A drastic environmental change occurred during the Middle to Late Jurassic as much of East Asia transitioned from a wet seasonal to an extremely arid climate. The timing, scope, and especially mechanism for this aridification are contentious. In this study, we report paleomagnetic data and ages from Jurassic volcanic rocks in North China and for the first time reveal a large-scale southward displacement of ∼25° for the Eastern Asian blocks (EABs) sometime between 174 ± 6 Ma and 157 ± 4 Ma. We suggest that the rapid motion documented by our paleomagnetic studies resulted from large-scale true polar wander (TPW). The TPW rotation displaced the EABs from the Northern Hemisphere humid-temperate belt into the subtropical/tropical arid zone. The resultant latitudinal motion coincided with a remarkable environmental change recorded over 10,000,000 km² in East Asia between ca. 165 Ma and 155 Ma. We call the climate transition the “Great Jurassic East Asian Aridification” and argue that TPW-induced climatic shifts were also responsible for the demise of the Yanliao Biota and subsequent radiation of the Jehol Biota during the Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous.

中文翻译：

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大侏罗纪东亚干旱化的真正极地漫游触发器

在中侏罗纪至晚期侏罗纪期间发生了剧烈的环境变化，因为东亚的大部分地区从潮湿的季节过渡到极端干旱的气候。这种荒漠化的时机，范围，尤其是机制尚有争议。在这项研究中，我们报告了华北侏罗纪火山岩的古磁数据和年龄，并首次揭示了东亚地块（EAB）的约25°的大规模南移，时间介于174±6 Ma和157±之间。 4麻 我们建议，我们的古磁研究记录的快速运动是由大规模的真实极地漂移（TPW）引起的。TPW的旋转将EABs从北半球的湿温带转移到了亚热带/热带干旱区。产生的横向运动与记录在10,000,000公里以上的显着环境变化相吻合²在东亚之间。165马和155马。我们称气候过渡为“大侏罗纪东亚干旱”，并认为TPW引起的气候变化也是造成侏罗纪晚期和白垩纪初期延辽生物群消亡以及热河生物群随后辐射的原因。