Asian monsoon rainfall variation during the Pliocene forced by global temperature change.

ABSTRACT: The Asian monsoon variations under global temperature changes during the Pliocene are still debated. Here we use a sedimentary record of phytoliths (plant silica) from the Weihe Basin, central China, to explore the history of C₄ grasses and quantitatively reconstruct the Asian monsoon climate since the late Miocene. Our results show that C₄ grasses have been a dominant grassland component since ~11.0 Ma. A subsequent marked decrease in warm- and humid-adapted C₄ grasses and an increase in cool- and dry-adapted C₃ grasses occurred in the Pliocene, ~4.0 Ma; the phytolith-based quantitative reconstruction of mean annual precipitation marked a decrease from 800~1673 mm to 443~900 mm, indicating a reduction in Asian monsoon rainfall in the Pliocene. O

SUBMITTER: Wang H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6872654 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature