Quaternary environmental changes in the drylands of China – A critical review

Yang, Xiaoping; Scuderi, L. A.; Paillou, Philippe; Liu, Ziting; Li, Hongwei; Ren, Xuemei

doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2011.08.009

Cited by 260 publications

(160 citation statements)

References 84 publications

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“…In the past decade, following extensive research on the environmental evolution of the Badain Jaran Desert since the late Pleistocene, Yang Xiaoping considered that it has been wetter both in the that region and the Taklimakan Desert during 30 cal kyr BP, on account of polar air mass and westerly circulation in middle latitudes (Yang, 2000). Furthermore, he deduced lake expansion during the late and middle Holocene (Yang et al, 2011;Yang and Scuderi, 2010). Recently, we have demonstrated the late Quaternary high lake-level and large lake stage in Alxa Plateau (Wang et al, 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Holocene high lake-levels and pan-lake period on Badain Jaran Desert

Wang

Ning

et al. 2016

Sci. China Earth Sci.

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Many lakes exist in southeastern Badain Jaran Desert and its hinterland, including 110 perennial lakes and some seasonal or extinct lakes. Geomorphological, sedimentological, and bioglyph evidence obtained from field investigations on Badain Jaran Desert lake group, alongside measurements and dating performed on lake relic, prove that these lakes expanded while the climate was relatively wet during early and middle Holocene. The dating results suggest that the pan-lake period of the Badain Jaran Desert began at 10 cal kyr BP, before which the limnic peat period occurred (11-10 cal kyr BP). Many lakes reached their maximal water-level during 8.6-6.3 cal kyr BP and retreated or dried up in the late Holocene (about 3.5-0 cal kyr BP). During that period, the precipitation at Badain Jaran Desert may have reached 200 mm yr 1 for 7.7-5.3 cal kyr BP, inferred from both the age and precipitation rate of calcareous root tubes. The water balance calculation shows that wetter and warmer climate and the increase of underground water recharge were key factors in maintaining and developing the lake group at both centennial and millennial time scales. Furthermore, lake surface expansion and the increasing fresh water availability set the background for the prosperous prehistoric culture.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Holocene high lake-levels and pan-lake period on Badain Jaran Desert

Wang

Ning

et al. 2016

Sci. China Earth Sci.

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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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“…Influenced by the Westerly circulation, arid central Asia (ACA), especially the Tianshan Mountains region in Xinjiang, Northwest China, is an important study area for paleoclimatic research (Rhodes et al, 1996;Herzschuh, 2006;Chen et al, 2008Chen et al, , 2010Yang et al, 2011). Research over the past 50 years has shown that there is a trend of increasing precipitation amount in ACA but a decreasing trend in northern China (Huang et al, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Variations in the oxygen isotopic composition of precipitation in the Tianshan Mountains region and their significance for the Westerly circulation

et al. 2015

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Proxy records of the oxygen isotopic composition of meteorological precipitation (δ 18 O p ) preserved in archives such as ice cores, lacustrine carbonates and stalagmite calcite are important for paleoclimatic studies. Therefore, knowledge of the variations and controlling mechanisms of modern δ 18 O p on different time scales is necessary. Here, we investigate the linear correlations between δ 18 O p and corresponding temperature and precipitation on monthly and inter-annual timescales, using data from the Urumqi (1986Urumqi ( -2003 and Hotan stations of the Global Network of Isotopes in Precipitation (GNIP), and δ 18 O data from 4 ice cores in the adjacent Tianshan Mountains. Consistent with previous reported results, modern δ 18 O p variations on a seasonal time scale in the Tianshan region are mainly controlled by a 'temperature effect' (indicated by a significant positive correlation between δ 18 O p and temperature), with more positive δ 18 O p values occurring in summer. However, on an inter-annual timescale, there is a weak inverse correlation between weighted average annual δ 18 O p and annual average temperature at Urumqi station. This finding is supported by the inversely varying trends of δ 18 O data from 4 ice cores in the central and eastern Tianshan Mountains compared to annual average temperatures in the same region during the past 40-50 years. The data from Urumqi station and the 4 ice cores demonstrate that there is inverse correlation between δ 18 O p and temperature on inter-annual to decadal time scales. Analysis of water vapor sources and pathways for the warm year of 1997 and the cold year of 1988 reveal that relatively more water vapor for the Tianshan region was derived from long-distance transport from high-latitude sources than during the warm year of 1997; and that more water vapor was transported from more proximal sources from mid-to low-latitude areas during the cold year of 1988. In addition, the δ 18 O p values are more negative in the high latitude areas than those in mid-to low-latitude areas in the Eurasian continent at the upper wind direction of Tianshan Mountains region, according to the weighted averaged warm season (May to September) 802 Journal of Geographical Sciences δ 18 O p values for 14 GNIP stations in the years 1997 and 1988. Due to the distribution of δ 18 O p within the Eurasian continent, the relative shift of water vapor sources between warm and cold years convincingly explains the observed variations of δ 18 O p in the Tianshan Mountains region. Therefore, we conclude that variations in δ 18 O p in this region are mainly controlled by changes in water vapor sources which are ultimately caused by northward and southward shifts in the Westerly circulation.

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Quaternary environmental changes in the drylands of China – A critical review

Cited by 260 publications

References 84 publications

Holocene high lake-levels and pan-lake period on Badain Jaran Desert

Holocene high lake-levels and pan-lake period on Badain Jaran Desert

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

Variations in the oxygen isotopic composition of precipitation in the Tianshan Mountains region and their significance for the Westerly circulation

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