EVIDENCE FOR LATE-GLACIAL ICE DAMMED LAKES IN THE CENTRAL STRAIT OF MAGELLAN AND BAHÍA INÚTIL, SOUTHERNMOST SOUTH AMERICA

ABSTRACT. This paper critically appraises the evidence for a succession of ice-dammed lakes in the central Strait of Magellan ( c. 53°S) c. 17 000–12 250 cal. yr BP. The topographic configuration of islands and channels in the southern Strait of Magellan means that the presence of lakes provides compelling constraints on the position of former ice margins. Lake shorelines and glacio-lacustrine sediments have been dated by their association with a key tephra layer from Volcan Reclús (c. 15 510–14 350 cal. years bp ) and by ¹⁴C-dated peats. The timing of glacial lake formation and associated glacier readvances is at odds with the rapid and widespread glacier retreat of the Patagonian ice fields further north after c. 17 000 cal. yr bp , suggesting rather that the lakes were coeval with the Antarctic Cold Reversal and persisted to the Late-glacial/Holocene transition. This apparent asymmetrical latitudinal response in glacier behaviour may reflect overlapping spheres of northern hemisphere and Antarctic climatic influence in the Magellan region.     

DEGLACIATION OF THE EASTERN FLANK OF THE NORTH PATAGONIAN ICEFIELD AND ASSOCIATED CONTINENTAL-SCALE LAKE DIVERSIONS

ABSTRACT. We examine the deglaciation of the eastern flank of the North Patagonian Icefield between latitudes 46° and 48°S in an attempt to link the chronology of the Last Glacial Maximum moraines and those close to present-day outlet glaciers. The main features of the area are three shorelines created by ice-dammed lakes that drained eastwards to the Atlantic. On the basis of 16 ¹⁴C and exposure age dates we conclude that there was rapid glacier retreat at 15–16 ka (calendar ages) that saw glaciers retreat 90–125 km to within 20 km of their present margins. There followed a phase of glacier and lake stability at 13.6–12.8 ka. The final stage of deglaciation occurred at c. 12.8 ka, a time when the lake suddenly drained, discharging nearly 2000 km³ to the Pacific Ocean. This latter event marks the final separation of the North and South Patagonian Icefields. The timing of the onset of deglaciation and its stepped nature are similar to elsewhere in Patagonia and the northern hemisphere. However, the phase of lake stability, coinciding with the Antarctic Cold Reversal and ending during the Younger Dryas interval, mirrors climatic trends as recorded in Antarctic ice cores. The implication is that late-glacial changes in southern Patagonia were under the influence of the Antarctic realm and out of phase with those of the northern hemisphere.     

CHRONOLOGY OF THE LAST GLACIATION IN CENTRAL STRAIT OF MAGELLAN AND BAHÍA INÚTIL, SOUTHERNMOST SOUTH AMERICA

ABSTRACT. Glacier fluctuations in the Strait of Magellan tell of the climatic changes that affected southern latitudes at c. 53–55°S during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and Late-glacial/Holocene transition. Here we present a revised chronology based on cosmogenic isotope analysis, ¹⁴C assays, amino acid racemisation and tephrochronology. We unpick the effect of bedrock-derived lignite which has affected many ¹⁴C dates in the past and synthesise new and revised dates that constrain five glacier advances (A to E). Advance A is prior to the LGM. LGM is represented by Advance B that reached and largely formed the arcuate peninsula Juan Mazia. Carbon-14and ¹⁰Be dating show it occurred after 31 250 cal yrs BP and culminated at 25 200–23 100 cal yrs BP and was then followed by the slightly less extensive advance C sometime before 22 400–20 300 cal yrs BP. This pattern of an early maximum is found elsewhere in South America and more widely. Stage D, considerably less extensive, culminated sometime before 17 700–17 600 cal yrs BP and was followed by rapid and widespread glacier retreat. Advance E, which dammed a lake, spanned 15 500–11770 cal yrs BP. This latter advance overlaps the Bølling-Allerød interstadials and the glacier retreat occurs during the peak of the Younger Dryas stadial in the northern hemisphere. However, the stage E advance coincides with the Antarctic Cold Reversal (c. 14800–12700 cal yrs BP) and may indicate that some millennial-scale climatic fluctuations in the Late-glacial period are out of phase between the northern and southern hemispheres.     

