The nutrient forms,cycling and exchange flux in the sediment and overlying water system in lakes from the middle and lower reaches of Yangtze River

The 213 m ice core from the Puruogangri Ice Field on the Tibetan Plateau facilitates the study of the regional temperature changes with its δ ¹⁸O record of the past 100 years. Here we combine information from this core with that from the Dasuopu ice core (from the southern Tibetan Plateau), the Guliya ice core (from the northwestern Plateau) and the Dunde ice core (from the north-eastern Plateau) to learn about the regional differences in temperature change across the Tibetan Plateau. The δ ¹⁸O changes vary with region on the Plateau, the variations being especially large between South and North and between East and West. Moreover, these four ice cores present increasing δ ¹⁸O trends, indicating warming on the Tibetan Plateau over the past 100 years. A comparative study of Northern Hemisphere (NH) temperature changes, the δ ¹⁸O-reflected temperature changes on the Plateau, and available meteorological records show consistent trends in overall warming during the past 100 years.     

Linkage of liquid conductivity of glacier ice with its alkalinity over the north Qinghai-Xizang (Tibet) Plateau

Liquid conductivity (EC) measurement was conducted for the samples collected from several snow pits and ice cores over the Qinghai-Xizang (Tibet) Plateau, with their time range covering seasonal, decadal and centennial scales. Unlike the previous attention mostly focused on the acidity (H⁺) responding to the solid conductance (ECM) of glacial ice, we introduce the alkalinity (OH⁻) of snow and ice to show how it responds to EC. Strong linear relationship was established between EC and OH⁻ for these snow pits and ice cores. Positive correlation is also established between EC and major cations (Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺, Na⁺ and K⁺). Since the cations are known as the proxies for the intensity of mineral dust influx onto glaciers of the northern Qinghai-Xizang Plateau, we believe that EC could be used as an indicator for the history of dust input in deep ice core study. In fact, records in Guliya ice core since the Little Ice Age (LIA) indicate that dust load in glacier may depend on the combination of temperature and humidity. “Cold-dry” combination favors the dust arising, and results in higher EC and OH⁻ values, while “warm-wet” combination prevents dust form and EC and OH⁻ values are lower. In the past century, with the atmospheric warming and precipitation increasing over the northern plateau, which means an atmospheric condition of dust decreasing, both EC and OH⁻ displayed rapid decline.     

Climate variation since the Last Interglaciation recorded in the Guliya ice core

The climatic and environmental variations since the Last Interglaciation are reconstructed based on the study of the upper 268 m of the 309-m-long Guliya ice core. Five stages can be distinguished since the Last Interglaciation from the δ¹⁸O record in the Guliya ice core: Stage 1 (Deglaciation), Stage2 (the Last Glacial Maximum), Stage 3 (interstadial), Stage 4 (interstadial in the early glacial maximum) and Stage 5 (the Last Interglaciation). Stage 5 can be divided further into 5 substages; a, b, c, d, e. The δ¹⁸O record in the Guliya ice core indicates clearly the close correlation between the temperature variation on the Tibetan Plateau and the solar activities. The study indicates that the solar activity is a main forcing to the climatic variation on the Tibetan Plateau. Through a comparison of the ice core record in Guliya with that in the Greenland and the Antarctic, it can be found that the variation of large temperature variation events in different parts of the world is generally the same, but the variation amplitude of temperature is different. Project supported by thc Climbing Program of the State Eighth Five-Year Plan and the National Natural Science Foundation of China.     

Climatic variations in the past 140 ka recorded in core RM, east Qinghai-Xizang Plateau

The sequences of climatic evolution are reconstructed by the analyses of δ¹³C and δ¹⁸O of carbonate from core RM in the Zoige Basin since 140 kaB. P. During the Last Glaciation there existed at least seven warm climatic fluctuations and five cold events correlated with the records of ice core and deep sea, and during the preceding last interglacial period there were two cold climatic variations coinciding with the record of ice core GRIP. These results de-pict climatic instability in east Qinghai-Xizang Plateau over the last interglacial period. In addition, the environmental proxies of the carbonate content and pigments indicate the similar results to the stable isotope record from core RM. Project supported by the Chinese Climbing Project (85-029-02-01).     

