Li Jianhua, Dong Shuwen, Zhao Guochun, Cawood Peter A, Johnston Stephen T, Zhang Jian, Xin Yujia, Wang Jinming
Key Laboratory of Paleomagnetism and Tectonic Reconstruction, Ministry of Natural Resources, Institute of Geomechanics, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, Beijing 100081, China.
SinoProbe Center, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, Beijing 100037, China.
Sci Adv. 2024 Dec 13;10(50):eads0587. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.ads0587.
Crustal thickness and elevation variations control mountain building and climate change at convergent margins. As an archetypal Andean-type convergent margin, eastern Asia preserves voluminous magmas ideal for quantifying these processes and their impacts on climate. Here, we use Sr/Y and Ce/Y proxies to show that the crust experienced alternating thickening and thinning during the Late Mesozoic. We identify a noticeably thickened (50 to 55 kilometers) crust associated with tectonic shortening at 120 to 105 million years, corresponding to a >2500-meter-high coastal mountain range. Using climate simulation with the Community Earth System Model, we demonstrate that the mountain uplift changed Asian atmospheric circulation and precipitation patterns, increased inland aridity (~15%), and prompted the eastward desert expansion, contributing substantially to the arid zonal belt across mid- to low-latitude Asia. These findings-compatible with independent geological, geophysical, and climatic observations-have global implications for broadening our understanding of Earth-system interactions in the Cretaceous greenhouse world.
地壳厚度和海拔变化控制着汇聚边缘的造山作用和气候变化。作为典型的安第斯型汇聚边缘，东亚保存了大量岩浆，非常适合用于量化这些过程及其对气候的影响。在此，我们利用锶钇和铈钇指标表明，晚中生代期间地壳经历了交替的增厚和变薄。我们识别出一个明显增厚（50至55公里）的地壳，它与1.2亿至1.05亿年前的构造缩短有关，对应着一座高于海平面2500米的沿海山脉。利用社区地球系统模型进行气候模拟，我们证明山脉隆升改变了亚洲大气环流和降水模式，增加了内陆干旱程度（约15%），并促使沙漠向东扩张，对亚洲中低纬度地区干旱地带的形成起到了重要作用。这些发现与独立的地质、地球物理和气候观测结果相符，对于拓宽我们对白垩纪温室世界中地球系统相互作用的理解具有全球意义。