Holocene environmental changes and development of Figurnoye Lake in the southern Bunger Hills, East Antarctica

The lithology, radiocarbon chronology, granulometry, geochemistry and distribution of diatoms were investigated in three sediment cores from fresh-water Figurnoye Lake in the southern Bunger Hills, East Antarctica. Our paleolimnological data provide a record of Holocene environmental changes for this region. In the early Holocene (prior to 9.0 ± 0.5 kyr BP), warm climate conditions caused intensive melting of either the floating glacier ice mass or glaciers in the immediate lake surroundings, leading to the accumulation of terrigenous clastic sediments and limiting biogenic production in the lake. From ca. 9.0 ± 0.5 to 5.5 ± 0.5 kyr BP, highly biogenic sediments dominated by benthic mosses formed, indicating more distal glaciers or snowfields. A relatively cold and dry climate during this period caused weaker lake-water circulation and, likely, occurrence of lake ice conditions were more severe than present. The distribution of marine diatoms in the cores shows that, sometime between 8 and 5 kyr BP, limited amounts of marine water episodically penetrated to the lake, requiring a relative sea-level rise exceeding 10–11 m. During the last ca. 5.5 ± 0.5 kyr BP, sedimentation of mainly biogenic matter with a dominance of laminated microbial mats occurred in the lake under warm climatic conditions, interrupted by relative coolings: the first one around 2 kyr BP and then shortly before recent time. Between ca. 5.5 and 4 kyr BP, the drainage of numerous ice-dammed lakes took place in the southern Bunger Hills and, as a result, drier landscapes have existed here from about 4 kyr BP.     

TERRESTRIAL RECORD OF POST-EOCENE CLIMATE HISTORY IN MARIE BYRD LAND, WEST ANTARCTICA

ABSTRACT. Hydrovolcanic deposits, interbedded tills and recycled microfossils, together with erosion anomalies in the Marie Byrd Land (MBL) landscape, each provide a portion of the record of glaciation and deglaciation events from late Oligocene to the present. We have attempted to synthesize these data sources to provide a more complete record, and to reconcile them with climatic events recorded elsewhere in Antarctica and the deep sea. The MBL data suggest that the late Oligocene was marked by the development of an ice cap at Mount Petras, where the MBL dome was beginning to rise from a near-sea-level position. Furthermore, unusually advanced cirque development in the dome crest area is difficult to explain unless there was a period of effective cirque erosion in that area between c. 25 and 15 Ma BP. These inferences are consistent with evidence from the Ross Sea for an expansion of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) in mid-Miocene (15–17 Ma BP) time.
The deep sea oxygen isotope proxy record has been interpreted to show the inception of West Antarctic glaciation around 6 Ma BP. This can perhaps be reconciled with the terrestrial record if one considers (1) the observation that large volume changes in the WAIS cannot produce a ω¹⁸O signal that is significantly outside limits of error, and (2) that the landscape in West Antarctica has evolved from very low regional relief in the Oligocene, to more than 2 km of local relief in the present day, as a result of dome uplift since c. 27 Ma BP, and the growth of large volcanoes since c. 19 Ma BP.     

Carcass of a bowhead whale (Balaena mysticetus) found in the lateral moraine of the Jemelianovbreen glacier, eastern Svalbard

An 8 m long carcass of a bowhead whale ( Balaena mysticetus ) melted out from remnant glacier ice in the lateral moraine of the Jemelianovbreen glacier in August 1996. Folded and sheared sediment bands in the ice suggest that the whale was incorporated during an advance of the glacier. The whale's longitudinal axis was oriented parallel to the direction of the ice-flow, with the thinnest posterior part dipping upflow. The posterior section was best preserved with muscles and blubber, although the entire skin surface was strongly decomposed and only a thick fibrous surface was left of the blubber. The abdominal wall was holed, most likely by marine organisms, and partly filled with a compacted mixture of well-sorted gravelly beach sediments and fat. the whale seems to have been incorporated into the glacier together with glaciomarine sediments and carried by the flowing ice to an altitude of ca. 15 m. Jemelianovbreen is a tidewater glacier with two known surge-episodes. The first and most extensive of these occurred ca. 1900 AD and reached ca. 7 km outside the present coast-line. Radiocarbon dating of a fragment of a caudal vertebra yielded 345 ± 40 ¹⁴C years BP (1535-1660 cal. AD), suggesting that the whale lived some time during the last part of the cold period known as the Little Ice Age.     

