Central Asian modulation of Northern Hemisphere moisture transfer over the Late Cenozoic

Scardia, Giancarlo

Vonhof, Hubert
Guinoiseau, Damien
Nigmatova, Saida
Fiebig, Jens
Gerdes, Axel

Janssen, Renee
Fitzsimmons, Kathryn E.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-021-00173-z
Persistent URL: http://resolver.sub.uni-goettingen.de/purl?gldocs-11858/11088
Scardia, Giancarlo; Instituto de Geociências e Ciências Exatas, Universidade Estadual Paulista, Rio Claro, Brazil
Vonhof, Hubert; Climate Geochemistry, Max-Planck-Institute for Chemistry, Mainz, Germany
Guinoiseau, Damien; Aix Marseille University, CNRS, IRD, INRAE, Coll France, CEREGE, Aix-en-Provence, France
Nigmatova, Saida; Institute of Geological Sciences K. Satpaeva, Almaty, Kazakhstan
Fiebig, Jens; Institute of Geosciences, Goethe‐University Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Gerdes, Axel; Frankfurt Element and Isotope Research Center, Goethe‐University Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Janssen, Renee; Climate Geochemistry, Max-Planck-Institute for Chemistry, Mainz, Germany
Fitzsimmons, Kathryn E.; Research Group for Terrestrial Palaeoclimates, Max-Planck-Institute for Chemistry, Mainz, Germany
Abstract
Earth’s climatic evolution over the last 5 million years is primarily understood from the perspective of marine mechanisms, however, the role of terrestrial feedbacks remains largely unexplored. Here we reconstruct the last 5 million years of soil moisture variability in Central Asia using paleomagnetism data and isotope geochemistry of an 80 m-thick sedimentary succession at Charyn Canyon, Kazakhstan. We identify a long-term trend of increasing aridification throughout the period, along with shorter-term variability related to the interaction between mid-latitude westerlies and the Siberian high-pressure system. This record highlights the long-term contribution of mid-latitude Eurasian terrestrial systems to the modulation of moisture transfer into the Northern Hemisphere oceans and back onto land via westerly air flow. The response of Earth-surface dynamics to Plio-Pleistocene climatic change in Central Asia likely generated terrestrial feedbacks affecting ocean and atmospheric circulation. This missing terrestrial link elucidates the significance of land-water feedbacks for long-term global climate.
Late Cenozoic variation in Central Asian hydroclimate resulted from the interaction between mid-latitude westerlies and the Siberian high-pressure system and may have driven terrestrial feedbacks, according to analyses of sediments from Charyn Canyon, Kazakhstan.