Qinghai-Tibet Plateau was once verdant haven
China DailyChinese paleontologists have determined that, about 47 million years ago, subtropical forests once existed on the high-altitude Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. By combining the findings and models, the team re-created the climate and altitude that existed 47 million years ago, revealing that the central plateau had an altitude of just 1,500 meters and an annual average temperature of 19 C, says Su Tao, a researcher from the tropical botanical garden and first author of the paper. "This is enough to show that the central part of the now high-altitude, freezing Qinghai-Tibet Plateau had flourishing subtropical vegetation 47 million years ago," Su says. China launched the second comprehensive scientific expedition to the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in June 2017, 40 years after the first.
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Qinghai-Tibet Plateau was once verdant haven
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