Article
Geochemistry & Geophysics
Tara N. Jonell, Liviu Giosan, Peter D. Clift, Andrew Carter, Lisa Bretschneider, Ed C. Hathorne, Marta Barbarano, Eduardo Garzanti, Giovanni Vezzoli, Thet Naing
Summary: This study presents the first comprehensive analysis of the Holocene Irrawaddy megadelta, providing insights into the late Neogene evolution of the Irrawaddy River. The results show that the river's evolution is more in line with regional evidence for kinematic reorganization during late-stage India-Asia collision. The study also highlights the importance of late Miocene basin inversion and uplift along the Sagaing Fault in shaping the modern geometry and provenance of the Irrawaddy River.
EARTH AND PLANETARY SCIENCE LETTERS
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Hong Ao, Eelco J. Rohling, Ran Zhang, Andrew P. Roberts, Ann E. Holbourn, Jean-Baptiste Ladant, Guillaume Dupont-Nivet, Wolfgang Kuhnt, Peng Zhang, Feng Wu, Mark J. Dekkers, Qingsong Liu, Zhonghui Liu, Yong Xu, Christopher J. Poulsen, Alexis Licht, Qiang Sun, John C. H. Chiang, Xiaodong Liu, Guoxiong Wu, Chao Ma, Weijian Zhou, Zhangdong Jin, Xinxia Li, Xinzhou Li, Xianzhe Peng, Xiaoke Qiang, Zhisheng An
Summary: Our research suggests that the warming during the Miocene-Pliocene boundary increased summer monsoon moisture transport over East Asia, while also leading to aridification in Central Asia through increased evaporation. Additionally, high-resolution monsoon records indicate a dynamic response to eccentricity modulation of solar insolation with periodicities of around 405,000 years and approximately 100,000 years between 8.1 and 3.4 million years ago.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2021)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Mariano Verde, Carolina Castillo, Esther Martin-Gonzalez, Penelope Cruzado-Caballero, Eduardo Mayoral, Ana Santos
Summary: This study revises Renichnus arcuatus and describes a new trace fossil, Santichnus mayorali, both of which are trace fossils created by vermetid gastropods and often interconnected.
FRONTIERS IN EARTH SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
B. -Th Karatsolis, B. C. Lougheed, D. De Vleeschouwer, J. Henderiks
Summary: This study found that ocean productivity abruptly declined about 4.6 million years ago, potentially due to reduced seasonality and monsoon intensity leading to decreased nutrient supply. The previous period of productivity bloom was attributed to an increase or redistribution of available nutrients. The decline in low-latitude ocean productivity was found to be linked to a weakened monsoon and decreased riverine nutrient supply.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Sonia Herrando-Moraira, Neus Nualart, Merce Galbany-Casals, Nuria Garcia-Jacas, Haruka Ohashi, Tetsuya Matsui, Alfonso Susanna, Cindy Q. Tang, Jordi Lopez-Pujol
Summary: This study presents a set of maps based on a global scale Climate Stability Index (CSI), which considers bioclimatic variables for different time ranges. The maps provide useful information for fields such as biogeography, earth sciences, agriculture, or sociology.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Jihad Rahmouna, Nadia Barhoun, Ahmed Rachid, Soukaina Targhi, Hannane Bahaj, Naima Berry, Mohamed Zakaria Yousfi
Summary: Biostratigraphic and paleoenvironmental analyses were conducted on the Upper Neogene sediments in the Gharb Basin (NW Morocco) to contribute to the reconstruction and evolution of the marine environment during the Upper Miocene-Pliocene. The study identified the succession of eight bioevents and characterized the Upper Tortonian, Messinian, and Zanclean based on planktonic foraminifera. The analysis of benthic foraminifera revealed changes in depositional conditions in terms of bathymetry and oxygen content from the Upper Tortonian to the Pliocene, influenced by tectonic activities, sea-level fluctuations, and climatic variations.
ENVIRONMENTAL EARTH SCIENCES
(2022)
Article
Geochemistry & Geophysics
Mengyuan Wang, Huanye Wang, Zhixin Zhu, Xiaoqiang Yang, Ke Zhang, Yancheng Zhang, Weiguo Liu, Zhuo Zheng, Yongqiang Zong, Zhonghui Liu
Summary: Research indicates that the evolution of Asian Summer Monsoon (ASM) during the Late Miocene and Pliocene experienced three phases: weak ASM strength around 6.5-5.6 million years ago, significantly enhanced strength between 5.6-4.3 million years ago, and a slightly reduced but strengthening trend after 4.3 million years ago. The study reveals a close relationship between ASM strength and tropical temperature, suggesting a developing influence of Walker Circulation on ASM strength during the Late Pliocene.
