Vegetation history and climatic variations during the last 14 ka BP inferred from a pollen record at Daihai Lake, north-central China

Abstract A 14 ka vegetation and climate history is reconstructed based on a high-resolution pollen record from an arid to semiarid region in north-central China. Nine major episodes of paleovegetation are reconstructed in the record in response to climate changes: sparse-wood grassland, steppe, sparse-wood grassland, steppe, mixed conifer broad-leaved forest, sparse mixed conifer and broad-leaved forest, conifer forest, conifer forest with some broad-leaved, and steppe. Between 14 and 11.2 ka, mild and dry conditions after the glaciation are revealed, and a three-phased monsoonal oscillation interval (cold-dry, cold-humid, and cool-dry) corresponding with the Younger Dryas has been identified from 11.2 to 10 ka. A warm, humid climate is evident between 10 and 7 ka, when broad-leaved trees were abundant. The East Asian monsoon was enhanced during this period and brought in more precipitation to the study area. After 7 ka, with the weakening of the East Asian monsoon, the climate became less moist, and more arid vegetation developed. Conifer forest was well developed between 4.8 to 3.4 ka but was then replaced by steppe.

[1]  J. Kutzbach,et al.  The Influence of Changing Orbital Parameters and Surface Boundary Conditions on Climate Simulations for the Past 18 000 Years , 1986 .

[2]  R. Matsumoto,et al.  Quantitative reconstruction of the lake water paleotemperature of Daihai Lake, Inner Mongolia, China and its significance in paleoclimate , 2002 .

[3]  Li Xiao-qiang,et al.  The Acid-alkali-free Analysis of Quaternary Pollen , 1999 .

[4]  Zhuo Xu,et al.  Thermal expansion in lead zirconate titanate , 2002 .

[5]  Weijian Zhou,et al.  Teleconnection of climatic events between East Asia and polar, high latitude areas during the last deglaciation , 1999 .

[6]  M. Stuiver,et al.  Variability of Monsoon Climate in East Asia at the End of the Last Glaciation , 1996, Quaternary Research.

[7]  E. Jansen,et al.  A high‐resolution diatom record of the last deglaciation from the SE Norwegian Sea: Documentation of rapid climatic changes , 1992 .

[8]  J. Stockmarr.  Tablets with spores used in absolute pollen analysis , 1971 .

[9]  J. Kutzbach,et al.  Monsoon variability over the past 150,000 years , 1987 .

[10]  Weijian Zhou,et al.  Terrestrial evidence for a spatial structure of tropical-polar interconnections during the Younger Dryas episode , 2001 .

[11]  L. Xiaoqiang,et al.  The vegetation and monsoon variations at the desert-boess transition belt at Midiwan in northern China for the last 13 ka , 2003 .

[12]  J. Kutzbach,et al.  Asynchronous Holocene optimum of the East Asian monsoon , 2000 .

[13]  Huayu Lu,et al.  Holocene climate changes over the desert/loess transition of north-central China , 2002 .

[14]  The role of ocean-atmosphere reorganizations in glacial cycles , 1989 .

[15]  M. G. Winkler.  The late Quaternary vegetation and climate of China , 1993 .

[16]  Ann P. El-Moslimany.  Ecological significance of common nonarboreal pollen: examples from drylands of the Middle East , 1990 .

[17]  Murray Gray,et al.  Global Climates since the Last Glacial Maximum , 1994 .

[18]  Zhaohui Lin,et al.  Climate of China , 1992 .

[19]  A. Lotter.  Absolute Dating of the Late-Glacial Period in Switzerland Using Annually Laminated Sediments , 1991, Quaternary Research.