Regime shift to extensive valley glaciations over High Mountain Asia during the Early-Middle Pleistocene
Abstract In contrast to the well-established onset of Northern Hemisphere high-latitude glaciation at ~2.7 Ma, the timing and drivers of the intensified glaciation over High Mountain Asia (HMA) remain elusive, as glacial geologic evidence within this region is inherently fragmentary. Here, we offer...
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Nature Portfolio
2025-06-01
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| Series: | Nature Communications |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-60438-5 |
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| author | Qing Yan Lewis A. Owen Ting Wei Philip D. Hughes Xiaohan Kong Nanxuan Jiang Jinzhe Zhang Zhongshi Zhang Huijun Wang |
| author_facet | Qing Yan Lewis A. Owen Ting Wei Philip D. Hughes Xiaohan Kong Nanxuan Jiang Jinzhe Zhang Zhongshi Zhang Huijun Wang |
| author_sort | Qing Yan |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract In contrast to the well-established onset of Northern Hemisphere high-latitude glaciation at ~2.7 Ma, the timing and drivers of the intensified glaciation over High Mountain Asia (HMA) remain elusive, as glacial geologic evidence within this region is inherently fragmentary. Here, we offer a spatiotemporally complete view of glacier behavior over HMA spanning the last 3 Ma using transient climate-glaciation simulations to address this challenge. We illustrate that intensified glaciations with expanded ice caps and widespread valley glaciation began at ~0.9 Ma over the monsoonal-influenced southern HMA confirmed by the glacial sediments, whereas the intensification started earlier (~1.5 Ma) over the westerly-influenced western HMA, with a further intensification at ~1.0–0.9 Ma, supported by paleoenvironmental proxies. The intensification of glaciation masks obvious shifts in the amplitude and pacing of glacier variability (e.g., the establishment of the 100-ka cycle) and induces larger environmental perturbations, which are in line with geologic evidence and largely linked with the long-term global cooling during the mid-Pleistocene transition. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-855f875ee26242df9e281f847d4899f8 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2041-1723 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-06-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nature Communications |
| spelling | doaj-art-855f875ee26242df9e281f847d4899f82025-08-20T03:26:47ZengNature PortfolioNature Communications2041-17232025-06-0116111210.1038/s41467-025-60438-5Regime shift to extensive valley glaciations over High Mountain Asia during the Early-Middle PleistoceneQing Yan0Lewis A. Owen1Ting Wei2Philip D. Hughes3Xiaohan Kong4Nanxuan Jiang5Jinzhe Zhang6Zhongshi Zhang7Huijun Wang8State Key Laboratory of Earth System Numerical Modeling and Application/Nansen-Zhu International Research Centre, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of SciencesDepartment of Marine, Earth, and Atmospheric Science, North Carolina State UniversityState Key Laboratory of Severe Weather, Chinese Academy of Meteorological SciencesDepartment of Geography, School of Environment, Education and Development, University of ManchesterState Key Laboratory of Earth System Numerical Modeling and Application/Nansen-Zhu International Research Centre, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of SciencesClimate Change Research Center, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of SciencesState Key Laboratory of Earth System Numerical Modeling and Application/Nansen-Zhu International Research Centre, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of SciencesDepartment of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, School of Physics, Peking UniversityState Key Laboratory of Climate System Prediction and Risk Management, Nanjing University of Information Science and TechnologyAbstract In contrast to the well-established onset of Northern Hemisphere high-latitude glaciation at ~2.7 Ma, the timing and drivers of the intensified glaciation over High Mountain Asia (HMA) remain elusive, as glacial geologic evidence within this region is inherently fragmentary. Here, we offer a spatiotemporally complete view of glacier behavior over HMA spanning the last 3 Ma using transient climate-glaciation simulations to address this challenge. We illustrate that intensified glaciations with expanded ice caps and widespread valley glaciation began at ~0.9 Ma over the monsoonal-influenced southern HMA confirmed by the glacial sediments, whereas the intensification started earlier (~1.5 Ma) over the westerly-influenced western HMA, with a further intensification at ~1.0–0.9 Ma, supported by paleoenvironmental proxies. The intensification of glaciation masks obvious shifts in the amplitude and pacing of glacier variability (e.g., the establishment of the 100-ka cycle) and induces larger environmental perturbations, which are in line with geologic evidence and largely linked with the long-term global cooling during the mid-Pleistocene transition.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-60438-5 |
| spellingShingle | Qing Yan Lewis A. Owen Ting Wei Philip D. Hughes Xiaohan Kong Nanxuan Jiang Jinzhe Zhang Zhongshi Zhang Huijun Wang Regime shift to extensive valley glaciations over High Mountain Asia during the Early-Middle Pleistocene Nature Communications |
| title | Regime shift to extensive valley glaciations over High Mountain Asia during the Early-Middle Pleistocene |
| title_full | Regime shift to extensive valley glaciations over High Mountain Asia during the Early-Middle Pleistocene |
| title_fullStr | Regime shift to extensive valley glaciations over High Mountain Asia during the Early-Middle Pleistocene |
| title_full_unstemmed | Regime shift to extensive valley glaciations over High Mountain Asia during the Early-Middle Pleistocene |
| title_short | Regime shift to extensive valley glaciations over High Mountain Asia during the Early-Middle Pleistocene |
| title_sort | regime shift to extensive valley glaciations over high mountain asia during the early middle pleistocene |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-60438-5 |
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