Glacier surge at Usherbreen, Svalbard

Usherbreen started to surge in 1978, and the front has advanced 1.5 km and covered an area of 4.5 km². During the first two years the front advanced more than 1 m/d, and the front was still advancing 0.15– 0.20m/d in 1985, seven years after the start. The mean gradient of the lower 7 km decreased from 3.3 grad. to 1.8 grad. during the surge. The volume of ice transported down the glacier from higher to lower parts during the surge was 815 x lO'm³. which is almost 20% of the total glacier volume. Old icecored ridges in front of the glacier were reactivated, and the whole ridge system was pushed forward, in the summer of 1985 at a speed of about 0.05 m/d. Parts of the ridge system were moved 200 m during this surge. New ridges were developed on the flat sandur in front of the old ridge system. This demonstrates that the glacier advanced further than in any previous surge.     

A Mass Balance Model that Uses Low-altitude Meteorological Observations and the Area–Altitude Distribution of a Glacier

A glacier mass balance model that requires only low-altitude precipitation and temperature observations and the glacier's areaaltitude distribution is presented as an alternative to direct field measurements. Input to the model for South Cascade Glacier are daily weather observations at stations 30–60 km from the glacier and at altitudes 1300 to 1500 m lower than the glacier. The model relies on the internal consistency of mass balance variables that are generated by simulation using the low-altitude weather data. The daily values of such balance variables as snowline altitude, zero balance altitude, glacier balance, balance flux and the accumulation area ratio are correlated throughout the ablation season using two-degree polynomial regressions to obtain the lowest fitting error. When the minimum average error (or maximum R ²) is attained, the generated balances and other variables are considered to be real. A simplex optimization technique is used to determine the optimal coefficient values that are used in algorithms to convert meteorological observations to snow accumulation and snow and ice ablation. The independently produced simulation results for the 1959–1996 period are compared with balances measured at the glacier. The agreement between annual balances for individual years is fair and between long-term volume changes measured by the geodetic method is excellent.     

Glacial history of the Antarctic Peninsula since the Last Glacial Maximum–a synthesis

The extent of ice, thickness and dynamics of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) ice sheets in the Antarctic Peninsula region, as well as the pattern of subsequent deglaciation and climate development, are not well constrained in time and space. During the LGM, ice thickened considerably and expanded towards the middle–outer submarine shelves around the Antarctic Peninsula. Deglaciation was slow, occurring mainly between >14 Ky BP (¹⁴C kilo years before present) and ca. 6 Ky BP, when interglacial climate was established in the region. After a climate optimum, peaking ca. 4 - 3 Ky BP, a cooling trend started, with expanding glaciers and ice shelves. Rapid warming during the past 50 years may be causing instability to some Antarctic Peninsula ice shelves.     

Estimation of seasonal changes in the flow of Shirase Glacier using JERS-1/SAR image correlation

This paper presents estimates of detailed seasonal variations in ice-flow velocity for Shirase Glacier calculated using data obtained by Japanese Earth Resources Satellite-1 (JERS-1) synthetic aperture radar (SAR). We used 12 pairs of images (44-day repeat cycle) over the interval from 30 April 1996 to 1 July 1998 to estimate ice-flow fields using an image correlation method. Geometric registration was performed with reference to the RADARSAT Antarctic Mapping Project (RAMP) image dataset. Error analysis based on feature mismatch indicated an absolute error of ±0.30 km/a and relative error of ±0.04 km/a in the estimated flow velocity. The obtained ice-flow velocity increases rapidly from the upstream region (1.18 km/a) to the grounding line, where it becomes stagnant (2.32 km/a), before accelerating gradually to 2.62–2.82 km/a in the downstream region and then increasing to 3.05–3.50 km/a at the terminus of the floating ice tongue. The ice-flow velocities in the downstream region are highly variable, depending on both the distance from the grounding line and the observed epoch (season). Most of the obtained seasonal variations in ice-flow velocity at the floating ice tongue are within the range of the associated error estimate, but the annual difference between 1997 (3.11 km/a) and 1998 (3.50 km/a) is significant, reflecting a possible acceleration in the ice-flow velocity in association with the disappearance of the floating ice tongue between April and May of 1998. In terms of the summer–winter difference in averaged air temperature, the large difference recorded in 1997 (17.0 °C) relative to 1996 (13.9 °C) corresponds to a reduced ice-flow velocity in 1997 (approximately 0.20 km/a) relative to that in 1996 (approximately 0.30 km/a), indicating interactions between air, sea ice, and glacier flow in Lützow-Holm Bay.     

