Avian extinction at the end of the Cretaceous: Assessing the magnitude and subsequent explosive radiation

Debate on the magnitude of Cretaceous extinctions and timing of modern bird origins has sharply coalesced over the past two decades into contested models, gradualistic or explosive. Molecular clocks, bolstered by phylogenetic, biogeographic, and vicariance models, support an Early Cretaceous origin for birds and mammals over 100 million years ago. Yet, although numerous new Chinese fossils of archaic ornithurine birds have been discovered in the Jehol Biota of the Early Cretaceous of China, none shows close affinity to modern neornithines; it is not until the latest Cretaceous when some fossils show more advanced ornithurine morphology, and are possibly Neornithes. In contrast to mass survival scenarios, most paleontological evidence appears to support an explosive radiation following the Cretaceous–Paleogene (K–Pg) mass extinction event, closely paralleling the geometry of mammal evolution. Gradualistic models ignore recent evidence of cataclysmic worldwide events following the impact event. How could mass survival of the environmentally sensitive birds have occurred following cosmopolitan environmental destruction, when other terrestrial vertebrates, particularly ectotherms, suffered dramatic loss? Given the paucity and scrappy nature of avian fossils immediately prior to and after the K–Pg boundary, it is prudent to use mammalian and other biotic evolution in the Paleogene as a guidepost for avian evolution. Our continued inability to produce a veracious phylogeny of higher avian taxa is likely related to a Paleogene explosive burst or ‘big bang’ evolution of bird and mammal evolution, resulting in short ordinal internodes.     

显生宙全球气候变化与生物绝灭事件的联系

根据显生宙各地质时期全球气候敏感沉积物和生物地理单元数据库，显生宙（寒武纪至中新世）可识别出２４次全球范围内不同级别的气候变化事件。有些事件与全球生物事件有着密切的联系，而不少则并无重要联系，即使这两种事件发生的时间和规模上存在着明显的一致性，也并不一定就存在着因果关系。这２４次事件根据二者的一致性和不一致性，可归纳为两类：（１）早寒武世末（一致）；（２）晚寒武世末（不一致）；（３）早奥陶世末（Ｉｂｅｘｉａｎ末，不一致）；（４）奥陶纪末（一致）；（５）志留纪兰多维列世（不一致）；（６）志留纪文洛克世早期（不一致）；（７）志留纪文洛克世末（不一致）；（８）志留纪罗德洛世末（不一致）；（９）志留纪普利道里世末（不一致）；（１０）早泥盆世埃姆斯期初（不一致）；（１１）中泥盆世艾菲尔期末（一致）；（１２）中泥盆世吉维特期末（一致）；（１３）晚泥盆世弗拉斯期末（一致）；（１４）泥盆纪末（不一致）；（１５）早石炭世末（一致）；（１６）晚石炭世维斯发期末（一致）；（１７）早二叠世萨克马尔晚期（一致）；（１８）二叠纪末（一致）；（１９）早三叠世（一致）；（２０）中—晚三叠世（不一致）；（２１）早侏罗世赫塘期（不一致）；（２?     

Mass Extinction——A Fundamental Indicator for Major Natural Divisions of Geological History

In the Phanerozoic, there are three major geological boundaries: Precambrian/Cambrian.Permian/Triassic and Cretaceous/Tertiary. Studies of these boundaries in China and over the world stronglysuggest that they have the following similar features: mass extinctions of many taxa, positive anomalies ofplatinum-group metals, and abrupt changes of stable isotopes (δ~(13)C). It is quite probable that these were theconsequences of some rare catastrophic events of extraterrestrial origin. Hence, the three above-mentionedmass extinction events may be regarded as key indicators for the division of the geological history of thePhanerozoic.     

白垩纪中期异常地质事件与全球变化

白垩纪中期(125~90 Ma)是地质历史中一个极端温室时期,集中出现一系列异常事件。异常事件是地球系统内各圈层相互耦合的产物,事件相互之间不是孤立的,单个事件引起的全球变化对其他事件起着明显的正/负反馈机制作用。文中基于对白垩纪中期异常事件的深入解剖和分析,包括大规模海底火山事件、大洋缺氧事件、生物异常更替与绝灭、白垩纪超静磁带、大洋红层出现等,在探讨白垩纪中期各个事件特征基础上,重点阐述异常事件所引起的全球变化及其对海洋、气候的影响;提出异常事件之间的相互关联与反馈机制。研究发现,大规模海底火山作用是引起白垩纪中期异常海洋和气候的最根本原因,直接促进大洋缺氧事件、生物绝灭与更替、沉积记录的转变等事件的发生。     

