Climate of the Past Discussions www.clim-past-discuss.net 1814-9340 1814-9359 5 1 2009 10.5194/cpd-5-709-2009 http://www.clim-past-discuss.net/5/709/2009/ http://www.clim-past-discuss.net/5/709/2009/cpd-5-709-2009.html http://www.clim-past-discuss.net/5/709/2009/cpd-5-709-2009.pdf 709 734 2009-02-27 Mid-Tertiary palaeoenvironments in Thailand: pollen evidences P. Sepulchre pierre.sepulchre@lsce.ipsl.fr D. Jolly S. Ducrocq Y. Chaimanee J.-J. Jaeger Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement/Institut Pierre Simon Laplace, UMR CEA/CNRS/UVSQ, Orme des Merisiers, bât. 709, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette cedex, France Laboratory of Palaeoenvironments, ISE-M, UMR 5554, Case 61, Université Montpellier II, 34095 Montpellier Cedex 05, France Institut International de Paléoprimatologie, Paléontologie Humaine: Evolution et Paléoenvironnements, UMR 6046 CNRS, Université de Poitiers, 40 avenue du Recteur Pineau, 86022 Poitiers, France Paleontology Division, Bureau of Paleontology and Museum, Department of Mineral Resources, Rama VI Road, Bangkok 10400, Thailand Only few data from South-East Asia document paleoenvironments evolution during the Cenozoic. Here we analyse palynological records from four sites of Thailand. The unique site dated from the Oligocene shows a temperate signal, while younger Miocene records show a tropical signal with variations in the hydrology of the deposition basin, as well as a temperate extra-local signal that could be related to a mid-altitude flora. The mid-Miocene Chiang Muan basin has delivered several occurrences of an opened biotope (<i>Poaceae</i>) alternatively replaced by what could be <i>Syzygium</i> gallery-forests. Khorat (&minus;9 to &minus;6.5 Ma) pollen records deliver similar results, but linked to a strong local signal. Regional and local signals remain difficult to separate, notably because of badly known palynomorphs, but our high resolution record confirm oceanic data that suggest high variability in Miocene climate, as well as modelling studies inferring an early onset of the Asian monsoon. 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