Timing and style of Late Quaternary glaciation in northeastern Tibet

Owen, Lewis A.; Finkel, Robert C.; Ma, Hao; Spencer, Joel Q.G.; Derbyshire, Edward; Barnard, Patrick L.; Caffee, Marc W.

doi:10.1130/b25314.1

Cited by 156 publications

(104 citation statements)

References 46 publications

(61 reference statements)

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“…The glacial advances would have still dated to the early Holocene, Lateglacial and MIS 3 regardless of the scaling model used to calculate the ages. This indicates and supports the view of Owen et al (2003a) that glaciers in this region are influenced by the South Asian monsoon. The maximum extent of glaciation occurred early in the last glacial cycle (MIS 3) during a time of increased insolation when the monsoon was intensified and supplied abundant precipitation, as snow at high altitude, to feed highaltitude glaciers.…”

Section: Key Areassupporting

confidence: 76%

“…This was disputed by many and it stimulated much research in Tibet, especially as China began to open its borders to western scientists and strengthened its international research collaborations. Over the past few decades, numerous publications have presented the evidence against an extensive ice sheet (Derbyshire, 1987;Zheng, 1989;Shi, 1992;Hö vermann et al, 1993a,b;Lehmkuhl, 1995Lehmkuhl, , 1998Rutter, 1995;Lehmkuhl et al, 1998;Zheng and Rutter, 1998;Schäfer et al, 2002;Owen et al, 2003a). Now it is generally accepted that a large ice sheet did not cover the Tibetan Plateau, at least not during the past few glacial cycles.…”

Section: Extent Of Glaciationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These massifs have been studied in detail by Wang (1987) and Lehmkuhl and Lui (1994). TCN and OSL dating was undertaken by Owen et al (2003a) to define the timing of glaciation. They showed that glacial advances occurred during MIS 3 (ca.…”

Section: Key Areasmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The ages were recalculated from the data in Owen et al (2003a) using the timeconstant scaling method (Lal, 1991;Stone, 2000). The Marine Isotope Stages (MISs) are taken from Martinson et al (1987) and Shackleton et al (1990) Detailed study areas provide important insights into testing these reconstructions, but they suggest considerable variations in the extent of glaciation during a specific glacial time between adjacent regions.…”

Section: Mis-1 Mis-4 Mis-3 Mis-2mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Quaternary glaciation of the Himalayan–Tibetan orogen

Owen

Caffee

Finkel

et al. 2008

J Quaternary Science

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210

143

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Glacial geological evidence from throughout the Himalayan-Tibetan orogen is examined to determine the timing and extent of late Quaternary glaciation in this region and its relation to similar changes on a global scale. The evidence summarised here supports the existence of expanded ice caps and extensive valley glacier systems throughout the region during the late Quaternary. However, it cannot yet be determined whether the timing of the extent of maximum glaciation was synchronous throughout the entire region or whether the response was more varied. The lack of organic material needed for radiocarbon dating has hindered past progress in glacial reconstruction; however, application of optically stimulated luminescence and terrestrial cosmogenic radionuclide methods has recently expanded the number of chronologies throughout the region. Limits to the precision and accuracy available with these methods and, more importantly, geological uncertainty imposed by processes of moraine formation and alteration both conspire to limit the time resolution on which correlations can be made to Milankovitch timescales (several ka). In order to put all studies on a common scale, well-dated sites have been re-evaluated and all the published terrestrial cosmogenic nuclide ages for moraine boulders and glacially eroded surfaces in the Himalayan-Tibetan orogen have been recalculated. Locally detailed studies indicate that there are considerable variations in the extent of glaciation from one region to the next during a glaciation. Glaciers throughout monsoon-influenced Tibet, the Himalaya and the Transhimalaya are likely synchronous both with climate change resulting from oscillations in the South Asian monsoon and with Northern Hemisphere cooling cycles. In contrast, glaciers in Pamir in the far western regions of the Himalayan-Tibet orogen advanced asynchronously relative to the other regions that are monsooninfluenced regions and appear to be mainly in phase with the Northern Hemisphere cooling cycles. Broad patterns of local and regional variability based on equilibrium-line altitudes have yet to be fully assessed, but have the potential to help define changes in climatic gradients over time.