EARTH AND PLANETARY SCIENCE LETTERS
(2021)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
N. Perez-Consuegra, G. D. Hoke, P. Fitzgerald, A. Mora, E. R. Sobel, J. Glodny
Summary: This study reveals the timing of the formation of the Cauca River Canyon using the cooling history of rocks and the analysis of river gradients. The results indicate that the canyon was formed in response to rock uplift and the propagation of an erosion wave during the latest Miocene.
GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA BULLETIN
(2022)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Mariana Grossmann, Sven N. Nielsen, Marcelo M. Rivadeneira, Nelson Valdivia
Summary: Understanding latitudinal variations in biodiversity is essential for biogeography. In the coast of the Southeast Pacific, it is observed that several taxa exhibit increasing species numbers from lower to higher latitudes. This phenomenon can be explained by the presence of fjords formed during glaciations, which increased the diversity of available biotopes and allowed higher diversity in high latitudes. This research focuses on analyzing latitudinal patterns of functional diversity in the fossil record before the formation of fjords in order to assess this hypothesis.
Article
Anthropology
Peter A. Stamos, Zeresenay Alemseged
Summary: In this review, the authors examine the evolution of locomotor adaptation in hominins from the Late Miocene to Late Pliocene and discuss the advancements and debates that have occurred in the past fifty years. They provide their own definitions of facultative, habitual, and obligate bipedalism and analyze the locomotor adaptation of key hominin species. The authors also explore the diversity of locomotion in Middle Pliocene hominins and investigate the significance of arboreality in Australopithecus.
JOURNAL OF HUMAN EVOLUTION
(2023)
Article
Geology
Brennan O'Connell, Rebecca J. Dorsey, Stephen T. Hasiotis, Ashleigh V. S. Hood
Summary: This study presents sedimentological and ichnological data from the Bouse Formation, which accumulated during regional transgression near the north end of the ancestral Gulf of California. The study provides evidence for a late Miocene to early Pliocene humid climate in southwestern North America, with significant facies variability at different scales documented in mixed carbonate-siliciclastic deposits.
Article
Ecology
Maria Jose Sanin, Fabian Gregorio Mejia-Franco, Margot Paris, Wendy A. Valencia-Montoya, Nicolas Salamin, Michael Kessler, Ingrid Olivares, Juan Sebastian Jaramillo, Agustin Cardona
Summary: This study examines the genetic structure and variation of a palm species complex living in the cloud forests of the Colombian Andes. The results suggest that the genetic groups within the species complex reflect historical processes such as uplift-based isolation, dispersal events, and climate fluctuations. The presence of phylogeographic breaks coinciding with Pliocene strike-slip faulting events indicates the role of topographic disruption in the divergence of this species complex.
JOURNAL OF BIOGEOGRAPHY
(2022)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Gerrit Lohmann, Gregor Knorr, Akil Hossain, Christian Stepanek
Summary: Cenozoic climate changes are closely related to tectonic activity and variations in atmospheric CO2 concentrations. Ocean mixing has a comparable effect on surface temperature as the range of reconstructed CO2 concentrations in the mid-Miocene. In combination with stronger vertical mixing, moderate CO2 concentrations enable temperature characteristics representative of the mid-Miocene Climatic Optimum. The Pliocene simulations show that the impact of vertical mixing and CO2 is less important for the deep ocean.
PALEOCEANOGRAPHY AND PALEOCLIMATOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Jian Song, Zhi-Qiang Kong, Dan-Dan Zhang, Jie-Yin Chen, Xiao-Feng Dai, Ran Li
Summary: The study utilized high-throughput DNA sequencing to analyze the response of soil microbial communities to biocontrol treatment with Bacillus subtilis Bv17 strain during the potato growth cycle, showing an impact on soil microbial richness and diversity, and improvement in potato yield.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2021)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Mahmoud Faris, Sherif Farouk, Sreepat Jain, Manal Shabaan
Summary: This study provides a review and evaluation of calcareous nannofossils from 28 wells in the Gulf of Suez, North Nile Delta, and surface sections in west central Sinai, Egypt. Fifteen calcareous nannofossil zones from Miocene to Pliocene are described and correlated regionally and globally. The study also briefly discusses the boundaries of the Miocene and Pliocene stages.
