Late Pleistocene vegetation change in Korea and its possible link to East Asian monsoon and Dansgaard–Oeschger (D–O) cycles

• Published in: Quaternary Research
• Main Authors: Lim, Jaesoo, Kim, Ju-Yong, Kim, Seon-Ju, Lee, Jin-Young, Hong, Sei-Sun
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 2013
• Subjects: Greenland
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.yqres.2012.10.008; http://api.elsevier.com/content/article/PII:S0033589412001330?httpAccept=text/xml; http://api.elsevier.com/content/article/PII:S0033589412001330?httpAccept=text/plain; https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0033589400002933

Abstract Late Pleistocene carbon isotope (δ 13 C) records from a paleolithic sedimentary sequence collected from Baeki, Hongcheon, central Korea, show long-term changes with superimposed short-term isotopic excursions. The δ 13 C value of the sedimentary organic matter, a proxy for past vegetation change, varied from − 26‰ to − 23‰ for the period between 30 and 90 ka, with a long-term variation similar to insolation changes. High-amplitude (− 1‰ to approximately − 1.5‰) fluctuations superimposed on the long-term changes in the δ 13 C values decreased during stronger summer monsoon intervals but increased during the weakened summer monsoon. This millennial-scale pattern is generally similar to Greenland Dansgaard–Oeschger (D–O) cycles. The possible connection between the Hongcheon area, Korea and high latitudes may be explained by atmospheric circulation changing in response to the D–O oscillations in the Northern Hemisphere.