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63-614: On Iriomote Island, sandstone layers of the Iriomote Formation of the Yaeyama Group were laid down in the Miocene era. Between the layers of sandstone are layers of coal which vary from 15 to 90 cm thick. On the island, this burning stone had been known for a long time. In a document written at end of the 18th century, this burning stone was described in detail. In 1853 a technician with American Commodore Matthew C. Perry reported

126-526: A broader aridification trend. The EMCI ended 18 million years ago, giving way to the Middle Miocene Warm Interval (MMWI), the warmest part of which was the MMCO that began 16 million years ago. As the world transitioned into the MMCO, carbon dioxide concentrations varied between 300 and 500 ppm. Global annual mean surface temperature during the MMCO was about 18.4 °C. MMCO warmth was driven by

189-519: A clade of large terrestrial predatory crocodyliformes distantly related to modern crocodilians, from which they likely diverged over 180 million years ago, are known from the Miocene of South America. The last Desmostylians thrived during this period before becoming the only extinct marine mammal order. The pinnipeds , which appeared near the end of the Oligocene, became more aquatic. A prominent genus

252-561: A cooler, drier climate. C 4 grasses, which are able to assimilate carbon dioxide and water more efficiently than C 3 grasses, expanded to become ecologically significant near the end of the Miocene between 6 and 7 million years ago, although they did not expand northward during the Late Miocene. The expansion of grasslands and radiations among terrestrial herbivores correlates to fluctuations in CO 2 . One study, however, has attributed

315-473: A good analogue for future warmer climates caused by anthropogenic global warming , with this being especially true of the global climate during the Middle Miocene Climatic Optimum (MMCO), because the last time carbon dioxide levels were comparable to projected future atmospheric carbon dioxide levels resulting from anthropogenic climate change was during the MMCO. The Ross Sea margin of

378-435: A good model for a "living fossil". Eucalyptus fossil leaves occur in the Miocene of New Zealand , where the genus is not native today, but have been introduced from Australia . Both marine and continental fauna were fairly modern, although marine mammals were less numerous. Only in isolated South America and Australia did widely divergent fauna exist. In Eurasia, genus richness shifted southward to lower latitudes from

441-579: A major expansion of Antarctic glaciers. This severed the connection between the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea and formed the present land connection between Afro-Arabia and Eurasia. The subsequent 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

504-480: A major expansion of grass-grazer ecosystems . Herds of large, swift grazers were hunted by predators across broad sweeps of open grasslands , displacing desert, woodland, and browsers . The higher organic content and water retention of the deeper and richer grassland soils , with long-term burial of carbon in sediments, produced a carbon and water vapor sink. This, combined with higher surface albedo and lower evapotranspiration of grassland, contributed to

567-578: A significant drop in atmospheric carbon dioxide levels. Both continental and oceanic thermal gradients in mid-latitudes during the Early Miocene were very similar to those in the present. Global cooling caused the East Asian Summer Monsoon (EASM) to begin to take on its modern form during the Early Miocene. From 22.1 to 19.7 Ma, the Xining Basin experienced relative warmth and humidity amidst

630-695: A significant local decline along the northeastern coast of Australia during the Tortonian, most likely due to warming seawater. Cetaceans attained their greatest diversity during the Miocene, with over 20 recognized genera of baleen whales in comparison to only six living genera. This diversification correlates with emergence of gigantic macro-predators such as megatoothed sharks and raptorial sperm whales . Prominent examples are O. megalodon and L. melvillei . Other notable large sharks were O. chubutensis , Isurus hastalis , and Hemipristis serra . Crocodilians also showed signs of diversification during

693-627: A zone of low rainfall in the Late Miocene. The Indian Plate continued to collide with the Eurasian Plate , creating new mountain ranges and uplifting the Tibetan Plateau , resulting in the rain shadowing and aridification of the Asian interior. The Tian Shan experienced significant uplift in the Late Miocene, blocking westerlies from coming into the Tarim Basin and drying it as a result. At

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756-479: Is no place better than this." However, the bananas have owners, and the pines were really pandanus tectorius and not edible. The working conditions were very hard. Some of the workers tried to escape from the island, but they were seldom successful. The biggest company did have a 300-seat theater and other worker facilities. In 1941, the Pacific War had started and many workers were drafted for military service with

819-663: Is of particular interest to geologists and palaeoclimatologists because major phases of the geology of the Himalaya occurred during that epoch, affecting monsoonal patterns in Asia, which were interlinked with glacial periods in the northern hemisphere. The Miocene faunal stages from youngest to oldest are typically named according to the International Commission on Stratigraphy : Regionally, other systems are used, based on characteristic land mammals; some of them overlap with

