop the high biodiversity of the Hengduan Mountains.

AB - Southeastern (SE) Tibet forms the transition zone between the high interior Tibetan Plateau and the lowlands of southwest China. So understanding the elevation history of SE Tibet, a biodiversity hotspot, enlightens our understanding of the interactions between tectonics, monsoon dynamics and biodiversity. Here we reconstruct the uplift history of the Markam Basin, SE Tibet, during the middle−late Eocene based on U − Pb dating, plant fossil assemblages, and stable and clumped isotope analyses. Our results suggest that the floor of the Markam Basin was at an elevation of 2.6 ± 0.9 km between 42 Ma and 39 Ma, where the mean annual air temperature (MAAT) was 13.2 ± 2.4 °C. The basin then rose rapidly to 3.8 (+0.6/−0.8) km before 36 Ma. Integrated with existing paleoelevation data, we propose that the high plateau boundary (∼3.0 km) of SE Tibet formed during the late Eocene. Numerical climate modeling with realistic paleo-landscapes shows that with the rise of SE Tibet, a Mediterranean-like climate developed in the region characterized by bi-modal precipitation with two wet seasons in boreal spring and autumn. The high topographic relief of SE Tibet, coupled with this distinctive Mediterranean-like climate system, helped develop the high biodiversity of the Hengduan Mountains.

KW - Clumped isotope

KW - Eocene

KW - Paleoelevation

KW - Plant fossil

KW - SE Tibet

KW - ‘Mediterranean’ climate

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85178092464

U2 - 10.1016/j.gloplacha.2023.104313

DO - 10.1016/j.gloplacha.2023.104313

M3 - Article (Academic Journal)

AN - SCOPUS:85178092464

SN - 0921-8181

VL - 231

JO - Global and Planetary Change

JF - Global and Planetary Change

M1 - 104313

ER -

The late Eocene rise of SE Tibet formed an Asian ‘Mediterranean’ climate

Abstract

Bibliographical note

UN SDGs

Keywords

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