The Pliocene-Quaternary boundary, approx. 2.6 million years ago (2.6 Ma), represents a time of rapid global climate change from warm and moist to cool and arid (i.e., glacial) conditions.
The influence of this climate change on both sedimentation and tectonics is preserved in strata within the Qaidam Basin, China. Overall, climate-controlled basin aridification initiated 3.1 million years ago and caused the gradual change from more humid lacustrine sedimentation to evaporite conditions by 2.6 Ma.
After 2.6 Ma, uplift above active structures combined with wind erosion of the basin sediments produced localized sediment traps that controlled sedimentation. This study provides isotopic (O and C), paleomagnetic, and sedimentologic data that distinguish the climatic versus tectonic controls on sedimentation and erosion within the northeastern Tibetan Plateau at this important time period.
Climatic and tectonic controls on sedimentation and erosion during the Pliocene-Quaternary in Qaidam Basin (China), Richard V. Heermance et al., Dept. of Geological Sciences, California State University-Northridge, DOI:10.1130/B30748.1">http://dx.doi.org/10.1130/B30748.1