A Climate Event at about 12 ka BP Revealed by Loess Deposit in Middle Reaches of Yarlung Zangbo River, Southern Tibetan Plateau, China

doi:10.7522/j.issn.1000-694X.2015.00172

JOURNAL OF DESERT RESEARCH ›› 2016, Vol. 36 ›› Issue (3): 616-622.DOI: 10.7522/j.issn.1000-694X.2015.00172

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A Climate Event at about 12 ka BP Revealed by Loess Deposit in Middle Reaches of Yarlung Zangbo River, Southern Tibetan Plateau, China

Wu Haifeng¹, Lu Huayu¹, Zhang Hanzhi¹, Yi Shuangwen¹, Yang Wenbin²

1. School of Geographical and Oceanographical Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China;
2. Institute of Desertification Studies, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing 100091, China

Received:2015-05-05 Revised:2015-07-26 Online:2016-05-20 Published:2016-05-20

Abstract

Abstract:

Loess deposit is regarded as an indicator of arid and semiarid depositional environment during Pleistocene. On the basis of the reconnaissance, the eolian loess deposits of 1-3 m thick in middle reaches of Yarlung Zangbo River, Southern Tibetan Plateau, are analyzed. The loess sections are located at fluvial terraces far away from the riverbed. We applied optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) technique to dating the samples from these profiles, and measuring grain size distribution and magnetic susceptibility. The result shows that these sediments were deposited at about 12ka ago, when the climate was cold and arid, corresponding with the Younger Dryas (YD) event in high-latitude region. A large quantity of clastic materials produced by weathering of the mountains surface was transported and deposited along basins and valleys of the Yarlung Zangbo River by wind, gravity, glacial and water flow dynamics. With cold and dry climate through the YD period, these loess deposits were wind entrained and deposited. Our investigation provides new evidences that the southern Tibetan Plateau was cold and dry, with windy environment during the YD period.

Key words: Yarlung Zangbo River, Younger Dryas, aeolian loess, OSL dating

CLC Number:

P531

Wu Haifeng, Lu Huayu, Zhang Hanzhi, Yi Shuangwen, Yang Wenbin. A Climate Event at about 12 ka BP Revealed by Loess Deposit in Middle Reaches of Yarlung Zangbo River, Southern Tibetan Plateau, China[J]. JOURNAL OF DESERT RESEARCH, 2016, 36(3): 616-622.

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A Climate Event at about 12 ka BP Revealed by Loess Deposit in Middle Reaches of Yarlung Zangbo River, Southern Tibetan Plateau, China

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