Causes of early Holocene desertification in arid central Asia

Jin, Liya; Chen, Fahu; Morrill, C.; Otto‐Bliesner, Bette L.; Rosenbloom, Nan

doi:10.1007/s00382-011-1086-1

Cited by 133 publications

(92 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…Additionally, a composite analysis of sediments from 11 lakes suggested that the moisture condition in the arid central Asia has an inverse phase relationship with that in the Asian monsoon region during the early and late Holocene periods , which covers half a precessional cycle, rather than the in-phase relation illustrated in the current study and also in others. Similar conclusions were also proposed by Feng et al [2011] and Jin et al [2012]. Although, at the present, it is difficult to fully explain why there are discrepancies in regard to the phase relations of moisture conditions between the arid CA and monsoonal EA in different studies, we believe that such discrepancies are at least partly due to the definition of the arid central Asia region.…”

Section: Conclusion and Discussionsupporting

confidence: 84%

Transient simulation of orbital‐scale precipitation variation in monsoonal East Asia and arid central Asia during the last 150 ka

Liu

Qiu

et al. 2013

JGR Atmospheres

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[1] A long-term transient simulation is conducted using the Community Climate System Model version 3 and the orbital acceleration technique to analyze the impact of insolation change caused by the Earth's orbital forcing on precipitation in the monsoonal East Asia (EA) and arid central Asia (CA) over the past 150 ka. Our results show that annual precipitation in both EA and CA has strong signals of the 20 ka precessional cycles and varies in phase with the Northern Hemisphere (NH) summer insolation. Similar characteristics can also be observed from previously published oxygen isotope records of stalagmites near EA and CA. Composite analyses based on seven precessional cycles suggest that the increase (decrease) in the NH summer (winter) insolation enhances EA (CA) summer (winter) precipitation by modulation of the Asian monsoon (westerly) circulation in summer (winter). When the precession-induced NH summer insolation increases, the Asian summer monsoon circulation is enhanced and EA precipitation increases significantly. Meanwhile, the increase in the summer insolation at the precessional scale is accompanied by a decrease in the winter insolation, which causes dramatic cooling of the troposphere in the lower latitudes. Consequently, the CA winter precipitation increases due to the changes in the temperature gradient and the westerly circulation. Therefore, the responses of the Asian monsoon and westerly circulation to summer and winter insolation variations induced by the precessional cycles determine precipitation in the respective rainy seasons and are the primary cause leading to the synchronous variation patterns of annual precipitation in EA and CA at the orbital scale.

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Section: Conclusion and Discussionsupporting

confidence: 84%

Transient simulation of orbital‐scale precipitation variation in monsoonal East Asia and arid central Asia during the last 150 ka

Liu

Qiu

et al. 2013

JGR Atmospheres

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“…Additionally, the heterogeneous terrain and vegetation, as well as the local aerosols, may also play some role on the precipitation changes in the study region. Modeling study [47] suggested that the drought in ACA in early Holocene was caused by weaker and northern displacement of the westerly jet and reduced evaporation in upwind inland lakes (e.g. Caspian Sea) and the North Atlantic Ocean.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Spatiotemporal precipitation variations in the arid Central Asia in the context of global warming

Chen

Huang

Jin

et al. 2011

Sci. China Earth Sci.

