Mingsong Li

Mingsong Li

Assistant Professor, School of Earth and Space Sciences, Peking University

Mingsong Li

I am an Assistant Professor in the School of Earth and Space Sciences at Peking University. My research focuses on paleoclimate, stratigraphy, astronomical forcing, paleohydrology, Earth-system modeling, data assimilation, and time-series analysis.

My group studies how Earth’s climate, oceans, and water cycle changed during warm intervals of deep time. We work with geological records, computational tools, and model-data comparison to ask how quickly environmental change happened, how it differed from place to place, and what mechanisms connected climate, sea level, groundwater, and ocean chemistry.

I also develop open research tools, including Acycle for cyclostratigraphy and paleoclimate time-series analysis, and DeepDA for paleoclimate data assimilation.

News

Fish and export productivity rose together during ancient warming

Published: September 24, 2026

A Nature Communications study co-authored by Mingsong Li links increased pelagic fish productivity with greater export productivity during the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum. Geological records and Earth system simulations suggest that intensified weathering supplied phosphorus to the ocean, supporting higher productivity over long timescales. The findings highlight how productivity responses to warming depend on timescale.

Qingqing Jiang publishes a study of orbital controls on early Eocene deep-water formation

Published: September 17, 2026

Qingqing Jiang’s first-author study in Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology, with Mingsong Li as a co-corresponding author, uses cGENIE simulations to investigate early Eocene North Pacific circulation. The models suggest that eccentricity-modulated precession could shift convection from intermediate to deep waters, strengthening ventilation and offering a possible mechanism connecting orbital forcing with climate and carbon-cycle variability.

Jiayuan Ren

Welcome Jiayuan Ren to the group

Published: September 16, 2026

We welcome Jiayuan Ren to the Deep-Time Global Change Group for her undergraduate thesis research. She plans to continue in the group for her PhD studies.

Tracing climate signals through Late Paleozoic water cycles

Published: September 9, 2026

A review in Earth-Science Reviews co-authored by Mingsong Li synthesizes geological evidence and climate simulations to examine hydrogeologic change during the Late Paleozoic Ice Age. It outlines how continental configurations and orbital forcing shape hydrology, weathering, and sedimentation, with basin conditions modifying the signals preserved in rocks. The framework helps interpret ancient climate records and climate-sensitive resource distributions.

Ancient sediments suggest solar-linked fluctuations in shallow-water oxygenation

Published: August 3, 2026

A study co-authored by Mingsong Li in Earth and Planetary Science Letters reports solar-cycle signals in 1.3-billion-year-old iron-rich laminites from Shennongjia, China. The findings suggest solar variability may have influenced local shallow-water oxygenation through hydroclimate and microbial processes, revealing decadal-to-centennial environmental variability during the Mesoproterozoic. The proposed mechanism still requires climate-model testing.

Stronger carbon export did not ensure more efficient burial during Miocene warming

Published: July 31, 2026

A study co-authored by Mingsong Li and Qingqing Jiang in Earth and Planetary Science Letters examines eastern equatorial Pacific sediments spanning the Middle Miocene Climate Optimum. Sedimentary records and LOSCAR-P simulations suggest that warmer intervals enhanced carbon export but reduced burial efficiency through enhanced remineralization, showing why greater ocean productivity need not translate into stronger long-term carbon sequestration.

Clockwise from left: Yu Liu, Xinguang Fan, Jianghui Du, Jiaqi Li, and Mingsong Li

Mingsong Li presents AI explorations in deep-time, deep-space, deep-earth, and deep-sea research

Published: April 28, 2026

Mingsong Li participated in a Peking University salon and gave a presentation titled "AI Explorations in Deep-Time, Deep-Space, Deep-Earth, and Deep-Sea Research." The talk covered Bayesian inversion of stratigraphic sequences for reconstructing Solar System orbital evolution, as well as Transformer models and data assimilation for studying climate sensitivity and ocean acidification.