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Late Oligocene–Early Miocene Birth of the Taklimakan Desert

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Late Oligocene–Early Miocene Birth of the Taklimakan Desert Late Oligocene–early Miocene birth of the Taklimakan Desert Hongbo Zhenga,b,1, Xiaochun Weic,1, Ryuji Tadad, Peter D. Clifte, Bin Wangf, Fred Jourdang, Ping Wanga, and Mengying Hea aSchool of Geography Science, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing 210023, China; bCenter for Excellence in Tibetan Plateau Earth Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China; cSchool of Earth Sciences and Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China; dDepartment of Earth and Planetary Science, University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan; eDepartment of Geology and Geophysics, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803; fTourism and Environment College, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi’an 710119, China; and gWestern Australian Argon Isotope Facility, Department of Applied Geology and John de Laeter Centre, Curtin University, Perth, WA 6845, Australia Edited by Zhonghe Zhou, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China, and approved May 11, 2015 (received for review December 22, 2014) As the world’s second largest sand sea and one of the most im- along the southwestern margin of the Tarim Basin. Radioiso- portant dust sources to the global aerosol system, the formation topic dating of the volcanic minerals provides a robust age for of the Taklimakan Desert marks a major environmental event in the sections, and therefore we are able to determine the age of central Asia during the Cenozoic. Determining when and how the the Taklimakan Desert more precisely. desert formed holds the key to better understanding the tectonic– climatic linkage in this critical region. However, the age of the Geological Setting and Lithostratigraphy Taklimakan remains controversial, with the dominant view being From latest Cretaceous to early Paleogene, much of the western from ∼3.4 Ma to ∼7 Ma based on magnetostratigraphy of sedi- Tarim Basin was influenced episodically by a shallow sea, which mentary sequences within and along the margins of the desert. In was connected to the Paratethys, an epicontinental marine sea- this study, we applied radioisotopic methods to precisely date a way covering large parts of Europe and southern central Asia volcanic tuff preserved in the stratigraphy. We constrained the (9). Shallow marine strata of this age are observed extensively initial desertification to be late Oligocene to early Miocene, be- along the western and southwestern margins of the Tarim Basin, tween ∼26.7 Ma and 22.6 Ma. We suggest that the Taklimakan extending to Hotan to the east and Ulugqat to the north (Fig. 1). Desert was formed as a response to a combination of widespread Five major marine incursions have been recognized in the broad regional aridification and increased erosion in the surrounding region, with the fourth being the final one at Aertashi, where it is mountain fronts, both of which are closely linked to the tectonic represented by the Wulagen Formation (Fig. 2 A and B and SI uplift of the Tibetan–Pamir Plateau and Tian Shan, which had re- Text). Recent biostratigraphic work at Aertashi has suggested that ached a climatically sensitive threshold at this time. the Paratethys Sea finally retreated from this locality at ∼41 Ma (9, 10), a process that has been attributed to global eustasy coupled Taklimakan Desert | late Oligocene | early Miocene | tectonic uplift | with tectonism associated with the Indo–Asia collision. Together, desertification these have amplified the aridification of the Asian interior (9, 11). Syntectonic foreland basin deposition followed the marine urrounded by the Tian Shan to the north, the Pamir to the regression immediately and led to accumulation of thick conti- Swest, and the West Kunlun to the south, the Taklimakan nental red beds (Fig. 2 A and B). The Bushiblake Formation is Desert is the world’s second largest sand sea (Fig. 1). Located far characterized by red, fine-gained mudstone and fine sandstone, with from any major source of moisture, and shadowed by Tibetan common evaporative gypsum, typical of low-energy, meandering and central Asian mountain ranges, the Taklimakan is deprived river, lacustrine, and playa deposits (SI Text). The overlying of rainfall, with mean annual precipitation not exceeding 50 mm Wuqia Group (SI Text) consists of thickly bedded sandstones with (1). Provenance studies suggest that mineral dust from the Taklimakan Desert contributes substantially to the global aero- Significance sol system, allowing it to play a significant role in modulating global climate on various time scales (2, 3). The formation of the The formation of the Taklimakan Desert marked a major geo- Taklimakan Desert therefore marked a major environmental event logical event in central Asia during the Cenozoic, with far- in central Asia during the Cenozoic, with far-reaching impacts. reaching impacts. Deposition of both eolian sand dunes in the Furthermore, determining when and how the desert formed holds – basin center and the genetically equivalent loessite along the the key to better understanding the nature of tectonic climatic basin margins provide evidence for the birth of the Taklimakan linkage in this critical region. However, the time at which the Desert. This paper resolves a long-standing debate concerning Taklimakan Desert came into existence has been strongly debated, the age of the Taklimakan Desert, specifically whether it dates with estimates ranging from only a few hundreds of thousands to a to ∼3.4–7 Ma, currently the dominant view. Our result shows – few million years ago (1, 4 8). that the desert came into existence during late Oligocene–early In the context of this study, we define desertification to rep- Miocene, between ∼26.7 Ma and 22.6 Ma, as a result of wide- resent not only the formation of a significant sand sea but also spread regional aridification and increased erosion in the sur- the generation of a dynamic eolian system that supplied volu- rounding mountain fronts, both of which are closely linked to minous mineral dust on regional and even global scales. Evi- the tectonic uplift of the Tibetan–Pamir Plateau and Tian Shan. dence of desertification in the geological past is preserved in sedimentary sequences within, and along the margins of, the Author contributions: H.Z. designed research; H.Z., X.W., R.T., P.D.C., B.W., P.W., and M.H. present-day Taklimakan Desert that lies within the Tarim Basin performed research; X.W. and F.J. analyzed data; and H.Z., X.W., and F.J. wrote the paper. (Fig. 1). Recent geochronological work, mostly based on the The authors declare no conflict of interest. magnetostratigraphy of these sedimentary sequences, proposed This article is a PNAS Direct Submission. ∼ – 3.4 Ma to 7 Ma for the initiation of the Taklimakan (4 8). 1To whom correspondence may be addressed. Email: [email protected] or xcwnju@ Precise dating of these terrestrial rocks has largely been ham- gmail.com. pered by lack of dateable material. In this study, we report This article contains supporting information online at www.pnas.org/lookup/suppl/doi:10. a newly identified volcanic tuff from two sedimentary sections 1073/pnas.1424487112/-/DCSupplemental. 7662–7667 | PNAS | June 23, 2015 | vol. 112 | no. 25 www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1424487112 Downloaded by guest on October 6, 2021 N JB A Tian Shan Tian Shan B TB Kalpin Pamir CLP Tibetan Plateau 40 Ulugqat QA India Kirzlesu River Loess Kashgar Gobi & Desert Muji Main Pamir Thrust Mazatagh Yarkand River Tarim Basin Hotan River Mustagh Aertashi Taklimakan Desert 38 Yecheng Pamir Tashkorgan Kekeya iya River Ker Yurungkax River Karakorum Fault West Kunlun Shan Karakax RiverHotan 8524m 5000m 3000m Thrust fault Section Mazar Karakax Fault 1000m 36 Nomal fault Town 0m Stike-slip fault Tibetan Pleteau 0km 100km 200km 74 76 78 80 Fig. 1. Location map. (A) Topographic map showing the western portion of the Taklimakan Desert (Tarim Basin) and the surrounding mountain ranges with major active faults. The location of the studied Cenozoic sedimentary sections at Aertashi, Kekeya, and Mazatagh are shown by stars. (B) Map showing the location of the Tarim Basin (TB), Junggar Basin (JB), and Chinese Loess Plateau (CLP). Qin’an loess section (QA) is marked by a red star. minor mudstone. The overall content of sand increases upward, as source area had become fully arid and desertified, and was does the grain size. supplying dust to the proximal region at that time. Lithofacies change to distal alluvial deposits, consisting of con- Direct evidence of desertification is found in the exposed glomerate, sandstone, and siltstone crossing the boundary from the sedimentary sequence at the Mazatagh Range, in the central Wuqia Group to the Artux Formation (SI Text). The conglomerate Taklimakan Desert (Figs. 1 and 2E). The lithostratigraphy at this layers in the Artux Formation are thin-bedded debris flow deposits, location has been well established and can be generally corre- containing medium-sized, angular to subrounded pebbles, of which lated to the basin margin sequences (Fig. 2G) (5, 6), except that more than half are sedimentary rocks. The overlying Xiyu For- the lithologies are generally finer and sedimentation rates are mation (SI Text) is up to 3 km thick and consists of massive lower. Red cross-bedded eolian sandstone (Fig. 2H and Figs. S1 boulder to cobble-grade conglomerate with increasing volumes C and D and S2) is present in the red bed unit as isolated of igneous and high-grade metamorphic clasts. The Xiyu For- sandstone lenses, likely indicating an initial stage of a desertified mation is typical of proximal diluvial fan deposits derived from environment that was composed of low-energy fluvial, playa EARTH, ATMOSPHERIC, unroofed mountain belts. Red beds passing upward into upward- lakes and associated lunette dunes. The most prominent sedi- AND PLANETARY SCIENCES coarsening conglomerate and debris flow deposits recorded the mentary unit in the Mazatagh sequence is the well-developed, change in paleoslope and sediment supply related to uplift of the cross-bedded, yellowish sandstone (Fig.
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