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High-resolution precipitation variations in the Northeast Tibetan Plateau over the last 800 years documented by sediment cores of Qinghai Lake

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Chinese Science Bulletin

Abstract

Short cores of about 80-cm retrieved from three main basins of the deepwater areas in Qinghai Lake, the largest inland enclosed lake in China, were studied. Stable isotopes of authigenic carbonates, grain-size, carbonate and organic matter content at 5-year resolution are used to reconstruct the climatic history over the last 800 years in the Northeastern Tibetan Plateau. Chronology was established according to 210Pb dating and 137Cs methods and the core correlation. It is found that cores from different deep basins of the lake can be well correlated. The sedimentary rate is highest in the western basin of the lake and lowest in the east. In the southern basin of the lake where the short core Qing-6 is located, the recent average sedimentation rate is 0.1004 cm/yr. Variations in effective precipitation recorded by the oxygen isotopes and grain size data during the last 800 years are consistent with the glacial accumulation record form the Dunde and Guliya ice cores. A dry climate lasted for 300 years from 1200 AD to 1500 AD, followed by a wet period from 1500 to 1560 AD. The two dry periods, 1560 to 1650 AD and 1780 to 1850 AD, were the results of southwest monsoon weakening. The effective precipitation generally increased since 1650 AD due to the strengthening of the Asian Southwest Monsoon, resulting in a wet period until the 1950s. Except the early stage, the Little Ice Age on the Plateau is characterized by increased effective moisture. Organic matter content, with nearly 200-year cycles, shows similar trend with the atmospheric delta carbon-14 before the 1850s, indicating that the bioproductivity responds to solar activity.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Arid Environment and Paleoclimate Research, National Lab. of Western China’s Environmental System, Lanzhou University, 730000, Lanzhou, China

    Jiawu Zhang, Ming Jin & Fahu Chen

  2. Desert and Desertification Lab., Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 730000, Lanzhou, China

    Fahu Chen

  3. Environmental Change Research Center, Department of Geography, University College London, 26 Bedford Way, WC1H 0AP, UK

    R. W. Battarbee & A. C. G. Henderson

Authors
  1. Jiawu Zhang
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  2. Ming Jin
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  3. Fahu Chen
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  4. R. W. Battarbee
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  5. A. C. G. Henderson
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Correspondence to Fahu Chen.

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Zhang, J., Jin, M., Chen, F. et al. High-resolution precipitation variations in the Northeast Tibetan Plateau over the last 800 years documented by sediment cores of Qinghai Lake. Chin.Sci.Bull. 48, 1451–1456 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1360/02wd0271

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1360/02wd0271

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