The Paleogene to Neogene climate evolution and driving factors on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

Jiagang Zhao; Shufeng Li; Alexander Farnsworth; Paul J. Valdes; Tammo Reichgelt; Linlin Chen; Zhekun Zhou; Tao Su

doi:10.1007/s11430-021-9932-2

The Paleogene to Neogene climate evolution and driving factors on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

Jiagang Zhao, Shufeng Li^*, Alexander Farnsworth, Paul J. Valdes, Tammo Reichgelt, Linlin Chen, Zhekun Zhou, Tao Su^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

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

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Abstract

The growth of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP) during the Cenozoic drove dramatic climate and environmental change in this region. However, there has been limited comprehensive research into evolution of climate during this interval. Here we present a quantitative reconstruction using Bioclimatic Analysis (BA) and Joint Probability Density Functions (JPDFs) based on data available for 48 fossil floras, including macrofossils and palynological fossils collected in the QTP area from the Paleogene to Neogene (66–2.58 Ma). Both methods indicate that there was an overall decline in temperature and precipitation. Paleoclimatic simulations using Hadley Centre Coupled Model version3 (HadCM3) show that the most prominent climate change was very likely driven by QTP orographic evolution from the late Eocene, which was accompanied by a shift in temperature from a latitudinal distribution to a topographically controlled pattern. In addition, with the growth of the QTP, temperature and precipitation decreased gradually in the northeastern part of the plateau. Different sources of evidence, including plant fossil records, climate simulations and other proxies, indicate that the topographic evolution of the QTP and other geological events, in conjunction with global cooling, may have been the main factors driving climate change in this region. This research can provide insights into Cenozoic environmental change and ecosystem evolution.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1339-1352
Number of pages	14
Journal	Science China Earth Sciences
Volume	65
Issue number	7
Early online date	6 Jun 2022
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-021-9932-2
Publication status	Published - 1 Jul 2022

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
We thank all members from the Paleoecology Research Group (PRG) at the Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden (XTBG) for fossil collecting, Dr. Weiyudong Deng for cartographic advice, and Ping Liu, Jiangbo Meng, Hongyan Zhou, Liuyue Cui, Yajun Gao, Lijuan Cui for helping with data collection. We are also grateful to two reviewers for their constructive advice. This work was supported by the Basic Science Center for Tibetan Plateau Earth System (Grant No. 41988101), the Yunnan Province Natural Science Foundation (Grant No. 2019FB061), the Second Tibetan Plateau Scientific Expedition and Research Program (STEP; Grant No. 2019QZKK0705), the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. XDB26000000), and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 41772026).

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022, Science China Press and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.

Keywords

Cenozoic
Climate modelling
Paleoclimate
Plant fossil
Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1007/s11430-021-9932-2

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title = "The Paleogene to Neogene climate evolution and driving factors on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau",

abstract = "The growth of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP) during the Cenozoic drove dramatic climate and environmental change in this region. However, there has been limited comprehensive research into evolution of climate during this interval. Here we present a quantitative reconstruction using Bioclimatic Analysis (BA) and Joint Probability Density Functions (JPDFs) based on data available for 48 fossil floras, including macrofossils and palynological fossils collected in the QTP area from the Paleogene to Neogene (66–2.58 Ma). Both methods indicate that there was an overall decline in temperature and precipitation. Paleoclimatic simulations using Hadley Centre Coupled Model version3 (HadCM3) show that the most prominent climate change was very likely driven by QTP orographic evolution from the late Eocene, which was accompanied by a shift in temperature from a latitudinal distribution to a topographically controlled pattern. In addition, with the growth of the QTP, temperature and precipitation decreased gradually in the northeastern part of the plateau. Different sources of evidence, including plant fossil records, climate simulations and other proxies, indicate that the topographic evolution of the QTP and other geological events, in conjunction with global cooling, may have been the main factors driving climate change in this region. This research can provide insights into Cenozoic environmental change and ecosystem evolution.",

keywords = "Cenozoic, Climate modelling, Paleoclimate, Plant fossil, Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau",

author = "Jiagang Zhao and Shufeng Li and Alexander Farnsworth and Valdes, {Paul J.} and Tammo Reichgelt and Linlin Chen and Zhekun Zhou and Tao Su",

note = "Funding Information: We thank all members from the Paleoecology Research Group (PRG) at the Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden (XTBG) for fossil collecting, Dr. Weiyudong Deng for cartographic advice, and Ping Liu, Jiangbo Meng, Hongyan Zhou, Liuyue Cui, Yajun Gao, Lijuan Cui for helping with data collection. We are also grateful to two reviewers for their constructive advice. This work was supported by the Basic Science Center for Tibetan Plateau Earth System (Grant No. 41988101), the Yunnan Province Natural Science Foundation (Grant No. 2019FB061), the Second Tibetan Plateau Scientific Expedition and Research Program (STEP; Grant No. 2019QZKK0705), the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. XDB26000000), and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 41772026). Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2022, Science China Press and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.",

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AU - Chen, Linlin

AU - Zhou, Zhekun

AU - Su, Tao

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N2 - The growth of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP) during the Cenozoic drove dramatic climate and environmental change in this region. However, there has been limited comprehensive research into evolution of climate during this interval. Here we present a quantitative reconstruction using Bioclimatic Analysis (BA) and Joint Probability Density Functions (JPDFs) based on data available for 48 fossil floras, including macrofossils and palynological fossils collected in the QTP area from the Paleogene to Neogene (66–2.58 Ma). Both methods indicate that there was an overall decline in temperature and precipitation. Paleoclimatic simulations using Hadley Centre Coupled Model version3 (HadCM3) show that the most prominent climate change was very likely driven by QTP orographic evolution from the late Eocene, which was accompanied by a shift in temperature from a latitudinal distribution to a topographically controlled pattern. In addition, with the growth of the QTP, temperature and precipitation decreased gradually in the northeastern part of the plateau. Different sources of evidence, including plant fossil records, climate simulations and other proxies, indicate that the topographic evolution of the QTP and other geological events, in conjunction with global cooling, may have been the main factors driving climate change in this region. This research can provide insights into Cenozoic environmental change and ecosystem evolution.

AB - The growth of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP) during the Cenozoic drove dramatic climate and environmental change in this region. However, there has been limited comprehensive research into evolution of climate during this interval. Here we present a quantitative reconstruction using Bioclimatic Analysis (BA) and Joint Probability Density Functions (JPDFs) based on data available for 48 fossil floras, including macrofossils and palynological fossils collected in the QTP area from the Paleogene to Neogene (66–2.58 Ma). Both methods indicate that there was an overall decline in temperature and precipitation. Paleoclimatic simulations using Hadley Centre Coupled Model version3 (HadCM3) show that the most prominent climate change was very likely driven by QTP orographic evolution from the late Eocene, which was accompanied by a shift in temperature from a latitudinal distribution to a topographically controlled pattern. In addition, with the growth of the QTP, temperature and precipitation decreased gradually in the northeastern part of the plateau. Different sources of evidence, including plant fossil records, climate simulations and other proxies, indicate that the topographic evolution of the QTP and other geological events, in conjunction with global cooling, may have been the main factors driving climate change in this region. This research can provide insights into Cenozoic environmental change and ecosystem evolution.

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The Paleogene to Neogene climate evolution and driving factors on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

UN SDGs

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