Global and Planetary Change最新文献

{"title":"Evolution of Asian summer monsoon and vegetation in southwestern China and their linkages with wildfire history during the Holocene","authors":"Bin Zhao ,&nbsp;Yijia Liang ,&nbsp;Yongjin Wang ,&nbsp;Kan Zhao ,&nbsp;Qingfeng Shao ,&nbsp;Hai Cheng","doi":"10.1016/j.gloplacha.2026.105304","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.gloplacha.2026.105304","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Wildfires have profound impacts on the environment and human societies. Investigating the relationships among wildfires, vegetation, and climate is critical to understanding long-term wildfire patterns and predicting future wildfire risks. A ²³⁰Th/U-dated, ∼24-year resolution stalagmite stable isotope (δ¹⁸O and δ¹³C) record from Dongge Cave, Guizhou Province, provides us with the history of the monsoonal precipitation and vegetation evolution in southwestern China from 10.9 to 4.6 ka BP, covering the Early to Mid Holocene. We interpret our δ¹⁸O and δ¹³C records and correlate them with reconstructions of wildfire activity from the monsoonal region of China, intending to discuss the vegetation-fire-climate interactions and possible causal mechanisms. The results indicate that during the Early Holocene, wildfire activity was relatively suppressed by the enhanced summer monsoon rainfall, humid conditions, and vegetation expansion. During the Mid Holocene, when the Asian summer monsoon weakened, the regional climate was dry, the vegetation gradually deteriorated (with herbaceous plants replacing evergreen and C4 vegetation), and wildfire activity significantly increased. The decline of solar insolation and increasing CO₂ concentration during the Mid Holocene triggered a monsoon deterioration through atmospheric teleconnections and southward movement of the Intertropical Convergence Zone. The increased frequency of El Niño-Southern Oscillation at around 7.8, 6.3, and 4.9 ka BP during the Mid Holocene further caused Asian summer monsoon weakening and exacerbated aridification in the monsoonal region of China, which likely contributed to the dynamics of wildfires.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55089,"journal":{"name":"Global and Planetary Change","volume":"258 ","pages":"Article 105304"},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145957014","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Wildfire intensity changes since the Mid-Holocene in highly continental Yakutia, Siberia, revealed by benzene polycarboxylic acids","authors":"Ramesh Glückler ,&nbsp;Shiro Tsuyuzaki ,&nbsp;Ulrike Herzschuh ,&nbsp;Luidmila A. Pestryakova ,&nbsp;Elisabeth Dietze ,&nbsp;Stefan Kruse ,&nbsp;Youhei Yamashita","doi":"10.1016/j.gloplacha.2026.105308","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.gloplacha.2026.105308","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Intensifying fire regimes threaten to disturb the ecological balance among larch-dominated forests, permafrost, and historically low-intensity surface fires in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), known as Earth's coldest inhabited region. This ecological balance is currently considered to stabilize this unique ecosystem and its function as a continental-scale carbon reservoir. Here, we present the first paleoecological reconstructions of wildfire intensities, using benzene polycarboxylic acids (BPCAs) in lake sediments from the lowland of Central Yakutia and the highland of the southern Verkhoyansk Mountains as a proxy for fire intensity. Results reveal changes of BPCA-derived pyrogenic carbon concentration (BPCA-PyC) and inferred fire intensity over the past c. 7600 years. Unexpectedly, the highland region recorded higher levels of BPCA-PyC and fire intensity than the lowland region. Our results separate a shrub fire regime in the highland from a forest ground fire regime in the lowland, highlighting both an increased variability of fire regimes in the lowland since the Mid-Holocene and stable multi-centennial-scale fire intensity in the highland since the Late Holocene. This raises questions about potential future shifts in fire regimes and their ecological impacts. A separate application of the BPCA method to extracted macroscopic charcoal particles indicates their origin from low-intensity, smoldering fires, contrasting with smaller pyrogenic carbon components in the sediment matrix. We discuss effects of dominant fire regimes, lake size and setting, and proxy taphonomy on sedimentary pyrogenic carbon. This study highlights benefits of applying a mix of fire proxies, while providing an initial perspective on long-term changes of fire intensity for eastern Siberia.