Jurassic Tectonic Revolution in China and New Interpretation of the “Yanshan Movement”

With acquisition and accumulation of new data of structural geological investigations and high-resolution isotopic dating data, we have greatly improved our understanding of the tectonic events occurring in eastern China during the period from the Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous and may give a new interpretation of the nature, timing and geodynamic settings of the “Yanshan Movement”. During the Mid-Late Jurassic （165±5 Ma）, great readjustment of plate amalgamation kinematics took place in East Asia and the tectonic regime underwent great transformation, thus initiating a new tectonic regime in which the North China Block was the center and different plates converged toward it from the north, east and southwest and forming the “East Asia convergent” tectonic system characterized by intracontinental subduction and orogeny. As a consequence, the crustal lithosphere of the East Asian continent thickened considerably during the Late Jurassic, followed immediately by Early Cretaceous substantial lithospheric thinning and craton destruction featured by drastic lithospheric extension and widespread volcano-magmatic activities, resulting in a major biotic turnover from the Yanliao biota to Jehol Biota. Such a tremendous tectonic event that took place in the continent of China and East Asia is the basic connotation of the “Yanshan Movement”. In the paper, according to the deformation patterns, geodynamic settings and deep processes, the “Yanshan Movement” is redefined as the Late Jurassic East Asian multi-directional plate convergent tectonic regime and its associated extensive intracontinental orogeny and great tectonic change that started at -165±5 Ma. The substantial lithospheric attenuation in East China is considered the post-effect of the Yanshanian intracontinental orogeny and deformation.     

The giant Carlin gold province: a protracted interplay of orogenic, basinal, and hydrothermal processes above a lithospheric boundary

Northern Nevada hosts the only province that contains multiple world-class Carlin-type gold deposits. The first-order control on the uniqueness of this province is its anomalous far back-arc tectonic setting over the rifted North American paleocontinental margin that separates Precambrian from Phanerozoic subcontinental lithospheric mantle. Globally, most other significant gold provinces form in volcanic arcs and accreted terranes proximal to convergent margins. In northern Nevada, periodic reactivation of basement faults along this margin focused and amplified subsequent geological events. Early basement faults localized Devonian synsedimentary extension and normal faulting. These controlled the geometry of the Devonian sedimentary basin architecture and focused the discharge of basinal brines that deposited syngenetic gold along the basin margins. Inversion of these basins and faults during subsequent contraction produced the complex elongate structural culminations that characterize the anomalous mineral deposit “trends.” Subsequently, these features localized repeated episodes of shallow magmatic and hydrothermal activity that also deposited some gold. During a pulse of Eocene extension, these faults focused advection of Carlin-type fluids, which had the opportunity to leach gold from gold-enriched sequences and deposit it in reactive miogeoclinal host rocks below the hydrologic seal at the Roberts Mountain thrust contact. Hence, the vast endowment of the Carlin province resulted from the conjunction of spatially superposed events localized by long-lived basement structures in a highly anomalous tectonic setting, rather than by the sole operation of special magmatic or fluid-related processes. An important indicator of the longevity of this basement control is the superposition of different gold deposit types (e.g., Sedex, porphyry, Carlin-type, epithermal, and hot spring deposits) that formed repeatedly between the Devonian and Miocene time along the trends. Interestingly, the large Cretaceous Alaska–Yukon intrusion-related gold deposits (e.g., Fort Knox) are associated with the northern extension of the same lithospheric margin in the Selwyn basin, which experienced an analogous series of geologic events.     

The plant fossil record reflects just two great extinction events

Five great taxonomic extinctions (the so‐called ‘Big Five Mass Extinctions’) are widely recognized in life history, at the end of the Ordovician, Frasnian (Late Devonian), Permian, Triassic and Cretaceous. All of them were originally identified in the marine fossil record and have been interpreted as the result of abrupt global environmental changes. Previous evidence has suggested that terrestrial biota were also subjected to ecological disruption during these events, but it is unknown whether they suffered the same level of large‐scale taxonomic disruption as marine organisms. Here we show that the plant fossil record in fact only provides evidence of two mass taxonomic extinction events, one through the Carboniferous‐Permian transition, the other during middle‐late Permian times. This differs significantly from the mass extinctions recognized in the marine realm and suggests that vascular plants have a special capacity for surviving abrupt environmental changes.     

