Peat δ13Ccelluose-recorded wetting trend during the past 8000 years in the southern Altai Mountains, northern Xinjiang, NW China. (1st May 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Zhang, Dongliang; Feng, Zhaodong; Yang, Yunpeng; Lan, Bo; Ran, Min; Mu, Guijin
• Is Part Of: Journal of Asian earth sciences. Volume 156(2018)
• Page Start: 174
• Page End: 179
• Publication Date: 2018-05-01
• Subjects: Altai Mountains -- Holocene -- Moisture change -- Carbon isotope analysis -- Peat; Earth sciences -- Asia -- Periodicals; Sciences de la terre -- Asie -- Périodiques; Earth sciences; Asia; Periodicals; 555.05
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jseaes.2018.01.029
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1367-9120

Abstract

Graphical abstract: Highlights: A Holocene peat δ 13 Ccelluose record retrieved from the southern Altai Mountains, northern Xinjiang, NW China. The δ 13 Ccelluose -indicated moisture record supports the already-reported wetting proposition since ∼8.0 cal. kyr BP. The wetting trend resulted from a combination of temperature and precipitation. Abstract: There have been large discrepancies in the proposed mechanisms accounting for the wetting trend since ∼8.0 cal. kyr BP in the Altai Mountains and the surrounding areas. To validate or invalidate the widely reported wetting trend, we obtained a carbon isotope of cellulose (δ 13 Ccelluose )-recorded warm-season moisture history from a Narenxia (NRX) peat core in the southern Altai Mountains, northern Xinjiang, NW China. The δ 13 Ccelluose -recorded warm-season moisture reconstruction of the NRX peat core provides a strong support to the widely-reported proposition that the climate was generally dry before ∼8.0 cal. kyr BP and was changed to a wetting trend during the past ∼8000 years in the Altai Mountains and the surrounding areas. The wetting trend since ∼8.0 cal. kyr BP well resembles the increasing trend of the reconnaissance drought index (RDI) that was calculated on the basis of pollen-inferred temperature and precipitation data from the same core. The resemblance implies that the wetting trend during the past ∼8000 years resulted from the combined effect of temperature and precipitation.