Resilience of the Asian atmospheric circulation shown by Paleogene dust provenance
- The onset of modern central Asian atmospheric circulation is traditionally linked to the interplay of surface uplift of the Mongolian and Tibetan-Himalayan orogens, retreat of the Paratethys sea from central Asia and Cenozoic global cooling. Although the role of these players has not yet been unravelled, the vast dust deposits of central China support the presence of arid conditions and modern atmospheric pathways for the last 25 million years (Myr). Here, we present provenance data from older (42-33 Myr) dust deposits, at a time when the Tibetan Plateau was less developed, the Paratethys sea still present in central Asia and atmospheric pCO(2) much higher. Our results show that dust sources and near-surface atmospheric circulation have changed little since at least 42 Myr. Our findings indicate that the locus of central Asian high pressures and concurrent aridity is a resilient feature only modulated by mountain building, global cooling and sea retreat.
Author details: | Alexis LichtORCiD, Guillaume Dupont-NivetORCiD, A. Pullen, P. Kapp, Hemmo A. AbelsORCiD, Z. Lai, Z. Guo, Jordan AbellORCiD, D. Giesler |
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DOI: | https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms12390 |
ISSN: | 2041-1723 |
Pubmed ID: | https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27488503 |
Title of parent work (English): | Nature Communications |
Publisher: | Nature Publ. Group |
Place of publishing: | London |
Publication type: | Article |
Language: | English |
Year of first publication: | 2016 |
Publication year: | 2016 |
Release date: | 2020/03/22 |
Volume: | 7 |
Number of pages: | 6 |
First page: | 885 |
Last Page: | 894 |
Funding institution: | University of Kansas; E.U. horizon project [656731]; A. von Humboldt foundation; FP7 CIG grant [294282]; Horizon ERC grant [649081]; University of Arizona; NSF [AGS-1203427, AGS-1203973] |
Organizational units: | Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Fakultät / Institut für Geowissenschaften |
Peer review: | Referiert |
Institution name at the time of the publication: | Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Fakultät / Institut für Erd- und Umweltwissenschaften |
External remark: | Zweitveröffentlichung in der Schriftenreihe Postprints der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe ; 1114 |