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55089,"journal":{"name":"Global and Planetary Change","volume":"258 ","pages":"Article 105308"},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145962709","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Alternating trench advance and retreat in the North Tianshan Ocean: Insights from Carboniferous magmatism in the Aqishan-Yamansu Belt, Chinese Eastern Tianshan","authors":"Guoliang Xue ,&nbsp;Huan Kang ,&nbsp;Yuelong Chen ,&nbsp;Dapeng Li ,&nbsp;Jiarun Tu ,&nbsp;Wenjun Zheng ,&nbsp;Xiaoran Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.gloplacha.2026.105282","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.gloplacha.2026.105282","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Trench advance-retreat cycles serve as the primary regulators of continental crustal growth and the thermal-mechanical evolution of accretionary orogens. This study deciphered Carboniferous trench kinematics in the Chinese Eastern Tianshan through a spatiotemporal investigation of magmatism within the Aqishan-Yamansu Belt. Two distinct magmatic episodes were identified, i.e., the middle Mississippian arc-related high-Mg andesitic porphyrite and the early Pennsylvanian high-Al basalt. Geochemical and isotopic data revealed that these magmas were originated from varying degrees of interaction among depleted mantle, mantle wedge, and subducted slab−/sediment-derived fluids/melts. Integration with the regional geological context and the time-resolved compositional and geochemical shifts in arc magmatism indicated recurrent trench migration cycles. The trench advance phases (Early Carboniferous and Late Pennsylvanian) were marked by voluminous arc magmatism, elevated Ho/Yb<strong>–</strong>Dy/Yb ratios, reduced whole-rock <em>ε</em>_Nd(t) and zircon <em>ε</em>_Hf(t) values, and older zircon Hf crustal model ages (T_<em>DM</em>^<em>C</em>), collectively implying intensified crustal contributions. Conversely, the trench retreat (from latest Mississippian to middle Pennsylvanian) was characterized by back-arc basalts, diminished Ho/Yb<strong>–</strong>Dy/Yb ratios, elevated whole-rock <em>ε</em>_Nd(t) and zircon <em>ε</em>_Hf(t), and younger zircon Hf model ages (T_<em>DM</em>), suggesting the enhanced mantle input. This retreat phase triggered splitting of the Central Tianshan arc and formation of the Aqishan-Yamansu back-arc basin. Our findings suggest that the southward subduction of the North Tianshan oceanic slab governed trench migration cycles, thereby orchestrating the transition from an Early Carboniferous continental arc to a Late Carboniferous back-arc basin. Continued subduction culminated in latest Carboniferous collision, closing the trench-arc-basin system and finalizing the assembly of the Chinese Eastern Tianshan. These results underscored that episodic trench migration cycles reconstructed through magmatic and elemental-isotopic records constituted a critical mechanism for accretionary orogenesis driven by mantle dynamics. Ultimately, such cyclic processes controlling tectonic transitions and ocean closure represent key factors in continental crust formation within accretionary orogens.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55089,"journal":{"name":"Global and Planetary Change","volume":"258 ","pages":"Article 105282"},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145903502","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Spatiotemporal dynamic of global fires and their effects on land cover and vegetation recovery","authors":"Peng Tian ,&nbsp;Shenghao Wu ,&nbsp;Yanyun Yan ,&nbsp;Derong Xiao ,&nbsp;Jialin Li ,&nbsp;Yongchao Liu ,&nbsp;Haitao Zhang ,&nbsp;Chao Ying","doi":"10.1016/j.gloplacha.2026.105309","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.gloplacha.2026.105309","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Fire is a major natural disturbance shaping global ecosystems, affecting the carbon cycle, biodiversity, and land-cover dynamics. Existing global fire datasets rarely link fire occurrences to subsequent land-cover changes or vegetation recovery. Here, we develop a global fire dataset for 2001–2024 that couples fire occurrence with land-cover trajectories and post-fire NDVI regreening, while quantifying key fire attributes (timing, duration, burned area, fireline length, spread speed, and shape index). Globally, fires averaged ∼7.85 million occurrences and ∼ 3.90 million km² burned area annually, showing a declining trend in both frequency and burned area. Spread speeds decreased, while fire duration slightly increased, and fireline length and shape index remained relatively stable. Clustering analyses identified three fire typologies—medium-scale complex, extremely rapid, and small stable—differing in burned area (152–3754 km²), spread speed (2.1–52.8 km²/day), and geometric complexity. Recurrent fires were concentrated in tropical and arid regions, accelerating land-cover transitions, particularly forest-to-grassland conversion. NDVI recovery was slower in repeatedly burned areas, especially in dry tropical biomes and deserts, where mean recovery exceeded 150 days and two-year recovery rates remained below 60%. This global dataset and analytical framework enable improved fire impact assessment and support adaptive ecosystem management.