Climate of the Past www.clim-past.net 1814-9324 1814-9332 6 4 2010 10.5194/cp-6-461-2010 http://www.clim-past.net/6/461/2010/ http://www.clim-past.net/6/461/2010/cp-6-461-2010.html http://www.clim-past.net/6/461/2010/cp-6-461-2010.pdf 461 473 2010-07-23 Mid-Tertiary paleoenvironments in Thailand: pollen evidence P. Sepulchre pierre.sepulchre@lsce.ipsl.fr D. Jolly S. Ducrocq Y. Chaimanee J.-J. Jaeger A. Raillard Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement/Institut Pierre Simon Laplace, UMR 8212 CEA/CNRS/UVSQ, Orme des Merisiers, bât. 709, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette cedex, France Laboratory of Paleoenvironments, ISE-M, UMR 5554, Case 61, Université Montpellier II, 34095 Montpellier Cedex 05, France Institut International de Paléoprimatologie, Paléontologie Humaine: Evolution et Paléoenvironnements, UMR 6046 CNRS, Université de Poitiers, 40 avenue du Recteur Pineau, 86022 Poitiers, France Paleontology Section, Department of Mineral Resources, Rama VI Road, Bangkok 10400 Thailand formerly at: Laboratory of Paleoenvironments, ISE-M, UMR 5554, Case 61, Université Montpellier II, 34095 Montpellier Cedex 05, France deceased Only few well-dated records document the evolution of Southeast Asian paleoenvironments during the Cenozoic. Here we analyse continental pollen assemblages from Late Oligocene and Miocene fossil sites of Thailand. In agreement with previous studies, palynoflora from the Oligocene suggests warm temperate forested habitats at 24–26 Ma, whereas Middle Miocene assemblages are made of thermophilous taxa. This change can be linked to the major climate reorganization that brought warmer and wetter conditions over Southeast Asia around 22 Ma. This study also provides the first submillional records from the Middle Miocene of Thailand. Thirteen samples of lignite layers from the sivaladapid-bearing Mae Moh site, dated between 13.3 and 13.1 Ma, and six samples from the hominoid-bearing Chiang Muan deposit, dated between 12.4 and 12.2 Ma, document oscillations between tropical woodlands and grasslands in northern Thailand. These pollen records likely reflect climate variations linked to insolation variations. Late Miocene palynological assemblages from Khorat, northeastern Thailand, document fluviolacustrine paleoenvironments alternatively covered by thermophilous trees and grasslands. These records show that both sivaladapids and early hominoids from Thailand have evolved in tropical environments with high variability in the vegetation cover. % vor jede Referenz Anshari, G., Kershaw, P., Van Der Kaars, S., and Jacobsen, G.: Environmental change and peatland forest dynamics in the Lake Sentarum area, West Kalimantan, Indonesia, J. Quaternary Sci., 19, 637–655, 2004. Badgley, C., Barry, J., Morgan, M., Nelson, S., Behrensmeyer, A., Cerling, T., and Pilbeam, D.: Ecological changes in Miocene mammalian record show impact of prolonged climatic forcing, P. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 105, 12145–12149, 2008. Benammi, M., Chaimanee, Y., Urrutia-Fucugauchi, J., and Jaeger, J. J.: Magnetostratigraphic Study of the Continental Sedimentary Sequence of the Chiang Muan Basin, Northern Thailand: Implications for the Age of the First Miocene Hominoids from Thailand, Int. Geol. Rev., 46, 646–654, 2004. Bennami, M., Urrutia-Fucugauchi, J., Alva-Valdivia, L. M., Chaimanee, Y., Triamwichanon, S., and Jaeger, J.-J.: Magnetostratigraphy of the Middle Miocene continental sedimentary sequences of the Mae Moh Basin in northern Thailand: evidence for counterclockwise block rotation, Earth. Planet. Sci. Lett., 204, 373–383, 2002. Blasco, F.: Montagnes du sud de l'Inde: Forêts, savanes, écologie, in: Travaux de la Section Scientifique et Technique, Institut Français de Pondichéry, Pondicherry, 349–389, 1971. Bonnefille, R. and Riollet, G.: Pollens des savanes d'Afrique orientale, Editions du Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Paris, 256~pp., 1980. Bonnefille, R., Potts, R., Chalie, F., Jolly, D., and Peyron O.: High-resolution vegetation and climate change associated with Pliocene Australopithecus afarensis, P. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 101, 12125–12129, 2004. Briais, A., Patriat, P., and Tapponnier, P.: Updated interpretation of magnetic anomalies and seafloor spreading stages in the South China Sea- Implications for the Tertiary tectonics of Southeast Asia, J. Geophys. Res. Solid Earth, 98, 6299–6328, 1993. Cerling, T. E., Quade, J., and Wang, Y.: Expansion and Emergence of C4 Plants, Nature, 371, 112–112, 1994. Chaimanee, Y., Jolly, D., Bennami, M., Tafforeau, P., Duzer, D., Moussa, I., and Jaeger, J. J.: A Middle Miocene hominoid from Thailand and orangutan origins, Nature, 422, 61–65, 2003. Chaimanee, Y., Yamee, C., Tian, P., Khaowiset, K., Marandat, B., Tafforeau, P., Nemoz, C., and Jaeger, J. J.: Khoratpithecus piriyai, a Late Miocene hominoid of Thailand, Amer. J. Phys. Anthrop., 131, 311–323, 2006. Chaimanee, Y., Yamee, C., Tian, P., Chavasseau, O., and Jaeger, J. J.: First middle Miocene sivaladapid primate from Thailand, J. Hum. Evol., 54, 434–443, 2008. Corsiri, R. and Crouch, A.: Mae Moh coal deposit: Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand, Report of Thailand Australia Lignite Mine Development Project, 1, 448, 1985. Coster, P., Benammi, M., Chaimanee, Y., Yamee, C., Chavasseau, O., Emonet, E., and Jaeger, J.: A complete magnetic-polarity stratigraphy of the Miocene continental deposits of Mae Moh Basin, northern Thailand, and a reassessment of the age of hominoid-bearing localities in northern Thailand, Geol. Soc. Am. Bull., 122, 1180–1191, 2010. Ducrocq, S., Chaimanee, Y., Suteethorn, V., and Jaeger, J. J.: Ages and paleoenvironment of Miocene mammalian faunas from Thailand, Palaeogeogr. Palaeoclimatol. Palaeoecol., 108, 149–163, 1994. eFloras: Flora of China, Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO & Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA, available online at: http://www.efloras.org (last access: May 2009), 2008. Faegri, K., Iversen, J., Kaland, P. E., and Krzywinski, K.: Textbook of Pollen Analysis, IV ed., John Wiley and Sons Ltd., Chichester, England, 328 pp., 1989. Germeraad, J. H., Hopping, A., and Muller, J.: Palynology of tertiary sediments from tropical areas, Rev. Palaeobot. Palynol., 6, 189–348, 1968. Ginsburg, L., Mein, P., and Thomas, H.: The Miocene of Thailand: Recent contribution to vertebrate paleontology and stratigraphy, The paleoenvironment of East Asia from the mid-Tertiary: Hong-Kong, University of Hong Kong, Centre of Asian Studies, Occasional Papers and Monographs, 77, 897–907, 1988. Guo, Z. T., Sun, B., Zhang, Z. S., Peng, S. Z., Xiao, G. Q., Ge, J. Y., Hao, Q. Z., Qiao, Y. S., Liang, M. Y., Liu, J. F., Yin, Q. Z., and Wei, J. J.: A major reorganization of Asian climate by the early Miocene, Clim. Past, 4, 153–174, doi:10.5194/cp-4-153-2008, 2008. Hall, R.: Cenozoic geological and plate tectonic evolution of SE Asia and the SW Pacific: computer-based reconstructions, model and animations, J. Asian. Earth. Sci., 20, 353–431, 2002. Hay, W. W., Soeding, E., DeConto, R. M., and Wold, C. N.: The Late Cenozoic uplift - climate change paradox, Int. J. Earth. Sci., 91, 746–774, 2002. Hooker, J. D.: The Flora of British India, L. Reeve & Co Ltd, Covent Garden, 1875. Hoorn, C., Ohja, T., and Quade, J.: Palynological evidence for vegetation development and climatic change in the Sub-Himalayan Zone (Neogene, Central Nepal), Palaeogeogr. Palaeoclimatol. Palaeoecol., 163, 133–161, 2000. Huang, T.