Temperature and methane records over the last 2 ka in Dasuopu ice core

High resolution δ¹⁸O and methane records over the last 2ka have been reconstructed from Dasuopu ice core recovered from the Himalayas. Analysis shows that the δ¹⁸O record correlates well with the Northern Hemispheric temperature, Dunde ice core record, and with temperature record in eastern China. The warming trend detected in δ¹⁸O record from the last century is similar to that during the Medieval warm period. There is a dramatic increasing in methane concentration in the Dasuopu ice core, which reached 1031 nmol ⋅ mol^-1 in 1997. Moreover, methane concentration in the Dasuopu ice core is about 15%-20% higher than that in Antarctica and Greenland. There is a positive correlation between methane concentration and δ¹⁸O in Dasuopu ice core.     

Climatic significance of δ <Superscript>18</Superscript>O records from an 80.36 m ice core in the East Rongbuk Glacier,Mount Qomolangma (Everest)

The δ ¹⁸O variations in an 80.36 m ice core retrieved in the accumulation zone of the East Rongbuk Glacier, Mount Qomolangma (Everest), is not consistent with changes of air temperature from both southern and northern slopes of Himalayas, as well as these of the temperature anomalies over the Northern Hemisphere. The negative relationship between the δ ¹⁸O and the net accumulation records of the ice core suggests the “amount effect” of summer precipitation on the δ ¹⁸O values in the region. Therefore, the δ ¹⁸O records of the East Rongbuk ice core should be a proxy of Indian Summer Monsoon intensity, which shows lower δ ¹⁸O values during strong monsoon phases and higher values during weak phases.     

Correlation between high-resolution climate records from a Nanjing stalagmite and GRIP ice core during the last glaciation

A 400-mm-long stalagmite from Tangshan Cave, Nanjing has been analyzed by a high-precision TIMS-U series dating method and also determined for oxygen and carbon stable isotopic compositions. The results provided a high-resolution paleoclimate record for eastern China during a time interval (from 54 000 to 19 000 aBP) of the last glaciation. The continuous record of oxygen-18 variations in the stalagmite, indicating a precipitation history of the East Asian monsoon, shows not only signals of the Heinrich events, but also the Dansgaard-Oeschger cycles which are first found in the last glacial climate record of the East Asian monsoon area. Although the stalagmite-based climatic signals match well with the GRIP ice core record, some differences between the two records can be recognized: (1) The last glacial climate changes in eastern China exhibited a long-term remarkably cooling trend, superimposed on which were four successive Bond’s cycles illustrated by the δ¹⁸O curve. This strong cooling tendency may be an effect of the strong summer monsoon event during the MIS 3 over the Tibetan Plateau. (2) There exist some phase differences of 1000–2000 years between the cooling events in the stalagmite-based climate signal and the GRIP ice core record. Such differences should be further verified by calibrations of multiple dating methods     

Temperature variations recovered from tree-rings in the middle Qilian Mountain over the last millennium

During the past 1000 years, there had been sev-eral widespread climate events on the earth, such asthe ‘Medieval Warm Period’, the ‘Little Ice Age’ andthe recent warming from the later part of the nine-teenth century onward[1,2]. To better understand thedetails of climatic history on a regional scale, morehigh-resolution, millennia-length climate reconstruc-tions are needed by intensive, multiproxy investigationof ice cores, sediments of loess and lakes, corals andtree-rings. Since …     

Variations in dust event frequency over the past century reflected by ice-core and lacustrine records in north China

In this paper, we analyzed the variations of dust proxies in the Dunde, Malan and Chongce ice cores from the northern Tibetan Plateau and the Hongjiannao lacustrine sediment core from north Shaanxi Province, and found that they all showed a general decrease trend over the past century. Owing to the fact that all these ice cores and lacustrine core were retrieved from the margins and/or the leeward sides of the major areas of dust events in north China, their records could suggest that the dust event frequency in north China declined over the study period. This decrease trend might be attributed to increasing precipitation and weakening westerly. However, human activities have made the areal extent of desertification expand acceleratingly in north China. This status could make it possible that dust events would occur on a large spatial scale under the future climate change, which would be a big environmental issue we shall face.     

