Editing Miocene (section)

==Paleogeography==
[[File:Sea of Japan Early Miocene map.svg|thumb|left|upright|Japan during the Early Miocene]]
[[File:Late Miocene Europe.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|The Mediterranean during the Late Miocene]]
Continents continued to [[Continental drift|drift]] toward their present positions. Of the modern geologic features, only the land bridge between [[South America]] and [[North America]] was absent,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Stange |first1=Madlen |last2=Sánchez-Villagra |first2=Marcelo R |last3=Salzburger |first3=Walter |last4=Matschiner |first4=Michael |title=Bayesian Divergence-Time Estimation with Genome-Wide Single-Nucleotide Polymorphism Data of Sea Catfishes (Ariidae) Supports Miocene Closure of the Panamanian Isthmus |journal=[[Systematic Biology]] |date=1 July 2018 |volume=67 |issue=4 |pages=681–699 |doi=10.1093/sysbio/syy006|pmid=29385552 |pmc=6005153 |doi-access=free }}</ref> although South America was approaching the western [[subduction zone]] in the [[Pacific Ocean]], causing both the rise of the [[Andes]] and a southward extension of the [[Mesoamerica|Meso-American]] peninsula.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Torsvik |first1=Trond H. |last2=Cocks |first2=L. Robin M. |title=Earth history and palaeogeography |date=2017 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |location=Cambridge, United Kingdom |isbn=978-1-107-10532-4 |page=264}}</ref>

Mountain building took place in western [[North America]], [[Europe]], and [[East Asia]].{{sfn|Torsvik|Cocks|2017|p=261–264}} Both continental and marine Miocene deposits are common worldwide with marine outcrops common near modern shorelines. Well studied continental exposures occur in the North American [[Great Plains]] and in [[Argentina]].

The global trend was towards increasing aridity caused primarily by global cooling reducing the ability of the atmosphere to absorb moisture,{{sfn|Torsvik|Cocks|2017|p=267}} particularly after 7 to 8 million years ago.<ref name="JiaEtAl2020" /> Uplift of [[East Africa]] in the late Miocene was partly responsible for the shrinking of [[tropical rain forest]]s in that region,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Wichura |first1=Henry |last2=Bousquet |first2=Romain |last3=Oberhänsli |first3=Roland |last4=Strecker |first4=Manfred R. |last5=Trauth |first5=Martin H. |title=Evidence for middle Miocene uplift of the East African Plateau |journal=[[Geology (journal)|Geology]] |date=June 2010 |volume=38 |issue=6 |pages=543–546 |doi=10.1130/G31022.1|bibcode=2010Geo....38..543W }}</ref> and [[Australia]] got drier as it entered a zone of low rainfall in the Late Miocene.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Mao |first1=Xuegang |last2=Retallack |first2=Gregory |title=Late Miocene drying of central Australia |journal=[[Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology]] |date=January 2019 |volume=514 |pages=292–304 |doi=10.1016/j.palaeo.2018.10.008|bibcode=2019PPP...514..292M |s2cid=135124769 }}</ref>

=== Eurasia ===
The [[Indian Plate]] continued to collide with the [[Eurasian Plate]], creating new [[mountain range]]s and uplifting the [[Tibetan Plateau]], resulting in the [[rain shadow]]ing and aridification of the Asian interior.<ref name="JiaEtAl2020">{{cite journal |last1=Jia |first1=Yunxia |last2=Wu |first2=Haibin |last3=Zhu |first3=Shuya |last4=Li |first4=Qin |last5=Zhang |first5=Chunxia |last6=Yu |first6=Yanyan |last7=Sun |first7=Aizhi |date=1 November 2020 |title=Cenozoic aridification in Northwest China evidenced by paleovegetation evolution |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0031018220303527 |journal=[[Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology]] |volume=557 |page=109907 |doi=10.1016/j.palaeo.2020.109907 |bibcode=2020PPP...55709907J |s2cid=224891646 |access-date=30 November 2022}}</ref> The [[Tian Shan]] experienced significant uplift in the Late Miocene, blocking westerlies from coming into the [[Tarim Basin]] and drying it as a result.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Chang |first1=Jian |last2=Glorie |first2=Stijn |last3=Qiu |first3=Nansheng |last4=Min |first4=Kyoungwon |last5=Xiao |first5=Yao |last6=Xu |first6=Wei |date=28 December 2020 |title=Late Miocene (10.0~6.0 Ma) Rapid Exhumation of the Chinese South Tianshan: Implications for the Timing of Aridification in the Tarim Basin |url=https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2020GL090623 |journal=[[Geophysical Research Letters]] |volume=48 |issue=3 |pages=1–11 |doi=10.1029/2020GL090623 |s2cid=233964312 |access-date=21 May 2023}}</ref>