-C.: Pollen Flora of Taiwan, edited by: Press, N. T. U. B. D., Ching-Hwa Press co., Ltd., 297~pp., 1972. Jensen, M.: Trees and Fruits of Southeast Asia, 2 ed., Orchid Guides, Orchid Press, Bangkok, 234~pp., 2001. Kanzaki, M., Hara, M., Yamakura, T., Ohkubo, M., Tamura, M., Sri-Ngernyuang, K., Sahunalu, P., Teejuntuk, T., and Bunyavejchewin, S.: Doi Inthanon Forest Dynamics Plot, Thailand, Tropical Forest Diversity and Dynamism: Findings from a Large-Scale Network Forest Dynamics Plots"(Ed. EC Losos, and EG Leigh), The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois, USA, 474–481, 2004. Kuchler, A. W. and Sawyer, J. O.: A study of the vegetation near Chiang Mai, Thailand, Trans. Kansas Acad. Sci., 70, 281–347, 1967. Kunimatsu, Y., Ratanasthien, B., Nakaya, H., Saegusa, H., and Nagaoka, S.: Hominoid fossils discovered from Chiang Muan, northern Thailand: The first step towards understanding hominoid evolution in Neogene Southeast Asia, Anthropol. Sci., 113, 85–93, 2005. Laskar, J., Robutel, P., Joutel, F., Gastineau, M., Correia, A. C. M., and Levrard, B.: A long-term numerical solution for the insolation quantities of the Earth, Astron. Astrophys., 428, 261–285, 2004. Letouzey, R.: Etude phytogéographique du Cameroun, Lechevalier Paris, 1968. Liu, X. and Yin, Z. Y.: Sensitivity of East Asian monsoon climate to the uplift of the Tibetan Plateau, Palaeogeogr. Palaeoclimatol. Palaeoecol., 183, 223–245, 2002. Maley, J. and Brenac, P.: Vegetation dynamics, palaeoenvironments and climatic changes in the forests of western Cameroon during the last 28 000 years BP, Rev. Palaeobot. Palynol., 99, 157–187, 1998. Maloney, B.: A 10 600 year pollen record from Nong Thale Song Hong, Trang Province, south Thailand, Bulletin of the Indo-Pacific Prehistory Association, 18, 129–137, 1999. Marivaux, L., Chaimanee, Y., Yamee, C., Srisuk, P., and Jaeger, J. J.: Discovery of Fallomus ladakhensis Nanda & Sahni, 1998 (Mammalia, Rodentia, Diatomyidae) in the lignites of Nong Ya Plong (Phetchaburi Province, Thailand): systematic, biochronological and paleoenvironmental implications, Geodiversitas, 26, 493–507, 2004. Marivaux, L., Bocat, L., Chaimanee, Y., Jaeger, J. J., Marandat, B., Srisuk, P., Tafforeau, P., Yamee, C., and Welcomme, J. L.: Cynocephalid dermopterans from the Palaeogene of South Asia (Thailand, Myanmar and Pakistan): systematic, evolutionary and palaeobiogeographic implications, Zool. Scr., 35, 395–420, 2006. Maxwell, J. F. and Elliott, S.: Vegetation and Vascular Flora of Doi Sutep-Pui National Park, Northern Thailand, Thai. Stud. Biodivers., 5, 45–46, 2001. Morley, C. K., Woganan, N., Sankumarn, N., Hoon, T. B., Alief, A., and Simmons, M.: Late Oligocene–Recent stress evolution in rift basins of northern and central Thailand: implications for escape tectonics, Tectonophysics, 334, 115–150, 2001. Morley, C. K.: A tectonic model for the tertiary evolution of strike-slip faults and rift basins in SE Asia, Tectonophysics, 347, 189–215, 2002. Morley, R.: Palynological evidence for Tertiary plant dispersals in the SE Asian region in relation to plate tectonics and climate, in: Biogeography and geological evolution of SE Asia, edited by: Halloway, R. H. J. D., Backhuys, Leiden, 211–234, 1998. Morley, R. J.: Origin and Evolution of Tropical Rain Forests, John Wiley and Sons Ltd., Chichester, England, 362~pp., 2000. Neil, P. E.: Alnus nepalensis – a multipurpose tree for the tropical highlands, in: Nepal-United Kingdom Forestry Research Project - NFT Highlights, Department of Forestry and Plant Research, Kathmandu, Nepal, 1990. New, M., Lister, D., Hulme, M., and Makin, I.: A high-resolution data set of surface climate over global land areas, Clim. Res., 21, 1–25, 2002. Ogawa, H., Yoda, K., and Kira, T.: A preliminary survey on the vegetation of Thailand, Nature and Life in Southeast Asia, 1, 21–157, 1961. Parnell, J. A. N., Simpson, D. A., Moat, J., Kirkup, D. W., Chantaranothai, P., Boyce, P. C., Bygrave, P., Dransfield, S., Jebb, M. H. P., and Macklin, J.: Plant collecting spread and densities: their potential impact on biogeographical studies in Thailand, J. Biogeogr., 30, 193–209, 2003. Peigné, S., Chaimanee, Y., Yamee, C., Tian, P., and Jaeger, J. J.: A new amphicyonid (Mammalia, Carnivora, Amphicyonidae) from the late middle Miocene of northern Thailand and a review of the amphicyonine record in Asia, J. Asian. Earth Sci., 26, 519–532, 2006. Ramstein, G., Fluteau, F., Besse, J., and 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. Rowley, D. and Currie, B.: Palaeo-altimetry of the late Eocene to Miocene Lunpola basin, central Tibet, Nature, 439, 677–681, 