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254

152

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This study analyzed the temporal precipitation variations in the arid Central Asia (ACA) and their regional differences during 1930-2009 using monthly gridded precipitation from the Climatic Research Unit (CRU). Our results showed that the annual precipitation in this westerly circulation dominated arid region is generally increasing during the past 80 years, with an apparent increasing trend (0.7 mm/10 a) in winter. The precipitation variations in ACA also differ regionally, which can be divided into five distinct subregions (I West Kazakhstan region, II East Kazakhstan region, III Central Asia Plains region, IV Kyrgyzstan region, and V Iran Plateau region). The annual precipitation falls fairly even on all seasons in the two northern subregions (regions I and II, approximately north of 45°N), whereas the annual precipitation is falling mainly on winter and spring (accounting for up to 80% of the annual total precipitation) in the three southern subregions. The annual precipitation is increasing on all subregions except the southwestern ACA (subregion V) during the past 80 years. A significant increase in precipitation appeared in subregions I and III. The long-term trends in annual precipitation in all subregions are determined mainly by trends in winter precipitation. Additionally, the precipitation in ACA has significant interannual variations. The 2-3-year cycle is identified in all subregions, while the 5-6-year cycle is also found in the three southern subregions. Besides the inter-annual variations, there were 3-4 episodic precipitation variations in all subregions, with the latest episodic change that started in the mid-to late 1970s. The precipitations in most of the study regions are fast increasing since the late 1970s. Overall, the responses of ACA precipitation to global warming are complicated. The variations of westerly circulation are likely the major factors that influence the precipitation variations in the study region.arid Central Asia, annual and seasonal precipitation, changing tendency, regional difference Citation:

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“…Modeling data indicate that the dry climates of central Asia in the early Holocene are not only related to the northward shift of the westerly in the mid-latitudes during winter and spring, but also to the reduced evaporation of the North Atlantic and a series of inland lakes (such as the Caspian Sea) in the upwind regions of the west [41]. In the past millennium, there was a dry climate in the medieval warm period (MWP) and a humid climate during the little ice age (LIA), which were reflected by the records of the westerly regions of China.…”

Section: Arid Region Lakes In Northwestern Chinamentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatiotemporal variations of Chinese lakes and their driving mechanisms since the Last Glacial Maximum: A review and synthesis of lacustrine sediment archives

Shen

2012

Chin. Sci. Bull.

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In this article, the author provides the first synthesis and classification of available environment-indicating proxies for lacustrine sediment. A review of spatio-temporal variations in lakes from the Tibetan Plateau, the dry areas of Northwestern China, the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau and the plains of Eastern China since the LGM is then provided. The driving mechanism for variations in lake processes and characteristics is also discussed based on various temporal scales. The author then proposes that future investigations be conducted to: (1) strengthen the study of theoretics and interpretation of environment-indicating proxies, (2) enhance the study of high-resolution time series and spatial variability of lake environment evolution, (3) provide more attention on the influence of human activities on lake environments, and (4) boost construction of the Quaternary lake database of China. Lakes are normally formed under various geological and geographical backgrounds. As a component of the terrestrial hydrosphere, lakes have close relationships with the atmosphere, biosphere and lithosphere, and serve as the connection between these systems. Once a lake is formed, it is influenced by a series of tectonic, climatic and anthropogenic factors. As a result, lacustrine evolutional processes usually involve geological, physical, chemical and biological processes and the interactions between them, and these processes are all documented by lacustrine sediment archives. Because lakes are widely distributed worldwide and normally undergo a long history of evolution, lacustrine sediment generally possesses a continuous record with highresolutions that provides abundant information regarding regional environmental and climatic variations that can be used in global change studies. Lacustrine sediment also contains information pertaining to human activities, since people tend to settle around lakes owing to the resources they provide. Synthesis and classification of proxies in lacustrine sediment describing environmental conditionsLakes generally have an independent watershed that serves as a source of water, sediment, biomass and chemicals, while the lake serves as a sink for all of these materials. Accordingly, lacustrine sediment can record all information regarding the source-sink interactions and mass balances including water balances (watershed rainfall and lake level stands), sediment balances (watershed erosion intensity and lake sedimentation rate), biological balances (watershed vegetation and lake biomass) and chemical balances (watershed soluble materials and lake water ion concentrations) [1].

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Causes of early Holocene desertification in arid central Asia

Cited by 133 publications

References 40 publications

Transient simulation of orbital‐scale precipitation variation in monsoonal East Asia and arid central Asia during the last 150 ka

Transient simulation of orbital‐scale precipitation variation in monsoonal East Asia and arid central Asia during the last 150 ka

Spatiotemporal precipitation variations in the arid Central Asia in the context of global warming

Spatiotemporal variations of Chinese lakes and their driving mechanisms since the Last Glacial Maximum: A review and synthesis of lacustrine sediment archives

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