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Monsoon‐Enhanced Silicate Weathering as a New Atmospheric CO 2 Consumption Mechanism Contributing to Fast Late Miocene Global Cooling
Author(s) -
Yang Yibo,
Ye Chengcheng,
Galy Albert,
Fang Xiaomin,
Xue Yong,
Liu Yudong,
Yang Rongsheng,
Zhang Ran,
Han Wenxia,
Zhang Weilin,
Ruan Xiaobai
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
paleoceanography and paleoclimatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.927
H-Index - 127
eISSN - 2572-4525
pISSN - 2572-4517
DOI - 10.1029/2020pa004008
Subject(s) - weathering , silicate , global cooling , east asian monsoon , monsoon , geology , glacial period , plateau (mathematics) , cenozoic , earth science , late miocene , northern hemisphere , sink (geography) , paleoclimatology , monsoon of south asia , atmospheric sciences , climatology , geochemistry , climate change , geomorphology , oceanography , structural basin , chemistry , geography , mathematical analysis , mathematics , cartography , organic chemistry
Fast late Miocene global cooling since ∼7 Ma accompanied by less changeable atmospheric CO 2 levels revealed by existing proxy reconstructions has suggested an intriguing tectonic‐climate link that remains controversial. Here, we present late Cenozoic clay mineral records of the silicate weathering intensity from the Chinese Loess Plateau and northeastern Tibetan Plateau to demonstrate a remarkable increase in silicate weathering intensity at ∼9–7 Ma induced by enhanced monsoon. This change caused CO 2 consumption ranging from 0.18 to 1.8 × 10 11 mol C yr −1 over the East Asian monsoon region, accounting for 0.2%–2% of the modern continental silicate weathering flux, thus providing an additional atmospheric CO 2 sink. Moreover, we propose that this additional sink may have contributed to the large atmospheric CO 2 consumption and fast global cooling in the late Miocene, which ultimately caused the onset of the Northern Hemisphere glaciation at ∼7 Ma.