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A lake-level chronology based on feldspar luminescence dating of beach ridges at Tangra Yum Co (Southern Tibet)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Eike F. Rades ,
Sumiko Tsukamoto ,
Manfred Frechen ,
Qiang Xu  and
Lin Ding
Eike F. Rades*
Affiliation:
Institut für Geologie und Paläontologie, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, Corrensstraße 24, 48149 Münster, Germany Leibniz Institute for Applied Geophysics (LIAG), Geochronology & Isotope Hydrology, Stilleweg 2, 30655 Hannover, Germany
Sumiko Tsukamoto
Affiliation:
Leibniz Institute for Applied Geophysics (LIAG), Geochronology & Isotope Hydrology, Stilleweg 2, 30655 Hannover, Germany
Manfred Frechen
Affiliation:
Leibniz Institute for Applied Geophysics (LIAG), Geochronology & Isotope Hydrology, Stilleweg 2, 30655 Hannover, Germany
Qiang Xu
Affiliation:
Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 4A Datun Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100101, China
Lin Ding
Affiliation:
Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 4A Datun Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100101, China
*
*Corresponding author at: Currently working at Institute for Applied Geology, University of Natural Resources and Life, Sciences, Peter Jordan-Str. 70, 1190 Vienna, Austria. E-mail address:EikeF.Rades@gmail.com (E.F. Rades).
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Abstract

Many lakes on the Tibetan Plateau exhibit strandplains with a series of beach ridges extending high above the current lake levels. These beach ridges mark former lake highstands and therefore dating their formation allows the reconstruction of lake-level histories and environmental changes. In this study, we establish a lake-level chronology of Tangra Yum Co (fifth largest lake on the Tibetan Plateau) based on luminescence dating of feldspar from 17 beach-ridge samples. The samples were collected from two strandplains southeast and north of the lake and range in elevation from the current shore to 140 m above the present lake. Using a modified post-infrared IRSL protocol at 170°C we successfully minimised the anomalous fading in the feldspar IRSL signal, and obtained reliable dating results. The luminescence ages indicate three different stages of lake-level decline during the Holocene: (1) a phase of rapid decline (~ 50 m) from ~ 6.4 to ~ 4.5 ka, (2) a period of slow decline between ~ 4.5 and ~ 2.0 ka (~ 20 m), and (3) a fast decline by 70 m between ~ 2 ka and today. Our findings suggest a link between a decrease in monsoonal activity and lake-level decline since the early Holocene.

Keywords

Tibetan PlateauPaleoclimateLake-level changeHoloceneLuminescence dating
Type
Original Articles
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 83 , Issue 3 , May 2015 , pp. 469 - 478
Copyright
University of Washington

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