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55089,"journal":{"name":"Global and Planetary Change","volume":"258 ","pages":"Article 105309"},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145957011","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"New insights into late Quaternary dust activity and its drivers on the Tibetan Plateau from loess records","authors":"Li Liu ,&nbsp;Shengli Yang ,&nbsp;Yuanlong Luo ,&nbsp;Pushuang Li ,&nbsp;Xiuyun Yang ,&nbsp;Xin Wang ,&nbsp;Jingzhao Zhang ,&nbsp;Weiming Liu ,&nbsp;Rui Li ,&nbsp;Xiaomin Fang","doi":"10.1016/j.gloplacha.2026.105299","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.gloplacha.2026.105299","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Dust activities on the Tibetan Plateau (TP) significantly impact on regional and global environmental change. As a direct record of past dust activity, TP loess has been accumulating since the early Quaternary. However, the processes and factors controlling TP dust accumulation remain poorly constrained. In this study, we present a high-resolution dust accumulation record spanning the last glacial cycle, derived from a newly established independent luminescence chronology of the well-preserved Ganzi loess-paleosol sequence. We further synthesize the spatial and temporal patterns of TP dust and explore the factors influencing its accumulation. Our results reveal that the TP dust accumulation is characterized by prominent glacial-interglacial fluctuations and rapid suborbital-scale variations throughout the last glacial cycle. TP dust activity is sensitive to global climate change, with significant expansion of loess coverage and enhanced dust activity occurring episodically since the late Quaternary. The dust mass accumulation rates reconstructed from TP loess are notably higher than those recorded in TP ice cores, indicating that dust activity in the plateau was more intense than previously recognized. Anthropogenic activities may have exerted a significant influence on TP dust flux since the late Holocene. Our study thus advances the current understanding of dust dynamics in the TP, indicating that dust activity across the region is substantially more intense than previously acknowledged.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55089,"journal":{"name":"Global and Planetary Change","volume":"258 ","pages":"Article 105299"},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145957016","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Reconstruction of last millennium sea surface temperature on 1° grid using a random forest algorithm","authors":"Simon L.L. Michel ,&nbsp;Didier Swingedouw ,&nbsp;Juliette Mignot","doi":"10.1016/j.gloplacha.2025.105279","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.gloplacha.2025.105279","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Climate models and theoretical evidence show that the ocean drives climate from sub-decadal to centennial timescales through a variety of processes and their interactions. The range of direct climate observations, arelhowever, is too short to understand the exact role of the ocean in shaping observed and future climate variability on top of anthropogenic climate change. In the present study, we use a large set of paleoclimate records combined with a random forest algorithm to reconstruct a gridded dataset of sea surface temperatures since 850 C.E. to provide a better framework for the study of ocean surface variability. In line with modeling and paleodata studies, our reconstruction suggests that natural climate forcings have importantly influenced the last millennium climate variability. Our reconstruction also suggests that North Atlantic SST multidecadal variability influences Pacific SST on decadal timescales. However, the latter result is shown to be strongly dependent on background climate conditions. This new reconstruction offers a useful resource for testing the capabilities of climate models to reproduce the linkages between Atlantic and Pacific as well as the response to external forcings<strong>.