Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-94fs2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T08:13:13.576Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Role of late glacial to mid-Holocene climate in catchment weathering in the central Tibetan Plateau

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Zhang-Dong Jin ,
Yanhong Wu ,
Xiaohui Zhang  and
Sumin Wang
Zhang-Dong Jin*
Affiliation:
Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, 210008, China Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, CB2 3EQ, United Kingdom
Yanhong Wu
Affiliation:
Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, 210008, China
Xiaohui Zhang
Affiliation:
Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100029, China
Sumin Wang
Affiliation:
Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, 210008, China
*
*Corresponding author. Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, CB2 3EQ, United Kingdom.E-mail address: zhdjin523@hotmail.com (Z.-D. Jin).
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The lightness (L*) and concentrations of Rb, Sr and organic carbon (C org) have been measured in the age-constrained lake sediment cores recovered from Co Ngoin in the central Tibetan Plateau. Dissolved Sr flux is a dominant control on the variation of Rb/Sr ratios in the sediments. Variations in color and geochemical proxies of Co Ngoin sediments display a continuous history of late glacial to mid-Holocene chemical versus physical weathering intensity in response to past climatic changes between approximately 13,500 and 4500 cal yr B.P. A lower chemical weathering under a late glacial climate was followed by a higher weathering during the Holocene Optimum. Weathering intensity in the central Tibetan Plateau catchment also responds to well-known climatic events, such as the Younger Dryas (YD), and possibly the Holocene Event 5 (HE-5). Although there are differences in time or duration of the climatic events, many of the well-known late glacial to mid-Holocene events occurred in high-elevation Co Ngoin where atmospheric circulation might play a hemispherical role in climatic forcing. The sediment hiatus since c. 4200 14C yr B.P. in the Co Ngoin indicates a period of desiccation that was probably associated with a sharp decrease in summer monsoon strength. Our lascustrine results not only imply catchment weathering variations in response to late glacial to mid-Holocene climatic conditions in the central plateau, but also provide further evidence for global connections between regional climates.

Keywords

Chemical weatheringLake sedimentClimate changeCentral Tibetan Plateau
Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 63 , Issue 2 , March 2005 , pp. 161 - 170
Copyright
University of Washington

