Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2brh9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T18:15:53.277Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Holocene variations in the Asian monsoon inferred from the geochemistry of lake sediments in central Tibet

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Carrie Morrill ,
Jonathan T. Overpeck ,
Julia E. Cole ,
Kam-biu Liu ,
Caiming Shen  and
Lingyu Tang
Carrie Morrill
Affiliation:
Geosciences Department, Gould-Simpson Building, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
Jonathan T. Overpeck
Affiliation:
Geosciences Department, Gould-Simpson Building, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA Institute for the Study of Planet Earth, 715 N. Park Avenue (2nd Floor), University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
Julia E. Cole
Affiliation:
Geosciences Department, Gould-Simpson Building, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
Kam-biu Liu
Affiliation:
Department of Geography and Anthropology, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, USA
Caiming Shen
Affiliation:
Department of Geography and Anthropology, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, USA
Lingyu Tang
Affiliation:
Nanjing Institute of Geology and Paleontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

We present a record of monsoon variations for the early and middle Holocene that is inferred from the geochemistry of sediment cores from Ahung Co, a lake in central Tibet. The resolution of this record is better than 50 yr and the age model is derived from radiocarbon ages of terrestrial charcoal, which eliminates errors associated with the lake hard-water effect. We made down-core geochemical measurements of % carbonate, % organic carbon, C/N and δ13C of bulk organic matter, δ13C and δ18O of carbonate, and % dolomite. Proxy calibration and modern water-balance reconstruction show that these are proxies for lake depth and the amount of monsoon precipitation. We find that lake level and monsoon precipitation have been decreasing at Ahung Co since the early Holocene (∼7500 cal yr B.P.). Superimposed on this trend are rapid declines in monsoon rainfall at 7000–7500 and 4700 cal yr B.P. and seven century-scale wet–dry oscillations. The cores do not contain sediment from the last ∼4000 yr. Surface sediments from the lake accumulated during the 20th century, however. From this, we argue that lake levels have risen again recently following a late Holocene dry period.

Keywords

PrecipitationMonsoonHoloceneClimate changeOxygen stable isotopesPaleoclimateHard-water effectAquatic macrophytes
Type
Original Articles
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 65 , Issue 02 , March 2006 , pp. 232 - 243
Copyright
University of Washington

