The Quaternary Pan-lake (Overflow) Period and Paleoclimate on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

Lake geomorphology and high-level lacustrine deposits since the mid-late Pleistocene are well preserved in lakes of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. According to geological surveys of 17 lake districts in different locations of the plateau, combined with interpretations of satellite images and topographic maps, the authors studied the timing of formation and scopes of the pan-lake areas of the plateau and their paleoclimate. The latest two high lake levels （overflow surfaces） on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in the Quaternary occurred at N40 to 30/35 ka and N65 to 53 ka respectively. In these time intervals, the plateau was covered by huge interconnected pan-lake systems with a total area of -36 km^2 and a total volume of lake water of 〉530 million km^2, which are about 38 times and 659 times larger than those of the modern lakes respectively. Before this pan-lake period in the late Pleistocene, there had been three high lake levels that occurred at N 132-112 ka, 110-95 ka and 91-72/-83-75 ka respectively, suggesting that the late Quaternary climate on the plateau was unstable and changed rapidly. The -40-30 ka high lake level also appeared in the Tengger desert north of the plateau, suggesting that there existed very strong summer monsoons from South Asia then; the variation in solar radiation with a 20,000 precessional period has special importance for the high-altitude Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in the low-latitude zone of the Earth. Around 30 ka, the pan-lakes at the peripheries of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau drained out suddenly with rapid uplift of the plateau and cooling. In a short time the huge amount of cold lake water emptied into the Indian Ocean and Western Pacific. The draining event of the pan-lakes brought about the environmental changes of rivers and lakes at peripheries of the plateau.

Evidence of the Pan-Lake Stage in the Period of 40-28 ka B.P. on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

The Qinghai-Tibet plateau is one of major saline lake regions in China, where saline lakes are widespread and constitute an important object of researches on the palaeoclimatic change in the region. On the basis of comprehensive investigations of the evolution of the lake's surface and sediments on the plateau, the authors have further demonstrated the existence of a pan-lake stage (river and lake flooding stage) on the Qinghai-Tibet plateau during the period of about 40+-28 ka B.P. and analyzed the palaeoclimatic characteristics of the pan-lake period and relationships between the ancient monsoons and the uplift of the plateau since the beginning of the Quaternary.

Holocene high lake-levels and pan-lake period on Badain Jaran Desert

Many lakes exist in southeastern Badain Jaran Desert and its hinterland, including 110 perennial lakes and some seasonal or extinct lakes. Geomorphological, sedimentological, and bioglyph evidence obtained from field investigations on Badain Jaran Desert lake group, alongside measurements and dating performed on lake relic, prove that these lakes expanded while the climate was relatively wet during early and middle Holocene. The dating results suggest that the pan-lake period of the Badain Jaran Desert began at 10 cal kyr BP, before which the limnic peat period occurred(11–10 cal kyr BP). Many lakes reached their maximal water-level during 8.6–6.3 cal kyr BP and retreated or dried up in the late Holocene(about 3.5–0 cal kyr BP). During that period, the precipitation at Badain Jaran Desert may have reached 200 mm yr^(-1) for 7.7–5.3 cal kyr BP, inferred from both the age and precipitation rate of calcareous root tubes. The water balance calculation shows that wetter and warmer climate and the increase of underground water recharge were key factors in maintaining and developing the lake group at both centennial and millennial time scales. Furthermore, lake surface expansion and the increasing fresh water availability set the background for the prosperous prehistoric culture.