华北克拉通南缘早白垩世区域大规模岩浆-热液成矿系统

华北克拉通南缘在中生代发生了大规模的成矿作用,主要的矿床类型有脉状金矿床（石英脉型、构造蚀变岩型）、斑岩型钼矿床、脉状银铅锌矿床.对于这些矿床的成因和成矿动力学背景,目前还存在不少争议.但近年来越来越多的成矿年代学证据表明,这些矿床均主要形成于早白垩世,且与区域上广泛发育的岩浆活动具有高度的时空一致性.在归纳总结华北克拉通南缘主要矿床类型地质特征和时空分布的基础上,简述各类矿床的成矿物质来源以及它们之间的成因联系,指出这些不同类型的矿床组成了一个巨型的岩浆-热液成矿系统.华北克拉通南缘成矿作用与其邻近的东秦岭-大别成矿带的成矿作用具有一致性,均受中国东部早白垩世大规模伸展作用控制,是统一的地球动力学背景下的产物.结合地球物理的资料认为,早白垩世岩石圈伸展及其导致的岩浆作用最可能与晚中生代古太平洋板块向东亚大陆边缘俯冲作用有关.上涌的岩浆热液在合适的构造体制下,与上地壳的岩石和流体发生交代和流体混合,最终在浅部形成大规模的岩浆-热液成矿系统.      

稳定同位素记录与环境、生命演化中的重大事件

自从地球诞生以来经历了许多重大事件：早期生命的出现、大气氧化事件（Atmospheric oxygenation）、雪球地球及多次生物绝灭与复苏事件。稳定同位素记录在古环境和生命演化研究中具有重要意义,在记录环境变化和生命演化的重大事件中发挥着重大作用：碳同位素的分馏记录了最早生命的开始,硫同位素的非质量相关分馏（Independent mass fractionation of sulphur isotopes）记录了大气中氧含量的重大变化,而在显生宙的几次重大生物灭绝事件中,均有碳同位素的负向漂移。     

辽西阜新-义县盆地及附近地区早白垩世地壳大规模减薄及成因探讨

辽西阜新-义县盆地及其附近地区,其早白垩世的地层、构造和火山岩有明显的特殊性。在地层方面,阜新-义县盆地内下白垩统分布较齐全,而土城子组及以前的侏罗系基本缺失,反映在义县期之前,阜新-义县盆地处在剥蚀环境中（正地形）,而在早白垩世处在快速沉降的沉积环境中（负地形）,并在早白垩世沉降了约7km。构造方面,晚侏罗世末期,褶皱、逆冲作用反映研究区发生了一定规模的挤压抬升作用;早白垩世阜新-义县盆地的伸展断陷作用贯穿始终,也说明了该地区早白垩世快速沉降的存在。在火山岩方面,阜新-义县盆地及附近地区的义县组下部多处分布有含镁较高的火山岩,其地球化学特征反映该火山岩岩浆源于地幔,同时有复杂的成因,这提供了阜新-义县盆地及附近地区早白垩世地壳大规模减薄、地幔岩浆上涌的信息。以上地质特征说明,早白垩世阜新-义县盆地发生了与地幔作用有关的大规模地壳减薄作用。     

A comparison of Late Mesozoic and Cenozoic intraplate magmatic areas in Central Asia and paleomagnetic reconstructions of the anomalous-mantle location

The Late Mesozoic and Cenozoic location of volcanic zones in the Central Asian intraplate volcanic province has been reconstructed. The anomalous-mantle regions related to magmatism in the province changed in shape in the Cretaceous and Cenozoic. In the early Early Cretaceous, the anomalous-mantle regions spanned from 42° to 61° N (about 2000 km in latitude), and their location might have remained unchanged throughout the Cretaceous. Magmatism in the province took place in the lithospheric regions of the Eurasian Plate with a thickness close to or smaller than that of the oceanic lithosphere. Late Mesozoic magmas originated mainly from hydrated mantle sources with isotopic compositions typical of PREMA or EM-II. In the Early Cenozoic (50 Ma), the anomalous mantle was considerably less active than in the Early Cretaceous. Magmatic melts were generated only in two mantle regions: the local South Hangay hotspot and, apparently, the fairly extensive (at least 800 km wide) mantle region north and northeast of it. The entire anomalous mantle spanned from 46° to 59° N (about 1300 km in latitude). Magmas of OIB type originated from slightly hydrated sources with isotopic compositions typical of PREMA or EM-I. In the Miocene, the mantle might have again “ejected” heated decompressed anomalous matter. The ejection led to an outburst of magmatism and expansion of the volcanic province up to 2000 km in latitude. The lithosphere in all the volcanic zones was thin, including the entire Eurasian territory over the South Hangay hotspot.     

