A late Quaternary lake record from the Qilian Mountains (NW China): evolution of the primary production and the water depth reconstructed from macrofossil, pollen, biomarker, and isotope data

Herzschuh, Ulrike; Chen, Feng; Mischke, Steffen; Herzschuh, Rainer; Mohammadi, Farhid; Mingram, Birgit; Kürschner, Harald; Riedel, Frank

doi:10.1016/j.gloplacha.2004.09.024

Cited by 116 publications

(50 citation statements)

References 84 publications

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“…In contrast, short-chain n-alkanes, with chain lengths of 14-20 carbons and no distinct odd-over-even predominance, are predominantly ascribed to the algal and bacterial contribution [Han and Calvin, 1969;Giger et al, 1980;Pearson et al, 2007]. Submerged/floating aquatic macrophytes sampled from lakes, such as Myriophyllum, Potamogeton, Chara and many lake sediments are mainly characterized by medium-chain n-alkanes (n-C 23 and n-C 25 ) [Aichner et al, 2010;Ficken et al, 2000;Gao et al, 2011;Herzschuh et al, 2005;Lin et al, 2009;Mügler et al, 2008;Pearson et al, 2007], although the growing evidence also indicates that some palustrine Sphagnum species also have higher abundance of medium-chain n-alkanes [Bingham et al, 2010;Nichols et al, 2006]. We consequently ascribe the short-chain, long-chain, and medium chain n-alkanes to origins from bacteria and algae, terrestrial higher plants, and typical macrophytes or palustrine plants, respectively.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biomarkers challenge early Miocene loess and inferred Asian desertification

Peng¹,

Li²,

Song³

et al. 2012

Geophysical Research Letters

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[1] Fine-grained Miocene sediments from Tianshui Basin, northeastern Tibetan Plateau, have received intense attention recently because these sediments were identified as loess. The presence of early Miocene loess pushes the timing of initiation of inland Asian desertification from 8 Ma back to 22 Ma. However, mudflat/distal fan and shallow lake sediments of Miocene have also been reported in Tianshui Basin. Consequently, the origin of these fine-grained Miocene sediments in this area remains controversial. Here we investigate the n-alkane biomarker characteristics of Neogene sediments from a north-south transect of exposures within Tianshui Basin and compare these molecular distributions with those published Quaternary loess to help resolve the disputed origin. We found that n-C 23 and n-C 25 alkanes, sourced from either aquatic macrophytes or palustrine plants, are ubiquitous in the Miocene sediments from Tianshui Basin but are largely absent in Quaternary loess. This striking difference between n-alkane distributions in the Tianshui samples and the Quaternary loess casts doubt on an eolian origin for the Tianshui samples and challenges the hypothesis of an early Miocene onset of Asian interior desertification.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biomarkers challenge early Miocene loess and inferred Asian desertification

Peng¹,

Li²,

Song³

et al. 2012

Geophysical Research Letters

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“…This indicated that the long chain ketones are sensitive to the environmental temperature variation and can be used as a paleotemperature proxy in limnic environment. Herzschuh et al [24] utilized aquatic plant macrofossils and pollen, combined with the C/N, δ 13 C and n-alkanes proxies, to have reconstructed the paleoclimate variation in Lake Luanhaizi from the NE Tibetan Plateau. The explanation of the pollen data is confirmed by the n-alkane proxy.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate variability recorded by n-alkanes of paleolake sediment in Qaidam Basin on the northeast Tibetan Plateau in late MIS3

Zhang

Lei

et al. 2010

Sci. China Earth Sci.

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Here we combine n-alkanes preserved in a shell bar section from Qarhan paleolake, Qaidam Basin with the other sedimentary proxies to elucidate the lake evolution process during the period 39.7 to 17.5 14 C ka BP (calibrated age ranges from 43.5 to 22.4 cal. ka BP). In different stages, the n-alkane homologues exhibited different distribution modes indicative of variations in the surrounding vegetation and the hydrologic condition of the lake. The n-alkanes proxies (CPI h , ACL h , P aq ) have the same trends as the summer solar insolation variation, implying that the summer insolation is the most important climatic factor driving the environmental changes and also indirectly controls lake evolution on the Tibetan Plateau. CPI h and ACL h as well as the total pollen concentration appear to show a trend comparable with methane concentration record from the GRIP ice core that reflected the Dansgaard-Oeschger events. This demonstrates that the paleoclimate variations in Qarhan area generally agree with global climate change and show rapid oscillations in late MIS3. These findings provide the latest molecular fossil evidence from paleolake sediments to confirm that lake evolution on Tibetan Plateau in late MIS3 was closely associated with enhanced summer insolation. paleolake sediment, molecular fossil, n-alkane, paleoclimate, paleoenvironment, solar insolation Citation:Pu Y, Zhang H C, Lei G L, et al. Climate variability recorded by n-alkanes of paleolake sediment in Qaidam

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“…On the other hand, the n-alkane distribution patterns of Luanhaizi Lake are very different from Ximen Co and Nam Co, showing the n-alkanes as being dominated by n-C 23 and n-C 25 and some samples displaying bimodal distribution with n-C 19 as the main peak in low-carbon-number homologues. The carbon preference index in Luanhaizi is lower than in Ximen Co and Nam Co, while in Nam Co P aq values in most samples are greater than 0.4, reflecting the main sources of n-alkanes as being aquatic plants, bacteria and algae [21]. The main reason for the n-alkane distribution discrepancy between the different lakes might be due to differences in climatic conditions and in the ecosystems.…”

Section: Distribution Pattern Of N-alkanes In Glacially Eroded Lake Smentioning

confidence: 80%

“…The whole core has a light gray silty clay texture and had no obvious alteration or damage. The core was divided into Figure 1 Previous studies of n-alkanes in lake sediments on the Tibetan Plateau, including Luanhaizi Lake [21], Qarhan Lake [12,22] and Nam Co [13,17] as well as Ximen Co (a). The sampling sites in the Ximen Co lake region which including lake sediments and soil are shown in (b).…”

Section: Sample Collection and Preparationmentioning

confidence: 99%