882-579: Is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about 23.03 to 5.333 million years ago (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell ; the name comes from the Greek words μείων ( meíōn , "less") and καινός ( kainós , "new") and means "less recent" because it has 18% fewer modern marine invertebrates than the Pliocene has. The Miocene followed

945-539: The Middle Miocene Climate Transition (MMCT). Abrupt increases in opal deposition indicate this cooling was driven by enhanced drawdown of carbon dioxide via silicate weathering. The MMCT caused a sea surface temperature (SST) drop of approximately 6 °C in the North Atlantic. The drop in benthic foraminiferal δ O values was most noticeable in the waters around Antarctica, suggesting cooling

1008-512: The Oligocene and preceded the Pliocene. As Earth went from the Oligocene through the Miocene and into the Pliocene, the climate slowly cooled towards a series of ice ages . The Miocene boundaries are not marked by distinct global events but by regionally defined transitions from the warmer Oligocene to the cooler Pliocene Epoch. During the Early Miocene, Afro-Arabia collided with Eurasia, severing

1071-550: The carbon cycle occurred approximately 6 Ma, causing continental carbon reservoirs to no longer expand during cold spells, as they had done during cold periods in the Oligocene and most of the Miocene. At the end of the Miocene, global temperatures rose again as the amplitude of Earth's obliquity increased, which caused increased aridity in Central Asia. Around 5.5 Ma, the EAWM underwent a period of rapid intensification. Life during

1134-673: 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,

1197-826: The Early to the Middle Miocene. Europe's large mammal diversity significantly declined during the Late Miocene. In the Early Miocene, several Oligocene groups were still diverse, including nimravids , entelodonts , and three-toed equids. As in the previous Oligocene Epoch, oreodonts were still diverse, only to disappear in the earliest Pliocene. During the later Miocene mammals were more modern, with easily recognizable canids , bears , red pandas , procyonids , equids , beavers , deer , camelids , and whales , along with now-extinct groups like borophagine canids , certain gomphotheres , three-toed horses , and hornless rhinos like Teleoceras and Aphelos . The late Miocene also marks

1260-677: The East Antarctic Ice Sheet (EAIS) was highly dynamic during the Early Miocene. The Miocene began with the Early Miocene Cool Event (Mi-1) around 23 million years ago, which marked the start of the Early Miocene Cool Interval (EMCI). This cool event occurred immediately after the Oligocene-Miocene Transition (OMT) during a major expansion of Antarctica's ice sheets, but was not associated with

1323-526: The East Asian Winter Monsoon (EAWM) became stronger synchronously with a southward shift of the subarctic front. Greenland may have begun to have large glaciers as early as 8 to 7 Ma, although the climate for the most part remained warm enough to support forests there well into the Pliocene. Zhejiang, China was noticeably more humid than today. In the Great Rift Valley of Kenya , there

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1386-560: The Japanese Imperial army. In 1943, the coal mines ceased production due to a shortage of workers. After the war, the mines were taken over and reopened in 1953 by Americans who resumed production. Eventually, the arrangement of the coal in thinning layers did not allow large quantities of coal to be mined. This led to small profits for the owners and the mines final closure in 1960. Miocene The Miocene ( / ˈ m aɪ . ə s iː n , - oʊ -/ MY -ə-seen, -⁠oh- )

1449-457: The LMC; extratropical sea surface temperatures dropped substantially by approximately 7–9 °C. 41 kyr obliquity cycles became the dominant orbital climatic control 7.7 Ma and this dominance strengthened 6.4 Ma. Benthic δ O values show significant glaciation occurred from 6.26 to 5.50 Ma, during which glacial-interglacial cycles were governed by the 41 kyr obliquity cycle. A major reorganisation of

1512-563: The Late Cretaceous, are known from the Miocene of Patagonia, represented by the mole-like Necrolestes . The youngest known representatives of metatherians (the broader grouping to which marsupials belong) in Europe, Asia and Africa are known from the Miocene, including the European herpetotheriid Amphiperatherium , the peradectids Siamoperadectes and Sinoperadectes from Asia, and

1575-694: The Late Miocene, the Earth's climate began to display a high degree of similarity to that of the present day . The 173 kyr obliquity modulation cycle governed by Earth's interactions with Saturn became detectable in the Late Miocene. By 12 Ma, Oregon was a savanna akin to that of the western margins of the Sierra Nevada of northern California . Central Australia became progressively drier, although southwestern Australia experienced significant wettening from around 12 to 8 Ma. The South Asian Winter Monsoon (SAWM) underwent strengthening ~9.2–8.5 Ma. From 7.9 to 5.8 Ma,

