TY - JOUR A1 - Zhang, Di A1 - Cao, Kai A1 - Yuan, Xiaoping A1 - Wang, Guocan A1 - van der Beek, Peter T1 - Late Oligocene-early Miocene origin of the First Bend of the Yangtze River explained by thrusting-induced river reorganization JF - Geomorphology N2 - The origin of the First Bend of the Yangtze River is key to understanding the birth of the modern Yangtze River. Despite considerable efforts, the timing and mechanism of formation of the First Bend remain highly debated. Inverse river-profile modeling of three tributaries (Chongjiang, Lima, and Gudu) of the Jinsha River, integrated with regional tectonic and geomorphic interpretations, allows the onset of incision at the First Bend to be constrained to 28-20 Ma. The spatio-temporal coincidence of initial river incision and activity of Yulong Thrust Belt in southeastern Tibet highlights thrusting to be fundamental in reshaping the pre-existing stream network at the First Bend. These results enable us to reinterpret a change in sedimentary environment from a braided river to a swamp-like lake in the Jianchuan Basin south of the First Bend, recording the destruction of the hypothesized southwards-flowing paleo-Jinsha and Shuiluo Rivers at ~36-35 Ma by magmatism. During the late Oligoceneearly Miocene, the paleo-Shuiluo River was diverted to the north by focused rock uplift due to thrusting along the Yulong Thrust Belt, which also led to exhumation of the Jianchuan Basin. Diversion of the paleo-Shuiluo River can be explained by capture from a downstream river in the footwall of the Yulong Thrust Belt. Subsequent rapid headward erosion, that was caused by thrusting-induced drop of local base level, is recorded by upstream younging ages for the onset of incision and led to the formation of the First Bend. The combination of new ages for the onset of incision at 28-20 Ma at the First Bend and younger ages upstream indicates northwards expansion of the Jinsha River at a rate of 62 +/- 18 mm/yr. Our results suggest that the origin of the First Bend was likely triggered by thrusting at 28-20 Ma, after which the Yangtze River formed. KW - Tibetan Plateau KW - Yangtze River KW - river incision KW - inverse modeling Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2022.108303 SN - 0169-555X SN - 1872-695X VL - 411 PB - Elsevier Science CY - Amsterdam [u.a.] ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Jia, Weihan A1 - Anslan, Sten A1 - Chen, Fahu A1 - Cao, Xianyong A1 - Dong, Hailiang A1 - Dulias, Katharina A1 - Gu, Zhengquan A1 - Heinecke, Liv A1 - Jiang, Hongchen A1 - Kruse, Stefan A1 - Kang, Wengang A1 - Li, Kai A1 - Liu, Sisi A1 - Liu, Xingqi A1 - Liu, Ying A1 - Ni, Jian A1 - Schwalb, Antje A1 - Stoof-Leichsenring, Kathleen R. A1 - Shen, Wei A1 - Tian, Fang A1 - Wang, Jing A1 - Wang, Yongbo A1 - Wang, Yucheng A1 - Xu, Hai A1 - Yang, Xiaoyan A1 - Zhang, Dongju A1 - Herzschuh, Ulrike T1 - Sedimentary ancient DNA reveals past ecosystem and biodiversity changes on the Tibetan Plateau: overview and prospects JF - Quaternary science reviews : the international multidisciplinary research and review journal N2 - Alpine ecosystems on the Tibetan Plateau are being threatened by ongoing climate warming and intensified human activities. Ecological time-series obtained from sedimentary ancient DNA (sedaDNA) are essential for understanding past ecosystem and biodiversity dynamics on the Tibetan Plateau and their responses to climate change at a high taxonomic resolution. Hitherto only few but promising studies have been published on this topic. The potential and limitations of using sedaDNA on the Tibetan Plateau are not fully understood. Here, we (i) provide updated knowledge of and a brief introduction to the suitable archives, region-specific taphonomy, state-of-the-art methodologies, and research questions of sedaDNA on the Tibetan Plateau; (ii) review published and ongoing sedaDNA studies from the Tibetan Plateau; and (iii) give some recommendations for future sedaDNA study designs. Based on the current knowledge of taphonomy, we infer that deep glacial lakes with freshwater and high clay sediment input, such as those from the southern and southeastern Tibetan Plateau, may have a high potential for sedaDNA studies. Metabarcoding (for microorganisms and plants), metagenomics (for ecosystems), and hybridization capture (for prehistoric humans) are three primary sedaDNA approaches which have been successfully applied on the Tibetan Plateau, but their power is still limited by several technical issues, such as PCR bias and incompleteness of taxonomic reference databases. Setting up high-quality and open-access regional taxonomic reference databases for the Tibetan Plateau should be given priority in the future. To conclude, the archival, taphonomic, and methodological conditions of the Tibetan Plateau are favorable for performing sedaDNA studies. More research should be encouraged to address questions about long-term ecological dynamics at ecosystem scale and to bring the paleoecology of the Tibetan Plateau into a new era. KW - Sedimentary ancient DNA (sedaDNA) KW - Tibetan Plateau KW - Environmental DNA KW - Taphonomy KW - Ecosystem KW - Biodiversity KW - Paleoecology KW - Paleogeography Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2022.107703 SN - 0277-3791 SN - 1873-457X VL - 293 PB - Elsevier CY - Oxford ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Huang, Wentao A1 - Jackson, Michael J. A1 - Dekkers, Mark J. A1 - Zhang, Yang A1 - Zhang, Bo A1 - Guo, Zhaojie A1 - Dupont-Nivet, Guillaume T1 - Challenges in isolating primary remanent magnetization from Tethyan carbonate rocks on the Tibetan Plateau: Insight from remagnetized Upper Triassic limestones in the eastern Qiangtang block JF - Earth & planetary science letters N2 - Carbonate rocks, widely used for paleomagnetically quantifying the drift history of the Gondwana derived continental blocks of the Tibetan Plateau and evolution of the Paleo/Meso/Neo-Tethys Oceans, are prone to pervasive remagnetization. Identifying remagnetization is difficult because it is commonly undetectable through the classic paleomagnetic field tests. Here we apply comprehensive paleomagnetic, rock magnetic, and petrographic studies to upper Triassic limestones in the eastern Qiangtang block. Our results reveal that detrital/biogenic magnetite, which may carry the primary natural remanent magnetization (NRM), is rarely preserved in these rocks. In contrast, authigenic magnetite and hematite pseudomorphs after pyrite, and monoclinic pyrrhotite record three episodes of remagnetization. The earliest remagnetization was induced by oxidation of early diagenetic pyrite to magnetite, probably related to the collision between the northeastern Tibetan Plateau and the Qiangtang block after closure of the Paleo-Tethys Ocean in the Late Triassic. The second remagnetization, residing in hematite and minor goethite, which is the further subsurface oxidation product of pyrite/magnetite, is possibly related to the development of the localized Cenozoic basins soon after India-Asia collision in the Paleocene. The youngest remagnetization is a combination of thermoviscous and chemical remanent magnetization carried by authigenic magnetite and pyrrhotite, respectively. Our analyses suggest that a high supply of organic carbon during carbonate deposition, prevailing sulfate reducing conditions during early diagenesis, and widespread orogenic fluid migration related to crustal shortening during later diagenesis, have altered the primary remanence of the shallow-water Tethyan carbonate rocks of the Tibetan Plateau. We emphasize that all paleomagnetic results from these rocks must be carefully examined for remagnetization before being used for paleogeographic reconstructions. Future paleomagnetic investigations of the carbonate rocks in orogenic belts should be accompanied by thorough rock magnetic and petrographic studies to determine the origin of the NRM. (C) 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. KW - Triassic limestone KW - remagnetization KW - Tibetan Plateau Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2019.06.035 SN - 0012-821X SN - 1385-013X VL - 523 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - GEN A1 - Dallmeyer, Anne A1 - Claussen, Martin A1 - Ni, Jian A1 - Cao, Xianyong A1 - Wang, Yongbo A1 - Fischer, Nils A1 - Pfeiffer, Madlene A1 - Jin, Liya A1 - Khon, Vyacheslav A1 - Wagner, Sebastian A1 - Haberkorn, Kerstin A1 - Herzschuh, Ulrike T1 - Biome changes in Asia since the mid-Holocene BT - An analysis of different transient Earth system model simulations T2 - Postprints der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe N2 - The large variety of atmospheric circulation systems affecting the eastern Asian climate is reflected by the complex Asian vegetation distribution. Particularly in the transition zones of these circulation systems, vegetation is supposed to be very sensitive to climate change. Since proxy records are scarce, hitherto a mechanistic understanding of the past spatio-temporal climate-vegetation relationship is lacking. To assess the Holocene vegetation change and to obtain an ensemble of potential mid-Holocene biome distributions for eastern Asia, we forced the diagnostic biome model BIOME4 with climate anomalies of different transient Holocene climate simulations performed in coupled atmosphere-ocean(-vegetation) models. The simulated biome changes are compared with pollen-based biome records for different key regions. In all simulations, substantial biome shifts during the last 6000 years are confined to the high northern latitudes and the monsoon-westerly wind transition zone, but the temporal evolution and amplitude of change strongly depend on the climate forcing. Large parts of the southern tundra are replaced by taiga during the mid-Holocene due to a warmer growing season and the boreal treeline in northern Asia is shifted northward by approx. 4 degrees in the ensemble mean, ranging from 1.5 to 6 degrees in the individual simulations, respectively. This simulated treeline shift is in agreement with pollen-based reconstructions from northern Siberia. The desert fraction in the transition zone is reduced by 21% during the mid-Holocene compared to pre-industrial due to enhanced precipitation. The desert-steppe margin is shifted westward by 5 degrees (1-9 degrees in the individual simulations). The forest biomes are expanded north-westward by 2 degrees, ranging from 0 to 4 degrees in the single simulations. These results corroborate pollen-based reconstructions indicating an extended forest area in north-central China during the mid-Holocene. According to the model, the forest-to-non-forest and steppe-to-desert changes in the climate transition zones are spatially not uniform and not linear since the mid-Holocene. T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe - 643 KW - Last Glacial Maximum KW - Eastern Continental Asia KW - summer monsoon precipitation KW - PMIP2 coupled simulations KW - Global Vegetation Model KW - northern high‐latitudes KW - Holocene climate change KW - Tibetan Plateau KW - environmental changes KW - Inner Mongolia Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-418755 SN - 1866-8372 IS - 643 SP - 107 EP - 134 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Li, Kai A1 - Liu, Xingqi A1 - Wang, Yongbo A1 - Herzschuh, Ulrike A1 - Ni, Jian A1 - Liao, Mengna A1 - Xiao, Xiayun T1 - Late Holocene vegetation and climate change on the southeastern Tibetan Plateau: Implications for the Indian Summer Monsoon and links to the Indian Ocean Dipole JF - Quaternary science reviews : the international multidisciplinary research and review journal N2 - The Indian Summer Monsoon (ISM) is one of the most important climate systems, whose variability and driving mechanisms are of broad interest for academic and societal communities. Here, we present a well-dated high-resolution pollen analysis from a 4.82-m long sediment core taken from Basomtso, in the southeastern Tibetan Plateau (TP), which depicts the regional climate changes of the past millennium. Our results show that subalpine coniferous forest was dominant around Basomtso from ca. 867 to ca. 750 cal. yr BP, indicating a warm and semi-humid climate. The timberline in the study area significantly decreased from ca. 750 to ca.100 cal. yr BP, and a cold climate, corresponding to the Little Ice Age (LIA) prevailed. Since ca. 100 cal. yr BP, the vegetation type changed to forest-meadow with rising temperatures and moisture. Ordination analysis reveals that the migration of vegetation was dominated by regional temperatures and then by moisture. Further comparisons between the Basomtso pollen record and the regional temperature reconstructions underscore the relevance of the Basomtso record from the southeastern TP for regional and global climatologies. Our pollen based moisture reconstruction demonstrates the strong multicentennial-scale link to ISM variability, providing solid evidence for the increase of monsoonal strengths over the past four centuries. Spectral analysis indicates the potential influence of solar forcing. However, a closer relationship has been observed between multicentennial ISM variations and Indian Ocean sea surface temperature anomalies (SSTs), suggesting that the variations in monsoonal precipitation over the southeastern TP are probably driven by the Indian Ocean Dipole on the multicentennial scale. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. KW - Indian Summer Monsoon KW - Late Holocene KW - Pollen record KW - Basomtso KW - Tibetan Plateau KW - Indian ocean dipole Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2017.10.020 SN - 0277-3791 VL - 177 SP - 235 EP - 245 PB - Elsevier CY - Oxford ER - TY - GEN A1 - Korzeniowska, Karolina A1 - Korup, Oliver T1 - Object-based detection of lakes prone to seasonal ice cover on the Tibetan Plateau T2 - Postprints der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe N2 - The Tibetan Plateau, the world's largest orogenic plateau, hosts thousands of lakes that play prominent roles as water resources, environmental archives, and sources of natural hazards such as glacier lake outburst floods. Previous studies have reported that the size of lakes on the Tibetan Plateau has changed rapidly in recent years, possibly because of atmospheric warming. Tracking these changes systematically with remote sensing data is challenging given the different spectral signatures of water, the potential for confusing lakes with glaciers, and difficulties in classifying frozen or partly frozen lakes. Object-based image analysis (OBIA) offers new opportunities for automated classification in this context, and we have explored this method for mapping lakes from LANDSAT images and Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) elevation data. We tested our algorithm for most of the Tibetan Plateau, where lakes in tectonic depressions or blocked by glaciers and sediments have different surface colours and seasonal ice cover in images obtained in 1995 and 2015. We combined a modified normalised difference water index (MNDWI) with OBIA and local topographic slope data in order to classify lakes with an area > 10 km(2). Our method derived 323 water bodies, with a total area of 31,258 km(2), or 2.6% of the study area (in 2015). The same number of lakes had covered only 24,892 km(2) in 1995; lake area has increased by -26% in the past two decades. The classification had estimated producer's and user's accuracies of 0.98, with a Cohen's kappa and F-score of 0.98, and may thus be a useful approximation for quantifying regional hydrological budgets. We have shown that our method is flexible and transferable to detecting lakes in diverse physical settings on several continents with similar success rates. T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe - 1037 KW - Tibetan Plateau KW - lakes KW - LANDSAT KW - SRTM KW - MNDWI KW - OBIA KW - change detection Y1 - 2020 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-475037 SN - 1866-8372 IS - 1037 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Korzeniowska, Karolina A1 - Korup, Oliver T1 - Object-Based Detection of Lakes Prone to Seasonal Ice Cover on the Tibetan Plateau JF - Remote sensing KW - Tibetan Plateau KW - lakes KW - LANDSAT KW - SRTM KW - MNDWI KW - OBIA KW - change detection Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3390/rs9040339 SN - 2072-4292 VL - 9 PB - MDPI CY - Basel ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Cook, Kristen L. A1 - Hovius, Niels A1 - Wittmann-Oelze, Hella A1 - Heimsath, Arjun M. A1 - Lee, Yuan-Hsi T1 - Causes of rapid uplift and exceptional topography of Gongga Shan on the eastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau JF - Earth & planetary science letters N2 - Erosion and tectonic uplift are widely thought to be coupled through feedbacks involving orographic precipitation, relief development, and crustal weakening. In many orogenic systems, it can be difficult to distinguish whether true feedbacks exist, or whether observed features are a consequence of tectonic forcing. To help elucidate these interactions, we examine Gongga Shan, a 7556 m peak on the eastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau where cosmogenic Be-10 basin-wide erosion rates reach >5 mm/yr, defining a region of localized rapid erosion associated with a restraining bend in the left-lateral Xianshuihe Fault. Erosion rates are consistent with topography, thermochronometry, and geodetic data, suggesting a stable pattern of uplift and exhumation over at least the past 2-3 My. Transpression along the Xianshuihe Fault, orographically enhanced precipitation, thermally weakened crust, and substantial local relief all developed independently in the Gongga region and existed there prior to the uplift of Gongga Shan. However, only where all of these conditions are present do the observed topographic and erosional extremes exist, and their relative timing indicates that these conditions are not a consequence of rapid uplift. We conclude that their collocation at 3-4 Ma set into motion a series of feedbacks between erosion and uplift that has resulted in the exceptionally high topography and rapid erosion rates observed today. KW - cosmogenic erosion rates KW - Tibetan Plateau KW - climate-tectonic feedbacks Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2017.10.043 SN - 0012-821X SN - 1385-013X VL - 481 SP - 328 EP - 337 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - GEN A1 - Licht, Alexis A1 - Dupont-Nivet, Guillaume A1 - Pullen, Alex A1 - Kapp, Paul A1 - Abels, Hemmo A. A1 - Lai, Zulong A1 - Guo, ZhaoJie A1 - Abell, Jordan A1 - Giesler, Dominique T1 - Resilience of the Asian atmospheric circulation shown by paleogene dust provenance T2 - Postprints der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe N2 - The onset of modern central Asian atmospheric circulation is traditionally linked to the interplay of surface uplift of the Mongolian and Tibetan-Himalayan orogens, retreat of the Paratethys sea from central Asia and Cenozoic global cooling. Although the role of these players has not yet been unravelled, the vast dust deposits of central China support the presence of arid conditions and modern atmospheric pathways for the last 25 million years (Myr). Here, we present provenance data from older (42-33 Myr) dust deposits, at a time when the Tibetan Plateau was less developed, the Paratethys sea still present in central Asia and atmospheric pCO(2) much higher. Our results show that dust sources and near-surface atmospheric circulation have changed little since at least 42 Myr. Our findings indicate that the locus of central Asian high pressures and concurrent aridity is a resilient feature only modulated by mountain building, global cooling and sea retreat. T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe - 1114 KW - Chinese Loess Plateau KW - last glacial maximum KW - Tibetan Plateau KW - Yellow-River KW - climate KW - basin KW - evolution KW - ardification KW - monsoons KW - desert Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-436381 SN - 1866-8372 IS - 1114 ER - TY - THES A1 - Mey, Jürgen T1 - Intermontane valley fills T1 - Intermontane Talverfüllungen BT - recorders of climate, tectonics and landscape evolution BT - Zeugen von Klima, Tektonik und Landschaftsentwicklung N2 - Sedimentary valley fills are a widespread characteristic of mountain belts around the world. They transiently store material over time spans ranging from thousands to millions of years and therefore play an important role in modulating the sediment flux from the orogen to the foreland and to oceanic depocenters. In most cases, their formation can be attributed to specific fluvial conditions, which are closely related to climatic and tectonic processes. Hence, valley-fill deposits constitute valuable archives that offer fundamental insight into landscape evolution, and their study may help to assess the impact of future climate change on sediment dynamics. In this thesis I analyzed intermontane valley-fill deposits to constrain different aspects of the climatic and tectonic history of mountain belts over multiple timescales. First, I developed a method to estimate the thickness distribution of valley fills using artificial neural networks (ANNs). Based on the assumption of geometrical similarity between exposed and buried parts of the landscape, this novel and highly automated technique allows reconstructing fill thickness and bedrock topography on the scale of catchments to entire mountain belts. Second, I used the new method for estimating the spatial distribution of post-glacial sediments that are stored in the entire European Alps. A comparison with data from exploratory drillings and from geophysical surveys revealed that the model reproduces the measurements with a root mean squared error (RMSE) of 70m and a coefficient of determination (R2) of 0.81. I used the derived sediment thickness estimates in combination with a model of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) icecap to infer the lithospheric response to deglaciation, erosion and deposition, and deduce their relative contribution to the present-day rock-uplift rate. For a range of different lithospheric and upper mantle-material properties, the results suggest that the long-wavelength uplift signal can be explained by glacial isostatic adjustment with a small erosional contribution and a substantial but localized tectonic component exceeding 50% in parts of the Eastern Alps and in the Swiss Rhône Valley. Furthermore, this study reveals the particular importance of deconvolving the potential components of rock uplift when interpreting recent movements along active orogens and how this can be used to constrain physical properties of the Earth’s interior. In a third study, I used the ANN approach to estimate the sediment thickness of alluviated reaches of the Yarlung Tsangpo River, upstream of the rapidly uplifting Namche Barwa massif. This allowed my colleagues and me to reconstruct the ancient river profile of the Yarlung Tsangpo, and to show that in the past, the river had already been deeply incised into the eastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau. Dating of basal sediments from drill cores that reached the paleo-river bed to 2–2.5 Ma are consistent with mineral cooling ages from the Namche Barwa massif, which indicate initiation of rapid uplift at ~4 Ma. Hence, formation of the Tsangpo gorge and aggradation of the voluminous valley fill was most probably a consequence of rapid uplift of the Namche Barwa massif and thus tectonic activity. The fourth and last study focuses on the interaction of fluvial and glacial processes at the southeastern edge of the Karakoram. Paleo-ice-extent indicators and remnants of a more than 400-m-thick fluvio-lacustrine valley fill point to blockage of the Shyok River, a main tributary of the upper Indus, by the Siachen Glacier, which is the largest glacier in the Karakoram Range. Field observations and 10Be exposure dating attest to a period of recurring lake formation and outburst flooding during the penultimate glaciation prior to ~110 ka. The interaction of Rivers and Glaciers all along the Karakorum is considered a key factor in landscape evolution and presumably promoted headward erosion of the Indus-Shyok drainage system into the western margin of the Tibetan Plateau. The results of this thesis highlight the strong influence of glaciation and tectonics on valley-fill formation and how this has affected the evolution of different mountain belts. In