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Section: Key Areassupporting

confidence: 76%

Section: Extent Of Glaciationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Key Areasmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Mis-1 Mis-4 Mis-3 Mis-2mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Quaternary glaciation of the Himalayan–Tibetan orogen

Owen

Caffee

Finkel

et al. 2008

J Quaternary Science

Self Cite

210

143

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…A cold, dry climate was also recorded during MIS2 based on the decline of pollen concentration and the deposition of halite in the core sediment. Previous studies on Pleistocene glaciers demonstrated that a Late Pleistocene glacier in northeastern TP advanced during MIS3b and MIS2 (Owen et al, 2003;Owen et al, 2006;Ou et al, 2014). Meanwhile, the mean moisture values decrease noticeably in central Asia after 2.7 ka BP (Herzschuh, 2006).…”

Section: Regional Correlation and Possible Mechanismmentioning

confidence: 99%

A 94–10ka pollen record of vegetation change in Qaidam Basin, northeastern Tibetan Plateau

Wei

Fan

Zhao

et al. 2015

Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology

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Drill core (ISL1A) was obtained from the Qarhan Salt Lake in central eastern Qaidam Basin, northeastern Tibetan Plateau (NE TP). Fossil pollen and the lithology of the core sediment were analyzed in conjunction with AMS 14 C and 230 Th dating. The results indicated that Artemisia and Chenopodiaceae dominated the steppe/desert steppe vegetation developed around the lake between 94 and 51.2 ka, corresponding with the organic-rich silty clay deposited in the core sediments. Pediastrum continuously appeared in the core sediments between 94 and 51.2 ka, indicating freshwater to oligohaline conditions of the paleo-Qarhan Lake during the late marine isotope stage (MIS) 5, MIS 4, and early MIS 3. During the 51.2 to 32.5 ka period, Ephedra dominated shrub-desert vegetation expanded in the basin, while, Pediastrum disappeared in the core sediments. The core sediments consisted of interbedded layers of halite silt and clay-rich halite between 51.2 and 32.5 ka, signifying a shift toward drier hydrologic conditions. Thus, the paleo-Qarhan Lake experienced periods of desiccation and shallow water levels. Artemisia and Chenopodiaceae dominated steppe/desert steppe vegetation appeared again from 32.5 to 25.3 ka, with clay-rich sediments in the core, thereby suggesting an increase of runoff from the lake under relatively wetter climatic conditions. Since 25.3 ka, however, pollen concentrations declined, corresponding with the amount of halite deposited in the core sediment and, suggesting a cold, dry climatic condition during MIS2. Our findings have important implications for understanding complex regional vegetation and climatic responses to large-scale forcings in the Qaidam Basin.

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Glacier fluctuations of Muztagh Ata and temperature changes during the late Holocene in westernmost Tibetan Plateau, based on glaciolacustrine sediment records

Liu

Herzschuh

Wang

et al. 2014

Geophysical Research Letters

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Late Holocene glacier variations in westernmost Tibetan Plateau were studied based on the analysis of grain size, magnetic susceptibility, and elements from an 8.3 m long distal glaciolacustrine sediment core of Kalakuli Lake. Our results show that there are four glacier expansion episodes occurring in 4200-3700 calibrated years (cal years) B.P., 2950-2300 cal years B.P., 1700-1070 cal years B.P., and 570-100 cal years B.P. and four glacier retreat periods of 3700-2950 cal years B.P., 2300-1700 cal years B.P., 1070-570 cal years B.P., and 50 cal years B.P.-present. The four glacier expansion episodes are generally in agreement with the glacier activities indicted by the moraines at Muztagh Ata and Kongur Shan, as well as with the late Holocene ice-rafting events in the North Atlantic. Over the last 2000 years, our reconstructed glacier variations are in temporal agreement with reconstructed temperature from China and the Northern Hemisphere, indicating that glacier variations at centennial time scales are very sensitive to temperature in western Tibetan Plateau.

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Timing and style of Late Quaternary glaciation in northeastern Tibet

Cited by 156 publications

References 46 publications

Quaternary glaciation of the Himalayan–Tibetan orogen

Quaternary glaciation of the Himalayan–Tibetan orogen

A 94–10ka pollen record of vegetation change in Qaidam Basin, northeastern Tibetan Plateau

Glacier fluctuations of Muztagh Ata and temperature changes during the late Holocene in westernmost Tibetan Plateau, based on glaciolacustrine sediment records

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