1638-567: The Miocene Epoch was mostly supported by the two newly formed biomes , kelp forests and grasslands . Grasslands allow for more grazers, such as horses , rhinoceroses , and hippos . Ninety-five percent of modern plants existed by the end of this epoch . Modern bony fish genera were established. A modern-style latitudinal biodiversity gradient appeared ~15 Ma. The coevolution of gritty , fibrous, fire-tolerant grasses and long-legged gregarious ungulates with high-crowned teeth , led to

1701-449: The Miocene. The largest form among them was a gigantic caiman Purussaurus which inhabited South America. Another gigantic form was a false gharial Rhamphosuchus , which inhabited modern age India . A strange form, Mourasuchus also thrived alongside Purussaurus . This species developed a specialized filter-feeding mechanism, and it likely preyed upon small fauna despite its gigantic size. The youngest members of Sebecidae ,

1764-676: The Miocene–Pliocene boundary, the Strait of Gibraltar opened, and the Mediterranean refilled. That event is referred to as the " Zanclean flood ". Also during the early Miocene (specifically the Aquitanian and Burdigalian Stages), the apes first evolved, began diversifying, and became widespread throughout the Old World . Around the end of this epoch, the ancestors of humans had split away from

1827-534: 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, particularly after 7 to 8 million years ago. Uplift of East Africa in the late Miocene was partly responsible for the shrinking of tropical rain forests in that region, and Australia got drier as it entered

1890-648: The Oligocene–Miocene transgression. As the southern Andes rose in the Middle Miocene (14–12 million years ago) the resulting rain shadow originated the Patagonian Desert to the east. 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; this finding has itself been challenged by other papers. Western Australia, like today,

1953-547: 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. During the Oligocene and Early Miocene, the coast of northern Brazil, Colombia, south-central Peru , central Chile and large swathes of inland Patagonia were subject to a marine transgression . The transgressions in

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2016-487: The activity of the Columbia River Basalts and enhanced by decreased albedo from the reduction of deserts and expansion of forests. Climate modelling suggests additional, currently unknown, factors also worked to create the warm conditions of the MMCO. The MMCO saw the expansion of the tropical climatic zone to much larger than its current size. The July ITCZ, the zone of maximal monsoonal rainfall, moved to

2079-531: The ancestors of the chimpanzees and had begun following their own evolutionary path during the final Messinian Stage (7.5–5.3 Ma) of the Miocene. As in the Oligocene before it, grasslands continued to expand, and forests to dwindle. In the seas of the Miocene, kelp forests made their first appearance and soon became one of Earth's most productive ecosystems. The plants and animals of the Miocene were recognizably modern. Mammals and birds were well established. Whales , pinnipeds , and kelp spread. The Miocene

2142-472: The aridity of the former. Unequivocally-recognizable dabbling ducks , plovers , typical owls , cockatoos and crows appear during the Miocene. By the epoch's end, all or almost all modern bird groups are believed to have been present; the few post-Miocene bird fossils which cannot be placed in the evolutionary tree with full confidence are simply too badly preserved, rather than too equivocal in character. Marine birds reached their highest diversity ever in

2205-619: 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 seaway continued to shrink and then disappeared as Africa collided with Eurasia in the Turkish – Arabian region. 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

2268-473: The connection between the Mediterranean and Indian Oceans, and allowing the interchange of fauna between Eurasia and Africa, including the dispersal of proboscideans and hominoids into Eurasia. During the late Miocene, the connections between the Atlantic and Mediterranean closed, causing the Mediterranean Sea to almost completely evaporate. This event is referred to as the " Messinian salinity crisis ". Then, at

2331-566: The course of this epoch . The youngest representatives of Choristodera , an extinct order of aquatic reptiles that first appeared in the Middle Jurassic , are known from the Miocene of Europe, belonging to the genus Lazarussuchus , which had been the only known surviving genus of the group since the beginning of the Eocene. The last known representatives of the archaic primitive mammal order Meridiolestida , which dominated South America during

2394-528: The early to mid Miocene (23–15 Ma). Oceans cooled partly due to the formation of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current , and about 15 million years ago the ice cap in the southern hemisphere started to grow to its present form. The Greenland ice cap developed later, in the Middle Pliocene time, about 3 million years ago. Marine invertebrate Too Many Requests If you report this error to

2457-564: The end of the Miocene due to increased habitat uniformity. The expansion of grasslands in North America also led to an explosive radiation among snakes. Previously, snakes were a minor component of the North American fauna, but during the Miocene, the number of species and their prevalence increased dramatically with the first appearances of vipers and elapids in North America and the significant diversification of Colubridae (including

