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Climate and environmental changes over the past 150 years inferred from the sediments of Chaiwopu Lake, central Tianshan Mountains, northwest China

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Abstract

We used a 55-cm sediment core from shallow Chaiwopu Lake in the central Tianshan Mountains of Xinjiang, northwest China, to investigate climate and environmental changes in this arid region over the past ~150 years. The core was dated using 137Cs. We compared temporal changes in several sediment variables with recent meteorological and tree-ring records. Organic matter had a positive correlation with the Palmer Drought Severity Index in the central Tianshan Mountains, and the δ13C of organic matter had a positive correlation with regional temperature. We applied constrained incremental sum-of-squares cluster analysis to element concentrations in the core and identified three distinct zones: (1) 55–46 cm, ~1860–1910, (2) 46–26 cm, ~1910–1952, and (3) 26–0 cm, 1952–present. Between 1880 and 1910 AD, following the Little Ice Age (LIA), the sediment environment was relatively stable, climate was cold and dry, and the lake water displayed high salinity, in contrast to conditions during the LIA. During the LIA, westerlies carried more water vapor into Central Asia when the North Atlantic Oscillation was in a negative phase, and encountered the enhanced Siberia High, which probably led to increased precipitation. In the period 1910–1950 AD, the lake was shallow and the regional climate was unstable, with high temperatures and humidity. In the last ~15–20 years, human activities caused an increase in sediment magnetic susceptibility, and heavy metal and total phosphorus concentrations in the sediment were substantially enriched. Mean annual temperature displays a warming trend over the past 50 years, and the lowest temperature was observed in the 1950s. There has been an increase in annual total precipitation since the 1990s. The combined influences of climate and human activity on the lake environment during this period were faithfully recorded in sediments of Chaiwopu Lake. This study provides a scientific basis for environmental management and protection.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Zeng Haiao and Lan Cejie for field assistance. Thanks are due to Mark Brenner for his helpful comments and the revision of the English text. We also thank anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments and constructive suggestions. This study was supported by the Knowledge Innovation Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (KZCX2-EW-308), the National Basic Research Program of China (no. 2012CB956102), National Natural Science Foundation of China (U113830; 41101190), West Doctor Project of West Light Foundation of The Chinese Academy of Sciences (XBBS201106), and China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (20110491752). The author gratefully acknowledges the support of K. C. Wong Education Foundation, Hong Kong.

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  1. State Key Laboratory of Desert and Oasis Ecology, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi, People’s Republic of China

    Long Ma & Jilili Abuduwaili

  2. State Key Laboratory of Lake Science and Environment, Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, People’s Republic of China

    Jinglu Wu

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Correspondence to Jinglu Wu.

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Ma, L., Wu, J. & Abuduwaili, J. Climate and environmental changes over the past 150 years inferred from the sediments of Chaiwopu Lake, central Tianshan Mountains, northwest China. Int J Earth Sci (Geol Rundsch) 102, 959–967 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00531-012-0838-4

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