Palynological evidence for Neogene environmental change in the foreland basin of the southern Tianshan range, northwestern China

In this paper, we report 3780-m-thick Neogene deposits accumulated in the Kuqa foreland basin of southern Tianshan range, providing great potential for studying both tectonics and paleoclimatic changes. Based on palynological evidence, we discuss the paleoenvironmental changes as well as the interplay between regional uplift and climatic change in the region studied. Our results indicate that the vegetation and climatic changes from 13.3 to 7 Ma were response to global climatic changes. After 7 Ma, the uplift of the southern Tianshan range partially affects vegetation and climatic changes. Both global cooling and the rainshadow effect of uplifted high mountains affect the enhanced arid climate initiated ca. 5.23 Ma ago. Such climatic changes are important archives in reconstructing paleoclimate of the Asian interior.