the Alps valley-fill deposition influenced the magnitude and pattern of rock uplift since ice retreat approximately 17,000 years ago. Conversely, the analyzed valley fills in the Himalaya are much older and reflect environmental conditions that prevailed at ~110 ka and ~2.5 Ma, respectively. Thus, the newly developed method has proven useful for inferring the role of sedimentary valley-fill deposits in landscape evolution on timescales ranging from 1,000 to 10,000,000 years. N2 - Sedimentäre Talverfüllungen sind ein häufiges Merkmal von Gebirgen auf der ganzen Welt. Sie speichern Abtragungsprodukte über Zeiträume von Tausenden bis Millionen von Jahren und beeinflussen den Sedimenttransport vom Gebirge in das Vorland und in die ozeanischen Becken. Die Bildung solcher Sedimentspeicher geht oft auf Zustände im fluvialen System zurück, welche mit bestimmten klimatischen und tektonischen Prozessen in Verbindung gebracht werden können. Talverfüllungen stellen daher wertvolle Archive dar, die über fundamentale Zusammenhänge in der Landschaftsgenese Aufschluss geben und deren Untersuchung dazu beiträgt, die Auswirkungen des Klimawandels auf die Sedimentdynamik im Gebirge zu prognostizieren. In dieser Arbeit untersuchte ich intermontane Talverfüllungen, um die klimatische und tektonische Geschichte von Gebirgszügen über mehrere Zeitskalen hinweg zu ermitteln. Zuerst entwickelte ich eine Methode zur Abschätzung von Sedimentmächtigkeiten mit Hilfe von künstlichen neuralen Netzen, die auf der Annahme basiert, dass sich die zugeschütteten und die freiliegenden Bereiche der Landschaft geometrisch ähneln. Diese neuartige und hochautomatisierte Methode macht es möglich, Sedimentmächtigkeiten und Untergrundtopographien für einzelne Einzugsgebiete bis hin zu ganzen Gebirgen abzuschätzen. Als zweites benutzte ich die neue Methode, um die Mächtigkeitsverteilung der postglazialen Sedimentspeicher in den Europäischen Alpen zu rekonstruieren. Ein Vergleich mit Daten aus Bohrlochmessungen und geophysikalischen Explorationen zeigte, dass das Modell die gemessenen Mächtigkeiten mit einem quadratischen Mittelwert des Fehlers (RMSE) von 70m und einem Bestimmtheitsmaß (R2) von 0.81 reproduziert. Ich verwendete diese Sedimentverteilung in Kombination mit einem Modell der alpinen Eiskappe des letzten glazialen Maximums (LGM), um die Reaktion der Lithosphäre auf Abschmelzen, Erosion und Ablagerung zu berechnen und deren Beiträge zur derzeitigen Gesteinshebung abzuleiten. Unter Berücksichtigung einer Reihe verschiedener Eigenschaften der Lithosphäre und des oberen Erdmantels zeigten die Resultate, dass das langwellige Hebungsmuster im Wesentlichen durch Glazialisostasie erklärt werden kann und dass die Entlastung durch Erosion eine untergeordnete Rolle spielt. Darüber hinaus postulierte ich eine tektonische Komponente von über 50% in Teilen der Ostalpen und im Schweizer Rhône Tal. Die Studie verdeutlicht, dass die Entflechtung der Prozesse, die zur Gesteinshebung beitragen, eine entscheidende Rolle spielt bei der Interpretation rezenter Bewegungen entlang aktiver Orogene und bei der Abschätzung von physikalischen Eigenschaften des Erdinneren. Im dritten Teil berechnete ich die Mächtigkeitsverteilung der sedimentären Talverfüllung des Yarlung Tsangpo Tales oberhalb des Namche Barwa Massivs am östlichen Rand des Tibet Plateaus. Dies ermöglichte meinen Kollegen und mir das ehemalige Flusslängsprofil zu rekonstruieren und zu zeigen, dass sich der Yarlung Tsangpo in der Vergangenheit bereits tief in den östlichen Rand des Tibet Plateaus einschnitt. Die Basis der Sedimente wurde erbohrt und beprobt und deren Ablagerung auf 2–2.5 Ma datiert was konsistent mit Abkühlungsaltern von Mineralen des Namche Barwa Massivs ist, die auf den Beginn einer beschleunigten Hebung vor ~4 Ma hindeuten. Dies führte zu der Schlussfolgerung, dass die Bildung der Tsangpo Schlucht und die Aggradation der Talsedimente höchstwahrscheinlich in Folge der schnellen Hebung des Namche Barwa Massivs geschah, welche letztendlich auf tektonische Aktivität zurück geht. Der vierte und letzte Teil behandelt die Interaktion fluvialer und glazialer Prozesse am südöstlichen Rand des Karakorums. Indikatoren für die frühere Eisausdehnung und die Überreste einer bis zu 400m mächtigen fluvio-lakustrinen Talverfüllung weisen auf eine Blockade des Shyok, eines Hauptzuflusses es Oberen Indus, durch den Siachen Gletscher, den größten Gletscher des Karakorums, hin. Weitere Geländebefunde und Oberflächendatierungen mittels kosmogenem 10Be bezeugen, dass es während des vorletzten Glaziales zu einem mehrfachen Aufstauen des Shyok und damit assoziierten Seeausbrüchen gekommen ist. Das Zusammenwirken von Flüssen und Gletschern entlang des Karakorums war maßgeblich für die Landschaftsentwicklung und führte möglicherweise zum Einschneiden von Tälern in den westlichen Rand des Tibet Plateaus. Die vorliegende Arbeit unterstreicht die Bedeutung von Vergletscherung und Tektonik bei der Bildung von intermontanen Sedimentspeichern und deren Einwirken auf die Entwicklung zweier Gebirge. In den Alpen beeinflusst die Ablagerung von Talfüllungen die Raten und das Muster der Gesteinshebung seit Rückzug des Eises vor ca. 17,000 Jahren. Demgegenüber sind die in dieser Arbeit betrachteten Talfüllungen des Himalayas weit älter und geben Aufschluss über die Umweltbedingungen vor jeweils 110 ka und 2.5 Ma. Es zeigt sich, dass die neue Methode zur Abschätzung von Mächtigkeiten und Volumina intermontaner Talverfüllungen dazu beiträgt, die Landschaftsentwicklung über Zeiträume von 1,000 bis 10,000,000 Jahren zu rekonstruieren. KW - intermontane valley fill KW - sediment thickness KW - bedrock elevation KW - artificial neural networks KW - sediment volume KW - landscape evolution KW - glacial isostatic adjustment KW - isostatic uplift KW - LGM KW - Ice model KW - European Alps KW - outburst floods KW - glacial incision KW - Tibetan Plateau KW - Shyok River KW - cosmogenic nuclides KW - exposure age dating KW - ice dam KW - Karakoram KW - Namche Barwa KW - Yarlung-Tsangpo Gorge KW - burial dating KW - tectonic uplift KW - syntaxis KW - intermontane Talverfüllungen KW - Sedimentmächtigkeit KW - Grundgesteinshöhe KW - künstliche neurale Netzwerke KW - Sedimentvolumen KW - Landschaftsentwicklung KW - Glazialisostasie KW - isostatische Hebung KW - LGM KW - Eismodell KW - Europäische Alpen KW - Seeausbrüche KW - glaziale Einschneidung KW - Tibet Plateau KW - Shyok Fluss KW - kosmogene Nuklide KW - Expositionsaltersdatierung KW - Eisdamm KW - Karakorum KW - Namche Barwa KW - Yarlung-Tsangpo Schlucht KW - Verschüttungsaltersdatierung KW - tektonische Hebung KW - Syntaxe Y1 - 2017 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-103158 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Aichner, Bernhard A1 - Feakins, Sarah J. A1 - Lee, J. E. A1 - Herzschuh, Ulrike A1 - Liu, X. T1 - High-resolution leaf wax carbon and hydrogen isotopic record of the late Holocene paleoclimate in arid Central Asia T2 - Postprints der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe N2 - Central Asia is located at the confluence of large-scale atmospheric circulation systems. It is thus likely to be highly susceptible to changes in the dynamics of those systems; however, little is still known about the regional paleoclimate history. Here we present carbon and hydrogen isotopic compositions of n-alkanoic acids from a late Holocene sediment core from Lake Karakuli (eastern Pamir, Xinjiang Province, China). Instrumental evidence and isotopeenabled climate model experiments with the Laboratoire de Meteorologie Dynamique Zoom model version 4 (LMDZ4) demonstrate that delta D values of precipitation in the region are influenced by both temperature and precipitation amount. We find that these parameters are inversely correlated on an annual scale, i.e., the climate has varied between relatively cool and wet and more warm and dry over the last 50 years. Since the isotopic signals of these changes are in the same direction and therefore additive, isotopes in precipitation are sensitive recorders of climatic changes in the region. Additionally, we infer that plants use year-round precipitation (including snowmelt), and thus leaf wax delta D values must also respond to shifts in the proportion of moisture derived from westerly storms during late winter and early spring. Downcore results give evidence for a gradual shift to cooler and wetter climates between 3.5 and 2.5 cal kyr BP, interrupted by a warm and dry episode between 3.0 and 2.7 kyr BP. Further cool and wet episodes occur between 1.9 and 1.5 and between 0.6 and 0.1 kyr BP, the latter coeval with the Little Ice Age. Warm and dry episodes from 2.5 to 1.9 and 1.5 to 0.6 kyr BP coincide with the Roman Warm Period and Medieval Climate Anomaly, respectively. Finally, we find a drying tend in recent decades. Regional comparisons lead us to infer that the strength and position of the westerlies, and wider northern hemispheric climate dynamics, control climatic shifts in arid Central Asia, leading to complex local responses. Our new archive from Lake Karakuli provides a detailed record of the local signatures of these climate transitions in the eastern Pamir. T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe - 506 KW - North-Atlantic climate KW - Aral Sea basin KW - delta-D values KW - last 15 kyr KW - athmospheric circulation KW - ice core KW - moisture evolution KW - lipid biomarkers KW - Tibetan Plateau KW - Eastern pamirs Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-408442 SN - 1866-8372 IS - 506 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Mischke, Steffen A1 - Zhang, Chengjun A1 - Fan, Rong T1 - Early to mid-Holocene lake high-stand sediments at Lake Donggi Cona, northeastern Tibetan Plateau, China - T2 - Quaternary research : an interdisciplinary journal KW - Microfossils KW - Ostracoda KW - Lake level KW - Wetlands KW - Depositional setting KW - Tibetan Plateau KW - Holocene Y1 - 2015 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yqres.2014.06.005 SN - 0033-5894 SN - 1096-0287 VL - 83 IS - 1 SP - 256 EP - 258 PB - Elsevier CY - San Diego ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wang, Rong A1 - Zhang, Yongzhan A1 - Wünnemann, Bernd A1 - Biskaborn, Boris A1 - Yin, He A1 - Xia, Fei A1 - Zhou, Lianfu A1 - Diekmann, Bernhard T1 - Linkages between Quaternary climate change and sedimentary processes in Hala Lake, northern Tibetan Plateau, China JF - Journal of Asian earth sciences N2 - Profundal lake sediment cores are often interpreted in line with diverse and detailed sedimentological processes to infer paleoenvironmental conditions. The effects of frozen lake surfaces on terrigenous sediment deposition and how climate changes on the Tibetan Plateau are reflected in these lakes, however, is seldom discussed. A lake sediment core from Hala Lake (590 km(2)), northeastern Tibetan Plateau spanning the time interval from the Last Glacial Maximum to the present was investigated using high-resolution grain-size composition of lacustrine deposits. Seismic analysis along a north-south profile across the lake was used to infer the sedimentary setting within the lake basin. Periods of freezing and melting processes on the lake surface were identified by MODIS (MOD10A1) satellite data. End-member modeling of the grain size distribution allowed the discrimination between lacustrine, eolian and fluvial sediments. The dominant clay sedimentation (slack water type) during the global Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) reflects ice interceptions in long cold periods, in contrast to abundant eolian input during abrupt cold events. Therefore, fluvial and slack water sedimentation processes can indicate changes in the local paleoclimate during periods of the lake being frozen, when eolian input was minor. Inferred warm (i.e., similar to 22.7 and 19.5 cal. ka BP) and cold (i.e., similar to 11-9 and 3-1.5 cal. ka BP) spells have significant environmental impacts, not only in the regional realm, but they are also coherent with global-scale climate events. The eolian input generally follows the trend of the mid-latitude westerly wind dynamics in winter, contributing medium-sized sand to the lake center, deposited within the ice cover during icing and melting phases. Enhanced input was dominant during the Younger Dryas, Heinrich Event 1 and at around 8.2 ka, equivalent to the well-known events of the North Atlantic realm. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. KW - Tibetan Plateau KW - Lake deposits KW - End-member modeling KW - Grain size KW - Pleistocene and Holocene climate Y1 - 2015 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jseaes.2015.04.008 SN - 1367-9120 SN - 1878-5786 VL - 107 SP - 140 EP - 150 PB - Elsevier CY - Oxford ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Mischke, Steffen A1 - Lai, Zhongping A1 - Zhang, Chengjun T1 - Re-assessment of the paleoclimate implications of the Shell Bar in the Qaidam Basin, China JF - Journal of paleolimnolog N2 - The Shell Bar in the Qaidam Basin, China, is a prominent geological feature composed of millions of densely packed Corbicula shells. Since the mid 1980s, it has been regarded as evidence for existence of a large lake during Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 3 in the presently hyper-arid Qaidam Basin. Early studies suggested the bivalve shells accumulated at the shore of a large lake, whereas more recent work led to the conclusion that the Shell Bar was formed within a deeper water body. Based on our re-assessment of sediments and fossils from the Shell Bar, investigation of exposed fluvio-lacustrine sections upstream of the Shell Bar and study of nearby modern streams, we infer that the Shell Bar represents a stream deposit. Corbicula is a typical stream-dweller around the world. Preservation of Corbicula shells of different sizes, as well as occurrence of many articulated shells, provide evidence against post-mortem transport and accumulation along a lake shore. Additionally, the SE-NW alignment of the Shell Bar is similar to modern intermittent stream beds in its vicinity and corresponds to the present-day slope towards the basin centre further NW, and furthermore, the predominantly sandy sediments also indicate that the Shell Bar was formed in a stream. Abundant ostracod shells in the Shell Bar sediments originated from stream-dwelling species that are abundant in modern streams in the vicinity of the Shell Bar, or in part from fluvio-lacustrine sediments exposed upstream of the Shell Bar, as a result of erosion and re-deposition. Deflation of alluvial fine-grained sediments in the Shell Bar region and protection of the stream deposits by the large and thick-walled Corbicula shells reversed the former channel relief and yielded the modern exposure, which is a prominent morphological feature. Occurrence of Corbicula shells in the Qaidam Basin indicates climate was apparently warmer than present during the formation of the Shell Bar because Corbicula does not live at similar or higher altitudes in the region today. Because the Shell Bar is no longer considered a deposit formed within a lake, its presence does not indicate paleoclimate conditions wetter than today. KW - Qaidam Basin KW - Tibetan Plateau KW - Late Pleistocene KW - Corbicula KW - Ostracoda KW - Taphonomy Y1 - 2014 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s10933-012-9674-6 SN - 0921-2728 SN - 1573-0417 VL - 51 IS - 2 SP - 179 EP - 195 PB - Springer CY - Dordrecht ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wischnewski, Juliane A1 - Herzschuh, Ulrike A1 - Ruehland, Kathleen M. A1 - Braeuning, Achim A1 - Mischke, Steffen A1 - Smol, John P. A1 - Wang, Lily T1 - Recent ecological responses to climate variability and human impacts in the Nianbaoyeze Mountains (eastern Tibetan Plateau) inferred from pollen, diatom and tree-ring data JF - Journal of paleolimnolog N2 - The Tibetan Plateau is a region that is highly sensitive to recent global warming, but the complexity and heterogeneity of its mountainous landscape can result in variable responses. In addition, the scarcity and brevity of regional instrumental and palaeoecological records still hamper our understanding of past and present patterns of environmental change. To investigate how the remote, high-alpine environments of the Nianbaoyeze Mountains, eastern Tibetan Plateau, are affected by climate change and human activity over the last similar to 600 years, we compared regional tree-ring studies with pollen and diatom remains archived in the dated sediments of Dongerwuka Lake (33.22A degrees N, 101.12A degrees E, 4,307 m a.s.l.). In agreement with previous studies from the eastern Tibetan Plateau, a strong coherence between our two juniper-based tree-ring chronologies from the Nianbaoyeze and the Anemaqin Mountains was observed, with pronounced cyclical variations in summer temperature reconstructions. A positive directional trend to warmer summer temperatures in the most recent decades, was, however, not observed in the tree-ring record. Likewise, our pollen and diatom spectra showed minimal change over the investigated time period. Although modest, the most notable change in the diatom relative abundances was a subtle decrease in the dominant planktonic Cyclotella ocellata and a concurrent increase in small, benthic fragilarioid taxa in the similar to 1820s, suggesting higher ecosystem variability. The pollen record subtly indicates three periods of increased cattle grazing activity (similar to 1400-1480 AD, similar to 1630-1760 AD, after 1850 AD), but shows generally no significant vegetation changes during past similar to 600 years. The minimal changes observed in the tree-ring, diatom and pollen records are consistent with the presence of localised cooling centres that are evident in instrumental and tree-ring data within the southeastern and eastern Tibetan Plateau. Given the minor changes in regional temperature records, our complacent palaeoecological profiles suggest that climatically induced ecological thresholds have not yet been crossed in the Nianbaoyeze Mountains region. KW - Tibetan Plateau KW - Nianbaoyeze Mountains KW - Pollen KW - Diatoms KW - Tree-ring KW - Climate change KW - Human impact Y1 - 2014 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s10933-013-9747-1 SN - 0921-2728 SN - 1573-0417 VL - 51 IS - 2 SP - 287 EP - 302 PB - Springer CY - Dordrecht ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Herzschuh, Ulrike A1 - Borkowski, Janett A1 - Schewe, Jacob A1 - Mischke, Steffen A1 - Tian, Fang T1 - Moisture-advection feedback supports strong early-to-mid Holocene monsoon climate on the eastern Tibetan Plateau as inferred from a pollen-based reconstruction JF - Palaeogeography, palaeoclimatology, palaeoecology : an international journal for the geo-sciences N2 - (Paleo-)climatologists are challenged to identify mechanisms that cause the observed abrupt Holocene monsoon events despite the fact that monsoonal circulation is assumed to be driven by gradual insolation changes. Here we provide proxy and model evidence to show that moisture-advection feedback can lead to a non-linear relationship between sea-surface and continental temperatures and monsoonal precipitation. A pollen record from Lake Ximencuo (Nianbaoyeze Mountains) indicates that vegetation from the eastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau was characterized by alpine deserts and glacial flora after the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) (21-15.5 cal kyr BP), by alpine meadows during the Late Glacial (15.5-10.4 cal kyr BP) and second half of the Holocene (5.0 cal kyr BP to present) and by mixed forests during the first half of the Holocene (10.4-5.0 cal kyr BP). The application of pollen-based transfer functions yields an abrupt temperature increase at 10.4 cal kyr BP and a decrease at 5.0 cal kyr BP of about 3 degrees C. By applying endmember modeling to grain-size data from the same sediment core we infer that frequent fluvial events (probably originating from high-magnitude precipitation events) were more common in the early and mid Holocene. We assign the inferred exceptional strong monsoonal circulation to the initiation of moisture-advection feedback, a result supported by a simple model that reproduces this feedback pattern over the same time period. (C) 2014 Published by Elsevier B.V. KW - Moisture-advection feedback KW - Monsoon KW - Tibetan Plateau KW - Holocene KW - Last Glacial Maximum KW - Pollen-climate calibration Y1 - 2014 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2014.02.022 SN - 0031-0182 SN - 1872-616X VL - 402 SP - 44 EP - 54 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wang, Yongbo A1 - Herzschuh, Ulrike A1 - Liu, Xingqi A1 - Korup, Oliver A1 - Diekmann, Bernhard T1 - A high-resolution sedimentary archive from landslide-dammed Lake Mengda, north-eastern Tibetan Plateau JF - Journal of paleolimnolog N2 - Lacustrine sediments have been widely used to investigate past climatic and environmental changes on millennial to seasonal time scales. Sedimentary archives of lakes in mountainous regions may also record non-climatic events such as earthquakes. We argue herein that a set of 64 annual laminae couplets reconciles a stratigraphically inconsistent accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) C-14 chronology in a similar to 4-m-long sediment core from Lake Mengda, in the north-eastern Tibetan Plateau. The laminations suggest the lake was formed by a large landslide, triggered by the 1927 Gulang earthquake (M = 8.0). The lake sediment sequence can be separated into three units based on lithologic, sedimentary, and isotopic characteristics. Starting from the bottom of the sequence, these are: (1) unweathered, coarse, sandy valley-floor deposits or landslide debris that pre-date the lake, (2) landslide-induced, fine-grained soil or reworked landslide debris with a high organic content, and (3) lacustrine sediments with low organic content and laminations. These annual laminations provide a high-resolution record of anthropogenic and environmental changes during the twentieth century, recording enhanced sediment input associated with two phases of construction activities. The high mean sedimentation rates of up to 4.8 mm year(-1) underscore the potential for reconstructing such distinct sediment pulses in remote, forested, and seemingly undisturbed mountain catchments. KW - Earthquake KW - Landslide KW - Natural dam KW - Tibetan Plateau Y1 - 2014 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s10933-012-9666-6 SN - 0921-2728 SN - 1573-0417 VL - 51 IS - 2 SP - 303 EP - 312 PB - Springer CY - Dordrecht ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Gao, Mingxing A1 - Zeilinger, Gerold A1 - Xu, Xiwei A1 - Wang, Qingliang A1 - Hao, Ming T1 - DEM and GIS analysis of geomorphic indices for evaluating recent uplift of the northeastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau, China JF - Geomorphology : an international journal on pure and applied geomorphology N2 - The northeastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau is a tectonically active region consisting of a series of faults with bounded intermountain basins and is located in the transition zone between the Tibetan Plateau and the Loess Plateau. Active deformation that may affect the topography in this region can be quantified using geomorphic indices. Therefore, we applied geomorphic indices such as the hypsometric integral and the stream length gradient index to infer neo-tectonics in the northeastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau. Different time-scaled geodetic leveling data and river incision rates were also integrated into the investigation. The results show that the hypsometric integrals are not significantly affected by lithology but spatially correspond to the hanging walls of thrust faults. The hypsometric integrals are also positively correlated with the leveling data. Although the stream length gradient index is influenced by lithology, its most pronounced anomalies of the stream length gradient are associated with the thrust faults. Consequently, the uplift in the northeast margin of the Tibetan Plateau appeared to be concentrated along the hanging walls of the thrust faults. KW - Tectonic geomorphology KW - Hypsometry analysis KW - Stream length gradient KW - Active tectonics KW - Leveling data KW - Tibetan Plateau Y1 - 2013 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2013.02.008 SN - 0169-555X VL - 190 IS - 20 SP - 61 EP - 72 