Two-episode Tectono-thermal Events of the Heyuan Fault in Late Cretaceous and Oligocene and their Tectonic Implications, Southernmost South China Block

The Heyuan Fault, is one of the main NE-trending faults in the southernmost South China Block and is close to the northernmost South China Sea to the south. The fault features multi-stage deformation and controlled the formation of late Cretaceous to Cenozoic basins. Based on detailed field investigations and comprehensive geochronological research, including zircon U-Pb, Rb-Sr isochron, zircon U-Th-He dating, two episodic tectono-thermal events are recognized. The first occurred during ~79 Ma to 66 Ma, which is characterized by large-scale quartz-fluid emplacement. The other occurred at ~34 Ma, which features the eruption of a set of basalts. The two events show a changing on material source from siliceous hydrotherm to basalt magma, supporting obvious lithospheric thinning of the southernmost South China Block, which shed light on the geological evolution and the interaction mechanisms between the SCB and the northern South China Sea since the Late Cretaceous.     

松辽盆地南部白垩纪裂后期异常沉降分离

为了研究松辽盆地白垩纪裂后期沉降的动力机制,以松辽盆地南部长岭、十屋凹陷为例,用回剥法和应变速率反演方法对研究区钻井和地层剖面资料进行了研究。结果表明：观测得到的裂后沉降和模拟预测的理论裂后沉降结果存在较大差异,异常沉降量达160~800 m;并且异常沉降经历了两次沉降高峰期,分别出现在裂后期的泉头组及嫩江组沉积时期,平均沉降速率最大值出现在泉头组沉积时期,达16 m/Ma,同期地壳应变速率也达到裂后期最大值,约为6 Ga^-1。该异常沉降除受到裂后期基底断裂和盆地小型正断层活动的小部分影响外,可能主要受控于中生代晚期Izanagi俯冲板片在松辽盆地深部的下拽作用及其诱发的深部地幔流动,属动力沉降。     

Permian biospheric events in Northeast Asia

An analysis of the dynamics of diversity of bivalve species in Northeast Asia in the Permian period allowed us to reveal a number of events when it significantly increased or decreased. Four major mass extinction events were established for bivalves: at the end of the Early Permian, in the Early Capitanian age, at the the Capitanian-Wuchiapingian boundary and at the end of the Late Permian. Along with extinction events, five events of taxonomic radiation/innovation were distinguished: Early Asselian, Middle Kungurian, Early Roadian, Late Wordian, and Early Changhsingian. Revealing of these biotic events has been confirmed by the dynamics of biodiversity in other major groups of Permian fauna (foraminifers, brachiopods, ammonoids). Moreover, they are evidenced in different basins by changes in the character of sedimentation, isotope parameters, eustatic variations and other environmental factors. Most of the events can be traced far beyond Northeast Asia. Their manifestation is associated with general reasons (variations in endogenous regime of the Earth and associated stress effects on the biota). According to this, results of studying these events can be used for global correlations.     

华北克拉通东部盆地白垩-古近纪构造沉降的时空变化及其与克拉通破坏的关系

白垩-古近纪为华北克拉通东部断陷盆地的形成时期,通过运用盆地分析技术,本次工作得到了这一时期各盆地的各阶段构造沉降曲线及相应的构造沉降量和沉降速率。构造沉降分析表明,华北克拉通东部白垩-古近纪盆地的最强构造沉降峰期为古新世(孔店期),次构造沉降峰期为早白垩世早期(莱阳期)。其中早白垩世早期为华北克拉通东部、南部盆地的最强构造沉降峰期,古新世为克拉通内部渤海湾盆地区的最强构造沉降峰期,而其它时期盆地的构造沉降特征表现为构造沉降峰期前后的弱沉降过渡阶段。结合盆地的分布规律,盆地的主要构造沉降中心在白垩纪集中在华北克拉通的南缘和北缘,而在古近纪则迁移到克拉通内部渤海湾地区,即由华北克拉通边缘向内部迁移。伸展期盆地的演化经历了宽裂谷(莱阳期)→窄裂谷(大盛期)→宽裂谷(孔店期)→窄裂谷(东营期)的循环演化模式,揭示了岩石圈的温度和强度的变化。而这种构造沉降的时空变化更支持华北克拉通破坏以拆沉机制为主。     

