西风带是大气环流的重要组成部分，与亚洲中纬度气候和季风气候有密切联系，认识西风带变化是理解新生代亚洲内陆干旱化和亚洲季风演化过程的重要环节。晚中新世-上新世，北半球西风带发生明显变化，构造因素起着重要作用，但过去的研究偏重青藏高原及其外围地形隆升对西风带的影响，尚没有充分关注海道变化这一驱动力对西风带的影响。本项目将结合地质记录，开展数值模拟，研究中美海道变浅/关闭、印尼海道收缩、白令海峡打开等对西风带的影响及其动力学机制；并进一步探讨在晚中新世-上新世海道变化作用下，西风带对青藏高原北缘及其外围中亚山脉隆升的响应差异。本研究有助于我们理解晚新生代海道变化与亚洲内陆干旱化和亚洲季风演化的动力学联系，并加深我们对晚新生代构造隆升气候效应的认识。

As the important component of the atmospheric circulation, westerlies are close to the climate in the Asian mid-latitudes and monsoon regions. What determines the variation of the Cenozoic westerlies is therefore important to understanding the evolution of the Asian inland aridification and Asian monsoon. The northern westerlies changed greatly during the Late Miocene-Pliocene, primarily induced by tectonic forcings of seaway change and topographic uplift. In previous studies, the role of the uplift of Tibetan Plateau and its surrounding regions on the westerlies was highlighted, while the role of seaway changes was less being focused on. As such, in this project, combining the geological evidence, we would focus on the impact of inter-ocean seaway change during the Late Miocene-Pliocene on the westerlies through model simulations. We would investigate the impacts of the shallowing and closure of the Central American seaway, the constriction of Indonesian seaways, and the opening of the Bering Strait, on the westerlies, and explore the underlying dynamical mechanism. Further, we would explore the divergent response of westerlies to the uplift of the northern Tibetan Plateau and central Asian mountains when superimposed on the climate effect induced by those seaway changes. The project would be beneficial for us to understand the dynamical linkage between the seaway change and the evolution of the Asian inland aridification and Asian monsoon in the late Cenozoic, and deepen our knowledge of the climate effect of tectonic uplift.