Dust Storm Outbreak in Central Asia After ~3.5 kyr BP

Han, Wenxia; Lü, Shuang; Appel, Erwin; Berger, André; Madsen, David B.; Vandenberghe, Jef; Yu, Lupeng; Han, Yongxiang; Yang, Yibo; Zhang, Tao; Teng, Xiaohua; Fang, Xiaomin

doi:10.1029/2018gl081795

Cited by 35 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 64 publications

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“…According to meteorological data, the average annual wind speed in the west of Tarim Basin is negatively correlated with temperature over the past 50 years (1960-2012 AD; r = -0.324; Figures 5a,b). The decreased temperature could greatly promote the surface pressure gradient, hence increase the wind speed, and eventually leading to the outbreak of dust storms, as supported by the meteorological data in north China and dust records in Tarim Basin and Tibetan Plateau (Zhou et al, 2006;Grigholm et al, 2015;Han et al, 2019). To summarize, a lower temperature corresponds to higher wind speed and higher dust storm frequency/intensity over the study area, and vice versa.…”

Section: Correlation Of Dust Storm Activity With Climate Factorssupporting

confidence: 54%

“…Based on the oxygen isotope and grain size records retrieved from the Tanggula ice core in Tibetan Plateau, Wu et al (2013) pointed out that dust storms frequently occurred in cold conditions. A recent study by Han et al (2019) also suggested that the decreasing temperature could have led to the outbreak of dust storms in the Tarim Basin. Dust storm activities revealed by the grain size of the sediments of Lake Karakul show a negative correlation to the total solar irradiance (Coddington et al, 2016; Figure 5e), to temperatures in northwest China reconstructed by tree-ring width (Liu et al, 2016; Figure 5d), and to temperatures inferred from δ 18 O in the Guliya ice core (Yao et al, 2006; Figure 5c), suggesting that the decreasing trend of dust storm activity in northwest China might be attributed to the rising temperature.…”

Section: Correlation Of Dust Storm Activity With Climate Factorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We examined the components of >64 and 64-300 µm in lake sediment of Lake Karakul and found that they are similar in trends (Supplementary Figure S3), suggesting that the >300 µm component could also share similar behavior with the 64-300 µm component in this case study. Previous studies also interpret such sandsized particles as products of episodic suspension dust from adjacent sources during strong dust outbreaks (Chen et al, 2013;Qiang et al, 2014;Han et al, 2019) and frequently use the variations of the coarse components to trace dust storm history. The observed dust storm events of seven stations in the western Tarim Basin do not synchronize very well with one another during 1960-2005 AD (see Supplementary Figure S4), which possibly suggests that the dust storm occurrences are somewhat regional on short-term scales, like seasonal to annual scales.…”

Section: Proxy For Dust Storm and Comparison With Metrological Recordsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Temperature is an important controlling factor for wind speed and then for the dust storm activity (Wang et al, 2006;Grigholm et al, 2015;Han et al, 2019). Based on the oxygen isotope and grain size records retrieved from the Tanggula ice core in Tibetan Plateau, Wu et al (2013) pointed out that dust storms frequently occurred in cold conditions.…”

Section: Correlation Of Dust Storm Activity With Climate Factorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Weakening Dust Storm Intensity in Arid Central Asia Due to Global Warming Over the Past 160 Years

Jin

Lan

et al. 2020

Front. Earth Sci.

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Dust storms occur frequently in arid central Asia (ACA) and greatly influence the regional ecology/environment, human health, and security, as well as the global climate. To date, neither the patterns nor the underlying mechanisms of dust storms in ACA are fully understood, partly due to the lack of long-term historical records. Here, we reconstruct a dust storm history of the past ∼160 years in northwest China, based on high-resolution sedimentary proxies retrieved from Lake Karakul (located in the core zone of ACA). We find that changes in the sedimentary coarse fraction (grain size > 64 µm) in Lake Karakul are correlated with both historical and modern observed dust storms. The reconstructed dust storm intensity shows a decreasing trend since AD 1850s, with three high occurrence intervals at AD 1870s-1910s, AD 1930s-1940s, and AD 1960s-1980s. We contend that changes in temperature and wind speed could have dominated the frequency and intensity of dust storms in northwest China during the record periods: temperature controls the wind speed and then the dust storm frequency/intensity; lower temperature corresponding to higher wind speed, and higher dust storm frequency/intensity, and vice versa. The observed anthropogenic global warming could have led to a decrease in atmospheric temperature gradients and decline in wind speed and then decreasing dust storm frequency/intensity. Providing this stands, less and weaker dust storms are expected under a continuously anthropogenic warming scenario.

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Section: Correlation Of Dust Storm Activity With Climate Factorssupporting

confidence: 54%

Section: Correlation Of Dust Storm Activity With Climate Factorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Proxy For Dust Storm and Comparison With Metrological Recordsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Correlation Of Dust Storm Activity With Climate Factorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Weakening Dust Storm Intensity in Arid Central Asia Due to Global Warming Over the Past 160 Years

Jin

Lan

et al. 2020

Front. Earth Sci.

