Quantitative Reconstruction of Paleoclimatic Changes in the Late Miocene Eastern Zhejiang Based on Plant Fossils

With a series of Cenozoic climate fluctuations, the global paleoclimate shifted from a warm climate to a cold climate, causing Arctic ice caps to be formed. The Late Miocene is a critical time in this transition period, in which the climate was rapidly cooling. Plant fossils from this epoch could be...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Atmosphere
Main Authors: Xiao, Liang, Wang, Jian, Ji, Deshuang, Guo, Liyan, Wang, Xing, Liang, Jiaqi, Xia, Xiaoyuan, Ren, Wenxiu, Li, Xiangchuan
Format: Report
Language:English
Published: MDPI 2023
Subjects:
late miocene
paleoclimatic reconstruction
eastern zhejiang
leaf margin analysis
climate leaf analysis multivariate program
SP-NOV
CHINA
DEPOSITS
CUPULE
LOESS
MA
Environmental Sciences & Ecology
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
Environmental Sciences
Arctic
Climate change
Online Access:http://ir.nigpas.ac.cn/handle/332004/42458
http://ir.nigpas.ac.cn/handle/332004/42459
https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos14060986
Description
Summary:With a series of Cenozoic climate fluctuations, the global paleoclimate shifted from a warm climate to a cold climate, causing Arctic ice caps to be formed. The Late Miocene is a critical time in this transition period, in which the climate was rapidly cooling. Plant fossils from this epoch could be used as ideal indicators for reconstructing climate change throughout this time interval. In this study, plant fossils were collected from the Shengxian Formation in Ninghai and Tiantai of eastern Zhejiang. We divided the fossiliferous strata of the Shengxian Formation into five layers according to different lithology and chronological order, which were named: JHU0, DLX, JHU1, JHUW, and JHU3 from old to new geological times, respectively. We used Leaf Margin Analysis and Climate Leaf Analysis Multivariate Program to reconstruct paleoclimatic changes in eastern Zhejiang during the Late Miocene. The paleoclimatic information of the five stages from old to new times was obtained based on the plant fossils of each layer. The mean annual temperature values in eastern Zhejiang were reconstructed using the Climate Leaf Analysis Multivariate Program and Leaf Margin Analysis at the same time. However, the former mean annual temperature values are lower than the latter values. After comparing the two sets of mean annual temperature data with previously reported values, it is found that the results obtained by Climate Leaf Analysis Multivariate Program are more reliable, whose values are 18.05 & DEG;C, 16.03 & DEG;C, 17.96 & DEG;C, 16.57 & DEG;C, and 15.52 & DEG;C from old to new times, respectively. Moreover, 11 climatic parameters were reconstructed using the Climate Leaf Analysis Multivariate Program PhysgAsia2 calibration, among which the growing season precipitation was found to be 195.54 cm, 181.25 cm, 207.99 cm, 180.7 cm, and 165.07 cm; while the difference between the coldest and warmest months was found to be 22.14 & DEG;C, 23.4 & DEG;C, 22.07 & DEG;C, 21.36 & DEG;C, and 23.37 & ...

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