References

An, Z., Porter, S.C., Kutzbach, J.E., Wu, X., Wang, S., Liu, X., Li, X., Zhou, W., (2000). Asynchronous Holocene optimum of the East Asian monsoon. Quaternary Science Reviews 19, 743–762.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Anderson, D.M., Overpeck, J.T., Gupta, A.K., (2002). Increase in the Asian southwest monsoon during the last four centuries. Science 297, 596–599.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Araguas-Araguas, L., Froehlich, K., Rozanski, K., (1998). Stable isotope composition of precipitation over southeast Asia. Journal of Geophysical Research 103, 28721–28742.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baker, F.C., (1945). The Molluscan Family Planorbidae. University of Illinois Press, Urbana, Illinois.Google Scholar
Barnett, T.P., Dumenil, L., Schlese, U., Roeckner, E., (1988). The effect of Eurasian snow cover on global climate. Science 239, 504–507.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Blindow, I., Andersson, G., Hargeby, A., Johansson, S., (1993). Long-term pattern of alternative stable states in two shallow eutrophic lakes. Freshwater Biology 30, 159–167.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chang, C., Shackleton, R.M., Dewey, J.F., Yin, J., (1988). The Geological Evolution of Tibet: Royal Society-Academia Sinica Geotraverse of the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau 1985. Royal Society, London.Google Scholar
Coops, H., Doef, R.W., (1996). Submerged vegetation development in two shallow, eutrophic lakes. Hydrobiologia 340, 115–120.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Deevey, E.S. Jr. Gross, M.S., Hutchinson, G.E., Kraybill, H.L., (1954). The natural 14C contents of materials from hard-water lakes. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 40, 285–288.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Douglas, R.W., Rippey, B., (2000). The random redistribution of sediment by wind in a lake. Limnology and Oceanography 45, 686–694.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Engel, S., Nichols, S.A., (1994). Aquatic macrophyte growth in a turbid windswept lake. Journal of Freshwater Ecology 9, 97–109.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Enzel, Y., Ely, L.L., Mishra, S., Ramesh, R., Amit, R., Lazar, B., Rajaguru, S.N., Baker, V.R., Sandler, A., (1999). High-resolution Holocene environmental changes in the Thar Desert. Northwestern India. Science 284, 125–128.Google ScholarPubMed
Fleitmann, D., Burns, S.J., Mudelsee, M., Neff, U., Kramers, J., Mangini, A., Matter, A., (2003). Holocene forcing of the Indian monsoon recorded in a stalagmite from Southern Oman. Science 300, 1737–1739.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fontes, J.-C., Gasse, F., Gibert, E., (1996). Holocene environmental changes in Bangong Co Basin (Western Tibet): Part 1. Chronology and stable isotopes of carbonates of a Holocene lacustrine core. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 120, 25–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gaffey, S.J., Bronnimann, C.E., (1993). Effects of bleaching on organic and mineral phases in biogenic carbonates. Journal of Sedimentary Petrology 63, 752–754.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gasse, F., Van Campo, E., (1994). Abrupt post-glacial climate events in West Asia and North Africa monsoon domains. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 126, 435–456.CrossRefGoogle 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., Zhan, Q., (1991). A 13,000 year climate record from western Tibet. Nature 353, 742–745.CrossRefGoogle 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, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 120, 79–92.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grossman, E.L., Ku, T.L., (1986). Oxygen and carbon isotope fractionation in biogenic aragonite—Temperature effects. Chemical Geology 59, 59–74.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Guo, Z., Petit-Maire, N., Kropelin, S., (2000). Holocene non-orbital climatic events in present-day arid areas of northern Africa and China. Global and Planetary Change 26, 97–103.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hodell, D.A., Brenner, M., Kanfoush, S.L., Curtis, J.H., Stoner, J.S., Song, X., Wu, Y., Whitmore, T.J., (1999). Paleoclimate of southwestern China for the past 50,000 yr inferred from lake sediment records. Quaternary Research 52, 369–380.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lister, G.S., Kelts, K., Chen, K., Yu, J., Niessen, F., (1991). Lake Qinghai, China: closed-basin lake levels and the oxygen isotope record for ostracoda since the latest Pleistocene. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 84, 141–162.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Liu, K.-B., Yao, Z., Thompson, L.G., (1998). A pollen record of Holocene climatic changes from the Dunde ice cap, Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. Geology 26, 135–138.2.3.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Liu, Z., Kutzbach, J., Wu, L., (2000). Modeling climate shift of El Nino variability in the Holocene. Geophysical Research Letters 27, 2265–2268.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lucas, W.J., Tyree, M.T., Petrov, A., (1978). Characterization of photosynthetic 14Carbon assimilation by Potamogeton lucens L. Journal of Experimental Botany 29, 1409–1421.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Meyers, P.A., (1994). Preservation of elemental and isotopic source identification of sedimentary organic matter. Chemical Geology 114, 289–302.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moore, D.M., (1989). X-ray Diffraction and the Identification and Analysis of Clay Minerals. Oxford Univ. Press, New York.Google Scholar
