Rapid climate fluctuations over the past millennium: evidence from a lacustrine record of Basomtso Lake, southeastern Tibetan Plateau.
Abrupt climate changes and fluctuations over short time scales are superimposed on long-term climate changes. Understanding rapid climate fluctuations at the decadal time scale over the past millennium will enhance our understanding of patterns of climate variability and aid in forecasting climate changes in the future. In this study, climate changes on the southeastern Tibetan Plateau over the past millennium were determined from a 4.82-m-long sediment core from Basomtso Lake. At the centennial time scale, the Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA), Little Ice Age (LIA) and Current Warm Period (CWP) are distinct in the Basomtso region. Rapid climate fluctuations inferred from five episodes with higher sediment input and likely warmer conditions, as well as seven episodes with lower sediment input and likely colder conditions, were well preserved in our record. These episodes with higher and lower sediment input are characterized by abrupt climate changes and short time durations. Spectral analysis indicates that the climate variations at the centennial scale on the southeastern Tibetan Plateau are influenced by solar activity during the past millennium.
State Key Laboratory of Lake Science and Environment, Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, 210008, China.|University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China.
Kai
K
Li
State Key Laboratory of Lake Science and Environment, Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, 210008, China.|Beijing Key Laboratory of Resource Environment and GIS, College of Resource Environment and Tourism, Capital Normal University, Beijing, 100048, China.
Xingqi
X
Liu
Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Research Unit Potsdam, Potsdam, 14473, Germany.|Institute of Earth and Environmental Science, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, 14476, Germany.
Ulrike
U
Herzschuh
Beijing Key Laboratory of Resource Environment and GIS, College of Resource Environment and Tourism, Capital Normal University, Beijing, 100048, China.
Yongbo
Y
Wang