Holocene climate change in the Central Tibetan Plateau inferred by lacustrine sediment geochemical records

Multi-proxies of lacustrine sediments, such as total carbon (TC), total organic carbon (TOC), total inorganic carbon (TIC), total nitrogen (TN), total sulfur (TS), hydrogen index (HI), oxygen index (OI) and stable carbon isotopic composition of organic matter (δ 13Corg), were analyzed using a 7.3 m core from Zigê Tangco. The source of the organic matter in the sediment was mainly from autochthonous phytoplankton, therefore the significances of proxies can be interpreted as that high TOC, TOC/TS, HI and δ13Corg values, low TC, TIC values corresponded to warm and wet climatic condition, and vice versa. The process of climatic development in the Zigê Tangco region was hence recovered. During the early and Mid-Holocene, the climate was warm and wet and intensive cold events occurred during the periods of 8600 to 8400 cal a BP and 7400 to 7000 cal a BP. In the second half of Holocene, the climate became cold and dry gradually. The palaeoclimatic process during Holocene in Zigê Tangco region matched well with that in Co Ngoin region which is ca 40 km to the south-east. Therefore this palaeoclimatic process represents the Holocene climatic feature in the Central Tibetan Plateau which has the same pattern in the Northern Tibetan Plateau, but the time and duration of some climatic events might be different. We can conclude that in Holocene solar insolation controlled the climatic pattern on the central Tibetan Plateau.     

Variations of stable isotopic compositions in precipitation on the Tibetan Plateau and its adjacent regions

There is no temperature effect in the southern Tibetan Plateau and South Asia to the south of the Tanggula Mountains. Amount effect has been observed at a few sampling stations accounting for about a half of the statistical stations. There is notable temperature effect in the middle and northern Tibetan Plateau and its adjacent Central Asia to the north of the Tanggula Mountains. Because vapor directly originates from low-latitude oceans, the relative heavy δ¹⁸O with small variation characterizes the rainfall in South Asia. A sharp depletion of the stable isotopic compositions in precipitation takes place from Kyangjin on the southern slope of the Himalayas to the Tanggula Mountains in the middle plateau. From the Tanggula Mountains to the northern Tibetan Plateau, the δ¹⁸O in precipitation increases with increasing latitude.     

Climatic changes on orbital and sub-orbital time scale recorded by the Guliya ice core in Tibetan Plateau

Based on ice core records in the Tibetan Plateau and Greenland, the features and possible causes of climatic changes on orbital and sub-orbital time scale were discussed. Orbital time scale climatic change recorded in ice core from the Tibetan Plateau is typically ahead of that from polar regions, which indicates that climatic change in the Tibetan Plateau might be earlier than polar regions. The solar radiation change is a major factor that dominates the climatic change on orbital time scale. However, climatic events on sub-orbital time scale occurred later in the Tibetan Plateau than in the Arctic Region, indicating a different mechanism. For example, the Younger Dryas and Heinrich events took place earlier in Greenland ice core record than in Guliya ice core record. It is reasonable to propose the hypothesis that these climatic events were affected possibly by the Laurentide Ice Sheet. Therefore, ice sheet is critically important to climatic change on sub-orbital time scale in some ice ages.     

Quantitative recuperation of climatic sequences for the last 200 years in Xingcuo Lake,eastern Tibetan Plateau

The functional relation between theδ18O values in the shell of gastropod Gyraulus sibirica and the air temperature in the warm half-yearly period, and that between Sr/Ca ratio and the precipitation in the warm half-yearly period were established by calibrating the δ18O and δ13C values, Sr/Ca ratio and Mg/Ca ratio in the shell Gyraulus sibirica, as well as the total organic carbon (TOC) and its δ13C values in the Xingcuo Lake sediment in the eastern Tibetan Plateau. The sequences of air temperature and precipitation in the last 200 years in the region were quantitatively recuperated on this basis. The results showed the following: (i) There was a negative correlativity between Sr/Ca ratio and the precipitation in the warm half-yearly period, its correlation coefficient was 0.86. (ii) There was an obviously positive correlativity between indexδ18O and the running average temperature in the warm half-yearly period, its correlation coefficient was 0.89. (iii) Evolution of the air temperature and the precipitation in the last 200 years can be divided into three phases distinctly. The precipitation in the later mid-19th century was 220 mm higher than that today; the air temperature in the warm half-yearly period was 2℃ lower than that of the present. The precipitation in the minimum air temperature period of the early 20th century was below that today by 60 mm, and the air temperature in the warm half-yearly period was 3.4℃ lower than that today. (iv) An evidently warming and drying trend existed in the last five decades.     

