Pliocene land snail record from western Chinese Loess Plateau and implications for impacts of the summer insolation gradient between middle and low latitudes on the East Asian summer monsoon

Abstract

The East Asian monsoon probably existed as early as at the Palaeogene/Neogene boundary. However, its evolutionary process is still less well known owing mainly to the lack of long, continuous palaeoenvironmental records. The recently reported Miocene (22–6.2 Ma) and late Miocene–Pliocene (7.1–3.5 Ma) loess–palaeosol sequences from the western Chinese Loess Plateau (CLP) provide new insights into the evolution of the monsoon system. However, reports on the bioclimatic indicators from these deposits and the subsequent reconstruction of the palaeomonsoon are rare. Here we present a Pliocene terrestrial mollusk record from the western CLP and discuss the possible impact of isolation gradients on the East Asian summer monsoon. Our results show that most peak values of the dominant thermo-humidiphilous mollusk taxa, Metodontia and Punctum, a proxy of the East Asian summer monsoon, approximately correspond to maxima of mean summer insolation gradient between middle and low latitudes as well as some maximum values of the 35°N insolation, suggesting a possible causal link between the summer monsoon and the insolation parameters. The major frequencies from spectrum analysis of the sum of the two warmth- and moisture-loving taxa through the loess–palaeosol succession match those obtained from the mean summer insolation-gradient variations between middle and low latitudes over this geological period, providing further evidence for such a causal relationship. Mean summer insolation gradient between middle and low latitudes could influence atmospheric circulation (in the present condition the East Asian summer monsoon). Any elevated mean summer insolation gradients between middle and low latitudes would have intensified the East Asian summer monsoon and the flux of moisture and heat over the oceans to the interior region including the CLP, creating favorable conditions for the expansion of the mollusk fauna. As such, the mollusk record from the loess–palaeosol deposits in the western CLP provides evidence for insolation-gradient impacts on the development of the East Asian monsoon system in the Pliocene.