Indication of millennial-scale moisture changes by the temporal distribution of Holocene calcareous root tubes in the deserts of the Alashan Plateau, Northwest China

Li, Zhuolun; Wang, Nai’ang; Li, Ruolan; Ning, Kai; Cheng, Hansong; Zhao, Liqiang

doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2015.09.023

Cited by 46 publications

(61 citation statements)

References 59 publications

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“…Previous studies have indicated that the formation of CRTs is affected by the effective soil moisture and that most CRTs on the Alashan Plateau formed during relatively high humidity periods (Li et al . , , ; Gao et al . ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…On the Alashan Plateau, effective soil moisture is relatively high in summer, providing favourable soil conditions for CRT formation (Li et al . , ). Moreover, the high actual evaporation triggered by high soil moisture could be conducive to secondary carbonate deposition (Gao et al .…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Moreover, CRTs are a material that can be efficiently used to reconstruct changes in the palaeoclimate and palaeovegetation of desert hinterlands (Li et al . , , ; Gao et al . ).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In previous studies, Holocene millennial‐scale effective moisture changes and vegetation signals have been reconstructed using proxies from CRTs (Li et al . , , , ; Gao et al . ).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Variations in chemical element compositions in different types of Holocene calcareous root tubes in the Tengger Desert, NW China, and their palaeoenvironmental significance

Zhu

Gao

et al. 2019

Boreas

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Calcareous root tubes (CRTs) contain abundant information about palaeoenvironmental conditions and have been used for palaeoenvironmental studies in the desert hinterlands of arid regions. However, as subclasses of CRTs, calcareous sheaths and rhizocretions are formed by different processes, and it remains unclear whether these differences produce variations in the chemical element composition. Furthermore, it remains uncertain whether variations in chemical element concentrations amongst different subclasses of the CRTs can affect palaeoenvironmental reconstructions. In this study, we collected 54 CRT samples from the Tengger Desert of northwestern China. All samples were dated by accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) 14C dating, and the chemical element composition and concentration differences of the two CRT subclasses were determined using X‐ray fluorescence spectrometry. The CRT samples were dated to the Holocene. The calcareous sheath and rhizocretion samples contained varying concentrations of the same chemical elements. The rhizocretions had high concentrations of mobile elements (Ca, Mg and Sr) and P, whereas the calcareous sheaths had high concentrations of stable elements, including Al, Si, Ti, Zr, Rb and Ba. These differences were due to the different formation processes of the two subclasses of CRTs. Moreover, the Sr/Ca and Mg/Ca ratios in the calcareous sheaths were higher than those in the rhizocretions from the same period, but these ratio differences had little effect on palaeo‐effective moisture reconstructions at the millennial scale during the Holocene. The reconstructions were not influenced by the various CRT subclasses. The Holocene millennial‐scale moisture changes in the Tengger Desert revealed by the Sr/Ca and Mg/Ca ratios showed that there was an arid period during the Early Holocene, a humid period during the Middle Holocene and a humid to arid period during the Late Holocene.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Moreover, CRTs are a material that can be efficiently used to reconstruct changes in the palaeoclimate and palaeovegetation of desert hinterlands (Li et al . , , ; Gao et al . ).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In previous studies, Holocene millennial‐scale effective moisture changes and vegetation signals have been reconstructed using proxies from CRTs (Li et al . , , , ; Gao et al . ).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Variations in chemical element compositions in different types of Holocene calcareous root tubes in the Tengger Desert, NW China, and their palaeoenvironmental significance

Zhu

Gao

et al. 2019

Boreas

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“…it is a key region for understanding past climatic change and environmental evolution studies because it is located in the transition zone between the Asian summer monsoon and the westerly winds in China (Wang et al, 2005;Yang et al, 2011;Li et al, 2015). Thus, it is an ideal region for studying changes in climate at different time scales (Yang and Scuderi, 2010;Li et al, 2016c;Wang et al, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Total organic carbon and its environmental significance for the surface sediments in groundwater recharged lakes from the Badain Jaran Desert, northwest China

