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Variations of monsoonal precipitation over the last 16,000 years in the eastern Nanling Mountains, South China

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Abstract

A 350-cm-long sediment core was recovered from Dahu Swamp in the eastern Nanling Mountains in south China for paleoclimatic investigation. Twelve 14C dates determined on organic-rich bulk samples establish a chronological sequence for this core and yield a bottom age of ~16,000 cal years BP. Multiproxies including dry bulk density, magnetic susceptibility, organic carbon isotope, median grain size, silt-size fraction and total organic matter content were used to study variations of precipitation in relation to the East Asian monsoon. The core sediments are characterized by shifts between the lacustrine sediments and marshy sediments, implying hydrological variations between expansion and shrinkage of the water body in the swamp, and suggesting relatively wetter and drier conditions, respectively. Two relatively wetter episodes lasting from ~15,000 to 14,000 cal years BP and from ~13,500 to 12,800 cal years BP were revealed, possibly corresponding to the Bølling and the Allerød warming events, and three relatively drier phases occurred between ~16,000 and 15,000 cal years BP, between ~14,000 and 13,500 cal years BP and between ~12,800 and 11,500 cal years BP. The three events synchronize with the Oldest Dryas, the Older Dryas and the Younger Dryas cooling events, respectively. A distinctly humid period lasted from ~10,000 to 6,000 cal years BP in the early- and mid- Holocene was interpreted as the Holocene Optimum period. Several short dry events were revealed, including the most pronounced one at ~8,100 cal years BP that coincides with the “8,200 year” cooling event. Multiproxies indicate an evidently dry climate prevailing in the mid-Holocene (from ~6,000 to 3,000 cal years BP), reflecting a weakening of the East Asian summer monsoon. The general trend of Holocene climate shows agreement with the 25°N summer solar insolation, suggesting that the orbitally induced insolation have played a key role in the Holocene climate in south China.

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Acknowledgments

Organic carbon isotope was analyzed at the State Key Lab. of Gas Geochemistry, Lanzhou Institute of Geology, CAS. We feel grateful to Prof. C. J. Zhang and Dr. H. Yang for their help in laboratory analyses. Thanks are also due to Dr. Z. P. Lai and Dr. H. Y. Zhou for their help to improve the manuscript. The authors sincerely thank the anonymous reviewers and the chief editor, Prof. T. J. Whitmore for their constructive suggestions which significantly improve the manuscript. This work was supported by the NSF of China (No. 40671189); NSF of Guangdong Province (No. 8151063101000044 and 06025042); the Fok Ying Tung Education Foundation grants (No. 91021) and the Open Fund of the State Key Lab. of Loess and Quaternary Geology, CAS (No. SKLLQG0803).

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  1. School of Geography Science, South China Normal University, 510631, Guangzhou, China

    Wei Zhong, Jibin Xue, Yanming Zheng, Qiaohong Ma, Ying Cai, Jun Ouyang, Liubin Xu & Shangzhe Zhou

  2. State Key Laboratory of Loess and Quaternary Geology, Institute of Earth Environment, CAS, 710075, Xi’an, China

    Xuefeng Yu

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  1. Wei Zhong
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Zhong, W., Xue, J., Zheng, Y. et al. Variations of monsoonal precipitation over the last 16,000 years in the eastern Nanling Mountains, South China. J Paleolimnol 44, 177–188 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10933-009-9395-7

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