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“…yr BP, where a third, more gradual, transition is observed in the Son Kol record. Han et al (2019) found evidence for major sand storms in the Tarim Basin ca. 3500 cal.…”

Section: Comparison Against Other Recordsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecosystem shifts at two mid-Holocene tipping points in the alpine Lake Son Kol (Kyrgyzstan, Central Asia)

et al. 2020

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Tipping points can be defined as critical ecosystem thresholds that start self-enforced dynamics pushing systems into new stable states. Many lake ecosystems of arid Central Asia are sensitive to hydrological changes as they are located at the intersection of the influence of the dry Siberian Anticyclone and the relatively humid mid-latitude Westerlies, and their sediment records can be used to study past tipping points. We studied subfossil chironomid remains preserved in a ca. 6000-year-long sediment record from the Central Asian lake Son Kol (Central Kyrgyzstan) to reconstruct past ecosystem dynamics. Our results show abrupt transitions from a chironomid fauna dominated by macrophyte-associated, salinity-indicating taxa, to a vegetation-independent fauna, and subsequently to a macrophyte-associated, freshwater-indicating fauna. A comparison of the chironomid-based environmental reconstruction to other proxy indicators from the same record suggests a phase of increased Westerly strength starting about 4900 cal. yr BP. This increase led to enhanced precipitation and sediment fluxes into the lake, which in turn led to high turbidity levels and consequently to a macrophyte collapse causing abrupt changes in the chironomid fauna. At 4300 cal. yr BP, a weakening of the Westerlies in combination with higher lake levels led to lower turbidity and ultimately to the recovery of the macrophyte population and associated changes in the chironomid assemblage. These two sequences of events show how the occurrence of a gradual change in an external trigger (Westerlies) can trigger a cascade of within-lake processes (turbidity, macrophyte density) and may ultimately lead to an abrupt reorganization of the ecosystem (chironomid fauna), providing models for tipping points.

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Aeolian activity in the southern Gurbantunggut Desert of China during the last 900 years

et al. 2023

J. Arid Land

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The mineral dust emitted from Central Asia has a significant influence on the global climate system. However, the history and mechanisms of aeolian activity in Central Asia remain unclear, due to the lack of well-dated records of aeolian activity and the intense wind erosion in some of the dust source areas (e.g., deserts). Here, we present the records of aeolian activity from a sedimentary sequence in the southern Gurbantunggut Desert of China using grain size analysis and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating, based on field sampling in 2019. Specifically, we used eight OSL dates to construct chronological frameworks and applied the end-member (EM) analysis for the grain size data to extract the information of aeolian activity in the southern Gurbantunggut Desert during the last 900 a. The results show that the grain size dataset can be subdivided into three EMs (EM1, EM2, and EM3). The primary modal sizes of these EMs (EM1, EM2, and EM3) are 126.00, 178.00, and 283.00 μm, respectively. EM1 represents a mixture of the suspension components and saltation dust, while EM2 and EM3 show saltation dust transported over a shorter distance via strengthened near-surface winds, which can be used to trace aeolian activity. Combined with the OSL chronology, our results demonstrate that during the last 900 a, more intensive and frequent aeolian activity occurred during 450-100 a BP (Before Present) (i.e., the Little Ice Age (LIA)), which was reflected by a higher proportion of the coarse-grained components (EM2+EM3). Aeolian activity decreased during 900-450 a BP (i.e., the Medieval Warm Period (MWP)) and 100 a BP-present (i.e., the Current Warm Period (CWP)). Intensified aeolian activity was associated with the strengthening of the Siberian High and cooling events at high northern latitudes. We propose that the Siberian High, under the influence of temperature changes at high northern latitudes, controlled the frequency and intensity of aeolian activity in Central Asia. Cooling at high northern latitudes would have significantly enhanced the Siberian High, causing its position to shift southward. Subsequently, the incursion of cold air masses from high northern latitudes resulted in stronger wind regimes and increased dust emissions from the southern Gurbantunggut Desert. It is possible that aeolian activity may be weakened in Central Asia under future global warming scenarios, but the impact of human activities on this region must also be considered.

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Dust Storm Outbreak in Central Asia After ~3.5 kyr BP

Cited by 35 publications

References 64 publications

Weakening Dust Storm Intensity in Arid Central Asia Due to Global Warming Over the Past 160 Years

Weakening Dust Storm Intensity in Arid Central Asia Due to Global Warming Over the Past 160 Years

Ecosystem shifts at two mid-Holocene tipping points in the alpine Lake Son Kol (Kyrgyzstan, Central Asia)

Aeolian activity in the southern Gurbantunggut Desert of China during the last 900 years

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