Unknown

Dataset Information

0

No high Tibetan Plateau until the Neogene.


ABSTRACT: The Late Paleogene surface height and paleoenvironment for the core area of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP) remain critically unresolved. Here, we report the discovery of the youngest well-preserved fossil palm leaves from Tibet. They were recovered from the Late Paleogene (Chattian), ca. 25.5 ± 0.5 million years, paleolake sediments within the Lunpola Basin (32.033°N, 89.767°E), central QTP at a present elevation of 4655 m. The anatomy of palms renders them intrinsically susceptible to freezing, imposing upper bounds on their latitudinal and altitudinal distribution. Combined with model-determined paleoterrestrial lapse rates, this shows that a high plateau cannot have existed in the core of Tibet in the Paleogene. Instead, a deep paleovalley, whose floor was <2.3 km above mean sea level bounded by (>4 km) high mountain systems, formed a topographically highly varied landscape. This finding challenges prevailing views on tectonic processes, monsoon dynamics, and the evolution of Asian biodiversity.

SUBMITTER: Su T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6402856 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

altmetric image

Publications


The Late Paleogene surface height and paleoenvironment for the core area of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP) remain critically unresolved. Here, we report the discovery of the youngest well-preserved fossil palm leaves from Tibet. They were recovered from the Late Paleogene (Chattian), ca. 25.5 ± 0.5 million years, paleolake sediments within the Lunpola Basin (32.033°N, 89.767°E), central QTP at a present elevation of 4655 m. The anatomy of palms renders them intrinsically susceptible to freezi  ...[more]

Similar Datasets

| S-EPMC5482058 | biostudies-literature
| S-EPMC4313863 | biostudies-literature
| S-EPMC10235091 | biostudies-literature
| S-EPMC7668038 | biostudies-literature
2014-06-15 | GSE29977 | GEO
2014-06-15 | E-GEOD-29977 | biostudies-arrayexpress
| PRJNA744994 | ENA
| S-EPMC7455194 | biostudies-literature
| S-EPMC6172336 | biostudies-literature
| S-EPMC9127964 | biostudies-literature