2006. Sawangchote, P., Grote, P., and Dilcher, D.: Tertiary leaf fossils of Mangifera (Anacardiaceae) from Li Basin, Thailand as examples of the utility of leaf marginal venation characters, Am. J. Bot., 96, 2048–2061, 2009. Sepulchre, P., Ramstein, G., Fluteau, F., Schuster, M., Tiercelin, J. J., and Brunet, M.: Tectonic uplift and Eastern Africa aridification, Science, 313, 1419–1423, 2006. Songtham, W., Ratanasthien, B., Mildenhall, D. C., Singharajwarapan, S., and Kandharosa, W.: Oligocene-Miocene climatic changes in northern Thailand resulting from extrusion tectonics of Southeast Asian landmass, Science Asia, 29, 221–233, 2003. Songtham, W., Ratanasthien, B., Watanasak, M., Mildenhall, D., Singharajwarapan, S., and Kandharosa, W.: Tertiary basin evolution in northern Thailand: a palynological point of view, Nat. Hist. Bull. Siam Soc., 53, 17–32, 2005. Sookchaloem, D.: Outline of the forest flora in Northeastern Thailand, Proceedings of the 42nd Kasetsart University Annual Conference, Kasetsart, Thailand, 3–6 February 2004, 40–47, 2004. Sun, X. and Wang, P.: How old is the Asian monsoon system?–-Palaeobotanical records from China, Palaeogeogr. Palaeoclimatol. Palaeoecol., 222, 181–222, 2005. Sytsma, K. J., Litt, A., Zjhra, M. L., Chris Pires, J., Nepokroeff, M., Conti, E., Walker, J., and Wilson, P. G.: Clades, Clocks, and Continents: Historical and Biogeographical Analysis of Myrtaceae, Vochysiaceae, and Relatives in the Southern Hemisphere, Int. J. Plant Sci., 165, 85–105, 2004. Tassy, P., Anupandhanant, P., Ginsburg, L., Mein, P., Ratanasthien, B., and Sutteethorn, V.: A new Stegolophodon (Proboscidea, Mammalia) from the early Miocene of northern Thailand, Geobios, 25, 511–523, 1992. Vincens, A., Tiercelin, J. J., and Buchet, G.: New Oligocene–early Miocene microflora from the southwestern Turkana Basin. Palaeoenvironmental implications in the northern Kenya Rift, Palaeogeogr. Palaeoclimatol. Palaeoecol., 239, 470–486, 2006. Wang, P., Clemens, S., Beaufort, L., Braconnot, P., Ganssen, G., Jian, Z., Kershaw, P., and Sarnthein, M.: Evolution and variability of the Asian monsoon system: state of the art and outstanding issues, Quaternary Sci. Rev., 24, 595–629, 2005. Watanasak, M.: Palaeoecological reconstruction of Nong Ya Plong Tertiary Basin (Central Thailand), Journal of ecology (Thailand), 15, 51–70, 1988. Watanasak, M.: Palynological Zonation of Mid-Tertiary Intermontane Basins in Northern Thailand, International Symposium on Intermontane Basins: Geology and Resources, Thailand, 216–225, 1989. Watanasak, M.: Mid Tertiary palynostratigraphy of Thailand, J. Southe. Asian Earth, 4, 203–218, 1990. Watson, L. and Dallwitz, M. J.: The families of flowering plants: descriptions, illustrations, identification, and information retrieval, available online at: http://delta-intkey.com, (last access: December 2006), 1992. Werner, W.: Pines and other conifers in Thailand – a Quaternary relic?, J. Quaternary Sci., 12, 451–454, 1997. White, J. C., Penny, D., Kealhofer, L., and Maloney, B.: Vegetation changes from the late Pleistocene through the Holocene from three areas of archaeological significance in Thailand, Quaternary Int., 113, 111–132, 2004. Wilson, P. G., O'Brien, M. M., Heslewood, M. M., and Quinn, C. J.: Relationships within Myrtaceae sensu lato based on a matK phylogeny, Plant Syst. Evol., 251, 3–19, 2005. Zachos, J., Pagani, M., Sloan, L., Thomas, E., and Billups, K.: Trends, Rhythms, and Aberrations in Global Climate 65 Ma to Present, Science, 292, 686–693, 2001a. Zachos, J., Shackleton, N., Revenaugh, J., Palike, H., and Flower, B.: Climate response to orbital forcing across the Oligocene-Miocene boundary, Science, 292, 274–278, 2001b. Zachos, J., Dickens, G., and Zeebe, R.: An early Cenozoic perspective on greenhouse warming and carbon-cycle dynamics, Nature, 451, 279–283, 2008. Zhongshi, Z., Wang, H., Guo, Z., and Jiang, D.: What triggers the transition of palaeoenvironmental patterns in China, the Tibetan Plateau uplift or the Paratethys Sea retreat ?, Palaeogeogr. Palaeoclimatol. Palaeoecol., 245, 317–331, 2007.