Lake retreat in the Qinghai-Xizang plateau with additional reference to its climatic significance

The author made an approximate dating of the highest shorelines of the three larger interior lakes and proved that during late Q₃ or early Q₄, there existed a higher lake level in the plateau, reflecting that the climate then was much more moist than it is today. It could be presumed from a study of these two ages that such higher lake levels correspond with both the last glacial epoch (i. e., the latter half) and the lowest sea level of the East China Sea then. Moreover, interpretations of aerial photos and an on-the-spot survey revealed that since then these lakes had 8–10 rhythms of retreat, indicating that the climate in central Asia and the plateau at that time had 8–10 comparatively arid periods. As the plateau is still in the faster process of upheaval, it is expected that on a longterm basis, the climate in this region will tend to be continuously dry. However, should there be a neo-glacial epoch in the world, and if the higher lake level really corresponds to the glacial epoch, then in the not distant future, the lake level will possibly rise again to some extent. Thanks are due to the No. 2 Institute of Oceanography of SOA for its analyses of C¹⁴ dating specimens. This paper was published in Chinese inOceanologia et Limnologia Sinica 17(3): 207–216, 1986.