Freshwater Ostracodes in Quaternary Permafrost Deposits in the Siberian Arctic

Ostracode analysis was carried out on samples from ice-rich permafrost deposits obtained on the Bykovsky Peninsula (Laptev Sea). A composite profile was investigated that covers most of a 38-m thick permafrost sequence and corresponds to the last ca. 60 kyr of the Late Quaternary. The ostracode assemblages are similar to those known from European Quaternary lake deposits during cold stages. The ostracode habitats were small, shallow, cold, oligotrophic pools located in low centred ice wedge polygons or in small thermokarst depressions. In total, 15 taxa, representing 7 genera, were identified from 65 samples. The studied section is subdivided into six ostracode zones that correspond to Late Quaternary climatic and environmental stadial-interstadial variations established by other paleoenvironmental proxies: (1) cold and dry Zyrianian stadial (58–53 kyr BP); (2) warm and dry Karginian interstadial (48–34 kyr BP); (3) transition from the Karginian interstadial to the cold and dry Sartanian stadial (34–21 kyr BP); (4) transition from the Sartanian stadial to the warm and dry Late Pleistocene period, the Allerød (21–14 kyr BP); (5) transition from the Allerød to the warm and wet Middle Holocene (14–7 kyr BP); and (6) cool and wet Late Holocene (ca. 3 kyr BP). The abundance and diversity of the ostracodes will be used as an additional bioindicator for paleoenvironmental reconstructions of the Siberian Arctic.     

A late glacial Antarctic climate teleconnection and variable Holocene seasonality at Lake Pupuke, Auckland, New Zealand

We present the first continuous paleolimnological reconstruction from the North Island of New Zealand (37°S) that spans the last 48.2?cal kyr. A tephra- and radiocarbon-based chronology was developed to infer the timing of marked paleolimnological changes in Lake Pupuke, Auckland, New Zealand, identified using sedimentology, magnetic susceptibility, grain size and geochemistry (carbon, nitrogen and sulphur concentrations and fluxes, carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes). Variable erosional influx, biomass and benthic REDOX conditions are linked to changing effective precipitation and seasonality within three inferred broad intervals of climatic change: (1) the Last Glacial Coldest Phase (LGCP) of reduced effective precipitation and cooler temperatures, from 28.8 to 18.0?cal kyr BP, (2) the Last Glacial Interglacial Transition (LGIT) of increasing effective precipitation and warmer conditions, from 18.0 to 10.2?cal?kyr?BP, and (3) a Holocene interval of high effective precipitation, beginning with a warm period of limited seasonality from 10.2?cal?kyr?BP and followed by increasing seasonality from 7.6?cal?kyr?BP. The LGCP and LGIT also contain millennial-scale climate events, including the coldest inferred glacial conditions during the LGCP from 27.8 to 26.0 and 22.0?C19.0?cal?kyr?BP, and a climate reversal in the LGIT associated with lower lake level, from 14.5 to 13.8?cal?kyr?BP, coeval with the Antarctic Cold Reversal. The onset of seasonal thermal stratification occurred at 5.7?cal?kyr?BP and was linked to natural eutrophication of Lake Pupuke, which produced enhanced organic sedimentation.     

A diatom-inferred record of reduced effective precipitation during the Last Glacial Coldest Phase (28.8–18.0?cal kyr BP) and increasing Holocene seasonality at Lake Pupuke, Auckland, New Zealand