宁镇地区安基山侵入岩SHRIMP锆石U-Pb年龄及其地质意义

对宁镇地区安基山岩体主要岩石类型花岗闪长斑岩的SHRIMP锆石U-Pb定年结果表明, 安基山岩体的花岗闪长斑岩SHRIMP锆石U-Pb年龄为(106.9±0.9)Ma, 代表了岩体形成年龄, 岩体形成于早白垩世晚期; 安基山岩体的形成明显晚于铜陵等地高钾钙碱性中酸性侵入岩形成时代, 揭示出宁镇地区中酸性钙碱性岩浆活动及其成矿响应是中生代长江中下游成矿带大规模岩浆活动的另一期成岩成矿事件; 宁镇地区铜多金属成矿作用在时间、空间和成因上与107 Ma左右的钙碱性中酸性岩浆活动有密切的联系, 区内成岩成矿作用是一个连续的过程; 宁镇地区钙碱性中酸性岩浆活动的地球动力学背景对应中国东部中生代岩石圈拆沉减薄事件; 长江中下游地区岩石圈拆沉从130 Ma左右开始, 可能一直持续到107 Ma以后.      

Establishing the link between Permian volcanism and biodiversity changes: Insights from geochemical proxies

Current understanding of biodiversity changes in the Permian is presented, especially the consensus and disagreement on the tempo, duration, and pattern of end-Guadalupian and end-Permian mass extinctions. The end-Guadalupian mass extinction (EGME; i.e., pre-Lopingian crisis) is not as severe as previously thought. Moreover, the turnovers of major fossil groups occurred at different temporal levels, therefore the total duration of the end-Guadalupian mass extinction is relatively extended. By comparison, fossil records constrained with high-precision geochronology indicate that the end-Permian mass extinction (EPME) was a single-pulse event and happened geologically instantaneous. Variation of geochemical proxies preserved in the sedimentary records is important evidence in examining potential links between volcanisms and biodiversity changes. Some conventional and non-traditional geochemical proxy records in the Permian show abrupt changes across the Permian-Triassic boundary, reflecting climate change, ocean acidification and anoxia, carbon cycle perturbation, gaseous metal loading, and enhanced continental weathering. These, together with the stratigraphic coincidence between volcanic ashes and the end-Permian mass extinction horizon, point to large-scale volcanism as a potential trigger mechanism.To further define the nature of volcanism which was responsible for global change in biodiversity, main characteristics of four Permian large igneous provinces (LIPs; i.e., Tarim, Panjal, Emeishan, and Siberian) are compared, in terms of timing and tempo, spatial distribution and volume, and magma-wall rock interactions. The comparison indicates that volcanic fluxes (i.e., eruption rates) and gas productions are the key features distinguishing the Siberian Traps from other LIPs, which also are the primary factors in determining the LIP’s potential of affecting Earth’s surface system. We find that the Siberian Traps volcanism, especially the switch from dominantly extrusive eruptions to widespread sill intrusions, has the strongest potential for destructive impacts, and most likely is the ultimate trigger for profound environmental and biological changes in the latest Permian-earliest Triassic. The role of Palaeotethys subduction-related arc magmatism cannot be fully ruled out, given its temporal coincidence with the end-Permian mass extinction. As for the Emeishan LIP, medium volcanic flux and gas emission probably limited its killing potential, as evident from weak changes in geochemical proxies and biodiversity. Because of its long-lasting but episodic nature, the Early Permian magmatism (e.g., Tarim, and Panjal) may have played a positive role in affecting the contemporaneous environment, as implicated by coeval progressive climate warming, termination of the Late Palaeozoic Ice Age (LPIA), and flourishing of ecosystems.     

Petrogenesis of the Early Jurassic Nandaling flood basalts in the Yanshan belt, North China Craton: A correlation between magmatic underplating and lithospheric thinning

Integrated geochemical and Sr–Nd–Pb isotopic studies of the Early Jurassic Nandaling flood basalts (NFB) in the Yanshan belt, northern margin of the North China Craton (NCC), are presented in this paper. These sub-alkaline basalts evolved from a more magnesium-rich parental magma through fractional crystallization of olivine and clinopyroxene. The primitive magma of the NFB originated from 2–5% partial melting of spinel to garnet transitional peridotite at about 70–80 km depth in the Mesozoic lithosphere mantle. The NFB contain a distinctive lithospheric component, characterized by Nb (Ta), Th, U and Ti depletions, LREE enrichments, moderate Sr, and low Nd and Pb initial isotopic ratios, as a result of an interaction between lower crust (15–25%) and primitive magma evoked by magmatic underplating at crust–mantle boundary. The Early Jurassic NFB extruded in an intraplate extensional setting related to post-orogenic collapse in the northern margin of the NCC, indicating an event of lithospheric modification earlier than that in the southern margin (Early Cretaceous). The temporal similarity of the Jurassic–Cretaceous mantle-derived mafic rocks to lower crust replacement, and the decoupling of surface shortening with lithospheric thinning during the Late Jurassic–Early Cretaceous, suggest the important role of magmatic underplating and subsequent crust–mantle interaction accompanied by asthenosphere upwelling on the evolution of the Mesozoic lithosphere of the NCC. The correlation between lithospheric thinning and magmatic underplating may be an important process in continental rifting.     