At the beginning of the Miocene, the northern margin of the Arabian plate, then part of the African landmass, collided with Eurasia; as a result, the [[Tethys Ocean|Tethys]] seaway continued to shrink and then disappeared as [[Africa]] collided with [[Eurasia]] in the [[Turkey|Turkish]]–[[Arabian Peninsula|Arabian]] region.{{sfn|Torsvik|Cocks|2017|p=261–264}} The first step of this closure occurred 20 Ma, reducing water mass exchange by 90%, while the second step occurred around 13.8 Ma, coincident with a major expansion of Antarctic glaciers.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bialik |first1=Or M. |last2=Frank |first2=Martin |last3=Betzler |first3=Christian |last4=Zammit |first4=Ray |last5=Waldmann |first5=Nicolas D. |date=20 June 2019 |title=Two-step closure of the Miocene Indian Ocean Gateway to the Mediterranean |journal=[[Scientific Reports]] |volume=9 |issue=1 |page=8842 |doi=10.1038/s41598-019-45308-7 |pmid=31222018 |pmc=6586870 |bibcode=2019NatSR...9.8842B }}</ref> This severed the connection between the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea and formed the present land connection between Afro-Arabia and Eurasia.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Torfstein |first1=Adi |last2=Steinberg |first2=Josh |date=14 August 2020 |title=The Oligo–Miocene closure of the Tethys Ocean and evolution of the proto-Mediterranean Sea |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/343661439 |journal=[[Scientific Reports]] |language=en |volume=10 |issue=1 |page=13817 |doi=10.1038/s41598-020-70652-4 |pmid=32796882 |issn=2045-2322 |pmc=7427807 |access-date=4 September 2023}}</ref> The subsequent [[Orogeny|uplift of mountains]] in the western [[Mediterranean]] region and a global fall in sea levels combined to cause a temporary drying up of the Mediterranean Sea (known as the [[Messinian salinity crisis]]) near the end of the Miocene.{{sfn|Torsvik|Cocks|2017|p=259, 267, 287}}
The [[Paratethys]] underwent a significant transgression during the early Middle Miocene.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hohenegger |first1=Johann |last2=Roegl |first2=Fred |last3=Coric |first3=Stjepan |last4=Pervesler |first4=Peter |last5=Lirer |first5=Fabrizio |last6=Roetzel |first6=Reinhard |last7=Scholger |first7=Robert |last8=Stingl |first8=Karl |date=January 2009 |title=The Styrian Basin: A key to the Middle Miocene (Badenian/Langhian) Central Paratethys transgressions |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/258629954 |journal=Austrian Journal of Earth Sciences |volume=102 |issue=1 |pages=102–132 |access-date=29 January 2023}}</ref> Around 13.8 Ma, during a global sea level drop, the Eastern Paratethys was cut off from the global ocean by the closure of the Bârlad Strait, effectively turning it into a saltwater lake. From 13.8 to 13.36 Ma, an evaporite period similar to the later Messinian salinity crisis in the Mediterranean ensued in the Central Paratethys, cut off from sources of freshwater input by its separation from the Eastern Paratethys. From 13.36 to 12.65 Ma, the Central Paratethys was characterised by open marine conditions, before the reopening of the Bârlad Strait resulted in a shift to brackish-marine conditions in the Central Paratethys, causing the Badenian-Sarmatian Extinction Event. As a result of the Bârlad Strait's reopening, the lake levels of the Eastern Paratethys dropped as it once again became a sea.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Simon |first1=Dirk |last2=Palcu |first2=Dan |last3=Meijer |first3=Paul |last4=Krijgsman |first4=Wout |date=7 December 2018 |title=The sensitivity of middle Miocene paleoenvironments to changing marine gateways in Central Europe |url=https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/geology/article/47/1/35/567589/The-sensitivity-of-middle-Miocene |journal=[[Geology (journal)|Geology]] |volume=47 |issue=1 |pages=35–38 |doi=10.1130/G45698.1 |s2cid=134633409 |access-date=7 January 2023}}</ref>

The [[Fram Strait]] opened during the Miocene and acted as the only throughflow for Atlantic Water into the Arctic Ocean until the Quaternary period. Due to regional uplift of the continental shelf, this water could not move through the Barents Seaway in the Miocene.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Lasabuda |first1=Amando P. E. |last2=Hanssen |first2=Alfred |last3=Laberg |first3=Jan Sverre |last4=Faleide |first4=Jan Inge |last5=Patton |first5=Henry |last6=Abdelmalak |first6=Mansour M. |last7=Rydningen |first7=Tom Arne |last8=Kjølhamar |first8=Bent |date=29 June 2023 |title=Paleobathymetric reconstructions of the SW Barents Seaway and their implications for Atlantic–Arctic ocean circulation |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-023-00899-y |journal=[[Communications Earth & Environment]] |language=en |volume=4 |issue=1 |page=231 |doi=10.1038/s43247-023-00899-y |bibcode=2023ComEE...4..231L |issn=2662-4435 |access-date=12 October 2023}}</ref>