Morinaga, H., Itota, C., Isezaki, H., Goto, H., Yaskawa, M., Kusakabe, J., Liu, Z., Gu, B., Cong, S., (1993). Oxygen-18 and carbon-13 records for the last 14,000 years from lacustrine carbonates of Siling-co lake in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. Geophysical Research Letters 20, 2909–2912.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morrill, C., (2004). The influence of Asian summer monsoon variability on the water balance of a Tibetan lake. Journal of Paleolimnology 32, 273–286.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morrill, C., Overpeck, J.T., Cole, J.E., (2003). A synthesis of abrupt changes in the Asian summer monsoon since the last deglaciation. The Holocene 13, 465–476.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Overpeck, J., Anderson, D., Trumbore, S., Prell, W., (1996). The southwest Indian monsoon over the last 18,000 years. Climate Dynamics 12, 213–225.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Overpeck, J., Liu, K., Morril, C., Cole, J., Shen, C., Anderson, D., Tang, L., (2005). Holocene environmental change in the Himalayan-Tibetan Plateau region: lake sediments and the future. Huber, U.M., Bugmann, H.K.M., Reasoner, M.A., Global Change and Mountain Regions: An Overview of Current Knowledge Springer, Boston.83–92.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pewe, T.L., Liu, T., Slatt, R.M., Li, B., (1995). Origin and Character of Loesslike Silt in the Southern Qinghai-Xizang (Tibet) Plateau, China. United States Geological Survey Professional Paper 1549, (55 pp.)Google Scholar
Prell, W.L., Kutzbach, J.E., (1992). Sensitivity of the Indian monsoon to forcing parameters and implications for its evolution. Nature 360, 647–652.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Scheffer, M., Hosper, S.H., Meijer, M.-L., Moss, B., Jeppesen, E., (1993). Alternative equilibria in shallow lakes. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 8, 275–279.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Shen, C., (2003). Millennial-scale variations and centennial-scale events in the southwest Asian monsoon: pollen evidence from Tibet.. PhD Dissertation, Louisiana State University.. 286 pp.Google Scholar
Shukla, J., Paolino, D.A., (1983). The Southern oscillation and long-range forecasting of the summer monsoon rainfall over India. Monthly Weather Review 111, 1830–1837.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Staubwasser, M., Sirocko, F., Grootes, P.M., Erlenkeuser, H., (2002). South Asian monsoon climate change and radiocarbon in the Arabian Sea during early and middle Holocene. Paleoceanography 17 Google Scholar
Stuiver, M., Reimer, P.J., Bard, E., Beck, J.W., Burr, G.S., Hughen, K.A., Kromer, B., McCormac, G., Van der Plicht, J., Spurk, M., (1998). INTCAL98 radiocarbon age calibration, 24,000–0 cal BP. Radiocarbon 35, 215–230.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thompson, L.G., Mosley-Thompson, E., Davis, M.E., Bolzan, J.F., Dai, J., Yao, T., Gundestrup, N., Wu, X., Klein, L., Xie, Z., (1989). Holocene–Late Pleistocene climatic ice core records from Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau. Science 246, 474–477.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Thompson, L.G., Yao, T., Davis, M.E., Henderson, K.A., Mosley-Thompson, E., Lin, P.-N., Beer, J., Synal, H.-A., Cole-Dai, J., Bolzan, J.F., (1997). Tropical climate instability: the last glacial cycle from a Qinghai–Tibetan ice core. Science 276, 1821–1825.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tian, L., Yao, T., Numaguti, A., Sun, W., (2001). Stable isotope variations in monsoon precipitation on the Tibetan Plateau. Journal of the Meteorological Society of Japan 79, 959–966.Google Scholar
Verardo, D.J., Froelich, P.N., McIntyre, A., (1990). Determination of organic carbon and nitrogen in marine sediments using the Carlo Erba NA-1500 Analyzer. Deep-Sea Research 37, 157–165.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Verschuren, D., (1999). Sedimentation controls on the preservation and time resolution of climate-proxy records from shallow fluctuating lakes. Quaternary Science Reviews 18, 821–837.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wang, B., French, H.M., (1995). Permafrost on the Tibet plateau, China. Quaternary Science Reviews 14, 255–274.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wang, B., Wu, R., Lau, K.-M., (2001). Interannual variability of the Asian summer monsoon: contrasts between the Indian and the western North Pacific–East Asian monsoons. Journal of Climate 14, 4073–4090.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilks, D.S., (1995). Statistical Methods in the Atmospheric Sciences. Academic Press, San Diego.Google Scholar
Winkler, M.G., Wang, P.K., (1993). The late Quaternary vegetation and climate of China. Wright, H.E., Global Climates since the Last Glacial Maximum University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis.221–261.Google Scholar
Wright, H.E., Mann, D.H., Glaser, P.H., (1984). Piston corers for peat and lake sediments. Ecology 65 02, 657–659.CrossRefGoogle Scholar