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wang, Yongbo A1 - Liu, Xingqi A1 - Mischke, Steffen A1 - Herzschuh, Ulrike T1 - Environmental constraints on lake sediment mineral compositions from the Tibetan Plateau and implications for paleoenvironment reconstruction JF - Journal of paleolimnolog N2 - Inorganic minerals form a major component of lacustrine sediments and have the potential to reveal detailed information on previous climatic and hydrological conditions. The ability to extract such information however, has been restricted by a limited understanding of the relationships between minerals and the environment. In an attempt to fill in this gap in our knowledge, 146 surface sediment samples have been investigated from 146 lakes on the Tibetan Plateau. The mineral compositions derived from these samples by X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) were used to examine the relationships between mineral compositions and the environmental variables determined for each site. Statistical techniques including Multivariate regression trees (MRT) and Redundancy Analysis (RDA), based on the mineral spectra and environmental variables, reveal that the electrical conductivity (EC) and Mg/Ca ratios of lake water are the most important controls on the composition of endogenic minerals. No endogenic minerals precipitate under hyper-fresh water conditions (EC lower than 0.13 mS/cm), with calcite commonly forming in water with EC values above 0.13 mS/cm. Between EC values of 0.13 and 26 mS/cm the mineral composition of lake sediments can be explained in terms of variations in the Mg/Ca ratio: calcite dominates at Mg/Ca ratios of less than 33, whereas aragonite commonly forms when the ratio is greater than 33. Where EC values are between 26 and 39 mS/cm, monohydrocalcite precipitates together with calcite and aragonite; above 39 mS/cm, gypsum and halite commonly form. Information on the local geological strata indicates that allogenic (detrital) mineral compositions are primarily influenced by the bedrock compositions within the catchment area. By applying these relationships to the late glacial and Holocene mineral record from Chaka Salt Lake, five lake stages have been identified and their associated EC conditions inferred. The lake evolved from a freshwater lake during the late glacial (before 11.4 cal. ka BP) represented by the lowest EC values (< 0.13 mS/cm), to a saline lake with EC values slightly higher than 39 mS/cm during the early and mid Holocene (ca. 11.4-5.3 cal. ka BP), and finally to a salt lake (after 5.3 cal. ka BP). These results illustrate the utility of our mineral-environmental model for the quantitative reconstruction of past environmental conditions from lake sediment records. KW - Mineral composition KW - XRD KW - Multivariate regression trees KW - Electrical conductivity KW - Paleolimnology KW - Tibetan Plateau Y1 - 2012 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s10933-011-9549-2 SN - 0921-2728 VL - 47 IS - 1 SP - 71 EP - 85 PB - Springer CY - Dordrecht ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wang, Yongbo A1 - Liu, Xingqi A1 - Herzschuh, Ulrike A1 - Yang, Xiangdong A1 - Birks, H. John B. A1 - Zhang, Enlou A1 - Tong, Guobang T1 - Temporally changing drivers for late-Holocene vegetation changes on the northern Tibetan Plateau JF - Palaeogeography, palaeoclimatology, palaeoecology : an international journal for the geo-sciences N2 - Fossil pollen records have been widely used as indicators of past changes in vegetation and variations in climate. The driving mechanisms behind these vegetation changes have, however, remained unclear. In order to evaluate vegetation changes that have occurred in the northern part of the Tibetan Plateau and the possible drivers behind these changes, we have applied a moving-window Redundancy Analysis (RDA) to high resolution (10-15 years) pollen and sedimentary data from Lake Kusai covering the last 3770 years. Our analyses reveal frequent fluctuations in the relative abundances of alpine steppe and alpine desert components. The sedimentary proxies (including total organic carbon content, total inorganic carbon content, and "end-member" indices from grain-size analyses) that explain statistically some of the changes in the pollen assemblage vary significantly with time, most probably reflecting multiple underlying driving processes. Climate appears to have had an important influence on vegetation changes when conditions were relatively wet and stable. However, a gradual decrease in vegetation cover was identified after 1500 cal a BP, after which the vegetation appears to have been affected more by extreme events such as dust-storms or fluvial erosion than by general climatic trends. Furthermore, pollen spectra over the last 600 years are shown by Procrustes analysis to be statistically different from those recovered from older samples, which we attribute to increased human impact that resulted in unprecedented changes to the vegetation composition. Overall, changes in vegetation and climate on the northern part of the Tibetan Plateau appear to have roughly followed the evolution of the Asian Summer Monsoon. After taking into account the highly significant millennial (1512 years) periodicity revealed by time-series analysis, the regional vegetation and climate changes also show variations that appear to match variations in the mid-latitude westerlies. KW - Asian Summer Monsoon KW - Late-Holocene KW - Pollen KW - Procrustes analysis KW - Redundancy analysis KW - Tibetan Plateau KW - Vegetation KW - Westerlies Y1 - 2012 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2012.06.022 SN - 0031-0182 VL - 353 IS - 8 SP - 10 EP - 20 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - THES A1 - Wischnewski, Juliane T1 - Reconstructing climate variability on the Tibetan Plateau : comparing aquatic and terrestrial signals T1 - Klimarekonstruktionen auf dem Tibet Plateau : aquatische und terrestrische Signale im Vergleich N2 - Spatial and temporal temperature and moisture patterns across the Tibetan Plateau are very complex. The onset and magnitude of the Holocene climate optimum in the Asian monsoon realm, in particular, is a subject of considerable debate as this time period is often used as an analogue for recent global warming. In the light of contradictory inferences regarding past climate and environmental change on the Tibetan Plateau, I have attempted to explain mismatches in the timing and magnitude of change. Therefore, I analysed the temporal variation of fossil pollen and diatom spectra and the geochemical record from palaeo-ecological records covering different time scales (late Quaternary and the last 200 years) from two core regions in the NE and SE Tibetan Plateau. For interpretation purposes I combined my data with other available palaeo-ecological data to set up corresponding aquatic and terrestrial proxy data sets of two lake pairs and two sets of sites. I focused on the direct comparison of proxies representing lacustrine response to climate signals (e.g., diatoms, ostracods, geochemical record) and proxies representing changes in the terrestrial environment (i.e., terrestrial pollen), in order to asses whether the lake and its catchments respond at similar times and magnitudes to environmental changes. Therefore, I introduced the established numerical technique procrustes rotation as a new approach in palaeoecology to quantitatively compare raw data of any two sedimentary records of interest in order to assess their degree of concordance. Focusing on the late Quaternary, sediment cores from two lakes (Kuhai Lake 35.3°N; 99.2°E; 4150 m asl; and Koucha Lake 34.0°N; 97.2°E; 4540 m asl) on the semi-arid northeastern Tibetan Plateau were analysed to identify post-glacial vegetation and environmental changes, and to investigate the responses of lake ecosystems to such changes. Based on the pollen record, five major vegetation and climate changes could be identified: (1) A shift from alpine desert to alpine steppe indicates a change from cold, dry conditions to warmer and more moist conditions at 14.8 cal. ka BP, (2) alpine steppe with tundra elements points to conditions of higher effective moisture and a stepwise warming climate at 13.6 cal. ka BP, (3) the appearance of high-alpine meadow vegetation indicates a further change towards increased moisture, but with colder temperatures, at 7.0 cal. ka BP, (4) the reoccurrence of alpine steppe with desert elements suggests a return to a significantly colder and drier phase at 6.3 cal. ka BP, and (5) the establishment of alpine steppe-meadow vegetation indicates a change back to relatively moist conditions at 2.2 cal. ka BP. To place the reconstructed climate inferences from the NE Tibetan Plateau into the context of Holocene moisture evolution across the Tibetan Plateau, I applied a five-scale moisture index and average link clustering to all available continuous pollen and non-pollen palaeoclimate records from the Tibetan Plateau, in an attempt to detect coherent regional and temporal patterns of moisture evolution on the Plateau. However, no common temporal or spatial pattern of moisture evolution during the Holocene could be detected, which can be assigned to the complex responses of different proxies to environmental changes in an already very heterogeneous mountain landscape, where minor differences in elevation can result in marked variations in microenvironments. Focusing on the past 200 years, I analysed the sedimentary records (LC6 Lake 29.5°N, 94.3°E, 4132 m asl; and Wuxu Lake 29.9°N, 101.1°E, 3705 m asl) from the southeastern Tibetan Plateau. I found that despite presumed significant temperature increases over that period, pollen and diatom records from the SE Tibetan Plateau reveal only very subtle changes throughout their profiles. The compositional species turnover investigated over the last 200 years appears relatively low in comparison to the species reorganisations during the Holocene. The results indicate that climatically induced ecological thresholds are not yet crossed, but that human activity has an increasing influence, particularly on the terrestrial ecosystem. Forest clearances and reforestation have not caused forest decline in our study area, but a conversion of natural forests to semi-natural secondary forests. The results from the numerical proxy comparison of the two sets of two pairs of Tibetan lakes indicate that the use of different proxies and the work with palaeo-ecological records from different lake types can cause deviant stories of inferred change. Irrespective of the timescale (Holocene or last 200 years) or region (SE or NE Tibetan Plateau) analysed, the agreement in terms of the direction, timing, and magnitude of change between the corresponding terrestrial data sets is generally better than the match between the corresponding lacustrine data sets, suggesting that lacustrine proxies may partly be influenced by in-lake or local catchment processes whereas the terrestrial proxy reflects a more regional climatic signal. The current disaccord on coherent temporal and spatial climate patterns on the Tibetan Plateau can partly be ascribed to the complexity of proxy response and lake systems on the Tibetan Plateau. Therefore, a multi-proxy, multi-site approach is important in order to gain a reliable climate interpretation for the complex mountain landscape of the Tibetan Plateau. N2 - Die räumlichen und zeitlichen Temperatur- und Feuchtigkeitsmuster auf dem Tibet-Plateau sind sehr komplex. Im Einzugsbereich der asiatischen Monsune sind insbesondere der Beginn und das Ausmaß des Klimaoptimums während des Holozäns von wissenschaftlichem Interesse, da diese Periode oft als Analogie für die derzeitige globale Klimaerwärmung herangezogen wird. In Hinblick auf sich teilweise widersprechende Paläoklima- und Umweltrekonstruktionen für das Tibet-Plateau, ist es mein Ziel, die bestehenden Unstimmigkeiten bezüglich des Zeitpunktes und des Ausmaßes des Umweltwandels zu erklären. Dafür wurden von mir zeitliche Variationen fossiler Pollen- und Diatomeenspektren und geochemische Untersuchungen an Seesedimenten unterschiedlicher Zeitskalen (Spätquartär und die letzten 200 Jahre) aus zwei Kernregionen auf dem NO und SO Tibet-Plateau analysiert. Zur Unterstützung der Interpretation wurden die