A pollen record of Holocene climatic changes from the Dunde ice cap, Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

Abstract

Research Article| February 01, 1998 A pollen record of Holocene climatic changes from the Dunde ice cap, Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau Kam-biu Liu; Kam-biu Liu 1Department of Geography and Anthropology, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70803 Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Zuju Yao; Zuju Yao 1Department of Geography and Anthropology, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70803 Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Lonnie G. Thompson Lonnie G. Thompson 2Byrd Polar Research Center and Department of Geological Sciences, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 43210 Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Geology (1998) 26 (2): 135–138. https://doi.org/10.1130/0091-7613(1998)026<0135:APROHC>2.3.CO;2 Article history first online: 02 Jun 2017 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Search Site Citation Kam-biu Liu, Zuju Yao, Lonnie G. Thompson; A pollen record of Holocene climatic changes from the Dunde ice cap, Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. Geology 1998;; 26 (2): 135–138. doi: https://doi.org/10.1130/0091-7613(1998)026<0135:APROHC>2.3.CO;2 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Refmanager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentBy SocietyGeology Search Advanced Search Abstract Pollen preserved in ice cores from the Dunde ice cap provides a sensitive record of Holocene climatic changes and vegetational response in the northern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau at time scales ranging from millennia to centuries and decades. Pollen analysis of the annually resolvable ice layers for a 30 yr period (1957–1986) suggests that total pollen concentration is correlated positively with summer precipitation and negatively with summer temperature; thus it is a sensitive indicator of moisture availability and vegetation density in the steppe and desert regions around Dunde. High pollen concentrations between 10 000 and 4800 yr B.P. suggest that the summer monsoon probably extended beyond its present limit to reach Dunde and westernmost Tibet in response to orbital forcing. The summer monsoon retreated time-transgressively across the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau during the middle Holocene. Relatively humid periods occurred at 2700–2200, 1500–800, and 600–80 yr B.P., probably as a result of neoglacial cooling. Prominent pollen changes during the Medieval Warm Period (790–620 yr B.P.) and the Little Ice Age (330–80 yr B.P.) suggest that the vegetation in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau region is sensitive to abrupt, century-scale climatic changes, such as those anticipated in scenarios of greenhouse warming. This content is PDF only. Please click on the PDF icon to access. First Page Preview Close Modal You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.