Holocene monsoon dynamics at Kunlun Pass on the northeastern Qinghai-Tibet PlateauShow others and affiliations
2021 (English)In: Science of the Total Environment, ISSN 0048-9697, E-ISSN 1879-1026, Vol. 771, article id 145369Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
Various proxy records have been used for the understanding of environmental and climate variations during the Holocene. Here, for the first time, we use meteoric Be-10 isotope measurements performed on sediments from a drill core collected at the Kunlun Pass (KP) on the northeastern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (NETP) to investigate hydroclimate changes during the Holocene. The Be-10 flux suggests relative low levels in the Early Holocene, followed by a sharp increase to high values at around 4 ka BP (4 ka BP - 4000 years before present). Afterwards, the Be-10 flux remains on a high level during the Late Holocene, but decreases slightly towards today. These Be-10 deposition patterns are compared to moisture changes in regions dominated by the Indian Summer Monsoon (ISM), East Asian Summer Monsoon (EASM), and the Westerlies. Different from the gradual changes in monsoon patterns, the Be-10 data reveal low levels during the Early Holocene until similar to 4 ka BP when an obvious increase is indicated and a relative high level continues to this day, which is relatively more in agreement with patterns of the Westerlies. This finding provides a new evidence fora shift in the dominant pattern of atmospheric circulation the KP region from a more monsoonal one to one dominated by the Westerlies. Our results improve the understanding of non-stationary interactions and spatial relevance of the EASM, the ISM and the Westerlies on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
ELSEVIER Elsevier, 2021. Vol. 771, article id 145369
Keywords [en]
Asian Summer Monsoon, The Westerlies, Beryllium-10, Moisture variation, Atmospheric circulations
National Category
Climate Research Geology
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-442174DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.145369ISI: 000627895900100PubMedID: 33545484OAI: oai:DiVA.org:uu-442174DiVA, id: diva2:1554610
2021-05-172021-05-172024-01-15Bibliographically approved