Late quaternary palaeolake levels in Tengger Desert, NW China

Comprehensive field investigations and laboratory analyses show that palaeolakes, including the Megalake Tengger, and other semi-connected and isolated water bodies, during late Pleistocene covered an area of more than 20,000 km(2). This is an area more than half the size of the Tengger Desert in NW...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology
Main Authors: Zhang, HC, Peng, JL, Ma, Y, Chen, GJ, Feng, ZD, Li, B, Fan, HF, Chang, FQ, Lei, GL, Wunnemann, B
Format: Report
Language:English
Published: ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV 2004
Subjects:
late Pleistocene
lake level
Tengger Desert
NW China
C-14 data
NORTHWESTERN CHINA
MONSOON CLIMATE
NORTH-ATLANTIC
WESTERN TIBET
GOBI DYNAMICS
ICE-CORE
HOLOCENE
RECORD
EVOLUTION
INSTABILITY
Physical Geography
Geology
Paleontology
Geography
Physical
Geosciences
Multidisciplinary
ice core
North Atlantic
Online Access:http://ir.nigpas.ac.cn/handle/332004/20580
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2004.04.006
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Summary:Comprehensive field investigations and laboratory analyses show that palaeolakes, including the Megalake Tengger, and other semi-connected and isolated water bodies, during late Pleistocene covered an area of more than 20,000 km(2). This is an area more than half the size of the Tengger Desert in NW China. Stratigraphic correlations and chronological evidence indicate that the palaeolakes started to develop around 42,000 C-14 year BP (uncalibrated, all throughout the paper) but their extent was limited until 37,000 C-14 year BP. Based on the chronology of representative lacustrine deposits, it can be deduced that the Megalake Tengger was established around 35,00 year BP and maintained until 22,000 C-14 year BP, leading to the formation of the Baijian Hu terraces, which are regarded as firm evidence of the existence of palaeolakes. The formation mechanism is unclear and the climate situation at the time is still an open question. The Holocene palaeolakes started to develop around 12,000 C-14 year BP. The Baijian Hu terraces indicate that the high water levels in the area occur-red around 8500, 5400-5100, 3500, and 1860-1370 C-14 year BP. The extent of the Holocene palaeolakes, primarily migratory lakes, was smaller than that of the Late Pleistocene palaeolakes. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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