Precipitation variation in the northeastern Tibetan Plateau recorded by the tree rings since 850 AD and its relevance to the Northern Hemisphere temperature

With their high resolution and reliability, tree rings play a very important role in global climate change study. The long tree-ring chronology is considered as one of the most important information sources to study the climatic change in the past several thousands years. In recent years, the tree-ring researches in China have made great progress, and the temperature and precipita- tion in some areas were reconstructed[1-20] which on- tributed to the global change studies in China. Due to the…     

High-resolution climate variability of southwest China during 57-70 ka reflected in a stalagmite δ18O record from Xinya Cave

A 26-cm-long stalagmite (XY2) from Xinya Cave in northeastern Chongqing of China has been ICP-MS ²³⁰Th/U dated, showing a depositional hiatus at 2.3 cm depth from the top. The growth of the 2.3–26 cm interval determined by four dates was between 57 ka and 70 ka, with a linear growth rate of 0.023 mm/a. We have analyzed 190 samples for δ ¹⁸O and δ ¹³C, mostly in the 2.3–26 cm part. The δ ¹⁸O and δ ¹³C values between 57 ka and 70 ka reveal decadal-to-centennial climatic variability during the glacial interval of Marine Isotope Stage 4 (MIS4), exhibiting much higher resolution than that of the published Hulu and Dongge records during this interval. Speleothem δ ¹⁸O in eastern China, including our study area can be used as a proxy of summer monsoon strength, with lighter values pointing to stronger summer monsoon and higher precipitation, and vice versa. Two decreases in the δ ¹⁸O signature of XY2 record around 59.5 and 64.5 Ka are argued to correspond to the Dansgaard-Oeschger (D-O) events 17 and 18 respectively. The Heinrich event 6 (H6) can be identified in the record as a heavy δ ¹⁸O peak around 60 ka, indicating significant weakening of the monsoon in Chongqing during the cold period. The XY2 δ ¹⁸O record shows very rapid change toward to the interstadial condition of the D-O event, but more gradual change toward to the cold stadial condition. This phenomenon found in the Greenland ice core records is rarely observed so clearly in previously published speleothem records. According to SPECMAP δ ¹⁸O record, the glacial maximum of MIS 4 was around 64.5 ka with the boundary of MIS 3/4 around 60 ka. Unlike the marine record, the speleothem record of XY2, China, exhibits much high frequency variations without an apparent glacial maximum during MIS 4. However, the timing of MIS 3/4 boundary seems to be around 60 ka when the H6 terminated, in agreement with the marine chronology. The growth period of sample XY2 during glacial times probably reflects a local karstic routing of water, rather than having climatic significance. Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 40672165, 90511004, 40672202) and the Academician Special Project of Chongqing Science Committee (Grant No. 2003-7835)     

Compositional characteristics of <Emphasis Type="Italic">n</Emphasis>-alkanes of the glaciers over the Tibetan Plateau and their environmental and climatic significances

