Climate change since 11.5 ka on the Diancang Massif on the southeastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau

• Published in: Quaternary Research
• Main Authors: Yang, Jiangqiang, Zhang, Wei, Cui, Zhijiu, Yi, Chaolu, Chen, Yixin, Xu, Xiangke
• Other Authors: Yang, JQ (reprint author), Chinese Acad Sci, Key Lab Tibetan Environm Changes & Land Surface P, Inst Tibetan Plateau Res, Beijing 100085, Peoples R China., Chinese Acad Sci, Key Lab Tibetan Environm Changes & Land Surface P, Inst Tibetan Plateau Res, Beijing 100085, Peoples R China., Liaoning Normal Univ, Coll Urban & Environm Sci, Dianlian 116029, Peoples R China., Peking Univ, Coll Urban & Environm Sci, Beijing 100871, Peoples R China.
• Format: Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: quaternary research 2010
• Subjects: Diancang Massif; Climate change; Indian Monsoon; Holocene; NORTH-ATLANTIC CLIMATE; ASIAN MONSOON; HIGH-RESOLUTION; SUMMER MONSOON; POLLEN EVIDENCE; QINGHAI LAKE; CHINA; GLACIATION; SEDIMENTS; Indian; North Atlantic
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11897/244833; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yqres.2009.11.004

The Diancang Massif is located in a region linking the Tibetan and Yungui Plateaus. Climatically, it is in a transition belt between the south and middle subtropical zones, controlled by Indian monsoon and westerlies. Thus, this study provides more evidences on the evolution of Indian monsoon since the Holocene. We reconstruct the history of climate on the Diancang Massif since 11.5 ka, using integrated correlation of glacial activities, early human settlement sites, and climate proxies abstracted from variations in grain size, magnetic susceptibility, geochemical composition, and pollen in lacustrine sediments. Six climatic stages have been identified. Stage 1, from 11.5 ka to 9.0 ka, is a relatively wet period, corresponding to the onset of the Holocene; from 9.5 ka to 6.0 ka, the climate is arid; a cold period follows from 6.0 ka to 5.3 ka, and this is Succeeded by a temperate stage from 5.3 ka to 4.0 ka; from 4.0 ka to 0.73 ka the climate is again arid. Compared with other regions dominated by the Indian monsoon, there is a delay in response of the climate on the Diancang Massif to the onset of the Holocene. (C) 2009 University of Washington. Published by Elsevier Inc. All Fights reserved. Geography, Physical Geosciences, Multidisciplinary SCI(E) 2 ARTICLE 2 304-312 73