Soil temperature and brGDGTs along an elevation gradient on the northeastern Tibetan Plateau: A test of soil brGDGTs as a proxy for paleoelevation

Correlation Between brGDGTs Distribution and Elevation From the Eastern Qilian Shan

“…Some studies on soil datasets in China have pointed out that in relatively cold areas (observed MAAT <6 °C), the temperature reconstructed based on MATmr may greatly overestimate observation temperature (Wang et al, 2020), such as the Laji Mountains in the northeastern Tibetan Plateau (Wang and Liu, 2021). This is consistent with our research results.…”

“…The lapse rate associated with the reconstructed temperature based on our equations is −0.60 °C/100 m, similar to that based on observed temperatures from the meteorological meters that we set (−0.67 °C/100 m). This lapse rate is also similar to reported lapse rates from the northern slope of the Qilian Shan (−0.58 °C/100 m) (Zhang et al, 2001) and the neighboring Laji Mountain (−0.65 °C/ 100 m) (Wang and Liu, 2021). However, one study reported a lower lapse rate from the south slope of Lenglongling in the Qilian Shan (−0.51 °C /100 m) from higher elevations (elevation 3,200-4,300 m) and higher precipitation ranges (Wang et al, 2009).…”

“…The relative abundance of Ⅲc and Ⅲc' detected in each sample is low. In comparison with previous results (De Jonge et al, 2014b;Chen et al, 2019;Wang and Liu, 2021), the Qilian Shan surface soils are located at the end of low tetramethylation.…”

“…This is mainly because commonly used stable isotope-based paleoaltimetry proxies suffer from the water recycling issue in this region, which prevents a straightforward application of the calibration equation (Tian et al, 2007;Bershaw et al, 2012;Li and Garzione, 2017). In order to get a clear understanding of the uplift history of the northeastern Tibetan Plateau, other approaches are needed (Deng and Ding, 2015;Jiang et al, 2015;Li and Garzione, 2017;Wang and Liu, 2021).…”

“…Bacterial-branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers (brGDGTs) hold great promise in deriving paleoelevation in this part of the Tibetan Plateau because it links elevation with mean annual air temperature (MAAT) (Sinninghe Damsté et al, 2008;Peterse et al, 2009;Liu et al, 2013;Bai et al, 2018;Guo et al, 2018;Zhuang et al, 2019;Wang and Liu, 2021). However, there is no MAAT-brGDGTs transfer function available for the Qilian Shan area, the major highland of the northeastern Tibetan Plateau, hindering quantitative reconstruction of the elevation history.…”