The modern day [[Mekong Delta]] took shape after 8 Ma.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Liu |first1=Chang |last2=Clift |first2=Peter D. |last3=Murray |first3=Richard W. |last4=Blusztajn |first4=Jerzy |last5=Ireland |first5=Thomas |last6=Wan |first6=Shiming |last7=Ding |first7=Weiwei |date=20 February 2017 |title=Geochemical evidence for initiation of the modern Mekong delta in the southwestern South China Sea after 8Ma |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0009254117300220 |journal=[[Chemical Geology]] |volume=451 |pages=38–54 |doi=10.1016/j.chemgeo.2017.01.008 |bibcode=2017ChGeo.451...38L |issn=0009-2541 |access-date=30 December 2023 |via=Elsevier Science Direct}}</ref> Geochemistry of the Qiongdongnan Basin in the northern South China Sea indicates the [[Pearl River]] was a major source of sediment flux into the sea during the Early Miocene and was a major fluvial system as in the present.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Ma |first1=Ming |last2=Chen |first2=Guojun |last3=Zhang |first3=Gongcheng |last4=Rahman |first4=M. Julleh Jalalur |last5=Ma |first5=Xiaofeng |date=1 May 2022 |title=Geochemistry and provenance of Oligocene to middle Miocene sandstones in the Qiongdongnan Basin, northern South China Sea |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0025322722000652 |journal=[[Marine Geology (journal)|Marine Geology]] |volume=447 |page=106794 |doi=10.1016/j.margeo.2022.106794 |bibcode=2022MGeol.44706794M |s2cid=247970013 |issn=0025-3227 |access-date=19 September 2023}}</ref>

===South America===
During the [[Oligocene]] and Early Miocene, the coast of northern Brazil,<ref name=Rossettietal2013>{{cite journal |last1=Rossetti |first1=Dilce F.|last2=Bezerra |first2=Francisco H.R. |last3=Dominguez |first3=José M.L.|date=2013 |title=Late Oligocene–Miocene transgressions along the equatorial and eastern margins of Brazil |journal=[[Earth-Science Reviews]] |volume=123 |pages=87–112 |doi=10.1016/j.earscirev.2013.04.005 |bibcode=2013ESRv..123...87R|url=http://repositorio.ufba.br/ri/handle/ri/13327 }}</ref> Colombia, [[Pisco Basin|south-central Peru]], central Chile and large swathes of inland [[Patagonia]] were subject to a [[marine transgression]].<ref name=Machareetal1988>{{cite journal |last1=Macharé |first1=José |last2=Devries |first2=Thomas |last3=Barron |first3=John|last4=Fourtanier |first4=Élisabeth |date=1988 |title=Oligo-Miocene transgression along the Pacifie margin of South America: new paleontological and geological evidence from the Pisco basin (Peru) |url=http://horizon.documentation.ird.fr/exl-doc/pleins_textes/cahiers/geodyn/26017.pdf |journal=Geódynamique |volume=3 |issue=1–2 |pages=25–37 }}</ref> The transgressions in the west coast of South America are thought to be caused by a regional phenomenon while the steadily rising [[Bolivian Orocline|central segment]] of the Andes represents an exception.<ref name=Machareetal1988/> While there are numerous registers of Oligocene–Miocene transgressions around the world it is doubtful that these correlate.<ref name=Rossettietal2013/>

It is thought that the Oligocene–Miocene transgression in Patagonia could have temporarily linked the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, as inferred from the findings of marine invertebrate fossils of both Atlantic and Pacific affinity in [[La Cascada Formation]].<ref name=Encinasetal2014>{{cite journal|author-last= Encinas |author-first= Alfonso |author-last2=Pérez |author-first2=Felipe |author-last3=Nielsen|author-first3=Sven|author-last4=Finger |author-first4=Kenneth L. |author-last5=Valencia|author-first5=Victor |author-last6=Duhart|author-first6=Paul |date=2014|title=Geochronologic and paleontologic evidence for a Pacific–Atlantic connection during the late Oligocene–early Miocene in the Patagonian Andes (43–44°S) |journal=[[Journal of South American Earth Sciences]]|volume=55|pages= 1–18 |doi=10.1016/j.jsames.2014.06.008|bibcode=2014JSAES..55....1E|hdl=10533/130517|hdl-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|author-last=Nielsen|author-first=S.N. |date=2005|title= Cenozoic Strombidae, Aporrhaidae, and Struthiolariidae (Gastropoda, Stromboidea) from Chile: their significance to biogeography of faunas and climate of the south-east Pacific |journal=[[Journal of Paleontology]] |volume=79|pages=1120–1130 |doi=10.1666/0022-3360(2005)079[1120:csaasg]2.0.co;2|s2cid=130207579 }}</ref> Connection would have occurred through narrow [[Inland sea (geology)|epicontinental seaways]] that formed channels in a [[River incision|dissected topography]].<ref name=Encinasetal2014/><ref name=Guillaumeetal2009/>

