Late Glacial and Holocene vegetation and climate history of an alpine wetland on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

Authors

  • Demei Liu Northwest Plateau Institute of Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
  • Guichen Chen Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining 810008
  • Zhongping Lai State Key Laboratory of Cryospheric Sciences, Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000
  • Haicheng Weis Salt Lake Resources and Chemistry, Qinghai Institute of Salt Lakes, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining 810008
  • Guoying Zhou Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining 810008
  • Min Peng Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining 810008

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.7306/gq.1096

Keywords:

Late Glacial, Holocene, Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, alpine wetland, optically stimulated luminescence, pollen analysis

Abstract

This study provides a vegetation and climate history of an alpine wetland in the centre of China’s Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau (QTP) over the last 14.8 ka. High resolution climate proxies include vegetation (pollen), geochemical (Ba, Rb, δ13C) and physical (particle size and magnetic susceptibility) data; optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) and AMS radiocarbon dating were used to reconstruct the environmental changes in the wetland ecosystem. Based on physical and geochemical proxies, the sucession divided into five stratigraphic units encompassing time intervals of 14.76–14.31, 14.31–13.17, 13.17–4.47, 4.47–0.51 and 0.51–0 ka. The average sedimentation rate of all these units was 0.098 mm/a. The study showed that this ecosystem was sensitive to climate change. 

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Published

2013-02-25

Issue

Vol. 57 No. 2 (2013)

Section

Articles

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