TEMPERATURE MEASUREMENTS AND PALEOCLIMATE ANALYSES OF SEDIMENTARY CARBONATES FROM THE CENOZOIC QAIDAM BASIN, QINGHAI PROVINCE, CHINA, USING STABLE ISOTOPES AND CLUMPED ISOTOPE THERMOMETRY

The paleotectonic and paleoclimatic history of the Tibetan Plateau is a long-standing challenge in the geosciences, with far-reaching implications in fields including geodynamics, paleobiology, and paleoclimate dynamics. Yet the history is frequently debated, with past studies diverging significantly on these topics (Yin et al., 2008, Miao et al., 2011, Zhuang et al., 2011, Jian et. al, 2013, Song et al., 2014). Here we use stable isotopes to constrain a portion of the history of the thick Mesozoic to Cenozoic sedimentary succession from the Qaidam basin, a large intracontinental sedimentary basin which lies approximately 3 km above sea level and is located on the northeastern corner of the Tibetan Plateau, in northwestern China.

While previous research in the region has used provenance studies, coupled with stable isotope and geochemical analyses to assess the paleoclimate, with particular foci on palynological and biomarker proxies for determining paleotemperature (Hough et al., 2011, Jian et. al, 2013, Jian et al. 2014), we use clumped isotope data for lacustrine sediments and paleosols to assess paleotemperatures. These temperature analyses are evaluated, in conjunction with carbonate oxygen isotope values, to determine water isotope ratios and to further examine paleoclimatic changes of the region in the late Cenozoic.