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Alley, R.B., Mayewski, P.A., Sowers, T., Stuiver, M., Taylor, K.C., Clark, P.U., (1997). Holocene climatic instability: a prominent, widespread event 8200 yr ago. Geology 25, 483–486.Google Scholar
Balsam, W.L., Deaton, B.C., Damuth, J.E., (1999). Evaluating optical lightness as a proxy for carbonate content in marine sediment cores: implications for marine sedimentation. Marine Geology 161, 141–153.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Björck, S., Rundgren, M., Ingolfsson, O., Funder, S., (1997). The preboreal oscillation around the Nordic seas: terrestrial and lacustrine responses. Journal of Quaternary Science 12, 455–465.Google Scholar
Bond, G., Broecker, W.S., Johnsen, S., McManus, J., Labeyrie, L., Jouzel, J., Bonani, G., (1993). Correlation between climate records from North Atlantic sediments and Greenland ice. Nature 365, 143–147.Google Scholar
Bond, G., Showers, W., Cheseby, M., Lotti, R., Almasi, R., deMenocal, P.P., Priore, P., Cullen, H., Hajdas, I., Bonani, G., (1997). A pervasive millennial-scale cycle in North Atlantic Holocene and glacial climates. Science 278, 1257–1266.Google Scholar
Bradbury, J.P., Leyden, B., Salgado-Labouriau, M., Lewis, W.M., Schubert, C., Binford, M.W., Frey, D.G., Whitehead, D.R., Weibezahn, F.H., (1981). Late Quaternary environmental history of Lake Valencia, Venezuela. Science 214, 1299–1305.Google Scholar
Bryson, R.A., Swain, A.M., (1981). Holocene variations of monsoon rainfall in Rajasthan. Quaternary Research 16, 135–145.Google Scholar
Chapman, M.R., Shackleton, N.J., (2000). Evidence of 550-year and 1000-year cyclcities in North Altanic circulation patterns during the Holocene. The Holocene 10, 287–291.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chen, J., An, Z., Head, J., (1999). Variation of Rb/Sr ratios in the loess–paleosol sequences of Central China during the last 130,000 years and their implications for monsoon paleoclimatology. Quaternary Research 51, 215–219.Google Scholar
Christensen, J., Björck, S., (2001). Digital sediment color analyses, DSCA, of lake sediments—Pitfalls and potentials. Journal of Paleolimnology 25, 531–538.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crowley, T.J., Burke, K.C., (1998). “Tectonic Boundary Conditions for Climate Reconstructions”. Oxford University Press, , 285.Google Scholar
Dansgaard, W., Johnsen, S.J., Clausen, H.B., Dahl-Jensen, D., Gundestrup, N.S., Hammer, C.U., Hvidberg, C.S., Steffensen, J.P., Sveinbjornsdottin, A.E., Jouzel, J., Bond, G., (1993). Evidence for general instability of past climate from a 250 kyr ice-core record. Nature 264, 218–220.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dasch, E.J., (1969). Strontium isotopes in weathering profiles, deep-sea sediments, and sedimentary rocks. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 33, 1521–1552.Google Scholar
Fang, J.Q., (1991). Lake evolution during the past 30,000 years in China, and its implications for environmental change. Quaternary Research 36, 37–60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fontes, J.C., Mélières, F., Gibert, E., Liu, Q., Gasse, F., (1993). Stable isotope and radiocarbon balances of two Tibetan lakes (Sumxi Co, Longmu Co) from 13000 B.P.. Quaternary Science Reviews 12, 875–887.Google Scholar
Gasse, F., Arnold, M., Fontes, J.C., Fort, M., Gibert, E., Huc, A., Li, B., Li, Y., Liu, Q., Melieres, F., Van Campo, E., Wang, F., Zhang, Q., (1991). A 13000-year climate record from western Tibet. Nature 353, 742–745.Google Scholar
Gasse, F., Fontes, J.C., Van Campo, E., Wei, K., (1996). Holocene environmental changes in Bangong Co basin (Western Tibet). Part 4: discussion and conclusions. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimology, Palaeoecology 120, 79–92.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gibbs, M.T., Kump, L.R., (1994). Global chemical erosion during the last glacial maximum and the present: sensitivity to changes in lithology and hydrology. Palaeocengraphy 9, 529–543.Google Scholar
Goldstein, S.L., (1988). Decoupled evolution of Nd and Sr isotopes in the continental crust and the mantle. Nature 336, 733–738.Google Scholar
Gu, Z., Liu, J., Yuan, B., An, K., (1993). The changes in monsoon influence in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau during the past 12000 years—Geochemical evidence from Silling Co sediments. Chinese Science Bulletin 38, 61–64.Google Scholar
Helmke, J.P., Schulz, M., Bauch, H.A., (2002). Sediment-color record from the northeast Atlantic reveals patterns of millennial-scale climate variability during the past 500,000 years. Quaternary Research 57, 49–57.Google Scholar
Jakobsson, M., Løvlie, R., Al-Hanbali, H., Arnold, E., Backman, J., Mörth, M., (2000). Manganese and color cycles in Arctic Ocean sediments constrain Pleistocene chronology. Geology 28, 23–26.Google Scholar
Ji, J.F., Balsam, W., Chen, J., (2001). Mineralogic and climatic interpretations of the Luochuan loess section (China) based on diffuse reflectance spectrophotometry. Quaternary Research 56, 23–30.Google Scholar
Jones, B., Manning, D.A.C., (1994). Comparison of geochemical indices used for the interpretation of paleoradox conditions in ancient mudstones. Chemical Geology 111, 111–129.Google Scholar
Krishnamurthy, R.V., Bhattacharya, S.K., Kusumgar, S., (1986). Palaeoclimatic changes deduced from 13C/12C and C/N ratios of Karewa lake sediments, India. Nature 323, 150–152.Google Scholar
Lehman, J.S., Keigwin, L.D., (1992). Sudden changes in North Atlantic circulation during the last deglaciation. Nature 356, 757–762.Google Scholar
Li, X., Coles, B.J., Ramsey, M.H., Thornton, I., (1995). Sequential extraction of soils for multi-element analysis by ICP-AES. Chemical Geology 124, 109–123.Google Scholar
Lister, G.S., Kelts, K., Chen, K., Yu, J.K., Niessen, K., (1991). Lake Qinghai, China: closed-basin lake levels and the oxygen isotope record for ostracoda since the last Pleistocene. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimology, Palaeoecology 84, 141–162.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Liu, X., Shen, J., Wang, S., Yang, X., Tong, G., Zhang, E., (2002). A 16,000-year pollen record of Qinghai Lake and its paleoclimate and paleoenvironment. Chinese Science Bulletin 47, 1931–1936.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Phadtare, N.R., (2000). Sharp decrease in summer monsoon strength 4000–3500 cal yr B.P. in the central Higher Himalaya of India based on pollen evidence from alpine peat. Quaternary Research 53, 122–129.Google Scholar
Raymo, M.E., Ruddiman, W.F., (1992). Tectonic forcing of late Cenozoic climate. Nature 359, 117–122.Google Scholar
Ruddiman, W.F., (1997). Tectonic Uplift and Climate Change.. Plenum Press, , New York., pp.239–365., 399–515.Google Scholar
Shi, Y., Li, J., Li, B., (1998). Uplift and Environmental Changes of Qinghai-Xizang (Tibetan) Plateau in the Late Cenozoic. Guangdong Science and Technology Press, , Guangzhou., 463.Google Scholar
Singh, G., Wasson, R.J., Agrawal, D.P., (1990). Vegetational and seasonal climatic changes since the last full glacial in the Thar Desert, northwestern India. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 64, 351–358.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stuiver, M., Reimer, P.J., Bard, E., Burr, G.S., Hughen, K.A., Kromer, B., McCormac, G., Vanderplicht, J., Spurk, M., (1998). INTCAL98 radiocarbon age calibration 24000-0 cal B.P.. Radiocarbon 40, 1041–1083.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tessier, A., Campbell, P.G.C., Bisson, M., (1979). Sequential extraction procedure for the speciation of particulate trace metals. Analytical Chemistry 51, 844–851.Google Scholar
Torrent, J., Schwertmann, U., Fecher, H., Alférez, F., (1983). Quantitative relationship between soil color and hematite content. Soil Science 136, 354–358.Google Scholar
Van Campo, E., Gasse, F., (1993). Pollen- and diatom-inferred hydrological and climatic in Sumxi Co basin (Western Tibet) from 13000 yr B.P.. Quaternary Research 39, 300–313.Google Scholar
Wu, Y.H., (2002). “Preliminary Study on Quaternary Environmental Change in the Central Tibetan Plateau.” Unpublished PhD dissertation. Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology 33–49.Google Scholar