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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: [email protected] (Z.-D. Jin).
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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

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