Paleolakes in the Gobi region of southern Mongolia

Lehmkuhl, Frank; Grünert, Jörg; Hülle, Daniela; Batkhishig, Ochirbat; Stauch, Georg

doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2017.10.035

Cited by 61 publications

(53 citation statements)

References 64 publications

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“…Our results also show that the early Gale lakes would have been hyposaline and closed, where evaporation dominated fluid input. Together with the occurrence of similar hyposaline lakes in terrestrial steppe area 28 and results of hydrological modeling to make a closed-basin lake at Gale 19 , we also suggest that the early Gale lakes developed under semiarid climatic conditions, at least, during the deposition of the Yellowknife Bay sediments, which is consistent with the low values of the chemical index of alteration for these sediments 10,11 . Our results of water chemistry suggest that Gale would have experienced prolonged (10 4 –10 6 years) episodes of warm and semiarid climates in total, although these episodes might have been intermittent.…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 82%

“…The estimated Na–Cl concentrations are lower than terrestrial seawater ({Na} = 0.49 mol/kg and {Cl} = 0.56 mol/kg), but significantly higher than freshwater 23 . On Earth, hyposaline lakes are abundant in semiarid climate regions, such as inner-continental steppe areas 28,29 . Desiccation cracks and rip-up chips are not pervasive around terrestrial hyposaline lakes (see Supplementary Fig.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Semiarid climate and hyposaline lake on early Mars inferred from reconstructed water chemistry at Gale

et al. 2019

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Salinity, pH, and redox states are fundamental properties that characterize natural waters. These properties of surface waters on early Mars reflect palaeoenvironments, and thus provide clues on the palaeoclimate and habitability. Here we constrain these properties of pore water within lacustrine sediments of Gale Crater, Mars, using smectite interlayer compositions. Regardless of formation conditions of smectite, the pore water that last interacted with the sediments was of Na-Cl type with mild salinity (~0.1–0.5 mol/kg) and circumneutral pH. To interpret this, multiple scenarios for post-depositional alterations are considered. The estimated Na-Cl concentrations would reflect hyposaline, early lakes developed in 104–106-year-long semiarid climates. Assuming that post-depositional sulfate-rich fluids interacted with the sediments, the redox disequilibria in secondary minerals suggest infiltration of oxidizing fluids into reducing sediments. Assuming no interactions, the redox disequilibria could have been generated by interactions of upwelling groundwater with oxidized sediments in early post-depositional stages.

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 82%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Semiarid climate and hyposaline lake on early Mars inferred from reconstructed water chemistry at Gale

et al. 2019

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“…Devyatkin (1981) assumed a high paleolake level at Khyargas Nuur (20) between 90 and 76 ka. A high lake level at Orog Nuur (21) in the Gobi Desert to the southeast between 80 and 70 ka was reported by Lehmkuhl and Lang (2001) and Lehmkuhl et al (2018). No climatic evidence from pollen records and further high lake levels exist for this period in the region of western Mongolia.…”

Section: Evaluation Of Late Pleistocene Periods Of Environmental Changementioning

confidence: 95%

“…Proxy data from southern Mongolia also point to a dry climate in that region. Based on the OSL dating of eolian sands from Zavkhan Gol, which drains the Khangai Mountains to the west, and from Bayan Tukhumiin Nuur, a desiccated lake in the Gobi, a dry phase was reported by Lehmkuhl et al (2018) for the MIS 2. After 24 ka, the Orog Nuur desiccated and remained a shallow saline lake until 11 ka (Yu et al, 2019).…”

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confidence: 99%

Late Pleistocene lake level, glaciation and climate change in the Mongolian Altai deduced from sedimentological and palynological archives

et al. 2020

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Glacial and lacustrine sediments from the Mongolian Altai provide paleoclimatic information for the late Pleistocene in Mongolia, for which only a few sufficiently studied archives exist. Glacial stages referred to global cooling events are reported for the last glacial maximum (27–21 ka) and the late glacial period (18–16 ka). Sedimentary archives from the first part of the last glacial period are infrequent. We present proxy data for this period from two different archives (88–63 and 57–30 ka). Due to the limitation of effective moisture, an increase of precipitation is discussed as one trigger for glacier development in the cold-arid regions of central Asia. Our pollen analysis from periods of high paleolake levels in small catchments indicate that the vegetation was sparse and of dry desert type between 42–29 and 17–11 ka. This apparent contradiction between high lake levels and dry landscape conditions, the latter supported by intensified eolian processes, points to lower temperatures and cooler conditions causing reduced evaporation to be the main trigger for the high lake levels during glacier advances. Rising temperatures that cause melting of glacier and permafrost ice and geomorphological processes play a role in paleolake conditions. Interpreting lake-level changes as regional or global paleoclimate signals requires detailed investigation of geomorphological settings and mountain–basin relationships.

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“…In central Mongolia (Bayankhongor Province), there is a valley where lakes and remnants of paleolakes concentrate, called "Valley of the Gobi Lakes," in which lakes repeatedly emerged and disappeared during the Quaternary (Lehmkuhl, Grunert, Hülle, Batkhishig, & Stauch, 2018). Currently, water is supplied mainly from the Khangai mountains in the north where precipitation is approximately 200 mm/year.…”

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confidence: 99%

Paleolake reconstruction and estimation of paleo‐inflow in the Olgoi Basin, Mongolia, based on GIS and hydraulic analyses

et al. 2019

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Paleolakes in the Gobi region of southern Mongolia

Cited by 61 publications

References 64 publications

Semiarid climate and hyposaline lake on early Mars inferred from reconstructed water chemistry at Gale

Semiarid climate and hyposaline lake on early Mars inferred from reconstructed water chemistry at Gale

Late Pleistocene lake level, glaciation and climate change in the Mongolian Altai deduced from sedimentological and palynological archives

Paleolake reconstruction and estimation of paleo‐inflow in the Olgoi Basin, Mongolia, based on GIS and hydraulic analyses

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