Enhanced phosphorus weathering contributed to Late Miocene cooling

Zhong, Yi; Li, Zhiguo; Shi, Xuefa; Isson, Terry; Yu, Jimin; Kender, Sev; Liang, Zhou; Swann, George E. A.; Pullen, Alex; Weber, Michael E.; Du, Jinlong; Larrasoaña, Juan C.; Zhang, Jingyu; Song, Yafang; González, F. J.; Kaboth-Bahr, Stefanie; Li, Hai; Zhang, Qi; Zhao, Debo; Cao, Wei; Zhao, Mingyu; Liu, Qingsong

Abstract

Late Miocene climate evolution provides an opportunity to assess Earth’s climate sensitivity to carbon cycle perturbation under warmer-than-modern conditions. Despite its relevance for understanding the climate system, the driving mechanisms underlying profound climate and carbon cycle changes – including the enigmatic Late Miocene cooling from 7 to 5.4 million years ago – remain unclear. Here, we present magnetic and geochemical paleoceanographic proxies from a hydrogenetic ferromanganese crust retrieved in the northwestern Pacific Ocean. Our results indicate a striking 50% surge in deep ocean phosphorus concentrations occurred 7 – 4 million years ago, synchronous with enhanced deep ocean oxygen consumption. Employing a global biogeochemical model, we show that increased continental phosphorus weathering, without a concurrent rise in silicate weathering, contributed to the decline in atmospheric CO2 and associated cooling over the Late Miocene. This suggests a prominent decoupling of phosphorus and silicate weathering during a major carbon cycling event over the last 10 million years.

Citation

Zhong, Y., Li, Z., Shi, X., Isson, T., Yu, J., Kender, S., Liang, Z., Swann, G. E. A., Pullen, A., Weber, M. E., Du, J., Larrasoaña, J. C., Zhang, J., Song, Y., González, F. J., Kaboth-Bahr, S., Li, H., Zhang, Q., Zhao, D., Cao, W., …Liu, Q. (2025). Enhanced phosphorus weathering contributed to Late Miocene cooling. Nature Communications, 16(1), Article 1124. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-56477-7

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jan 15, 2025
• Online Publication Date: Jan 28, 2025
• Publication Date: Jan 28, 2025
• Deposit Date: Jan 29, 2025
• Publicly Available Date: Jan 29, 2025
• Journal: Nature Communications
• Electronic ISSN: 2041-1723
• Publisher: Nature Publishing Group
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 16
• Issue: 1
• Article Number: 1124
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-56477-7
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/44688536