We report on the concentration and compositional features of n-alkanes of natural and anthropogenic origins in the snow samples collected from the Qiyi glacier in the Qilian Mountains, the Yuzhufeng glacier in eastern Kunlun Mountains, the Xiaodongkemadi glacier in the Tanggula Mountains, and the Gurenhekou glacier in the Nyainqêntanglha Range. The results indicate a decrease in the total n-alkane concentration (T-HCs) from the northeast to the south over the Tibetan Plateau. The T-HCs in these studied areas were close to those in the Belukha and Sofiyskiy glacier, Russian Alati Mountains and the Dasuopu glacier in the Himalaya but were much higher than those in the Greenland ice sheet, suggesting that the mountain glaciers in the Asian continent may receive a higher loading of n-alkanes than the Greenland ice core. Moreover, the compositional characteristics of n-alkanes indicated that the n-alkanes in the studied areas were probably originated from the plant waxes as well as the fossil-fuel combustion exhaust, whereas the contribution from the lower organisms was small. In addition, the plant wax (C_n(wax)) and anthropogenic (non-C_n(wax)) contributions revealed that fast industrialization may have significant effects on the organic pollutant composition in glacier over the Tibetan Plateau and its circumference environment. Particularly, except for the Yuzhufeng glacier, the ΣnC₂₁ ⁻/ΣnC₂₂ ⁺ and (nC₁₅+nC₁₇+nC₁₉)/(nC₂₇+nC₂₉+nC₃₁) ratio decreased from the Qiyi glacier to the Gurenhekou glacier over the Tibetan Plateau, while the carbon preference index (CPI) values increased. These results indicate a decrease in terrigenous input while an increase in marine input from the northeast to the south over the Tibetan Plateau. These two ratios can be used as the climatic and environmental change indicators.     

An abrupt cooling event early in the last interglacial in the northern South China Sea

The high-resolution quantitative analysis of the planktonic foraminifera and the δ¹⁸O records of the section between 96.49– 137.6 mcd at ODP Site 1144 on the continental slope of northern South China Sea reveals an abrupt cooling event of sea surface temperature (SST) during the last interglacial (MIS 5.5, i.e. 5e). The dropping range of the winter SST may come to 7.5°C corresponding to 1.2‰ of the δ¹⁸O value of sea surface water. This event is comparable with those discovered in the west Europe and the northern Atlantic Ocean, but expressed in a more intensive way. It is inferred that this event may have been induced by middle- to low-latitude processes rather than by polar ice sheet change. Since the Kuroshio-index speciesPulleniatina obliquiloculata displayed the most distinct change at the event, it may also be related to the paleoceanographic change of the low-latitude area in the western Pacific Ocean. This event can be considered as one of “Younger Dryas-style coolings” and is indicative of climate variability of the last interglacial stage.     

Relationship between δD and δ18O in precipitation on north and south of the Tibetan Plateau and moisture recycling

The local meteoric water line (MWL) has been established from north to south of the Tibetan Plateau based on the measured results of δD and δ¹⁸O in precipitation and river water, and the relationship between MWL and moisture origins discussed. The spatial and seasonal variations ofd in precipitation and river water on the Tibetan Plateau have been studied. Results show that the spatial and seasonal variations ofd between north and south of the Tanggula Mountains are related to different moisture origins and water recycling.     

Seasonal variations of stable isotope in precipitation and moisture transport at Yushu,eastern Tibetan Plateau

Precipitation δ 18O at Yushu, eastern Tibetan Plateau, shows strong fluctuation and lack of clear seasonality. The seasonal pattern of precipitation stable isotope at Yushu is apparently different from either that of the southwest monsoon region to the south or that of the inland region to the north. This different seasonal pattern probably reflects the shift of different moisture sources. In this paper, we present the spatial comparison of the seasonal patterns of precipitation δ 18O, and calculate the moisture transport flux by using the NCAR/NCEP reanalysis data. This allows us to discuss the relation between moisture transport flux and precipitation δ 18O. This study shows that both the southwest monsoon from south and inland air mass transport from north affected the seasonal precipitation δ 18O at Yushu, eastern Tibetan Plateau. Southwest monsoon brings the main part of the moisture, but southwest transport flux is weaker than in the southern part of the Tibetan Plateau. However, contribution of the inland moisture from north or local evaporation moisture is enhanced. The combined effect is the strong fluctuation of summer precipitation δ 18O at Yushu and comparatively poor seasonality.     

Chronology of Holocene lacustrine sediments in Co Ngoin, central Tibetan Plateau

Lake sediments, in which abundant, continuous and high resolved signals are preserved, have the potential to recover the history of terrestrial environmental variation. The value of such paleo-environment signals depends firstly on tying them to accurate …