JOURNAL OF AFRICAN EARTH SCIENCES
(2023)
Article
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
Tao Su, Taichen Feng, Bicheng Huang, Zixuan Han, Zhonghua Qian, Guolin Feng, Wei Hou, Wenjie Dong
Summary: The study analyses the temporal variation of actual evapotranspiration (AE) over China during 1980-2015 using an ensemble of six reanalyses and a complementary-relationship-based AE dataset. It reveals significant increase in annual mean AE in China, with major regime shifts occurring around 1998. Climate change and landscape characteristics are identified as the primary causes for changes in AE in different regions of China.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CLIMATOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
Jingjing Yao, Qinghong Shen, Min Huang, Ming Ding, Yajuan Guo, Wenbo Chen, Yuefang Lin, Yaqiu Zheng, Shaofang Yu, Wenxin Yan, Tao Su, Zhongqiu Liu, Linlin Lu
Summary: This study aimed to explore the dominant tumor model and specific target of CM by integrative pharmacology and biological experiments. The most predominant and specific cancer types that are sensitive to CM were screened and identified based on a combination network pharmacology and bioinformatics analysis. The priority target responsible for CM-related anti-tumor efficacy was further validated by molecular docking and in vitro experiments.
JOURNAL OF ETHNOPHARMACOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
Qijia Li, Weiyudong Deng, Torsten Wappler, Torsten Utescher, Natalia Maslova, Yusheng (Christopher) Liu, Hui Jia, Chengyu Song, Tao Su, Cheng Quan
Summary: By studying leaf fossils with arthropod traces collected from the Miocene Huaitoutala flora in the northern Tibetan Plateau, this research provides direct evidence of plant-arthropod interactions, indicating that the Miocene ecosystem in this region was more diverse and dynamic than previously thought.
REVIEW OF PALAEOBOTANY AND PALYNOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Spectroscopy
Tao Su, Yan Sun, Li Han, Wensheng Cai, Xueguang Shao
Summary: The study used NIR spectroscopy to analyze the water structure in ternary mixtures of DMSO-water-FA, revealing that FA may replace water in hydrogen bonding. Temperature was found to affect spectral variation, with DMSO still playing a key role in preventing water from icing.
SPECTROCHIMICA ACTA PART A-MOLECULAR AND BIOMOLECULAR SPECTROSCOPY
(2022)
Article
Paleontology
Harshita Bhatia, Gaurav Srivastava, S. R. Mishra, Prasenjit Barman, Tao Su, R. C. Mehrotra, Satish C. Tripathi
Summary: This article reports the fossil wood of Diospyros siwalicus Prakash from late Miocene sediments in the Indus Tsangpo Suture Zone. The anatomical details of the fossil wood suggest a close affinity with extant species of the genus Diospyros. The findings indicate a warm and humid climate in the Trans-Himalaya during the late Miocene.
Article
Plant Sciences
Pei-Rong Chen, Cedric Del Rio, Jian Huang, Jia Liu, Jia-Gang Zhao, Robert A. A. Spicer, Shu-Feng Li, Teng-Xiang Wang, Zhe-Kun Zhou, Tao Su
Summary: This study reports the early fossil occurrences of Koelreuteria in Asia and describes a new species, Koelreuteria kvacekii, found in the early middle Eocene of the Tibetan Plateau. These fossil records suggest that the region served as an early diversification center for Koelreuteria in Asia.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PLANT SCIENCES
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
Cedric Del Rio, Teng-Xiang Wang, Shu-Feng Li, Lin-Bo Jia, Pei-Rong Chen, Robert A. Spicer, Fei-Xiang Wu, Zhe-Kun Zhou, Tao Su
Summary: The fossil record reveals that the Malvaceae family has a long history and diversified in the Northern Hemisphere. The central Tibetan Plateau, with a low elevation and monsoon influence during the Eocene, provided a suitable environment for the development of a subtropical flora, including Malvaceae. Ongoing taxonomic studies of Eocene fossils from the Tibetan Plateau have identified Malvaceae fossils attributed to the sub-families Tilioideae and Sterculioideae. These fossils have been compared to modern species. The discovery of a new specimen of the Firmiana genus, as well as the presence of Craigia, suggests that these genera originated in East Asia and were distributed in different regions during the Eocene. The fossil records highlight the important role played by the Tibetan region in the diversification of plants in East and Southeast Asia.
