The Loess/Paleosol record and the nature of the younger Dryas climate in central China

Abstract

The use of latest Pleistocene-Holocene paleosols in defining Chinese climatic sequences is plagued by poor chronological controls caused primarily by the use of radiocarbon dates derived from bulk soil carbon. Dating of a post-glacial aeolian/paleosol sequence in the Pigeon Mountain basin of north-central China, using culturally deposited charcoal, support a wide array of other data suggesting the Younger Dryas was a period of cooler dryer conditions marked by wide-spread aeolian deposition. Periods of soil formation and higher lake levels bracket this climatic event. Climatic variability immediately before, during and immediately after the Younger Dryas interval is associated with rapid technological elaboration and innovation in the production and use of chipped stone tools, and perhaps, ground stone.

The Late Upper Paleolithic occupation of the northern Tibetan Plateau margin

“…Even during the height of the LGM, water availability, and consequently biological productivity, would have been somewhat greater on the high elevation step of the plateau compared with both the middle elevation step represented by the Qarhan, Qaidam and Qinghai Lake basins and the low elevation source areas represented by the deserts of northwest China. These middle elevation basins and low elevation deserts are all within the rain shadow of the high plateau and receive limited precipitation from the Indian and Southeast Asian summer monsoon [8,40,68]. Hunter-gatherer groups confronted with receding middle elevation lake basins at the onset of the LGM (23e22 14 C yr ka) may have been forced to exploit the high elevation step of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau at least seasonally when lakes were completely desiccated during the height of the LGM (20e18 14 C yr ka).…”

Holocene climate evolution of the Ugii Nuur basin, Mongolia

“…A large number of studies on the Chinese loess sequences (e.g., Maher and Thomson, 1991;Madsen et al, 1998;Fang et al, 1999;Zhu et al, 2004;, lake systems (e.g., Walther et al, 2003;Wünnemann et al, 2005;Prokopenko et al, 2007), ice cores (e.g., Thompson et al, 1997;Yao et al, 1997) and speleothems (e.g., Wang et al, 2001) have provided insight into the climatic and environmental evolution of the regions affected by monsoon variability and, thus, increased the understanding of their sensitivity to climatic change.…”

Dating Human Settlement in the East-Central Tibetan Plateau during the Late Holocene

“…To permanently colonize the Tibetan Plateau, humans needed to adapt physiologically to the hypoxic environment and obtain sufficient food resources from the Plateau's harsh high-cold environments. During the late Paleolithic period, humans seasonally occupied the Tibetan Plateau (Madsen et al 1998(Madsen et al , 2006Brantingham et al 2003Brantingham et al , 2007Brantingham and Gao 2006;Rhode et al 2007Rhode et al , 2014. Limited wild animal resources of the alpine environment cannot alone sustain intensive and permanent human settlement.…”

“…The history and strategies for achieving permanent human colonization on the Tibetan Plateau, the highest plateau on the earth, have been intensively studied in recent years (Madsen et al 1998(Madsen et al , 2006Zhang and Li 2002;Brantingham et al 2003Brantingham et al , 2007Aldenderfer 2006Aldenderfer , 2011Brantingham and Gao 2006;Rhode et al 2007;Yuan et al 2007;Sun et al 2012;Tang et al 2013;Guedes 2015;Guedes et al 2014Guedes et al , 2015Chen et al 2015). Archaeological investigation and optical dating indicate that foragers possibly reached 4200 m above sea level (asl) around 20,000 BP (Zhang and Li 2002), and definitely occupied areas above 3200 m asl after 15,000 BP (Brantingham and Gao 2006;Madsen et al 2006;Brantingham et al 2007;Rhode et al 2007Rhode et al , 2014Meyer et al 2017).…”