Middle Eocene East Asian monsoon prevalence over southern China: Evidence from palynological records

Abstract

Abstract The initiation of Asian monsoon systems is a complex and controversial issue, and the existence of monsoon systems in the Eocene has not yet been confirmed by commonly applicable proxy data. Eocene palynological records from three basins in southern China provide an ideal opportunity to investigate the early stage of the Asian monsoon due to their unique geographical location. The palynological assemblages suggest that the middle Eocene vegetation in southern China was composed of mixed evergreen and deciduous broad-leaved forests, accompanied by abundant subtropical to tropical evergreen taxa, thus bearing strong resemblance to the modern vegetation in southern China, and indicating a warm-humid subtropical climate. By analysing the palynological data using a coexistence approach (CA), we quantitatively reconstructed seven climatic parameters, which indicate a subtropical monsoon climate with a mean annual temperature (MAT) in the range 16.5 to 23.5 °C and a mean annual precipitation (MAP) in the range 1035 to 1724 mm, similar to those of the modern subtropical monsoon climate in southern China although the MAT was surprisingly lower than present. Significant seasonal variations in precipitation and temperature and as well as the spatial distribution of MAP during the middle Eocene were most similar to those of the modern East Asia Monsoon (EAM) climate of southern China, clearly indicating that the Eocene climate of southern China was mainly influenced by the EAM, rather than the Indian monsoon (IM) or Inter-tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) monsoons. By combining the above results with previously published geological evidence, we infer that the EAM developed in southern China as early as the middle Eocene, albeit with an intensity that may have been weaker than present. The establishment of the middle Eocene EAM in southern China was most likely driven by the northward drift of the Indian Subcontinent and its collision with the Eurasian continent, associated with the uplift of the Central-Southern Tibetan Plateau, which enlarged the land-sea thermal contrast and deepened the low pressure over continental Asia in summer, thus greatly intensifying the East Asian subtropical summer monsoon over southern China.