Dong

Chen

et al. 2017

J Limnol

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Total organic carbon (ToC) content in lake sediments is typically used for the reconstruction of paleoenvironments. it remains uncertain, however, whether these sediment variables in lakes supplied by groundwater in the hinterland of the Badain Jaran Desert are applicable. Moreover, it is still uncertain whether the ToC content in these lakes can be used as a proxy to identify past climatic change and environmental evolution studies. in this study, the spatial distributions of the ToC contents and C/n ratios were analyzed for 109 surface sediment samples collected from five lakes without runoff recharge. The results revealed that the ToC content of the lake surface sediments was extremely low (0.03% -1.01%) and consisted of both allochthonous organic matter carried by wind, as well as autochthonous organic matter generated in the lakes. Within a lake, spatial differences in the amount of ToC found in surface sediments may be caused by several processes including bathymetry topography and wind-induced wave activity. in addition, wind-induced wave activity produces a higher ToC content, which is more pronounced in larger lakes (>0.21 km 2 ) with longer fetches. By contrast, in smaller lakes, organic matter accumulates in the deeper waters, but can be affected by many factors. it is therefore necessary to consider lake area when applying the ToC content of lake sediments for the reconstruction of a paleolake evolution. Furthermore, because the ToC content of lake sediments in hyper-arid regions is extremely low, and the organic matter may have multiple and varied sources, a single proxy (ToC) cannot be used to reconstruct lake evolution.

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The paleoenvironmental significance of spatial distributions of grain size in groundwater‐recharged lakes: A case study in the hinterland of the Badain Jaran Desert, northwest China

Wei

Dong

et al. 2017

Earth Surf Processes Landf

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For lakes in desert hinterlands that are not recharged by river runoff, sediment input solely comes from wind transport. While the processes of sediment transport and deposition in these lakes differ significantly from those with river discharge, the spatial distribution of sediment grain size in these groundwater‐recharged lakes remains largely unknown. Moreover, whether the grain size distribution in these lake sediments can be used as a proxy in the study of past climatic change and environmental evolution studies is unclear. In this study, five lakes with a range of surface areas that had no runoff recharge were selected from the hinterland of the Badain Jaran Desert of north‐western China, and a total of 108 samples of lake surface sediments were collected to examine the spatial distribution of grain size. Moreover, an end‐member‐modeling algorithm was used to calculate end members from all grain size measurements. Our results showed that both the median and mean grain sizes in the lake sediments decreased from the nearshore to the offshore, deep‐water zone. However, the lowest median and mean grain sizes were not found in the center of the lakes, in contrast to lakes recharged by surface runoff. The median grain size of sediment in the lake center was negatively correlated with lake level, and thus could help reveal lake evolution at low resolutions. Moreover, EM1 and EM2 were interpreted as wind transported sediment, and sediment perturbed by lake waves after wind transport, respectively. The modal grain size of EM1 varied slightly between lakes, while changes in the modal grain size of EM2 were related to lake area. Given the positive relationship found between EM2 content and lake level, changes in the EM2 content (%) can serve as a rough indicator of lake level fluctuations at low temporal resolutions. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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Indication of millennial-scale moisture changes by the temporal distribution of Holocene calcareous root tubes in the deserts of the Alashan Plateau, Northwest China

Cited by 46 publications

References 59 publications

Variations in chemical element compositions in different types of Holocene calcareous root tubes in the Tengger Desert, NW China, and their palaeoenvironmental significance

Variations in chemical element compositions in different types of Holocene calcareous root tubes in the Tengger Desert, NW China, and their palaeoenvironmental significance

Total organic carbon and its environmental significance for the surface sediments in groundwater recharged lakes from the Badain Jaran Desert, northwest China

The paleoenvironmental significance of spatial distributions of grain size in groundwater‐recharged lakes: A case study in the hinterland of the Badain Jaran Desert, northwest China

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