hier erhobenen Daten mit bereits vorhandenen paläoökologischen Aufzeichnungen der Lokalitäten kombiniert, um Datensätze der entsprechenden aquatischen und terrestrischen Proxy-Daten (Stellvertreterdaten) zweier Seenpaare aus den beiden Regionen gegenüberstellen zu können. Hierbei konzentrierte ich mich auf den direkten Vergleich von Proxies, die die Seenentwicklung reflektieren (z.B. Diatomeen, Ostracoden, geochemische Eigenschaften), mit Proxies, die Veränderungen der terrestrischen Umgebung des Sees beschreiben (terrestrische Pollen). Durch diesen Vergleich lässt sich beurteilen, ob Veränderungen im See selbst mit Umweltveränderungen in dem jeweiligen Einzugsgebiet zeitlich übereinstimmen. Dafür habe ich die bereits etablierte numerische Methode Procrustes-Rotation als neuen Ansatz in der Paläoökologie eingeführt. Damit ist ein quantitativer Vergleich von Rohdaten zweier beliebiger sedimentärer Datensätze möglich, um den Grad der Übereinstimmung zu prüfen. Um die in dieser Arbeit rekonstruierten Umwelt- und Klimaereignisse des nordöstlichen Tibet-Plateaus in einen größeren Zusammenhang hinsichtlich holozäner Klimaentwicklung des gesamten Plateaus setzen zu können, und um schlüssige zeitliche und räumliche Klimatrends auf dem Plateau erkennen zu können, habe ich auf alle vorhandenen Paläoklimadatensätze einen Fünf-Skalen Feuchtigkeitsindex und eine Clusteranalyse angewandt. Es konnten jedoch keine einheitlichen zeitlichen und räumlichen Trends der holozänen Klimaentwicklung nachgewiesen werden, was meiner Analyse entsprechend, auf die komplexen Reaktionen verschiedener Proxies auf Umweltveränderungen in einer ohnehin sehr heterogen Berglandschaft, zurückgeführt werden kann. Die Ergebnisse des numerischen Proxy-Vergleichs beider Seenpaare zeigen, dass die Verwendung von verschiedenen Proxies und die Arbeit mit paläo-ökologischen Datensätzen unterschiedlicher See-Typen zu abweichenden Klimaableitungen führen können. Unabhängig vom untersuchten Zeitraum (Holozän oder die letzten 200 Jahren) oder der Region (SO oder NO Tibet-Plateau), ist die Übereinstimmung zweier Datensätze hinsichtlich der Richtung, des Zeitpunktes und des Ausmaßes der abgeleiteten Paläo-Umweltverhältnisse in der Regel zwischen den entsprechenden terrestrischen Datensätzen besser als zwischen den entsprechenden lakustrinen Datensätzen. Die derzeitige Uneinigkeit über stimmige zeitliche und räumliche Klimatrends auf dem Tibet-Plateau kann daher teilweise der Komplexität der verschieden Proxies und ihrer individuellen Empfindlichkeiten gegenüber Umweltveränderungen sowie der unterschiedlichen Reaktionsweise verschiedenartiger See-Systeme auf dem Plateau zugeschrieben werden. Meine Ergebnisse zeigen, dass ein „Multi-Proxy-Multi-Site-Ansatz“ für zuverlässige Paläoklimaableitungen für das Tibet-Plateau von zentraler Bedeutung ist. KW - Tibet Plateau KW - Holozän KW - Pollen KW - Diatomeen KW - Prokrustes Analyse KW - Tibetan Plateau KW - Holocene KW - Pollen KW - Diatoms KW - Procrustes rotation analysis Y1 - 2011 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-52453 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Herzschuh, Ulrike A1 - Ni, Jian A1 - Birks, H. John B. A1 - Böhner, Jürgen T1 - Driving forces of mid-Holocene vegetation shifts on the upper Tibetan Plateau, with emphasis on changes in atmospheric CO2 concentrations JF - Quaternary science reviews : the international multidisciplinary research and review journal N2 - Numerous pollen records across the upper Tibetan Plateau indicate that in the early part of the mid-Holocene, Kobresia-rich high-alpine meadows invaded areas formerly dominated by alpine steppe vegetation rich in Artemisia. We examine climate, land-use, and CO2 concentration changes as potential drivers for this marked vegetation change. The climatic implications of these vegetational shifts are explored by applying a newly developed pollen-based moisture-balance transfer-function to fossil pollen spectra from Koucha Lake on the north-eastern Tibetan Plateau (34.0 degrees N; 97.2 degrees E; 4540 m a.s.l.) and Xuguo Lake on the central Tibetan Plateau (31.97 degrees N; 90.3 degrees E; 4595 m a.s.l.), both located in the meadow-steppe transition zone. Reconstructed moisture-balances were markedly reduced (by similar to 150-180 mm) during the early mid-Holocene compared to the late-Holocene. These findings contradict most other records from the Indian monsoonal realm and also most non-pollen records from the Tibetan Plateau that indicate a rather wet early- and mid-Holocene. The extent and timing of anthropogenic land-use involving grazing by large herbivores on the upper Tibetan Plateau and its possible impacts on high-alpine vegetation are still mostly unknown due to the lack of relevant archaeological evidence. Arguments against a mainly anthropogenic origin of Kobresia high-alpine meadows are the discovery of the widespread expansion of obviously 'natural' Kobresia meadows on the south-eastern Tibetan Plateau during the Lateglacial period indicating the natural origin of this vegetation type and the lack of any concurrence between modern human-driven vegetation shifts and the mid-Holocene compositional changes. Vegetation types are known to respond to atmospheric CO2 concentration changes, at least on glacial-interglacial scales. This assumption is confirmed by our sensitivity study where we model Tibetan vegetation at different CO2 concentrations of 375 (present-day), 260 (early Holocene), and 650 ppm (future scenario) using the BIOME4 global vegetation model. Previous experimental studies confirm that vegetation growing on dry and high sites is particularly sensitive to CO2 changes. Here we propose that the replacement of drought-resistant alpine steppes (that are well adapted to low CO2 concentrations) by mesic Kobresia meadows can, at least, be partly interpreted as a response to the increase of CO2 concentration since 7000 years ago due to fertilization and water-saving effects. Our hypothesis is corroborated by former CO2 fertilization experiments performed on various dry grasslands and by the strong recent expansion of high-alpine meadows documented by remote sensing studies in response to recent CO2 increases. KW - Tibetan Plateau KW - Pollen KW - Holocene KW - Transfer function KW - Kobresia meadow KW - Atmospheric CO2 concentration Y1 - 2011 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2011.03.007 SN - 0277-3791 VL - 30 IS - 15-16 SP - 1907 EP - 1917 PB - Elsevier CY - Oxford ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wischnewski, Juliane A1 - Mackay, Anson W. A1 - Appleby, Peter G. A1 - Mischke, Steffen A1 - Herzschuh, Ulrike T1 - Modest diatom responses to regional warming on the southeast Tibetan Plateau during the last two centuries JF - Journal of paleolimnolog N2 - A general mean annual temperature increase accompanied with substantial glacial retreat has been noted on the Tibetan Plateau during the last two centuries but most significantly since the mid 1950s. These climate trends are particularly apparent on the southeastern Tibetan Plateau. However, the Tibetan Plateau (due to its heterogeneous mountain landscape) has very complex and spatially differing temperature and precipitations patterns. As a result, intensive palaeolimnological investigations are necessary to decipher these climatic patterns and to understand ecological responses to recent environmental change. Here we present palaeolimnological results from a (210)Pb/(137)Cs-dated sediment core spanning approximately the last 200 years from a remote high-mountain lake (LC6 Lake, working name) on the southeastern Tibetan Plateau. Sediment profiles of diatoms, organic variables (TOC, C:N) and grain size were investigated. The (210)Pb record suggests a period of rapid sedimentation, which might be linked to major tectonic events in the region ca. 1950. Furthermore, unusually high (210)Pb supply rates over the last 50 years suggest that the lake has possibly been subjected to increasing precipitation rates, sediment focussing and/or increased spring thaw. The majority of diatom taxa encountered in the core are typical of slightly acidic to circumneutral, oligotrophic, electrolyte-poor lakes. Diatom species assemblages were rich, and dominated by Cyclotella sp., Achnanthes sp., Aulacoseira sp. and fragilarioid taxa. Diatom compositional change was minimal over the 200-year period (DCCA = 0.85 SD, p = 0.59); only a slightly more diverse but unstable diatom assemblage was recorded during the past 50 years. The results indicate that large-scale environmental changes recorded in the twentieth century (i.e. increased precipitation and temperatures) are likely having an affect on the LC6 Lake, but so far these impacts are more apparent on the lake geochemistry than on the diatom flora. Local and/or regional peculiarities, such as increasing precipitation and cloud cover, or localized climatic phenomena, such as negative climate feedbacks, might have offset the effects of increasing mean surface temperatures. KW - Diatoms KW - Tibetan Plateau KW - Mountain lake KW - Climate change KW - Lake sediments KW - Palaeolimnology Y1 - 2011 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s10933-011-9533-x SN - 0921-2728 VL - 46 IS - 2 SP - 215 EP - 227 PB - Springer CY - Dordrecht ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wischnewski, Juliane A1 - Kramer, Annette A1 - Kong, Zhaochen A1 - Mackay, Anson W. A1 - Simpson, Gavin L. A1 - Mischke, Steffen A1 - Herzschuh, Ulrike T1 - Terrestrial and aquatic responses to climate change and human impact on the southeastern Tibetan Plateau during the past two centuries JF - Global change biology N2 - Rapid population growth and economic development have led to increased anthropogenic pressures on the Tibetan Plateau, causing significant land cover changes with potentially severe ecological consequences. To assess whether or not these pressures are also affecting the remote montane-boreal lakes on the SE Tibetan Plateau, fossil pollen and diatom data from two lakes were synthesized. The interplay of aquatic and terrestrial ecosystem response was explored in respect to climate variability and human activity over the past 200 years. Nonmetric multidimensional scaling and Procrustes rotation analysis were undertaken to determine whether pollen and diatom responses in each lake were similar and synchronous. Detrended canonical correspondence analysis was used to develop quantitative estimates of compositional species turnover. Despite instrumental evidence of significant climatic warming on the southeastern Plateau, the pollen and diatom records indicate very stable species composition throughout their profiles and show only very subtle responses to environmental changes over the past 200 years. The compositional species turnover (0.36-0.94 SD) is relatively low in comparison to the species reorganizations known from the periods during the mid-and early-Holocene (0.64-1.61 SD) on the SE Plateau, and also in comparison to turnover rates of sediment records from climate-sensitive regions in the circum arctic. Our results indicate that climatically induced ecological thresholds are not yet crossed, but that human activity has an increasing influence, particularly on the terrestrial ecosystem in our study area. Synergistic processes of post-Little Ice Age warming, 20th century climate warming and extensive reforestations since the 19th century have initiated a change from natural oak-pine forests to seminatural, likely less resilient pine-oak forests. Further warming and anthropogenic disturbances would possibly exceed the ecological threshold of these ecosystems and lead to severe ecological consequences. KW - climate change KW - compositional species turnover KW - diatoms KW - human impact KW - pollen KW - Procrustes rotation KW - Tibetan Plateau Y1 - 2011 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2486.2011.02474.x SN - 1354-1013 VL - 17 IS - 11 SP - 3376 EP - 3391 PB - Wiley-Blackwell CY - Malden ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wang, Yongbo A1 - Herzschuh, Ulrike T1 - Reassessment of Holocene vegetation change on the upper Tibetan Plateau using the pollen-based REVEALS model JF - Review of palaeobotany and palynology : an international journal N2 - Previous studies based