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Spatial variability and correlation of environmental proxies during the past 18,000 years among multiple cores from Lake Pumoyum Co, Tibet, China

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Abstract

Multiple cores from Lake Pumoyum Co, southern Tibet, provide an improved understanding of the spatial distribution of lake sediments, and how well they represent the paleo-climate. Comparative study of these cores using AMS 14C dating and environmental proxies clarified their relationships with environmental changes. Our work focused on understanding the spatial similarities among cores covering different time scales, and evaluating variations in sedimentary processes across sites. The four studied cores demonstrate different sedimentation rates, but environmental proxies help synchronize the timing of environmental variations. Sediment variables such as total organic carbon (TOC), inorganic carbon (IC), and grain size in different cores correlate well and corroborate changing trends over the past 10,000 cal years. Differences in sedimentation rates and facies among core sites probably result largely from differences in water depth. The core from the deepest site displays the highest average sedimentation rates and the highest accumulation rates of TOC, but lowest content of IC. Two cores from somewhat shallower sites have plant residues in their lower sections and record similar variations in both the number of layers and their depositional ages. Our results do not indicate any significant variation in sedimentation pattern or its related factors among the three sites. A single core from the deepest site could adequately represent the total lake environment over the time span covered. But cores from somewhat shallower sites might reveal important shifts in the environment over a longer time period.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful for the encouraging words and constructive opinions from an anonymous reviewer and editor for the first version of this manuscript. Thanks should be also given to J. R. Yang, from the Institute of Geographical Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), and S. P. Gao, from Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, CAS, who gave great help with the laboratory work. We also thank J. L. Feng, L. S. Liu, Y. H. Wu, X. Lin, Y. Wang, X. L. Zhen, P. Peng, some technical workers and other Japanese team members of the 2004 and 2006 Sino-Japan Pumoyum Co expeditions. This research was supported jointly by the National Natural Sciences Foundation of China (Grant No. 40571172, 40331006), Chinese National Basic Research Program (Grant No. 2005CB422002) and EU 6th Framework Programme: BRAHMATWINN, FP6-036952.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 18 Shuangqing Road, 100085, Beijing, People’s Republic of China

    Junbo Wang, Liping Zhu & Manping Xie

  2. Science in China Press, 100717, Beijing, People’s Republic of China

    Jianting Ju

  3. School of Marine Sciences and Technology, Tokai University, Shimizu, Shizuoka, 424-0902, Japan

    Mitsugu Nishimura & Matsunaka Testsuya

  4. Center for Chronological Research, Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya, 464-8601, Japan

    Toshio Nakamura

  5. Graduate School of Science, Tohoku University, 6-3 Aramaki Aza Aoba, Aoba-ku, Sendai, 980-8578, Japan

    Watanabe Takahiro

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  1. Junbo Wang
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  3. Mitsugu Nishimura
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Correspondence to Liping Zhu.

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Wang, J., Zhu, L., Nishimura, M. et al. Spatial variability and correlation of environmental proxies during the past 18,000 years among multiple cores from Lake Pumoyum Co, Tibet, China. J Paleolimnol 42, 303–315 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10933-008-9277-4

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