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Snapshot of the Pliocene environment of West Kunlun region, Northwest China

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Abstract

The West Kunlun region forms the northern margin of the Tibetan Plateau, and sedimentation in this region contributed to plateau formation and its northwards expansion, as well as the development of central Asian aridification. However, the stratigraphic dating framework in this region has been ambiguous, hampering the understanding of both tectonic and environmental evolution. Here, palynological analysis was performed on the Xialafudie Formation in the West Kunlun region. Together with the palynological assemblage and megafossils found in the study section, as well as regional stratigraphic comparison, we conclude that the Xialafudie Formation was deposited during the Pliocene, and not Early Cretaceous as previously reported. The palynological assemblage of the section is mainly composed of drought-tolerant herbs and shrubs, and the percentage of conifers and broadleaved trees is very low, indicating that a dry and cold environment prevailed in the West Kunlun region during the Pliocene. Comprehensively analysed palynological data from the Tarim Basin and its surroundings show that aridification intensified in this part of central Asia during the Pliocene, as a result of long-term global cooling and regional tectonism.

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Acknowledgements

We thank members of the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, CAS, for field trips; Public Technology Service Center in XTBG for imaging assistance. We are grateful for the invitation to contribute to this special issue by the guest editors Angela Bruch, Dieter Uhl and Torsten Utescher. Dr. Angela Bruch is thanked for handling the review process as associate editor. We are also thankful to Dr. Khum N. Paudayal, an anonymous reviewer and the editors for their valuable comments and suggestions.

Funding

This work is supported by State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy (Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, CAS) (grant number 193112); the Strategic Priority Research Program of CAS (grant numbers XDA20070301 and XDA20070203); NSFC (National Natural Science Foundation of China)-NERC (Natural Environment Research Council of the UK) joint research program (grant numbers 41,661,134,049 and NE/P013805/1); the Second Tibetan Plateau Scientific expedition (STEP) program; Postdoctoral Fellowship of XTBG and CAS Key Laboratory of Tropical Forest Ecology XTBG, CAS; Key Research Program of Frontier Sciences, CAS (grant number QYZDB-SSW-SMC016); Youth Innovation Promotion Association, CAS (grant number 2017439); the CAS 135 program (No. 2017XTBG-F01).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CAS Key Laboratory of Tropical Forest Ecology, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Mengla, 666303, Yunnan, China

    Jia Liu, Teng-Xiang Wang, Xin-Wen Zhang, Ai Song, Shu-Feng Li, Jian Huang, Teresa Spicer, Robert A. Spicer, Tao Su & Zhe-Kun Zhou

  2. State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, CAS, Nanjing, 210008, China

    Jia Liu

  3. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Teng-Xiang Wang & Xin-Wen Zhang

  4. Institute of Palaeontology, Yunnan Key Laboratory for Palaeobiology, MEC International Joint Laboratory for Palaeobiology and Palaeoenvironment, Yunnan Key Laboratory of Earth System Science, Yunnan University, Kunming, Yunnan, 650500, China

    Ai Song

  5. Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100044, China

    Fei-Xiang Wu

  6. CAS Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Beijing, 100044, China

    Fei-Xiang Wu

  7. Key Laboratory for Plant Diversity and Biogeography of East Asia, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, 650204, Yunnan, China

    Zhe-Kun Zhou

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  1. Jia Liu
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Correspondence to Tao Su or Zhe-Kun Zhou.

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This article is a contribution to the special issue “Palaeobotanical contributions in honour of Volker Mosbrugger”

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Liu, J., Wang, TX., Zhang, XW. et al. Snapshot of the Pliocene environment of West Kunlun region, Northwest China. Palaeobio Palaeoenv 101, 163–176 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12549-020-00458-9

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