JOURNAL OF SYSTEMATICS AND EVOLUTION
(2022)
Article
Polymer Science
Jialiang Chen, Chichao Li, Huan Jia, Zhihua Shen, Rong Zhao, Tao Su, Bo Xiang, Xiujuan Wang, Danil W. Boukhvalov, Zhenyang Luo, Yanlong Luo
Summary: In this study, a self-healing polyurethane-urea elastomer was prepared, and the self-healing mechanism was revealed using coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulation. The self-healing process consisted of material movement, polymer interdiffusion, and bond exchange. Cut polymer chains and disordered hydrogen bonds played a key role in the healing capacity.
Article
Geography, Physical
Jian Huang, Robert A. Spicer, Shu-Feng Li, Jia Liu, Truong Van Do, Hung Ba Nguyen, Zhe-Kun Zhou, Tao Su
Summary: Recent detailed work on several Cenozoic plant megafossil sites has revealed the antiquity of the tropical Asian flora. This paper describes fossil plant assemblages from the Oligocene Dong Ho Formation in northern Vietnam. The plant fossils found belong to 38 species, including conifers and angiosperms mainly belonging to Fagaceae, Lauraceae, and Dipterocarpaceae, all with significant tropical Asian kinship. The fossil evidence suggests a long-term environmental, floristic, and vegetational stability in the Ha Long region since the Paleogene, which provided a source for populating the East Asian flora and vegetation.
PALAEOGEOGRAPHY PALAEOCLIMATOLOGY PALAEOECOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
Hung Ba Nguyen, Jian Huang, Truong Van Do, Lin-Bo Jia, Hoa Mai Thi Nguyen, Hung Dinh Doan, Shu-Feng Li, Zhe-Kun Zhou, Tao Su
Summary: The study reports a new fossil record of Mucuna found in the late Miocene sediments of the Yen Bai Basin in northern Vietnam, revealing a possible Asian origin of the genus and its presence and adaptation to the humid tropical climate of northern Vietnam since at least the late Miocene.
REVIEW OF PALAEOBOTANY AND PALYNOLOGY
(2022)
Editorial Material
Biodiversity Conservation
Tao Su, Robert A. Spicer, Zhe-Kun Zhou
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Lin-Bo Jia, Jin-Jin Hu, Shi-Tao Zhang, Tao Su, Robert A. Spicer, Jia Liu, Jiu-Cheng Yang, Pu Zou, Yong-Jiang Huang, Zhe-Kun Zhou
Summary: This article reports the discovery of three Bauhinia fossil species with cuticular preservation from the Paleogene of Puyang Basin, southwestern China, extending the emergence of Bauhinia in Asia to the late Eocene. It also shows that the diversification of Bauhinia in Asia and the phenomenon of a small region harboring multiple Bauhinia species in southwestern China can be traced back to the Paleogene.
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Shumei Xiao, Shufeng Li, Xiaojun Wang, Linlin Chen, Tao Su
Summary: This study uses simulation to examine the historical and potential future distribution of Cedrus Trew. It finds that winter precipitation and temperature are the key factors determining the distribution of Cedrus, with summer precipitation playing a more important role in the Mediterranean region. The study also suggests that climate change will have a significant impact on the distribution of Cedrus, highlighting the need for conservation and management efforts.
ECOLOGICAL INDICATORS
(2022)
Article
Entomology
Xiao-Ting Xu, Jacek Szwedo, Di-Ying Huang, Wei-Yu-Dong Deng, Martyna Obroslak, Fei-Xiang Wu, Tao Su
Summary: A new genus and species of spittlebugs from central Tibetan Plateau in China represent a rare fossil find, with its extinction likely linked to regional aridification and changes in plant taxa over the last 33 million years.
Article
Plant Sciences
Ai Song, Jia Liu, Shui-Qing Liang, Truong Van Do, Hung Ba Nguyen, Wei-Yu-Dong Deng, Lin -Bo Jia, Cedric Del Rio, Gaurav Srivastava, Zhuo Feng, Zhe-Kun Zhou, Jian Huang, Tao Su
Summary: Recent paleobotanical investigations in Vietnam have revealed a warm climate in northern Vietnam and nearby areas during the Oligocene. The studies also identified a new species of palm from this period.
