Grain size of Lake Qinghai sediments: Implications for riverine input and Holocene monsoon variability

• Published in: Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology
• Main Authors: Liu, Xingxing, Vandenberghe, Jef, An, Zhisheng, Li, Ying, Jin, Zhangdong, Dong, Jibao, Sun, Youbin
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2016
• Subjects: Lake Qinghai; Grain Size; Holocene; Asian Summer Monsoon; Solar Activities; Science & Technology; Physical Sciences; Life Sciences & Biomedicine; NE TIBETAN PLATEAU; NORTH-ATLANTIC CLIMATE; OXYGEN-ISOTOPE RECORD; HIGH-RESOLUTION; CENTRAL CHINA; ATMOSPHERIC CIRCULATION; LATEST PLEISTOCENE; QUATERNARY CLIMATE; CARBON ISOTOPES; Physical Geography; Geology; Paleontology; Geography; Physical; Geosciences; Multidisciplinary; North Atlantic
• Online Access: http://ir.ieecas.cn/handle/361006/5784; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2016.02.005

Grain-size compositions of lake sediments can provide direct information on changes in transporting mechanism and sedimentary environment. Various grain-size parameters have been employed to reconstruct hydrological conditions within the lake and dust influx from outside the lake. Here we present the grain-size results of a 5-m core retrieved from Lake Qinghai, northeastern Tibetan Plateau in order to address the links between Holocene depositional process and climatic change. Our results indicate that two parameters (skewness and grain-size ratio of 8-50/2-8 mu m) are sensitive to hydrodynamic changes in Lake Qinghai, which are further linked to the strength of the Asian summer monsoon. Variations of these two parameters reveal that summer monsoon intensity weakened gradually from early to late Holocene, superimposed by persistent centennial variability with dominant periods at 0.35, 0.23 and 0.12 kyr. Comparison of grain-size variations with solar activities and North Atlantic cooling events reveals that solar forcing likely plays an important role in driving centennial monsoon variability. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.