Abstract A comprehensive understanding of the Neogene paleoenvironmental evolution of Central Asia is important for predicting the future climatic and environmental conditions within the region. However, our understanding of the relative roles of Tibetan Plateau (TP) uplift and global cooling in driving its paleoenvironmental evolution remain elusive. Here we present two well-dated (~16-5 Ma) independent environmental magnetic records from the northern TP, together with a comprehensive analysis of other well-dated Neogene environmental magnetic datasets for ten other sites from the northern TP. The results indicate synchronous changes in magnetic parameters which we interpret as reflecting a major environmental transition in Central Asia at ~11-9 Ma, which is supported by evidence from multiple independent paleoecological and paleoclimatic studies. A major environmental transition at 11-9 Ma is also supported by the results of linear and non-linear analyses of the magnetic records of the two studied sections. Our analyses reveal that prior to ~11 Ma, the environmental fluctuations within the QB were primarily driven by insolation variations modulated by Earth orbital parameters; however, after ~11 Ma this influence faded and there was a shift from a stable environmental system, characterized by periodic fluctuations, to an unstable system with erratic fluctuations. The timing of this phase shift in the paleoenvironment of Central Asia was not related to global cooling but it coincided with extensive tectonic activity in the TP. Together with conceptual models and previous numerical simulations results, we conclude that a major shift of the dominant driver of Central Asia paleoenvironment occurred at ~11-9 Ma and that uplift of the TP, rather than global cooling, was responsible.

中文翻译：

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中亚环境转型的构造强迫在~11-9 Ma

摘要 全面了解中亚新近纪古环境演化对于预测该地区未来的气候和环境条件具有重要意义。然而，我们对青藏高原（TP）隆升和全球变冷在推动其古环境演变中的相对作用的理解仍然难以捉摸。在这里，我们展示了来自青藏高原北部的两个年代久远（~16-5 Ma）的独立环境磁记录，以及对青藏高原北部其他十个地点的新近纪环境磁数据集的综合分析。结果表明磁参数的同步变化，我们将其解释为反映了中亚在~11-9 Ma 的主要环境转变，这得到了多项独立古生态和古气候研究的证据的支持。两个研究剖面的磁记录的线性和非线性分析结果也支持了 11-9 Ma 的主要环境转变。我们的分析表明，在~11 Ma 之前，QB 内的环境波动主要是由地球轨道参数调制的日照变化驱动的；然而，在约 11 Ma 之后，这种影响减弱，并且从以周期性波动为特征的稳定环境系统转变为具有不稳定波动的不稳定系统。中亚古环境中这种相移的时间与全球变冷无关，但恰逢青藏高原广泛的构造活动。结合概念模型和先前的数值模拟结果，