CO<sub>2</sub>-forced Late Miocene cooling and ecosystem reorganizations in East Asia.
basic_science · Level V
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- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 36689658.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1073/pnas.2214655120 and PMC identifier 9945954.
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Abstract
In parallel with pronounced cooling in the oceans, vast areas of the continents experienced enhanced aridification and restructuring of vegetation and animal communities during the Late Miocene. Debate continues over whether <i>p</i>CO<sub>2</sub>-induced global cooling was the primary driver of this climate and ecosystem upheaval on land. Here we present an 8 to 5 Ma land surface temperatures (LST) record from East Asia derived from paleosol carbonate clumped isotopes and integrated with climate model simulations. The LST cooled by ~7 °C between 7.5 and 5.7 Ma, followed by rapid warming across the Miocene-Pliocene transition (5.5 to 5 Ma). These changes occurred synchronously with variations in alkenone and Mg/Ca-based sea surface temperatures and with hydroclimate and ecosystem shifts in East Asia, highlighting a global climate forcing mechanism. Our modeling experiments additionally demonstrate that <i>p</i>CO<sub>2</sub>-forced cooling would have altered moisture transfer and pathways and driven extensive aridification in East Asia. We, thus, conclude that the East Asian hydroclimate and ecosystem shift was primarily controlled by <i>p</i>CO<sub>2</sub>-forced global cooling between 8 and 5 Ma.