Title: Last deglacial and Holocene lake level variations of Qinghai Lake, north-eastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau
Abstract: Journal of Quaternary ScienceVolume 30, Issue 3 p. 245-257 Research Article Last deglacial and Holocene lake level variations of Qinghai Lake, north-eastern Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau XIANG-JUN LIU, Corresponding Author XIANG-JUN LIU Qinghai Institute of Salt Lakes, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining, 810008 China Correspondence to: Dr X.-J. Liu or Z.P. Lai as above E-mail: [email protected], [email protected] or [email protected]Search for more papers by this authorZHONGPING LAI, Corresponding Author ZHONGPING LAI State Key Lab of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, School of Earth Sciences, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, 430074 China Correspondence to: Dr X.-J. Liu or Z.P. Lai as above E-mail: [email protected], [email protected] or [email protected]Search for more papers by this authorDAVID MADSEN, DAVID MADSEN MOE Key Laboratory of West China's Environmental System, Research School of Arid Environmental and Climate Change, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730000 ChinaSearch for more papers by this authorFANGMING ZENG, FANGMING ZENG Qinghai Institute of Salt Lakes, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining, 810008 ChinaSearch for more papers by this author XIANG-JUN LIU, Corresponding Author XIANG-JUN LIU Qinghai Institute of Salt Lakes, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining, 810008 China Correspondence to: Dr X.-J. Liu or Z.P. Lai as above E-mail: [email protected], [email protected] or [email protected]Search for more papers by this authorZHONGPING LAI, Corresponding Author ZHONGPING LAI State Key Lab of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, School of Earth Sciences, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, 430074 China Correspondence to: Dr X.-J. Liu or Z.P. Lai as above E-mail: [email protected], [email protected] or [email protected]Search for more papers by this authorDAVID MADSEN, DAVID MADSEN MOE Key Laboratory of West China's Environmental System, Research School of Arid Environmental and Climate Change, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730000 ChinaSearch for more papers by this authorFANGMING ZENG, FANGMING ZENG Qinghai Institute of Salt Lakes, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining, 810008 ChinaSearch for more papers by this author First published: 23 April 2015 https://doi.org/10.1002/jqs.2777Citations: 100Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onEmailFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat Abstract Qinghai Lake is of significance for paleoclimate research because it lies in a pivotal region that is influenced by both the mid-latitude Westerlies and the low-latitude Asian summer monsoon (ASM). Most published lake level histories of Qinghai Lake are interpreted from drill-core proxies. Here we combine geomorphic shoreline investigations with optically stimulated luminescence dating to constrain lake level variations since the last deglacial. The results indicate that two periods of highstands occurred during the last deglacial (∼16–14.9 and ∼12.6–12.2 ka), and that lake levels were 6–7.4 m higher than at present. Lake levels dropped abruptly during the Younger Dryas, and were generally low with frequent fluctuations during the early Holocene. Qinghai Lake reached its highest Holocene level, 9.1 m higher than modern, at ∼5 ka, and has regressed during the past 2 ka. We propose that high lake levels during the last deglacial were due mainly to melting glacial and permafrost waters, supplemented by enhanced Westerlies precipitation and decreased evaporation during Heinrich Event 1 (∼16–14.9 ka) and increased ASM rainfall during the Bølling–Alleröd warm period (∼14–12 ka). Lake level fluctuations during the Holocene were generally in accordance with moisture variations in the marginal monsoon zones of inland China. References An ZS, Colman SM, Zhou WJ et al. 2012. Interplay between the Westerlies and Asian monsoon recorded in Qinghai Lake sediments since 32 ka. Scientific Reports 2: 619. Badertscher S, Fleitmann D, Cheng H et al. 2011. Pleistocene water intrusions from the Mediterranean and Caspian seas into the Black Sea. Nature Geoscience 4: 236–239. Caley T, Roche