@article{TaftWiechertZhangetal.2013, author = {Taft, Linda and Wiechert, Uwe and Zhang, Hucai and Lei, Guoliang and Mischke, Steffen and Plessen, Birgit and Weynell, Marc and Winkler, Andreas and Riedel, Frank}, title = {Oxygen and carbon isotope patterns archived in shells of the aquatic gastropod Radix - hydrologic and climatic signals across the Tibetan Plateau in sub-monthly resolution}, series = {Quaternary international : the journal of the International Union for Quaternary Research}, volume = {290}, journal = {Quaternary international : the journal of the International Union for Quaternary Research}, number = {1}, publisher = {Elsevier}, address = {Oxford}, issn = {1040-6182}, doi = {10.1016/j.quaint.2012.10.031}, pages = {282 -- 298}, year = {2013}, abstract = {The Tibetan Plateau (TP), including its surrounding mountain ranges, represents the largest store of ice outside the polar regions. It hosts numerous lakes as well as the head waters of major Asian rivers, on which billions of people depend, and it is particularly sensitive to climate change. The moisture transport to the TP is controlled by the Indian and Pacific monsoon and the Westerlies. Understanding the evolution of the interaction of these circulation systems requires studies on climate archives in different spatial and temporal contexts. The objective of this study is to learn more about the interannual variability of precipitation patterns across the TP and how different hydrologic systems react to different climatic factors. Aragonite shells of the aquatic gastropod Radix, which is widely distributed in the region, may represent suitable archives for inferring hydrologic and climatic signals in particularly high resolution. Therefore, sclerochronological studies of delta O-18 and delta C-13 ratios in Radix shells from seven lakes were conducted, each representing a different hydrologic and climatic setting, on a transect from the Pamirs across the TP. The shell patterns exhibit an increasing influence of precipitation and a decreasing influence of evaporation on the isotope compositions from west to east. delta O-18 values of shells from lakes on the eastern and central TP (Donggi Cona, Yamdrok Yumco, Tarab Co) mirror monsoon signals, indicated by more negative values and higher variabilities compared to the more western lakes (Karakul, Bangong/Nyak, Manasarovar). In Yadang Co, located on the central southern TP, the monsoon rains did not reach the lake in the sampling year, although it is located in a region which is usually affected by monsoon circulation. The delta O-18 values are used to differentiate the annual hydrological cycle into ice cover period, melt water period, precipitation period and evaporation period. delta C-13 compositions in the shells particularly depend on specific habitats, which vary in biological productivity and in carbon sources. delta O-18 and delta C-13 patterns show a positive covariance in shells originating from large closed basins. The results show that Radix shells mirror general climatic differences between the seven lake regions. These differences reflect both regional and local climate signals in sub-seasonal resolution, without noticeable dependence on the particular lake system.}, language = {en} } @article{ZhangPaijmansChangetal.2013, author = {Zhang, Hucai and Paijmans, Johanna L. A. and Chang, Fengqin and Wu, Xiaohong and Chen, Guangjie and Lei, Chuzhao and Yang, Xiujuan and Wei, Zhenyi and Bradley, Daniel G. and Orlando, Ludovic and O'Connor, Terry and Hofreiter, Michael}, title = {Morphological and genetic evidence for early Holocene cattle management in northeastern China}, series = {Nature Communications}, volume = {4}, journal = {Nature Communications}, number = {6}, publisher = {Nature Publ. Group}, address = {London}, issn = {2041-1723}, doi = {10.1038/ncomms3755}, pages = {7}, year = {2013}, abstract = {The domestication of cattle is generally accepted to have taken place in two independent centres: around 10,500 years ago in the Near East, giving rise to modern taurine cattle, and two millennia later in southern Asia, giving rise to zebu cattle. Here we provide firmly dated morphological and genetic evidence for early Holocene management of taurine cattle in northeastern China. We describe conjoining mandibles from this region that show evidence of oral stereotypy, dated to the early Holocene by two independent C-14 dates. Using Illumina high-throughput sequencing coupled with DNA hybridization capture, we characterize 15,406 bp of the mitogenome with on average 16.7-fold coverage. Phylogenetic analyses reveal a hitherto unknown mitochondrial haplogroup that falls outside the known taurine diversity. Our data suggest that the first attempts to manage cattle in northern China predate the introduction of domestic cattle that gave rise to the current stock by several thousand years.}, language = {en} }