A continuous, 1,420-cm sediment record from Lake Pupuke, Auckland, New Zealand (37°S) was analysed for diatom taxonomy, concentration and flux. A New Zealand freshwater diatom transfer function was applied to infer past pH, electrical conductivity, dissolved reactive phosphorus and chlorophyll a. A precise, mixed-effect regression model of age versus depth was constructed from 11 tephra and 13 radiocarbon dates, with a basal age of 48.2?cal kyr BP. Diatom-inferred changes in paleolimnology and climate corroborate earlier inferences from geochemical analyses (Stephens et al. 2012), with respect to the timing of marked climate changes in the Last Glacial Coldest Phase (LGCP; 28.8?C18.0?cal kyr BP), the Last Glacial Interglacial Transition (LGIT; 18.0 to ca. 12?C10?cal kyr BP) and the Holocene, the onset of which is difficult to discern from LGIT amelioration, but which includes an early climatic optimum (10.2?C8.0?cal kyr BP). The LGCP is readily defined by a reduction in lake level and effective precipitation, whereas the LGIT represents a period of rising lake level, with greater biomass during the Holocene. There was limited change in diatom assemblage structure, influx or inferred water quality during a Late Glacial Reversal (LGR; 14.5?C13.8?cal kyr BP), associated with heightened erosional influx. In contrast, an LGIT peak in paleoproductivity is recorded by increased diatom influx from 13.8 to 12.8?cal kyr BP. Changes in sediment influx and biomass record complex millennial-scale events attuned to the Antarctic Cold Reversal (ACR; 14.5?C12.8?cal kyr BP). Additional millennial-scale environmental change is apparent in the Holocene, with marked changes in lake circulation beginning at 7.6?cal kyr BP, including the onset of seasonal thermal stratification and rapid species turnover at 5.7?cal kyr BP. The most rapid diatom community turnover accompanied widely varying nutrient availability and greater seasonality during the last 3.3?cal kyr. Rising seasonality appears to have been linked to strengthened Southern Westerlies at their northern margins during the middle and late Holocene.     

Subglacial topography of Jutulstraumen outlet glacier,East Antarctica,mapped from ground-penetrating radar,optical and interferometric synthetic aperture radar satellite data

The bed topography of Jutulstraumen is of interest in connection with glaciological modelling for climatic and geological studies. During the Norwegian Antarctic Research Expedition 1996/97 (NARE 96/97) 971 km of bed topography profiles were mapped using ground-penetrating radar (GPR) and a global positioning system (GPS). As additional information to the GPR data for the map compilation, surface features connected to the bed topography were identified in optical satellite images, and relative velocities derived from interferometric synthetic aperture radar (INSAR) data were interpreted using principles of ice flow related to the bed topography. Grids (250 x 250 m) covering the area 73° to 71°S, 0° to 4°E of bed topography and ice thickness were developed. Several observations are confirmed by the independent data sets. The Jutulstraumen outlet glacier shows extreme topography with subglacial plateaus and deep valleys due to faulting. A previously unmapped valley in connection with the fault system is identified. The data sets provide evidence of a grounding line position 6-20 km further inland than previously expected, and a trough occurs 60 km up-glacier from this position.     

Why is Shirase Glacier turning its flow direction eastward?

We applied an image correlation method to Japanese Earth Resources Satellite-1 (JERS-1) synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data obtained from 1996 to 1998 to examine flow velocity within Shirase Glacier, Antarctica. From the grounding line to the downstream region of the glacier, the obtained ice-flow velocity was systematically higher on the western streamline than the eastern. The differences between the two streamlines were 0.31 km/a in 1996 and 0.37 km/a in 1998, significantly larger than the error estimate of 0.03 km/a. The direction of ice flow was about 312° at the grounding line and changed to 327° at 10 km, 346° at 20 km and 2° at 30 km downstream from the grounding line. The total accumulated deflection is 50° to the east. Under the assumption of the conservation of ice mass across the glacier, the observed eastward change in flow direction can be explained by an asymmetric deepening of bedrock topography, that is, across the 8 km width of the glacier, the eastern side is 50 m (10%) deeper than the western side. This eastward turning of flow direction appears to be accelerated by tributary inlets, that flow to the north and northeast at 60–75% of the velocity of inlets on the western streamline.     

