A high-resolution multi-proxy record of late Cenozoic environment change from central Taklimakan Desert, China
The Taklimakan Desert in the Tarim Basin is the largest desert in Central Asia, and is regarded as one of the main dust sources to the Northern Hemisphere. Late Cenozoic sedimentary sequences with intercalated in-situ aeolian dune sands in this area preserve direct evidence for the Asian desertifica...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Copernicus Publications
2013-12-01
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| Series: | Climate of the Past |
| Online Access: | http://www.clim-past.net/9/2731/2013/cp-9-2731-2013.pdf |
| Summary: | The Taklimakan Desert in the Tarim Basin is the largest desert in Central
Asia, and is regarded as one of the main dust sources to the Northern
Hemisphere. Late Cenozoic sedimentary sequences with intercalated in-situ
aeolian dune sands in this area preserve direct evidence for the Asian
desertification. Herein, we report a high-resolution multi-proxy climatic
record from the precise magnetostratigraphic dated Hongbaishan section in
the central Taklimakan Desert. Our results show that a fundamental climate
change, characterised by significant cooling, enhanced aridity, and
intensified atmospheric circulation, occurred at 2.8 Ma. Good correlations
between paleo-environmental records in the dust sources and downwind areas
suggest a broadly consistent climate evolution of northwestern China during
the late Cenozoic, which is probably driven by the uplift of the Tibet
Plateau and the Northern Hemisphere glaciation. |
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| ISSN: | 1814-9324 1814-9332 |