DM, Renssen H. 2014. Orbital Asian summer monsoon dynamics revealed using an isotope-enabled global climate model. Nature Communications 5: 5371. Carré M, Sachs JP, Purca S et al. 2014. Holocene history of ENSO variance and asymmetry in the eastern tropical Pacific. Science 345: 1045–1048. Chen FH, Chen XM, Chen JH et al. 2014. Holocene vegetation history, precipitation changes and Indian Summer Monsoon evolution documented from sediments of Xingyun Lake, south-west China. Journal of Quaternary Science 29: 661–674. Chen FH, Wang SL, Zhang WX et al. 1991. The loess profile at south bank, climatic information and lake-level fluctuations of Qinghai Lake during the Holocene. Scientia Geographica Sinica 11: 76–85. [in Chinese with English abstract]. Chen FH, Yu ZC, Yang ML et al. 2008. Holocene moisture evolution in arid central Asia and its out-of-phase relationship with Asian monsoon history. Quaternary Science Reviews 27: 351–364. Chen JH, Chen FH, Feng S et al. 2015. Hydroclimatic changes in China and surroundings during the medieval climate anomaly and Little Ice Age: spatial patterns and possible mechanisms. Quaternary Science Reviews 107: 98–111. Chen KZ, Bowler JM, Kelts K. 1990. Paleoclimatic evolution within the Qinghai-Xizang (Tibet) Plateau in the last 40000 years. Quaternary Sciences 1: 21–31. [in Chinese with English abstract]. Chen YW, Zong YQ, Li B et al. 2013. Shrinking lakes in Tibet linked to the weakening Asian monsoon in the past 8.2 ka. Quaternary Research 80: 189–198. Clark PU, Dyke AS, Shakun JD et al. 2009. The Last Glacial Maximum. Science 325: 710–714. Denton GH, Anderson RF, Toggweiler JR et al. 2010. The last glacial termination. Science 328: 1652–1656. Dietze E, Wünnemann B, Hartmann K et al. 2013. Early to mid-Holocene lake high-stand sediments at Lake Donggi Cona, northeastern Tibetan Plateau, China. Quaternary Research 79: 325–336. Dortch JM, Owen LA, Caffee MW. 2013. Timing and climatic drivers for glaciation across semi-arid western Himalayan-Tibetan orogen. Quaternary Science Reviews 78: 188–208. Fan QS, Ma HZ, Cao GC et al. 2012. Geomorphic and chronometric evidence for high lake level history in Gahai Lake and Toson Lake of north-eastern Qaidam Basin, north-eastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. Journal of Quaternary Science 5: 819–827. Fan QS, Ma HZ, Wei HC et al. 2014. Holocene lake-level changes of Hurleg Lake on northeastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau and possible forcing mechanism. The Holocene 24: 274–283. Fang JQ. 1991. Lake evolution during the past 30,000 years in China, and its implications for environmental change. Quaternary Research 36: 37–60. Gasse F, Arnold M, Fontes JC et al. 1991. A 13, 000-year climate record from western Tibet. Nature 353: 742–745. Henderson ACG, Holmes JA, Leng MJ. 2010. Late Holocene isotope hydrology of Lake Qinghai, NE Tibetan Plateau: effective moisture variability and atmospheric circulation changes. Quaternary Science Reviews 29: 2215–22223. Herzschuh U, Borkowski J, Schewe J et al. 2014. Moisture-advection feedback supports strong early-to-mid Holocene monsoon climate on the eastern Tibetan Plateau as inferred from a pollen-based reconstruction. Palaeogeography Palaeoclimatology Palaeoecology 402: 44–54. Hu DK, Clift PD, Böning P et al. 2013. Holocene evolution in weathering and erosion patterns in the Pearl River delta. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems 14: 2349–2368. Hudson AM, Quade J. 2013. Long-term east-west asymmetry in monsoon rainfall on the Tibetan Plateau. Geology 41: 351–354. Hudson AM, Quade J, Huth TE et al. 2015. Lake level reconstruction for 12. 8–2. 3 ka of the Ngangla Ring Tso closed-basin lake system, southwest Tibetan Plateau. Quaternary Research 83: 66–79. Huth T, Hudson AM, Quade J et al. 2015. Constraints on paleoclimate from 11.5 to 5.0 ka from shoreline dating and hydrologic budget modeling of Baqan Tso, southwestern Tibetan Plateau. Quaternary Research 83: 80–93. Ji JF, Shen J, Balsam W et al. 2005. Asian monsoon oscillations in the northeastern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau since the late glacial as interpreted from visible reflectance of Qinghai Lake sediments. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 233: 61–70. Kelts K, Chen KZ, Lister G et al. 1989. Geological fingerprints of climate history: a cooperative study of Qinghai Lake, China. Eclogae Geologicae Helvetiae 82: 167–182. Komatsu T, Tsukamoto S. 2015. Late Glacial lake-level changes in the Lake Karakul basin (a closed glacierized-basin), eastern Pamirs, Tajikistan. Quaternary Research 83: 137–149. Kong P, Na CG, Brown R et al. 2011. Cosmogenic 10Be and 26Al dating of paleolake shorelines in Tibet. Journal of Asian Earth Sciences 41: 263–273. Kong P, Na CG, Fink D et al. 2007. Cosmogenic 10Be inferred lake-level changes in Sumxi Co Basin, western Tibet. Journal of Asian Earth Sciences 29: 698–703. Lai ZP, Zöller L, Fuchs M et al. 2008. Alpha efficiency determination for OSL of quartz extracted from Chinese loess. Radiation Measurements 43: 767–770. Li BY, Wang SM, Zhu LP et al. 2001. 12 ka BP lake environment on the Tibetan Plateau. Science in China Series D: Earth Sciences 44: 324–331. Li DW, Li YK, Mao BQ et al. 2009. Lake-level fluctuations since the Last Glaciation in Selin Co (Lake), Central Tibet, investigated using optically stimulated luminescence dating of beach ridges. Environmental Research Letters 4: 045204. Li Q, Wu HB, Yu YY et al. 2014b. Reconstructed moisture evolution of the deserts in northern China since the Last Glacial Maximum and its implications for the East Asian Summer Monsoon. Global and Planetary Change 121: 101–112. Li XZ, Liu WG. 2014. Water salinity and productivity recorded by ostracod assemblages and their carbon isotopes since the early Holocene at Lake Qinghai on the northeastern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, China. Palaeogeography Palaeoclimatology Palaeoecology 407: 25–33. Li Y, Wang N, Li Z et al. 2013. Climatic and environmental change in Yanchi Lake, Northwest China since the Late Glacial: a comprehensive analysis of lake sediments. Journal of Geographical Sciences 23: 932–946. Li Y, Morrill C. 2010. Multiple factors causing Holocene lake-level change in monsoonal and arid central Asia as identified by model experiments. Climate Dynamics 35: 1119–1132. Li Y, Wang NA, Zhou XH et al. 2014a. Synchronous or asynchronous Holocene Indian and East Asian summer monsoon evolution: a synthesis on Holocene Asian summer monsoon simulations, records and modern monsoon indices. Global and Planetary Change 116: 30–40. Lister GS, Kelts K, Zao CK et al. 1991. Lake Qinghai, China: closed-basin like levels and the oxygen isotope record for ostracoda since the latest Pleistocene. Palaeogeography Palaeoclimatology Palaeoecology 84: 141–162. Liu WG, Li XZ, An ZS et al. 2013b. Total organic carbon isotopes: a novel proxy of lake level from Lake Qinghai in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, China. Chemical Geology 347: 153–160. Liu XJ, Colman SM, Brown ET et al. 2014a. Abrupt deglaciation on the northeastern Tibetan Plateau: evidence from Lake Qinghai. Journal of Paleolimnology 51: 223–240. Liu XJ, Colman SM, Brown ET et al. 2014b. A climate threshold at the eastern edge of the Tibetan plateau. Geophysical Research Letters 41: 5598–5604. Liu XJ, Lai ZP. 2013. Optical dating of sand wedges and ice-wedge casts from Qinghai Lake area on the northeastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau and its palaeoenvironmental implications. Boreas 42: 333–341. Liu XJ, Lai ZP, Fan QS et al. 2010. Timing for high lake levels of Qinghai Lake in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau since the Last Interglaciation based on quartz OSL dating. Quaternary Geochronology 5: 218–222. Liu XJ, Lai ZP, Madsen DB et al. 2011. Lake level variations of Qinghai Lake in northeastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau since 3.7 ka based on OSL dating. Quaternary International 236: 57–64. Liu XJ, Lai ZP, Yu LP et al. 2012. Luminescence chronology of aeolian deposits from the Qinghai Lake area in the Northeastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau and its palaeoenvironmental implications. Quaternary Geochronology 10: 37–43. Liu XJ, Lai ZP, Zeng FM et al. 2013a. Holocene lake level variations on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. International Journal of Earth Sciences 102: 2007–2016. Liu XQ, Dong HL, Rech JA et al. 2008. Evolution of Chaka Salt Lake in NW China in response to climatic change during the latest Pleistocene-Holocene. Quaternary Science Reviews 27: 867–879. Liu XQ, Shen J, Wang SM et al. 2003a. A 16000-year paleoclimatic record derived from authigenetic carbonate of lacustrine sediment in Qinghai Lake. Geological Journal of China Universities 9: 