</strong></div></div>","PeriodicalId":55089,"journal":{"name":"Global and Planetary Change","volume":"258 ","pages":"Article 105279"},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145895047","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Small-scale high-temperature metamorphic core-complexes: From nappe stacking to orogen parallel extension and subsequent thrusting in the Megina dome of North Dobrogea orogen","authors":"Andreea Marza-Ene ,&nbsp;Liviu Matenco ,&nbsp;Hannah Pomella ,&nbsp;Vlad Victor Ene ,&nbsp;Ioan Munteanu ,&nbsp;Anneke Royakkers","doi":"10.1016/j.gloplacha.2025.105276","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.gloplacha.2025.105276","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Orogenic extension has been demonstrated to generate lower crustal exhumation observed in metamorphic core complexes. Observations and modelling have shown that orogen parallel extensional domes are challenging to constrain due to the superposition with coeval or subsequent geodynamic processes, such as orogenic thrusting, magmatism, or the evolution of subducted slabs. We utilise outcrop and micro scale observations to structurally quantify the original nappe stack burial and extensional exhumation structures of one such dome in the Măcin unit of the European North Dobrogea orogen. The results demonstrate an initial top to NE nappe stacking associated with the previously defined Late Carboniferous – Permian burial metamorphism, which affected a mafic protolith and its sedimentary cover. This burial was followed by Triassic extensional exhumation, retrograde metamorphism, magmatism and top to SE ductile shearing, which created a newly identified major detachment and orogen-parallel extensional dome. The kinematic study is furthermore complemented by a low-temperature fission track thermochronology performed to discriminate the extensional exhumation from the effects of subsequent thrusting. The thermochronology demonstrates that the Triassic extensional dome was subsequently affected by a Jurassic–Early Cretaceous exhumation, which is a novel quantification of the previously defined Cimmerian thrusting. Our results infer a new interpretation of the Măcin unit as a Palaeotethys ophiolitic suture zone, which contains a typical Hercynian metamorphic core-complex of relatively small dimensions. When compared with other similar larger structures observed elsewhere, our results show that small-scale orogen-parallel extensional domes can also develop at high temperatures during or after the main stage of nappe stacking metamorphism.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55089,"journal":{"name":"Global and Planetary Change","volume":"258 ","pages":"Article 105276"},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145895097","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Basin record of Paleogene plateau development in eastern Tibet","authors":"Xudong Zhao ,&nbsp;Huiping Zhang ,&nbsp;Ying Wang ,&nbsp;Jianzhang Pang ,&nbsp;Yifei Li ,&nbsp;Jingxing Yu ,&nbsp;Jianguo Xiong ,&nbsp;Peizhen Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.gloplacha.2026.105285","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.gloplacha.2026.105285","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The emergence of high topography in eastern Tibet is a critical expression of the eastward expansion of the Tibetan Plateau. However, both the timing and underlying mechanisms of this surface uplift remain incompletely understood and subject to ongoing debate. Sedimentary basin fills, as direct products of surface erosion, offer valuable archives for reconstructing paleo-landscapes and tracking topographic evolution. In this study, we present new detrital zircon U<img>Pb and apatite fission-track data from non-marine Cenozoic strata of the Shiqu Basin—an isolated intermontane basin situated within the interior of eastern Tibet—to constrain depositional age and sediment provenance. Our data indicate that basin deposition occurred primarily during the Eocene to Early Oligocene, with sediments sourced predominantly from the southeastern Songpan-Ganzi terrane. Integration with regional bedrock thermochronology and stratigraphic records from coeval basins in the southeastern Tibetan Plateau suggest that the development of significant topography in eastern Tibet had already initiated by the Eocene. By the Late Eocene to Early Oligocene, this region had likely evolved into a high-elevation, eastward-tilting landscape similar to that observed today. We infer that this phase of plateau growth was primarily driven by large-scale crustal shortening, potentially coupled with localized crustal flow.