Deep geodynamic processes are critical for controlling surface environments and shaping the evolution of Earth’s habitable conditions. However, the mechanisms by which deep geodynamic processes interact with surface processes to influence climate changes remain unclear. Here, we present geochemical and paleontological data from early Mesozoic strata in the northeastern North China Craton to track paleoclimatic fluctuations and variations in sedimentary processes. By integrating tectonic evolution, we reveal the mechanism of tectonic evolution driving climatic fluctuations. Tectonically driven uplift accelerates weathering-erosion, thereby modulating climate change, which explains the temporal consistency between climate and tectonics in the northeastern North China Craton. The Early Triassic was characterized by arid-to-semiarid and warm-to-cool climate conditions, with poorly sorted and minimally weathered sediments resulting from the southward subduction of the Paleo-Asian plate and the collision of the North China and Yangtze cratons. The Middle Triassic climate is inferred to have been characterized by persistent cooling, accompanied by extensive stratigraphic denudation, driven by the final closure of the Paleo-Asian Ocean. The Late Triassic transitional climate, with high sediment maturity and recycling in a passive continental margin, reflects the tectonic shift from the Paleo-Asian Ocean to the Paleo-Pacific tectonic regime. The Early Jurassic humid and warm-to-hot climate conditions, with sediments displaying low maturity and rapid deposition in an active continental margin, are potentially linked to the global greenhouse and the initial subduction of the Paleo-Pacific plate beneath Eurasia.
Ma et al. (Tue,) studied this question.