38–46. [in Chinese with English abstract]. Liu XQ, Shen J, Wang SM. 2003b. The grain-size of the core QH-2000 in Qinghai Lake and its implication for paleoclimate and paleoenvironment. Journal of Lake Sciences 15: 112–117. [in Chinese with English abstract]. Long H, Lai ZP, Fuchs M et al. 2012. Timing of Late Quaternary palaeolake evolution in Tengger Desert of northern China and its possible forcing mechanisms. Global and Planetary Change 92–93: 119–129. Lu HY, Yi SW, Liu ZY et al. 2013. Variation of East Asian monsoon precipitation during the past 21 k.y. and potential CO2 forcing. Geology 41: 1023–1026. Lu HY, Zhao CF, Mason J et al. 2010. Holocene climatic changes revealed by aeolian deposits from the Qinghai Lake area (northeastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau) and possible forcing mechanisms. The Holocene 21: 297–304. Ma ZB, Wang ZH, Liu JQ et al. 2004. U-series chronology of sediments associated with Late Quaternary fluctuations, Balikun Lake, northwestern China. Quaternary International 121: 89–98. Madsen DB, Ma HZ, Brantingham PJ et al. 2006. The late upper Paleolithic occupation of the northern Tibetan Plateau margin. Journal of Archaeological Science 33: 1433–1444. Madsen DB, Ma HZ, Rhode D et al. 2008. Age constraints on the late Quaternary evolution of Qinghai Lake, Tibetan Plateau. Quaternary Research 69: 316–325. Marcott SA, Shakun JD, Clark PU et al. 2013. A reconstruction of regional and global temperature for the past 11,300 years. Science 339: 1198–1201. Murray AS, Wintle AG. 2000. Luminescence dating of quartz using an improved single-aliquot regenerative-dose protocol. Radiation Measurements 32: 57–73. Nishimura M, Matsunaka T, Morita Y et al. 2014. Paleoclimatic changes on the southern Tibetan Plateau over the past 19,000 years recorded in Lake Pumoyum Co, and their implications for the southwest monsoon evolution. Palaeogeography Palaeoclimatology Palaeoecology 396: 75–92. Owen LA, Ma HZ, Derbyshire E, et al. 2003a. The timing and style of late quaternary glaciation in the Laji Mountains, NE Tibet: evidence for restricted glaciation during the latter part of the Last Glacial. Zeitschrift Für Geomorphologie 130: 263–276. Owen LA, Spencer JQ, Ma HZ et al. 2003b. Timing of Late Quaternary glaciation along the southwestern slopes of the Qilian Shan, Tibet. Boreas 32: 281–291. Prescott JR, Hutton JT. 1994. Cosmic ray contributions to dose rates for luminescence and ESR dating: large depths and long-term time variations. Radiation Measurements 23: 497–500. Qiang MR, Song L, Chen FH et al. 2013. A 16-ka lake-level record inferred from macrofossils in a sediment core from Genggahai Lake, northeastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (China). Journal of Paleolimnology 49: 575–590. Rhode D, Ma HZ, Madsen DB et al. 2010. Paleoenvironmental and archaeological investigations at Qinghai Lake, western China: geomorphic and chronometric evidence of lake level history. Quaternary International 218: 29–44. Shen J, Liu XQ, Wang SM et al. 2005. Palaeoclimatic changes in the Qinghai Lake area during the last 18,000 years. Quaternary International 136: 131–140. Stager JC, Ryves DB, Chase BM et al. 2011. Catastrophic drought in the Afro-Asian Monsoon region during Heinrich Event 1. Science 331: 1299–1302. Stuiver M, Reimer PJ, Reimer R. 2014. CALIB radiocarbon calibration. http://calib.qub.ac.uk/calib/ Takeuchi N, Fujita K, Aizen VB et al. 2014. The disappearance of glaciers in the Tien Shan Mountains in Central Asia at the end of Pleistocene. Quaternary Science Reviews 103: 26–33. Thomas EK, Huang YS, Morrill C et al. 2014. Abundant C4 plants on the Tibetan Plateau during the Lateglacial and early Holocene. Quaternary Science Reviews 87: 24–33. Wang HP, Chen JH, Zhang XJ et al. 2014c. Palaeosol development in the Chinese Loess Plateau as an indicator of the strength of the East Asian summer monsoon: evidence for a mid-Holocene maximum. Quaternary International 334–335: 155–164. Wang HY, Dong HL, Zhang CL et al. 2014a. Water depth affecting thaumarchaeol production in Lake Qinghai, northeastern Qinghai-Tibetan plateau: Implications for paleo lake levels and paleoclimate. Chemical Geology 368: 76–84. Wang HY, Dong HL, Zhang CL et al. 2015. Deglacial and Holocene archaeal lipid-inferred paleohydrology and paleotemperature history of Lake Qinghai, northeastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. Quaternary Research 83: 116–126. Wang RL, Scarpitta SC, Zhang SC et al. 2002. Later Pleistocene-Holocene climate conditions of Qinghai-Xizhang Plateau (Tibet) based on carbon and oxygen stable isotopes of Zabuye Lake sediments. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 203: 461–477. Wang SM, Shi YF. 1992. Review and discussion on the late Quaternary evolution of Qinghai Lake. Journal of Lake Sciences 4: 1–9. [in Chinese with English abstract]. Wang Y, Shen J, Xu XN et al. 2011. Environmental changes during the past 13500 cal. a BP deduced from lacustrine sediment records of Lake Qinghai, China. Chinese Journal of Geochemistry 30: 479–489. Wang YB, Herzschuh U, Shumilovskikh LS et al. 2014b. Quantitative reconstruction of precipitation changes on the NE, Tibetan Plateau since the Last Glacial Maximum-extending the concept of pollen source area to pollen-based climate reconstructions from large lakes. Climate of the Past 10: 21–39. Wang YB, Liu XQ, Herzschuh U. 2010. Asynchronous evolution of the Indian and East Asian summer monsoon indicated by Holocene moisture patterns in monsoonal central Asia. Earth-Science Reviews 103: 135–153. Wang YJ, Cheng H, Edwards RL et al. 2001. A high-resolution absolute-dated Late Pleistocene monsoon record from Hulu Cave, China. Science 294: 2345–2348. Wünnemann B, Wagner J, Zhang YZ et al. 2012. Implications of diverse sedimentation patterns in Hala Lake, Qinghai Province, China for reconstructing Late Quaternary climate. Journal of Paleolimnology 48: 725–749. Xie SC, Evershed RP, Huang XY et al. 2013. Concordant monsoon-driven postglacial hydrological changes in peat and stalagmite records and their impacts on prehistoric cultures in central China. Geology 41: 827–830. Yan DD, Wünnemann B. 2014. Late Quaternary water depth changes in Hala lake, northeastern Tibetan Plateau, derived from ostracod assemblages and sediment properties in multiple sediment records. Quaternary Science Reviews 95: 95–114. Yang JF, Lu SW, Zhao H et al. 2006. Lacustrine sediments' U-series age and its significance in Jiezechaka Lake of Tibet. Journal of Earth Sciences and Environment 28: 6–10. [in Chinese with English abstract]. Yang XL, Liu JB, Liang FY et al. 2014. Holocene stalagmite δ18O records in the East Asian monsoon region and their correlation with those in the Indian monsoon region. The Holocene 24: 1657–1664. Yu JQ. 2005. Qinghai Lake, China: a multi-proxy investigation on sediment cores for the reconstructions of paleoclimate and paleoenvironment since the Marine Isotope Stage 3. PhD Dissertation. Faculty of Materials and Geoscience, Technical University of Darmstadt. Yu JQ, Kelts KR. 2002. Abrupt changes in climatic conditions across the late-glacial/Holocene transition on the NE, Tibet-Qinghai Plateau:;1; evidence from Qinghai Lake, China. Journal of Paleolimnology 28: 195–206. Yuan BY, Chen KZ, Bowler JM et al. 1990. The formation and evolution of the Qinghai Lake. Quaternary Sciences 3: 233–243. [in Chinese with English abstract]. Yuan DX, Cheng H, Edwards RL et al. 2004. Timing, duration, and transitions of the last interglacial Asian monsoon. Science 304: 575–578. Zhang CJ, Mischke S. 2009. A Lateglacial and Holocene lake record from the Nianbaoyeze Mountains and inferences of lake, glacier and climate evolution on the eastern Tibetan Plateau. Quaternary Science Reviews 28: 1970–1983. Zhang PX, Zhang BZ, Qian GM et al. 1994. The study of paleoclimatic parameter of Qinghai Lake since Holocene. Quaternary Sciences 3: 225–237. [in Chinese with English abstract]. Zhao XT, Zhu DG, Yan FH et al. 2003. Climate change and lake-level variation of Nam Co, Xizang since the last interglacial stage. Quaternary Sciences 23: 41–52. [in Chinese with English abstract]. Zhao Y, Yu ZC. 2012. Vegetation response to Holocene climate change in East Asian monsoon-margin region. Earth-Science Reviews 113: 1–10. Zhou X, Sun LG, Zhan T, et al. 2014. Spatial and temporal variations of Holocene optimum period in the East Asian Summer Monsoon regions. 11th Chinese Quaternary Conference, Guiyang, China, 15–18 August, pp. 229–230. [Chinese Abstract] Citing Literature Volume30, Issue3April 2015Pages 245-257 ReferencesRelatedInformation
Publication Year: 2015
Publication Date: 2015-04-01
Language: en
Type: article
Indexed In: ['crossref']
Access and Citation
Cited By Count: 113
AI Researcher Chatbot
Get quick answers to your questions about the article from our AI researcher chatbot