on fossil pollen data have reported significant changes in vegetation on the alpine Tibetan Plateau during the Holocene. However, since the relative proportions of fossil pollen taxa are largely influenced by individual pollen productivities and the dispersal characteristics, such inferences on vegetation have the potential to be considerably biased. We therefore examined the modern pollen-vegetation relationships for four common pollen species on the Tibetan Plateau, using Extended R-value (ERV) models. Assuming an average radius of 100 m for the sampled lakes, we estimated the relevant source area of pollen (RSAP) to be 2200 m (which represents the distance from the lake). Using Poaceae as the reference taxa (Pollen Productivity Estimate, PPE = 1), ERV Submodel 2 derived relative high PPEs for the steppe and desert taxa: 2.079 +/- 0.432 for Artemisia and 5.379 +/- 1.077 for Chenopodiaceae. Low PPEs were estimated for the Cyperaceae (1.036 +/- 0.012). whose plants are characteristic of the alpine Kobresia meadows. Applying these PPEs to four fossil pollen sequences since the Late Glacial, the plant abundances on the central and north-eastern Tibetan Plateau were quantified using the "Regional Estimates of Vegetation Abundance from Large Sites" (REVEALS) model. The proportions of Artemisia and Chenopodiaceae were greatly reduced compared to their original pollen percentages in the reconstructed vegetation, owing to their high productivities and their dispersal characteristics, while Cyperaceae showed a relative increase in the vegetation reconstruction. The reconstructed vegetation assemblages of the four pollen sequence sites always yielded smaller compositional species turnovers than suggested by the pollen spectra, as revealed by Detrended Canonical Correspondence Analyses (DCCA) of the Holocene sections. The strength of the previously reported vegetation changes may therefore have been overestimated, which indicates the importance of taking into account pollen-vegetation relationships when discussing the potential drivers (such as climate, land use, atmospheric CO(2) concentrations) and implications (such as for land surface-climate feedbacks, carbon storage, and biodiversity) of vegetation change. KW - pollen productivity KW - vegetation reconstruction KW - ERV model KW - REVEALS model KW - Holocene KW - Tibetan Plateau Y1 - 2011 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.revpalbo.2011.09.004 SN - 0034-6667 VL - 168 IS - 1 SP - 31 EP - 40 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - THES A1 - Wang, Yongbo T1 - Late glacial to Holocene climate and vegetation changes on the Tibetan Plateau inferred from fossil pollen records in lacustrine sediments T1 - Pollenanalytische Ableitung der spätglazialen und holozänen Klima- und Vegetationsveränderungen auf dem tibetischen Hochland anhand von Seesedimenten N2 - The past climate in central Asia, and especially on the Tibetan Plateau (TP), is of great importance for an understanding of global climate processes and for predicting the future climate. As a major influence on the climate in this region, the Asian Summer Monsoon (ASM) and its evolutionary history are of vital importance for accurate predictions. However, neither the evolutionary pattern of the summer monsoon nor the driving mechanisms behind it are yet clearly understood. For this research, I first synthesized previously published Late Glacial to Holocene climatic records from monsoonal central Asia in order to extract the general climate signals and the associated summer monsoon intensities. New climate and vegetation sequences were then established using improved quantitative methods, focusing on fossil pollen records recovered from Tibetan lakes and also incorporating new modern datasets. The pollen-vegetation and vegetation-climate relationships on the TP were also evaluated in order to achieve a better understanding of fossil pollen records. The synthesis of previously published moisture-related palaeoclimate records in monsoonal central Asia revealed generally different temporal patterns for the two monsoonal subsystems, i.e. the Indian Summer Monsoon (ISM) and East Asian Summer Monsoon (EASM). The ISM appears to have experienced maximum wet conditions during the early Holocene, while many records from the area affected by the EASM indicate relatively dry conditions at that time, particularly in north-central China where the maximum moisture levels occurred during the middle Holocene. A detailed consideration of possible driving factors affecting the summer monsoon, including summer solar insolation and sea surface temperatures, revealed that the ISM was primarily driven by variations in northern hemisphere solar insolation, and that the EASM may have been constrained by the ISM resulting in asynchronous patterns of evolution for these two subsystems. This hypothesis is further supported by modern monsoon indices estimated using the NCEP/NCAR Reanalysis data from the last 50 years, which indicate a significant negative correlation between the two summer monsoon subsystems. By analogy with the early Holocene, intensification of the ISM during coming decades could lead to increased aridification elsewhere as a result of the asynchronous nature of the monsoon subsystems, as can already be observed in the meteorological data from the last 15 years. A quantitative climate reconstruction using fossil pollen records was achieved through analysis of sediment core recovered from Lake Donggi Cona (in the north-eastern part of the TP) which has been dated back to the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). A new data-set of modern pollen collected from large lakes in arid to semi-arid regions of central Asia is also presented herein. The concept of "pollen source area" was introduced to modern climate calibration based on pollen from large lakes, and was applied to the fossil pollen sequence from Lake Donggi Cona. Extremely dry conditions were found to have dominated the LGM, and a subsequent gradually increasing trend in moisture during the Late Glacial period was terminated by an abrupt reversion to a dry phase that lasted for about 1000 years and coincided with the first Heinrich Event of the northern Atlantic region. Subsequent periods corresponding to the warm Bølling-Allerød period and the Younger Dryas cold event were followed by moist conditions during the early Holocene, with annual precipitation of up to about 400 mm. A slightly drier trend after 9 cal ka BP was then followed by a second wet phase during the middle Holocene that lasted until 4.5 cal ka BP. Relatively steady conditions with only slight fluctuations then dominated the late Holocene, resulting in the present climatic conditions. In order to investigate the relationship between vegetation and climate, temporal variations in the possible driving factors for vegetation change on the northern TP were examined using a high resolution late Holocene pollen record from Lake Kusai. Moving-window Redundancy Analyses (RDAs) were used to evaluate the correlations between pollen assemblages and individual sedimentary proxies. These analyses have revealed frequent fluctuations in the relative abundances of alpine steppe and alpine desert components, and in particular a decrease in the total vegetation cover at around 1500 cal a BP. The climate was found to have had an important influence on vegetation changes when conditions were relatively wet and stable. However, after the 1500 cal a BP threshold in vegetation cover was crossed the vegetation appears to have been affected more by extreme events such as dust storms or fluvial erosion than by the general climatic trends. In addition, pollen spectra over the last 600 years have been revealed by Procrustes analysis to be significantly different from those recovered from older samples, which is attributed to an increased human impact that resulted in unprecedented changes to the composition of the vegetation. Theoretical models that have been developed and widely applied to the European area (i.e. the Extended R-Value (ERV) model and the Regional Estimates of Vegetation Abundance from Large Sites (REVEALS) model) have been applied to the high alpine TP ecosystems in order to investigate the pollen-vegetation relationships, as well as for quantitative reconstructions of vegetation abundance. The modern pollen–vegetation relationships for four common pollen species on the TP have been investigated using Poaceae as the reference taxa. The ERV Submodel 2 yielded relatively high PPEs for the steppe and desert taxa (Artemisia Chenopodiaceae), and low PPEs for the Cyperaceae that are characteristic of the alpine Kobresia meadows. The plant abundances on the central and north-eastern TP were quantified by applying these PPEs to four post-Late Glacial fossil pollen sequences. The reconstructed vegetation assemblages for the four pollen sequences always yielded smaller compositional species turnovers than suggested by the pollen spectra, indicating that the strength of the previously-reported vegetation changes may therefore have been overestimated. In summary, the key findings of this thesis are that (a) the two ASM subsystems show asynchronous patterns during both the Holocene and modern time periods, (b) fossil pollen records from large lakes reflect regional signals for which the pollen source areas need to be taken into account, (c) climate is not always the main driver for vegetation change, and (d) previously reported vegetation changes on the TP may have been overestimated because they ignored inter-species variations in pollen productivity. N2 - Das Paläoklima in Zentralasien, besonders in der Hochebene von Tibet (HT), ist von großer Bedeutung um globale Klimaprozesse zu verstehen und mögliche Voraussagung für die zukunft zu treffen. Als wichtigstes Klimaphänomen nehmen der asiatische Sommermonsun (ASM) und seine Entwicklungsgeschichte eine Schlüsselposition ein. Dennoch sind derzeit weder das Entwicklungsschema noch der antreibende Vorgang ausreichend verstanden. Dies gilt insbesondere für das Holozän, für welches große Kimaschwankungen und regionale Diskrepanzen weithin belegt sind. Deshalb habe ich zuerst holozäne Klimadaten zusammengefasst. Bereits veröffentlichte Publikationen aus den Monsungebieten Zentralasiens dienten als Grundlage, um die wichtigsten Klimasignale und die zugehörigen Intensitäten des Sommermonsuns heraus zu arbeiten. Anhand von Pollensequenzen aus tibetischen Seen erzeugte ich neue Klima- und Vegetationssequenzen, welche auf verbesserten quantitativen Methoden und rezenten Datensätzen beruhen. Außerdem wurden die Verhältnisse Pollen-Vegetation und Vegetation-Klima bewertet, um Schlussfolgerungen fossiler Pollensequenzen zu verbessern. Die Zusammenfassung der zuvor veröffentlichten, niederschlagsbezogenen Paläoklimadaten im Monsungebiet Zentralasiens ergab generell unterschiedliche Muster für die zwei Teilsysteme des ASMs, den Indischen Sommermonsun (ISM) und den Ostasiatischen Sommermonsun (OASM). Der ISM weist maximale feuchte Bedingungen während des frühen Holozöns auf, während viele Datensätze aus dem Gebiet des OASMs einen relativ trockenen Zustand anzeigen, besonders im nördlichen Zentralchina, wo maximale Niederschläge während des mittleren Holozäns registriert wurden. Genaue Betrachtungen der Antriebsfaktoren des Sommermonsuns ergaben, dass der ISM hauptsächlich durch Veränderungen der Sonneneinstrahlung auf der Nordhemisphäre angetrieben wird, während der OASM potentiell durch den ISM beherrscht wird - dies führt zu asynchronen Entwicklungen. Diese Hypothese wird durch rezente Monsunindizes gestützt. Sie weisen eine signifikant negative Korrelation zwischen den beiden Sommermonsun-Teilsystemen auf. Für die quantitative Klimarekonstruktion von Pollensequenzen wurde ein Sedimentkern aus dem See Donggi Cona im Nordosten der HT analysiert, der bis zum letzten glazialen Maximum (LGM) zurückdatiert wurde. Aufgrund der Tatsache, dass Donggi Cona ein relativ großer See ist, wird hiermit ein neuer Pollen-Klima-Kalibrierungsdatensatz auf Grundlage großer Seen in ariden und semiariden Regionen Zentralasiens vorgelegt. Das Konzept des Pollenherkunftsgebietes wurde in diese rezente, pollenbasierte Klimakalibrierung eingebracht und auf die Pollensequenz von