Tibetan plateau aridification linked to global cooling at the Eocene–Oligocene transition

An, Z., Kutzbach, J. E., Prell, W. L. & Porter, S. C. Evolution of Asian monsoons and phased uplift of the Himalaya-Tibetan plateau since Late Miocene times. Nature 411, 62–66 (2001)

Guo, Z. T. et al. Onset of Asian desertification by 22 Myr ago inferred from loess deposits in China. Nature 416, 159–163 (2002)

Ramstein, G., Fluteau, F., Besse, J. & Joussaume, S. Effect of orogeny, plate motion and land–sea distribution on Eurasian climate change over the past 30 million years. Nature 386, 788–795 (1997)

Gupta, A. K., Singh, R. K., Joseph, S. & Thomas, E. Indian Ocean high-productivity event (10–8 Ma): Linked to global cooling or to the initiation of the Indian monsoons? Geology 32, 753–756 (2004)

Molnar, P. Late Cenozoic increase in accumulation rates of terrestrial sediments: How might climate change have affected erosion rates? Annu. Rev. Earth Planet. Sci. 32, 67–89 (2004)

Zhang, P., Molnar, P. & Downs, W. Increased sedimentation rates and grain sizes 2–4 Myr ago due to the influence of climate change on erosion rates. Nature 410, 891–897 (2001)

Coxall, H. K., Wilson, P. A., Palike, H., Lear, C. H. & Backman, J. Rapid stepwise onset of Antarctic glaciation and deeper calcite compensation in the Pacific Ocean. Nature 433, 53–57 (2005)

DeConto, R. M. & Pollard, D. Rapid Cenozoic glaciation of Antarctica induced by declining atmospheric CO2. Nature 421, 245–249 (2003)

Zachos, J. C. & Kump, L. R. Carbon cycle feedbacks and the initiation of Antarctic glaciation in the earliest Oligocene. Glob. Planet. Change 47, 51–66 (2005)

Meng, J. & McKenna, M. C. Faunal turnovers of Palaeogene mammals from the Mongolian Plateau. Nature 394, 364–367 (1998)

Garzione, C., Ikari, M. J. & Basu, A. R. Source of Oligocene to Pliocene sedimentary rocks in the Linxia basin in northeastern Tibet from Nd isotopes: Implications for tectonic forcing of climate. Geol. Soc. Am. Bull. 117 1156–1166 doi: 10.1130/B25743.1 (2005)

Graham, S. A. et al. Stable isotope records of Cenozoic climate and topography, Tibetan plateau and Tarim basin. Am. J. Sci. 305, 101–118 (2005)

Ivany, L. C., Patterson, W. P. & Kyger, C. L. Cooler winters as a possible cause of mass extinctions at the Eocene/Oligocene boundary. Nature 407, 887–890 (2000)

Grimes, S. T., Hooker, J. J., Collinson, M. E. & Mattey, D. P. Summer temperatures of late Eocene to early Oligocene freshwaters. Geology 33, 189–192 (2005)

Kohn, M. J. et al. Climate stability across the Eocene-Oligocene transition, southern Argentina. Geology 32, 621–624 (2004)

Talbot, M. R. & Allen, P. A. in Sedimentary Environments: Processes, Facies and Stratigraphy (ed. Reading, H. G.) 83–124 (Blackwell Publishing Inc., Oxford, 1996)

Dai, S. et al. Magnetostratigraphy of Cenozoic sediments from the Xining Basin: Tectonic implications for the northeastern Tibetan Plateau. J. Geophys. Res. 111 doi: 10.129/2005JB004187 (2006)

Yechieli, Y. & Wood, W. W. Hydrogeologic processes in saline systems: playas, sabkhas and saline lakes. Earth Sci. Rev. 58, 343–365 (2002)

Wang, D.-N., Sun, X.-Y. & Zhao, Y.-N. Late Cretaceous to Tertiary palynofloras in Xinjiang and Qinghai, China. Rev. Palaeobot. Palynol. 65, 95–104 (1990)

Ogg, J. G. & Smith, A. G. in A Geologic Time Scale 2004 (eds Gradstein, F. M., Ogg, J. G. & Smith, A. G.) 63–86 (Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge, UK, 2004)

Prothero, D. R. in Encyclopedia of Geology (eds Selley, R., Cocks, R. & Plimer, I.) 472–478 (Elsevier, London, 2004)

Laskar, J. et al. A long-term numerical solution for the insolation quantities of the Earth. Astron. Astrophys. doi: 10.1051/0004–6361:20041335 (2004)

Clift, P. D., Layne, G. D. & Blusztajn, J. Marine sedimentary evidence for monsoon strengthening, Tibetan uplift and drainage evolution in Asia. Continent-ocean interactions in the East Asian marginal seas. AGU Monogr. 149, 255–282 (2004)

Kutzbach, J. E. & Behling, P. Comparison of simulated changes of climate in Asia for two scenarios: Early Miocene to present, and present to future enhanced greenhouse. Glob. Planet. Change 41, 157–165 (2004)

Ruddiman, W. F., Kutzbach, J. E. & Prentice, I. C. in Tectonic Uplift and Climate Change (ed. Ruddiman, W. F.) 203–235 (Plenum, New York, 1997)

Popov, S. et al. Lithological-paleogeographic maps of Paratethys 10 maps Late Eocene to Pliocene. Courier Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg 250, 1–42 (2004)

Rowley, D. B. & Currie, B. S. Palaeo-altimetry of the late Eocene to Miocene Lunpola basin, central Tibet. Nature 439, 677–681 (2006)

Harris, N. B. W. The elevation history of the Tibetan Plateau and its implications for the Asian monsoon. Palaeogeogr. Palaeoclimatol. Palaeoecol. 241, 4–15 (2006)

Huber, M. et al. Eocene circulation of the Southern Ocean: Was Antarctica kept warm by subtropical waters? Paleoceanography 19 doi: 10.1029/2004PA001014 (2004)

Krijgsman, W. et al. Revised astrochronology for the Ain el Beida section (Atlantic Morocco): No glacio-eustatic control for the onset of the Messinian Salinity Crisis. Stratigraphy 1, 87–101 (2004)