Himalayan‐Tibetan Erosion Is Not the Cause of Neogene Global Cooling

Uplift and erosion of the Himalayas Tibetan Plateau have resulted in deposition some largest sedimentary masses on Earth. Chemical weathering these materials has been invoked as a primary driver long-term global cooling because silicate material consumes atmospheric CO2. We here combine geochemical data from scientific drill sites Arabian South China Seas, together with sediment mass flux budgets, to estimate changes chemical fluxes for Indus, Mekong, Pearl river systems. The rate CO2 consumption decreased by 50% between ∼16 5.3 Ma, especially Indus system, onshore slowed provenance shifted away mafic arc units suture zone. Falling during period refutes idea that Himalaya–Tibetan uplift drove Neogene cooling.