大别山早白垩世基性脉岩SHRIMP锆石U-Pb定年、地球化学特征及成因

研究大别山早白垩世大规模伸展开始时间及地幔属性.采用SHRIMP锆石U-Pb定年法, 测得北淮阳金寨银沙畈辉长脉岩年龄为125.8±2.7 Ma, 西大别大悟东新乡闪斜煌斑脉岩年龄为129.6±2.5 Ma; 大别山不同区块早白垩世基性脉岩的地球化学特征类似: SiO₂介于46.13%~54.42%, Mg#在42~72之间, 大多属碱性系列; LREE富集, HREE亏损, 大离子亲石元素(LILE)富集, 高场强元素(HFSE)Nb、Zr、Ti亏损; I_Sr在0.705 5~0.709 4之间, 低ε_Nd(t)(-12.04~-18.84)值, Nd模式年龄(T_DM)为1.60~2.62 Ga.大别山早白垩世的地壳伸展、大规模岩浆活动开始于130 Ma, 属于整个中国东部晚中生代岩石圈伸展减薄事件的一部分.基性脉岩来源于富集岩石圈地幔, 主要为扬子俯冲陆壳同华北岩石圈地幔混合产物, 有部分软流圈地幔物质的加入.      

Plateau archives of lithosphere dynamics,cryosphere and paleoclimate: The formation of Cretaceous desert basins in east Asia

Southeastern Eurasia is a global window to the Cretaceous paleoclimate and lithosphere coupling. China contains one of the most complete and complex sedimentary records of Mesozoic desert basins on planet Earth. In this study, we perform the spatio-temporal tracking of 96 Cretaceous palaeoclimate indicators during 79 Myr which reveal that the plateau paleoclimate archives from East Asia resulted from an Early to Mid-Cretaceous ocean–atmosphere coupling and a shift to a preponderant role of Late Cretaceous lithosphere dynamics and tectonic forcing on high-altitude depositional systems linked to the subduction margins of the Tethys and Paleo-Pacific realms beneath the Eurasian plate. The crustal response to tectonic processes linked with the spatio-temporal evolution of the Tethyan and Paleo-Pacific margins defined the configuration of major sedimentary basins on this region. The significant increase and decrease in the number of active sedimentary basins that occur during the Cretaceous, from 16 in the Early Cretaceous, to 28 in the Mid-Cretaceous, and a decreasing to 20 sedimentary basins in the Late Cretaceous, is a direct response of lithospheric dynamics associated with the two main subduction zones (Tethys and Pacific domains). A shift in subduction style from an Early Cretaceous Paleo-Pacific Plate slab roll back to a Late Cretaceous flat-slab mode might have triggered regional plateau uplift, blocked intraplate volcanism, thus enhancing the denudation and sediment availability, and created wind corridors that led to the construction and accumulation of extensive Late Cretaceous aeolian sandy deserts (ergs) that covered Mid-Cretaceous plateau salars. At the same time, plateau uplift associated with crustal thickening following terrane assembly in the Tethyan margin triggered altitudinal cryospheric processes in sandy desert systems. Evidence of an active Cretaceous cryosphere in China include Valanginian-Hauterivian glacial debris flows, Early Aptian geochemical signature of melt waters from extensive ice sheets, and Cenomanian–Turonian ice-rafted debris (IRD). These cryospheric indicators suggest an already uplifted plateau in southeastern Eurasia during the Cretaceous, and the marked correlation between cold plateau paleoclimate archives and marine records suggests a strong ocean-atmosphere coupling during Early and Mid-Cretaceous cold snaps. We thus conclude that lithospheric tectonics during Cretaceous played a fundamental role in triggering high-altitude basin desertification and spatio-temporal plateau paleohydrology variability in the Cretaceous of south-eastern Eurasia.