Coastal dune rock development and Holocene climate changes in South China

Coastal dune rocks in China are eolian sands cemented by calcium carbonate under subaerial conditions, widely distributing on the tropical and subtropical coasts of South China. Particular temperature and precipitation as well as local wave and landform conditions are required for the formation of the dune rocks. A correspondence was found between Holocene environmental changes and coastal dune rock development by comparing the features of the sea-level and climate changes in the Holocene period with the ages, scales, and cementation of the dune rocks on the South China coasts. The findings provide well grounded explanation for some problems unresolved in the past researches on the coastal dune rock in South China： （1） There were no dune rocks with ages older than 6000 years in South China because the dune rocks formed before 6000 a BP were covered by the sea water that rose in the later period; （2） the dune rocks with ages of around 3000 a BP were widely found in South China today because the coastal dunes were cumulated on a large scale at that time as a result of temperature falling after the end of Megathermal; （3） Medieval Warm Period was the main period for the eolian dunes to be cemented into the coastal dune rocks in South China; （4） lack of dune rocks of younger than 1000 a BP was accounted for by that the climate conditions in recent one thousand years were not suitable for the cementation.

Linking moisture and near-surface wind with winter temperature to reveal the Holocene climate evolution in arid Xinjiang region of China

An increasing number of palaeo-climatic records have been reported to identify the Holocene climate history in the arid Xinjiang region of northwest China. However, few studies have fully considered the internal linkages within the regional climate system, which may limit our understanding of the forcing mechanisms of Holocene climate change in this region. Here, we systematically consider three major issues of the moisture/precipitation, temperature and near-surface wind relevant to the Holocene climate history of Xinjiang. First, despite there still has debated for the Holocene moisture evolution in this region, more climatic reconstructions from lake sediments, loess, sand-dunes and peats support a long-term regional wetting trend. Second, temperature records from ice cores, peats and stalagmites demonstrate a long-term winter warming trend during the Holocene in middle-to high-latitudes of Asia. Third, recent studies of aeolian sedimentary sequences reveal that the near-surface winds in winter gradually weakened during the Holocene, whereas the winter mid-latitude Westerlies strengthened in the Tienshan Mountains. Based on this evidence, in the arid Xinjiang region we propose an early to middle Holocene relatively cold and dry interval, with strong near-surface winds;and a warmer, wetter interval with weaker near-surface winds in the middle to late Holocene during winter. Additionally,we develop a conceptual model to explain the pattern of Holocene climate changes in this region.From the early to the late Holocene, the increasing atmospheric COcontent and winter insolation,and the shrinking of high-latitude continental ice-sheets, resulted in increasing winter temperatures in middle to high latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere. Subsequently, the increased winter temperature strengthened the winter mid-latitude Westerlies and weakened the Siberian high-pressure system,which caused an increase in winter precipitation and a decrease in near-surface wind strength. This scenario is strongly supported by evidence from geological records, climate simulation results, and modern reanalysis data. Our hypothesis highlights the important contribution of winter temperature in driving the Holocene climatic evolution of the arid Xinjiang region, and it implies that the socio-economic development and water resources security of this region will face serious challenges presented by the increasing winter temperature in the future.

Geochemical weathering of aeolian sand and its palaeoclimatic implications in the Mu Us Desert,northern China,since the Late Holocene

In the semi-arid and arid regions of northern China,geochemical behavior of the aeolian deposit is closely related to climatic and environmental changes,which was used to reconstruct the past history of environmental evolution and possibly forcing mechanisms.However,the related result was still scarce due to the lack of detailed geochemical analysis results in the desert sediments.In the present study,we systematically analyzed the geochemical components and parameters of the paleo-aeolian sand dune and modern mobile sand deposits in the Mu Us Desert and discuss the climatic variation inferred from the paleo-aeolian sand dune during the past 4.2 ka BP.The results indicated that （1） geochemical composition of the sandy deposits were dominated by SiO_2,Al_2O_3 and Na_2O and the deposits probably originated from the widespread upper continental crust （UCC） and were formed by long-term weathering,transport and re-deposition;（2） these sandy deposits were subjected to weaker weathering or uneven weathering under cold and dry conditions,and had highly similar material sources and degrees of weathering and leaching in general;and （3） the direct OSL （Optically Stimulated Luminescence） dating ages and geochemical parameters from the palaeosol-aeolian sand dune indicated that the regional climate change experienced several typically cold and warm intervals.These intervals are 4.2,2.8 ka BP and Little Ice Age and Medieval Warm Period,which probably attributed to periodic variations of the Asian summer monsoonal strength and cold events of the northern Atlantic Ocean in low and high latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere.Our results suggest that the development of the sand dune in the Mu Us Desert provided a suitable archive for understanding the past local climatic change,which is linked to the global climatic change.

Holocene peatland development and vegetation changes in the Zoige Basin, eastern Tibetan Plateau

Peat sediments and peatland evolution process offer abundant clues into the history of vegetation and climate changes.In order to reconstruct Holocene peatland, vegetation and climate changes on eastern Tibetan Plateau, we conducted analyses of fossil pollen, loss-on-ignition, and carbon accumulation rate on one peat core from Zoige Basin. Our results show local peatland initiated at 10.3 ka, thrived in the early-mid Holocene, and then began to degrade. Throughout the Holocene, Zoige Basin was dominated by alpine meadow. Coniferous forest on montane regions expanded for several times during 10.5–4.6ka, and then dramatically retreated. Results of peatland property, principal component analysis on fossil pollen suggested the climate maintained warm/wet during 10–5.5 ka, and became relatively cold/dry in the late Holocene. Rapid degradation of peatland, retreat of coniferous forest and climatic drought/cooling occurred at 10.2–10, 9.7–9.5, 8.7–8.5, 7.7–7.4, 6.4–6, 5.5–5.2,4.8–4.5, 4–3.6, 3.1–2.7, 1.4–1.2 and 0.8–0.6 ka. The long-term variations of Holocene climate and vegetation on eastern Tibetan Plateau could be attributed to changes in insolation-driven temperature and Asian Summer Monsoon intensity, while those rapid centennial changes were probably triggered by abrupt monsoon failures and temperature anomalies in the high northern latitudes.