Donggi Cona angewendet. Die Auswertung ergab, dass extrem trockene Bedingungen während des LGM (ca. 100 mm/yr) vorherrschten. Ein ansteigender Trend von Niederschlägen während des späten Glazials wurde durch einen abrupten Rückgang zu einer etwa 1000-jährigen Trockenphase beendet, welche mit Heinrich-Ereignis 1 in der Nordatlantik-Region übereinstimmt. Danach entsprechen die Klimaperioden dem warmen Bølling/Allerød und dem Kälteereignis der Jüngeren Dryas. Anschließend herrschten feuchte Bedingungen im frühen Holozän (bis zu 400 mm/yr). Ein etwas trockenerer Trend nach dem Holozänen Klimaoptimum wurde dann von einer zweiten Feuchtphase abgelöst, welche bis 4,5 cal. ka vor heute andauerte. Relativ gleichmäßige Bedingungen dominierten das späte Holozän bis heute. Die Klimadynamik seit dem LGM wurde vor allem durch Entgletscherung und Intensitätsschwankungen des ASM bestimmt. Bei der Betrachtung des Vegetation-Klima-Verhältnisses habe ich die zeitlichen Variationen der bestimmenden Faktoren hinsichtlich der Vegetationsdynamik auf der nördlichen HT untersucht. Dabei wurden hochauflösende holozäne Pollendaten des Kusai-Sees verwendet. Eine Redundanzanalyse (RDA) wurde angewendet um die Korrelation zwischen Pollenvergesellschaftungen und individuellen sedimentären Klimaanzeigern als auch die damit verbundene Signifikanz zu bewerten. Es stellte sich heraus, dass das Klima einen wichtigen Einfluss auf den Veränderungen in der Vegetation besaß, wenn die Bedingungen relativ warm und feucht waren. Trotzdem scheint es, dass, dass die Vegetation bei zu geringer Bedeckung stärker durch Extremereignisse wie Staubstürme oder fluviale Erosion beeinflusst wurde. Pollenspektren der vergangen 600 Jahre erwiesen sich als signifikant unterschiedlich verglichen mit den älterer Proben, was auf verstärkten anthropogenen Einfluss hindeutet. Dieser resultierte in einem beispiellosen Wandel in der Zusammensetzung der Vegetation. In Hinsicht auf das Pollen-Vegetation-Verhältnis und der quantitativen Rekonstruktion der Vegetationshäufigkeit habe ich theoretische Modelle, welche für europäische Regionen entwickelt und weithin angewendet wurden, respektive die Modelle "Extended R-Value" (ERV) sowie "Regional Estimates of Vegetation Abundance from Large Sites" (REVEALS), auf die hochalpinen Ökosysteme der HT überführt. Dafür wurden rezente Pollen-Vegetations-Verhältnisse von vier weit verbreiteten Pollen-Arten der HT überprüft. Poaceae wurden als Referenztaxa verwendet. Bei der Anwendung dieser Verhältnisse auf vier Pollensequenzen, welche die Paläoumweltbedingungen seit dem letzten Glazial widerspiegeln, wurden die Häufigkeiten von Pflanzen auf der zentralen und nordöstlichen HT quantifiziert. Anteile von Artimisia und Chenopodiaceae waren dabei im Vergleich zu ihren ursprünglichen Pollenprozenten deutlich verringert. Cyperaceae hingegen wies eine relative Zunahme in dieser Vegetationsrekonstruktion auf. Die rekonstruierten Vegetationsvergesellschaftungen an den Standorten der vier Pollensequenzen ergaben stets geringere Umwälzungen in der Artenzusammensetzung, als durch die Pollenspektren zu vermuten gewesen wäre. Dies kann ein Hinweis darauf sein, dass die Intensität der bislang angenommenen Vegetationsveränderungen überschätzt worden ist. Zusammengefasst sind die Hauptresultate dieser Dissertation, dass (a) die zwei ASM Teilsysteme asynchrone Muster während des Holozäns und heute aufweisen, dass (b) fossile Pollensequenzen großer Seen regionale Klimasignale widerspiegeln sofern die Herkunftsgebiete der Pollen berücksichtigt werden, dass (c) Klima nicht immer der Haupteinflussfaktor für Vegetationswandel ist und dass (d) das Ausmaß von Vegetationsveränderungen in zuvor veröffentlichten Studien auf der Hochebene von Tibet überschätzt worden sein kann, weil Diskrepanzen der Pollenproduktivität zwischen den Arten nicht einbezogen wurden. KW - Asiatischer Sommermonsun KW - ASM KW - Holozän KW - Seesedimente KW - Pollen KW - Hochland von Tibet KW - Asian Summer Monsoon KW - Holocene KW - Lake sediments KW - Pollen KW - Tibetan Plateau Y1 - 2011 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-63155 ER - TY - THES A1 - Aichner, Bernhard T1 - Aquatic macrophyte-derived biomarkers as palaeolimnological proxies on the Tibetan Plateau T1 - Biomarker von Wasserpflanzen als Klimaindikatoren auf dem tibetischen Hochplateau N2 - The Tibetan Plateau is the largest elevated landmass in the world and profoundly influences atmospheric circulation patterns such as the Asian monsoon system. Therefore this area has been increasingly in focus of palaeoenvironmental studies. This thesis evaluates the applicability of organic biomarkers for palaeolimnological purposes on the Tibetan Plateau with a focus on aquatic macrophyte-derived biomarkers. Submerged aquatic macrophytes have to be considered to significantly influence the sediment organic matter due to their high abundance in many Tibetan lakes. They can show highly 13C-enriched biomass because of their carbon metabolism and it is therefore crucial for the interpretation of δ13C values in sediment cores to understand to which extent aquatic macrophytes contribute to the isotopic signal of the sediments in Tibetan lakes and in which way variations can be explained in a palaeolimnological context. Additionally, the high abundance of macrophytes makes them interesting as potential recorders of lake water δD. Hydrogen isotope analysis of biomarkers is a rapidly evolving field to reconstruct past hydrological conditions and therefore of special relevance on the Tibetan Plateau due to the direct linkage between variations of monsoon intensity and changes in regional precipitation / evaporation balances. A set of surface sediment and aquatic macrophyte samples from the central and eastern Tibetan Plateau was analysed for composition as well as carbon and hydrogen isotopes of n-alkanes. It was shown how variable δ13C values of bulk organic matter and leaf lipids can be in submerged macrophytes even of a single species and how strongly these parameters are affected by them in corresponding sediments. The estimated contribution of the macrophytes by means of a binary isotopic model was calculated to be up to 60% (mean: 40%) to total organic carbon and up to 100% (mean: 66%) to mid-chain n-alkanes. Hydrogen isotopes of n-alkanes turned out to record δD of meteoric water of the summer precipitation. The apparent enrichment factor between water and n-alkanes was in range of previously reported ones (≈-130‰) at the most humid sites, but smaller (average: -86‰) at sites with a negative moisture budget. This indicates an influence of evaporation and evapotranspiration on δD of source water for aquatic and terrestrial plants. The offset between δD of mid- and long-chain n-alkanes was close to zero in most of the samples, suggesting that lake water as well as soil and leaf water are affected to a similar extent by those effects. To apply biomarkers in a palaeolimnological context, the aliphatic biomarker fraction of a sediment core from Lake Koucha (34.0° N; 97.2° E; eastern Tibetan Plateau) was analysed for concentrations, δ13C and δD values of compounds. Before ca. 8 cal ka BP, the lake was dominated by aquatic macrophyte-derived mid-chain n-alkanes, while after 6 cal ka BP high concentrations of a C20 highly branched isoprenoid compound indicate a predominance of phytoplankton. Those two principally different states of the lake were linked by a transition period with high abundances of microbial biomarkers. δ13C values were relatively constant for long-chain n-alkanes, while mid-chain n-alkanes showed variations between -23.5 to -12.6‰. Highest values were observed for the assumed period of maximum macrophyte growth during the late glacial and for the phytoplankton maximum during the middle and late Holocene. Therefore, the enriched values were interpreted to be caused by carbon limitation which in turn was induced by high macrophyte and primary productivity, respectively. Hydrogen isotope signatures of mid-chain n-alkanes have been shown to be able to track a previously deduced episode of reduced moisture availability between ca. 10 and 7 cal ka BP, indicated by a 20‰ shift towards higher δD values. Indications for cooler episodes at 6.0, 3.1 and 1.8 cal ka BP were gained from drops of biomarker concentrations, especially microbial-derived hopanoids, and from coincidental shifts towards lower δ13C values. Those episodes correspond well with cool events reported from other locations on the Tibetan Plateau as well as in the Northern Hemisphere. To conclude, the study of recent sediments and plants improved the understanding of factors affecting the composition and isotopic signatures of aliphatic biomarkers in sediments. Concentrations and isotopic signatures of the biomarkers in Lake Koucha could be interpreted in a palaeolimnological context and contribute to the knowledge about the history of the lake. Aquatic macrophyte-derived mid-chain n-alkanes were especially useful, due to their high abundance in many Tibetan Lakes and their ability to record major changes of lake productivity and palaeo-hydrological conditions. Therefore, they have the potential to contribute to a fuller understanding of past climate variability in this key region for atmospheric circulation systems. N2 - Das tibetische Hochplateau ist die größte gehobene Landmasse der Erde und beeinflusst maßgeblich atmosphärische Zirkulationsmuster wie den Asiatischen Monsun. Um die Auswirkungen zukünftiger Schwankungen der Monsundynamik auf das regionale Klima besser einschätzen zu können, ist es wichtig, ein fundiertes Verständnis vergangener Klimaänderungen zu entwickeln. Daher ist das Tibetplateau in den letzten Jahren mehr und mehr in den Fokus paläoklimatischer Studien gerückt. Die große Anzahl an Seen in der Region bietet ein unerschöpfliches Klimaarchiv und viele Studien haben sich bereits mit Seesedimenten zur Klimarekonstruktion befasst. Dabei wurde in erster Linie auf biologische, sedimentologische und geochemische Parameter zurückgegriffen, wohingegen organische Biomarker bisher recht selten benutzt wurden. Die vorliegende Arbeit untersucht die Anwendbarkeit dieser potentiellen Klimaindikatoren auf dem Tibetplateau. Hierbei wurde ein Schwerpunkt auf die Analyse kutikularer Blattwachse von Wasserpflanzen gelegt, da diese wegen ihres starken Auftretens in tibetischen Seen einen erheblichen Beitrag zur organischen Substanz im Sediment leisten. Um den Einfluss von Wasserpflanzen auf das Sediment über einen weiten klimatischen Gradienten zu untersuchen, wurden Oberflächensedimente und Wasserpflanzen vom zentralen und östlichen Tibetplateau auf ihre Biomarkerzusammensetzung sowie auf ihre Kohlen- und Wasserstoffisotopensignatur untersucht. Dadurch wurde das Verständnis über beeinflussende Faktoren auf diese Parameter in Sedimenten vertieft. In einem Sedimentbohrkern des Koucha-Sees (östliches Tibetplateau) konnten diese Parameter dann im Hinblick auf Änderungen der Produktivität im See sowie der hydrologischen und klimatischen Bedingungen der letzten 15000 Jahre interpretiert werden. Es zeigte sich, dass der See bis 8000 Jahre vor Heute stark mit Wasserpflanzen bewachsen war, während die letzten 6000 Jahre Algen dominierten. Mit Hilfe von Wasserstoffisotopen wurden eine Zunahme des Monsuns und steigende Niederschläge zwischen 15000 und 10000 Jahren vor Heute sowie eine relativ trockene Periode zwischen 10000 und 7000 Jahren vor Heute rekonstruiert. Durch Kombination von Biomarkerkonzentrationen sowie deren Kohlenstoffisotopensignal wurden außerdem kurzzeitige Kälteperioden um ca. 6000, 3100 und 1800 Jahren vor Heute nachgewiesen, die vorher bereits in anderen Klimaarchiven in Tibet sowie auf der nördlichen Hemisphäre belegt wurden. Mit Hilfe von organischen Biomarkern konnte so ein detailliertes Bild über die Entwicklung des Koucha-Sees seit dem letzten Glazial gewonnen werden. Organische Biomarker haben sich somit als geeignet erwiesen, einen Beitrag zur Klimarekonstruktion auf dem Tibetplateau zu leisten. KW - Biomarker KW - Isotope KW - Tibet KW - Paläolimnologie KW - Klima KW - Wasserpflanzen KW - biomarker KW - isotopes KW - Tibetan Plateau KW - palaeolimnology KW - climate KW - macrophytes Y1 - 2009 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-42095 ER -