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Geology; September 2005; v. 33; no. 9; p. 705-708; DOI: 10.1130/G21423.1
© 2005 Geological Society of America
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Multiple expansions of C4 plant biomass in East Asia since 7 Ma coupled with strengthened monsoon circulation

An Zhisheng1,2, Huang Yongsong3, Liu Weiguo4, Guo Zhengtang4, Steven Clemens5, Li Li6, Warren Prell7, Ning Youfeng8, Cai Yanjun8, Zhou Weijian8, Lin Benhai8, Zhang Qingle8, Cao Yunning8, Qiang Xiaoke8, Chang Hong8 and Wu Zhenkun8

1 State Key Laboratory of Loess and Quaternary Geology, Institute of Earth Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, P.O. Box 17, Xi'an 710075, China
2 Key Laboratory of Environmental Change and Natural Disaster of the Ministry of Education, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
3 Department of Geological Sciences, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island 02912, USA
4 Institute of Earth Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, P.O. Box 17, Xi'an 710075, China
5 Department of Geological Sciences, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island 02912, USA
6 Institute of Earth Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, P.O. Box 17, Xi'an 710075, China
7 Department of Geological Sciences, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island 02912, USA
8 Institute of Earth Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, P.O. Box 17, Xi'an 710075, China

The expansion of plants using the C4 photosynthetic pathway is one of the most prominent changes in the global ecosystem during the Cenozoic Era. A significant late Miocene expansion is well documented. However, the existence and cause of subsequent expansions are still not clear, owing in part to the lack of long, continuous climate-vegetation records. Here we present two high-resolution carbon isotope time series, covering the past 7 m.y., derived from eolian deposits on the Chinese Loess Plateau. The data indicate three intervals of significant C4 plant expansions within the semiarid monsoonal region of East Asia (ca. 2.9–2.7 Ma, 1.3–0.9 Ma, and 0.6 Ma–present). These expansions covary with strengthened East Asian summer monsoon circulation. We conclude that in East Asia, large-scale late Miocene C4/C3 vegetation changes in semiarid areas have been primarily driven by warm seasonal precipitation and temperature variations associated with changes in monsoon circulation.

Key Words: C4 plant expansion • carbon isotope • summer monsoon • Chinese Loess Plateau • Miocene






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