2520-422: The end of the Miocene. The Paratethys underwent a significant transgression during the early Middle Miocene. 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

2583-612: The enigmatic Saint Bathans Mammal . Microbial life in the igneous crust of the Fennoscandian Shield shifted from being dominated by methanogens to being primarily composed of sulphate-reducing prokaryotes . The change resulted from fracture reactivation during the Pyrenean-Alpine orogeny, enabling sulphate-reducing microbes to permeate into the Fennoscandian Shield via descending surficial waters. Diatom diversity

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2646-461: The evolution of both groups into modern representatives. The early Miocene Saint Bathans Fauna is the only Cenozoic terrestrial fossil record of the landmass, showcasing a wide variety of not only bird species, including early representatives of clades such as moa , kiwi and adzebills , but also a diverse herpetofauna of sphenodontians , crocodiles and turtles as well as a rich terrestrial mammal fauna composed of various species of bats and

2709-499: The expansion of grasslands not to a CO 2 drop but to the increasing seasonality and aridity, coupled with a monsoon climate, which made wildfires highly prevalent compared to before. The Late Miocene expansion of grasslands had cascading effects on the global carbon cycle, evidenced by the imprint it left in carbon isotope records. Cycads between 11.5 and 5 million years ago began to rediversify after previous declines in variety due to climatic changes, and thus modern cycads are not

2772-711: The extinction of the last-surviving members of the hyaenodonts . Islands began to form between South and North America in the Late Miocene, allowing ground sloths like Thinobadistes to island-hop to North America. The expansion of silica-rich C 4 grasses led to worldwide extinctions of herbivorous species without high-crowned teeth . Mustelids diversified into their largest forms as terrestrial predators like Ekorus , Eomellivora , and Megalictis and bunodont otters like Enhydriodon and Sivaonyx appeared. Eulipotyphlans were widespread in Europe, being less diverse in Southern Europe than farther north due to

2835-604: The findings of marine invertebrate fossils of both Atlantic and Pacific affinity in La Cascada Formation . Connection would have occurred through narrow epicontinental seaways that formed channels in a dissected topography . The Antarctic Plate started to subduct beneath South America 14 million years ago in the Miocene, forming the Chile Triple Junction . At first the Antarctic Plate subducted only in

2898-460: The human lineage) appeared in Africa at the very end of the Miocene, including Sahelanthropus , Orrorin , and an early form of Ardipithecus ( A. kadabba ). The chimpanzee–human divergence is thought to have occurred at this time. The evolution of bipedalism in apes at the end of the Miocene instigated an increased rate of faunal turnover in Africa. In contrast, European apes met their end at

2961-516: The job brokers. Originally Iriomote Island was sparsely inhabited, and the workers were imported from various parts of Japan, Taiwan and China without detailed information of the work they would be doing or the conditions they would be living in. Employment brokers used sweet words such as, "It is warm in Iriomote, and there is no need of clothes. There are many women and you can eat pine and bananas by extending your arms. You can make lots of money and there

3024-587: The lake levels of the Eastern Paratethys dropped as it once again became a sea. 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. The modern day Mekong Delta took shape after 8 Ma. Geochemistry of

3087-543: The north, increasing precipitation over southern China whilst simultaneously decreasing it over Indochina during the EASM. Western Australia was at this time characterised by exceptional aridity. In Antarctica, average summer temperatures on land reached 10 °C. In the oceans, the lysocline shoaled by approximately half of a kilometre during warm phases that corresponded to orbital eccentricity maxima. The MMCO ended around 14 million years ago, when global temperatures fell in

3150-523: The origin of many modern genera such as Nerodia , Lampropeltis , Pituophis and Pantherophis ). Arthropods were abundant, including in areas such as Tibet where they have traditionally been thought to be undiverse. Neoisopterans diversified and expanded into areas they previously were absent from, such as Madagascar and Australia. In the oceans, brown algae , called kelp , proliferated, supporting new species of sea life, including otters , fish and various invertebrates . Corals suffered

3213-463: The possible herpetotheriid Morotodon from the late Early Miocene of Uganda. Approximately 100 species of apes lived during this time , ranging throughout Africa, Asia and Europe and varying widely in size, diet, and anatomy. Due to scanty fossil evidence it is unclear which ape or apes contributed to the modern hominid clade, but molecular evidence indicates this ape lived between 18 and 13 million years ago. The first hominins ( bipedal apes of