The [[Antarctic Plate]] started to [[subduction|subduct]] beneath South America 14 million years ago in the Miocene, forming the [[Chile Triple Junction]]. At first the Antarctic Plate subducted only in the southernmost tip of Patagonia, meaning that the Chile Triple Junction lay near the [[Strait of Magellan]]. As the southern part of [[Nazca Plate]] and the [[Chile Rise]] became consumed by subduction the more northerly regions of the Antarctic Plate begun to subduct beneath Patagonia so that the Chile Triple Junction advanced to the north over time.<ref>{{cite journal|author-last=Cande|author-first=S.C.|author-last2=Leslie|author-first2=R.B. |date=1986|title=Late Cenozoic Tectonics of the Southern Chile Trench |journal=[[Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth]] |volume=91|issue=B1|pages= 471–496|doi=10.1029/jb091ib01p00471|bibcode=1986JGR....91..471C}}</ref> The [[Slab window|asthenospheric window]] associated to the triple junction disturbed previous patterns of [[mantle convection]] beneath Patagonia inducing an uplift of ca. 1&nbsp;km that reversed the Oligocene–Miocene transgression.<ref name=Guillaumeetal2009>{{cite journal|author-last=Guillame|author-first=Benjamin |author-last2=Martinod|author-first2=Joseph |author-last3=Husson|author-first3=Laurent|author-last4=Roddaz|author-first4=Martin |author-last5=Riquelme|author-first5=Rodrigo |date=2009 |title=Neogene uplift of central eastern Patagonia: Dynamic response to active spreading ridge subduction?|journal=[[Tectonics (journal)|Tectonics]] |volume=28}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author-last=Guillaume |author-first=Benjamin |author-last2=Gautheron |author-first2=Cécile |author-last3=Simon-Labric |author-first3=Thibaud|author-last4=Martinod |author-first4=Joseph |author-last5=Roddaz |author-first5=Martin |author-last6=Douville |author-first6=Eric |date=2013 |title=Dynamic topography control on Patagonian relief evolution as inferred from low temperature thermochronology |journal=[[Earth and Planetary Science Letters]] |volume=3 |pages=157–167 |doi=10.1016/j.epsl.2012.12.036 |bibcode=2013E&PSL.364..157G}}</ref>

As the southern [[Andean orogeny|Andes rose]] in the Middle Miocene (14–12 million years ago) the resulting [[rain shadow]] originated the [[Patagonian Desert]] to the east.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Folguera |first1=Andrés |last2=Encinas |first2=Alfonso|last3=Echaurren |first3=Andrés|last4=Gianni |first4=Guido|last5=Orts |first5=Darío|last6=Valencia |first6=Víctor|last7=Carrasco |first7=Gabriel |title=Constraints on the Neogene growth of the central Patagonian Andes at thelatitude of the Chile triple junction (45–47°S) using U/Pb geochronology insynorogenic strata |journal=[[Tectonophysics (journal)|Tectonophysics]] |date=2018 |volume=744 |pages=134–154|doi=10.1016/j.tecto.2018.06.011 |bibcode=2018Tectp.744..134F |hdl=11336/88399 |s2cid=135214581 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>

===Australia===
Far northern Australia was monsoonal during the Miocene. Although northern Australia is often believed to have been much wetter during the Miocene, this interpretation may be an artefact of preservation bias of riparian and lacustrine plants;<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Herold |first1=L. |last2=Huber |first2=M. |last3=Greenwood |first3=D. R. |last4=Müller |first4=R. D. |last5=Seton |first5=M. |date=1 January 2011 |title=Early to Middle Miocene monsoon climate in Australia |url=https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/geology/article-abstract/39/1/3/130384/Early-to-Middle-Miocene-monsoon-climate-in |journal=[[Geology (journal)|Geology]] |volume=39 |issue=1 |pages=3–6 |doi=10.1130/G31208.1 |bibcode=2011Geo....39....3H |access-date=14 July 2023}}</ref> this finding has itself been challenged by other papers.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Travouillon |first1=K. J. |last2=Archer |first2=M. |last3=Hand |first3=S. J. |date=1 June 2012 |title=Early to middle Miocene monsoon climate in Australia: COMMENT |journal=[[Geology (journal)|Geology]] |volume=40 |issue=6 |pages=e273 |doi=10.1130/G32600C.1 |bibcode=2012Geo....40E.273T |doi-access=free }}</ref> Western Australia, like today, was arid, particularly so during the Middle Miocene.<ref name="GroeneveldEtAl2017" />