夏季南极固定冰单轴压缩强度及试样破碎规律研究

2012年11月—2013年4月中国第29次南极科学考察期间,针对南极夏季固定冰单轴压缩性质开展了研究。使用冰芯钻直接在平整冰层钻取力学试样,取样冰厚为149 cm,其中颗粒冰、柱状冰和片状冰分别占采样冰芯总长度的15.4%、72.5%和12.1%;单轴压缩试样只采用柱状冰部分,加工好的力学冰样尺寸为直径9 cm,长度为18 cm;共设置5个试验温度(-2、-4、-6、-8和-10℃),加载应变速率在10-6—10-2s-1。利用统计方法分析试验结果,建立了南极夏季海冰单轴压缩强度与孔隙率和应变速率的关系式,以及综合考虑应变速率和温度影响下的单轴压缩强度定量表达式;同时,基于分形理论对单轴压缩试样破碎块分布规律进行了分析,结果显示碎块长度分形维数随着温度和应变速率的降低有增大趋势。在特别低应变速率下海冰试样整体发生蠕变时,无法采用分形方法讨论海冰内部破碎程度。     

南极陨石研究的启示Ⅹ:南极陨石的居地年龄

到目前为止 ,陨石学者已考察了约 2 5 0 0km2 的南极蓝色冰区 ,并在南极冰盖不同的地区回收到约 30 0 0 0个陨石样品。在过去 2 0年 ,主要根据36Cl或1 4 C的浓度测定了几百个南极陨石的居地年龄。每个搁浅区的陨石显示不同的居地年龄分布 ,并提供陨石局部堆积机制的信息 ,在蓝色冰表面南极陨石的密度取决于许多因素 ,如陨石的降落率、冰的消融率、雪的堆积率等。大多数南极陨石的居地年龄范围从小于 1 0ka到 1 0 0 0ka ,Yamato山地冰区陨石的居地年龄可高达 2 0 0ka,而LewisCliff及AllanHills陨石的居地年龄分别高达 5 0 0ka和 1 0 0 0ka,新近发现两个陨石的居地年龄分别为 2Ma及 2 .35Ma,表明它们深埋于靠近冰川底部 ,且冰流率比表面低得多 ,同时也表明陨石堆积进入目前的搁浅区至少始于 2Ma以前 ,这与东南极冰盖为稳定和持续性假设是一致的。陨石的居地年龄是确定陨石历史的一个重要参数 ,同时也可用以估计陨石的搬运时间及平均风化寿命。     

LATE QUATERNARY ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGES IN THE ANTARCTIC AND THEIR CORRELATION WITH GLOBAL CHANGE

TheAnturCticisoneofthemostimpohantcoldsourcesonEarth,asabout24.5xlo'km'oficewhichtakes9opeamtoftotalicevolumeontheglobecoveronit.RotreaoradvanceOftheAntarcticIceSheetwillaffatfluCtuationofsealevel.ItiscalculatalthatiftheAntercticIceSheetlscomplotelymeltaw…     

2002—2011年南极海冰变化的遥感分析

基于2002—2011年南极地区AMSR-E逐日海冰密集度数据, 计算相应时间段内的海冰外缘线和海冰面积, 分析了南极地区这10年来各时间尺度上的海冰变化, 揭示了海冰变化的时空特征。结果表明: 2002— 2011年南极海冰外缘线、海冰面积分别增加了3.64%、3.8%, 总体上呈现增加的趋势, 其中2008年海冰面积最大。罗斯海、西太平洋和威德尔海的海冰面积呈现增加趋势, 而印度洋和别林斯高晋海/阿蒙森海的海冰面积则趋于减小。南极海冰面积一般夏季最小、冬季最大, 相同季节海冰面积变化波动较小, 不同海区只是变化范围不同。南极一年冰增长速度较低, 平均每年增加约0.1×106 km2, 且大范围地分布在南极大陆(除威德尔海外)周围。多年冰平均每年减少0.05×106 km2, 且多处于威德尔海。海冰面积变化与气温有负相关关系。     

中晚全新世毛乌素沙地东南部气候变化过程

位于中国北方半干旱区的毛乌素沙地对气候变化响应敏感,是研究气候变化的理想区域。通过对毛乌素沙地东南部锦界剖面磁化率、有机质含量、CaCO₃含量的分析,重建了7.5 ka BP以来的气候变化过程。结果显示：中晚全新世毛乌素沙地东南部环境与气候变化可分为3个阶段：7.5～4.6 ka BP,夏季风占主导,气候暖湿,与全新世大暖期对应;4.6～3.3 ka BP,气候突变为干冷并波动频繁;3.3～2.5 ka BP气候以干冷为主。另外,存在5次千年尺度的干旱事件：7.0～6.8 ka BP、6.6～5.7 ka BP、4.6～4.1 ka BP、3.7～3.5 ka BP、3.3～2.5 ka BP。研究区气候变化与全球具有较好的一致性。