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3276-828: The preceding Oligocene and following Pliocene Epochs: Continents continued to drift toward their present positions. Of the modern geologic features, only the land bridge between South America and North America was absent, 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 Meso-American peninsula. Mountain building took place in western North America , Europe , and East Asia . Both continental and marine Miocene deposits are common worldwide with marine outcrops common near modern shorelines. Well studied continental exposures occur in

3339-641: The presence of coal in Shioya Bay, Okinawa. In 1854 Ryūkyū ordered the people of Iriomote to plant trees to hide the coal mines. In 1871 Hayashi Tasuke of Satsuma asked Ōhama Kana to find the coal. Ōhama was exiled to a remote island for leaking the secret. In 1885 the Japanese Government first investigated the Iriomote Coal Mine. In 1886 a politician, Yamagata Aritomo inspected the site with Masuda Takashi of Mitsui Zaibatsu company, and suggested

3402-695: 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. The asthenospheric window associated to the triple junction disturbed previous patterns of mantle convection beneath Patagonia inducing an uplift of ca. 1 km that reversed

3465-492: The use of prisoners to mine the coal. Mitsui Bussan Company started mining the coal with between 100 and 200 workers including prisoners. On 21 September 1889, there was a severe outbreak of malaria which put an end to mining operations for the time being. In 1891, several companies resumed coal mining at Iriomote but ceased their operations shortly thereafter. After the Russo-Japanese War and World War I were over, there

3528-440: The west coast of South America are thought to be caused by a regional phenomenon while the steadily rising central segment of the Andes represents an exception. While there are numerous registers of Oligocene–Miocene transgressions around the world it is doubtful that these correlate. It is thought that the Oligocene–Miocene transgression in Patagonia could have temporarily linked the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, as inferred from

3591-469: The workers. The payment of wages was made by the Naya Seido or Kinsaki method, by which a Kinsaki person was responsible for the production of coal and the personal management of the wage money. The salary of the workers was under the control of the Kinsaki person or Nayagashira, and given in coupons redeemable at the shops of the company. The coupons were said to be interchangeable for bank notes , but at unfavorable rates. Many workers grew to have debts due to

3654-423: Was Allodesmus . A ferocious walrus , Pelagiarctos may have preyed upon other species of pinnipeds including Allodesmus . Furthermore, South American waters witnessed the arrival of Megapiranha paranensis , which were considerably larger than modern age piranhas . New Zealand 's Miocene fossil record is particularly rich. Marine deposits showcase a variety of cetaceans and penguins , illustrating

3717-496: Was a gradual and progressive trend of increasing aridification, though it was not unidirectional, and wet humid episodes continued to occur. Between 7 and 5.3 Ma, temperatures dropped sharply again in the Late Miocene Cooling (LMC), most likely as a result of a decline in atmospheric carbon dioxide and a drop in the amplitude of Earth's obliquity, and the Antarctic ice sheet was approaching its present-day size and thickness. Ocean temperatures plummeted to near-modern values during

3780-484: Was a new boom in coal mining. The Okinawa Mining Company and Ryukyu Mining Company, both founded in 1906, were successful in coal mining operations at Iriomote. The mines were distributed on Uchibanare Island and the areas along the Nakaragawa river and the Urauchigawa River. The extracted coal was energy rich and was exported to Japan and to Formosa , Shanghai and Hong Kong . There had been repeated founding and merging of coal mine companies which had led to problems for

3843-405: Was arid, particularly so during the Middle Miocene. Climates remained moderately warm, although the slow global cooling that eventually led to the Pleistocene glaciations continued. Although a long-term cooling trend was well underway, there is evidence of a warm period during the Miocene when the global climate rivalled that of the Oligocene . The climate of the Miocene has been suggested as

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3906-514: Was inversely correlated with carbon dioxide levels and global temperatures during the Miocene. Most modern lineages of diatoms appeared by the Late Miocene. There is evidence from oxygen isotopes at Deep Sea Drilling Program sites that ice began to build up in Antarctica about 36 Ma during the Eocene . Further marked decreases in temperature during the Middle Miocene at 15 Ma probably reflect increased ice growth in Antarctica. It can therefore be assumed that East Antarctica had some glaciers during

3969-464: Was most intense there. Around this time the Mi3b glacial event (a massive expansion of Antarctic glaciers) occurred. The East Antarctic Ice Sheet (EAIS) markedly stabilised following the MMCT. The intensification of glaciation caused a decoherence of sediment deposition from the 405 kyr eccentricity cycle. The MMWI ended about 11 Ma, when the Late Miocene Cool Interval (LMCI) started. A major but transient warming occurred around 10.8-10.7 Ma. During

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