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55089,"journal":{"name":"Global and Planetary Change","volume":"258 ","pages":"Article 105285"},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145928708","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The intensity of the late Holocene drought in northern China related to Arctic Sea ice","authors":"Jiaju Zhao ,&nbsp;Qianwen Zhang ,&nbsp;Zhongwei Shen ,&nbsp;Zhiping Zhang ,&nbsp;Jie Chen ,&nbsp;Lin Chen ,&nbsp;Jinzhao Liu ,&nbsp;Yunning Cao ,&nbsp;Jing Hu","doi":"10.1016/j.gloplacha.2026.105300","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.gloplacha.2026.105300","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Understanding the evolution and mechanisms of past droughts can provide critical insights for drought prediction in northern China in the context of global warming. During the late Holocene, drought was frequently in northern China; however, its spatial patterns and intensities have received less attention. Here, we present a high-resolution moisture record based on alkenone proxies from Daihai Lake (Inner Mongolia, China), which indicates a long-term decline in water depth in spring during the late Holocene. Notably, significant reductions in water depth were observed during the periods of ca. 4.3–3.4 cal ka BP, 2.5–2.2 cal ka BP, 1.5–0.8 cal ka BP, and the current warm period. In conjunction with published reconstructed precipitation records for northern China, we found that widespread and severe droughts occurred at ca. 4.3–3.4 cal ka BP, and 1.5–0.8 cal ka BP due to decreased monsoon rainfall, which closely corresponds to the expansion of Arctic sea ice and the weakening of Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation. Additionally, the most widespread and severe drought occurred at the period 1.5 to 0.8 cal ka BP in northern China, possibly linked with the expansion of sea ice in the North Atlantic. Importantly, the intensity of droughts resulting from the weakened summer monsoon circulation in northern China increases with latitude. In the current warm period, the spring water depth of Daihai Lake has reached its lowest level since the late Holocene, likely due to the enhanced evaporation resulting from climate warming. These findings suggest that, under the influence of ongoing global warming, spring drought, along with lake shrinkage and salinization in northern China, may intensify.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55089,"journal":{"name":"Global and Planetary Change","volume":"258 ","pages":"Article 105300"},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145962394","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Contrasting meridional displacement of the western and eastern North Pacific Subtropical Gyre occurred during ∼4.5–3.5 Ma: A response to strengthened SST gradient","authors":"Ting Chen ,&nbsp;Yixuan Wang ,&nbsp;Ran Wei ,&nbsp;Yi Zhong ,&nbsp;Qingsong Liu","doi":"10.1016/j.gloplacha.2026.105316","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.gloplacha.2026.105316","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The causes of Northern Hemisphere Glaciation (NHG) during the Pliocene remain controversial. The western North Pacific Subtropical Gyre (wNPSG), the dominant conduit for poleward heat and moisture transport, may have modulated NHG development, yet its Pliocene evolution remain unconstrained. In this study, we analyzed diatom assemblage changes along the northern boundary of the wNPSG to investigate its meridional displacement. We compared these changes with those of the eastern NPSG (eNPSG) reconstructed using compiled published sea surface temperature data, and examined their linkages to the NHG. The diatom assemblages indicate a northward expansion of the wNPSG from ∼5.8 Ma to ∼4.5 Ma. This wNPSG expansion coincided with an expansion of the eNPSG, both likely related to global warming. Subsequently, a continued northward expansion of the wNPSG occurred between ∼4.5 Ma and ∼ 3.7 Ma, corresponding to an expansion of the Western Pacific Warm Pool but an eNPSG contraction. These contrasting changes probably linked to stronger easterly trade winds driven by an increased SST gradient between low- to mid-latitudes. We propose that the northward expansion of wNPSG during this period likely suppressed NHG formation until ∼3.7–3.5 Ma by transporting more heat to high latitudes via oceanic and atmospheric circulations. From ∼3.7 Ma to ∼2.5 Ma, diatom assemblages indicate that wNPSG retreated southward, coinciding with the onset of NHG. This study highlights the different behavior of the wNPSG versus the eNPSG during the early Pliocene and its potential role in suppressing the onset of NHG until ∼3.7 Ma.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55089,"journal":{"name":"Global and Planetary Change","volume":"258 ","pages":"Article 105316"},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145995740","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}