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Climate changes in East China since the Late-glacial inferred from high-resolution mountain peat humification records

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Abstract

High-resolution peat humification records were obtained from Dajiuhu of the Shennongjia Mountains and Qianmutian of the Tianmu Mountains to study climate changes in East China. The analyses of pollen, organic matters, TOC, and Rb/Sr indicate a high degree of peat humification and thus strong decomposition of organic matter when climate was dry. Conversely, when climate was humid, the degree of humification is low because peat was preserved in a waterlogged condition. Peat humification from Dajiuhu occurred not only during the Younger Dryas (about 11.4–12.6 cal ka BP), the Bølling-Allerød Warm Period (12.6–15.2 cal ka BP), and the Oldest Dryas (about 15.2–16.0 cal ka BP), but also during the early Holocene (about 11.4–9.4 cal ka BP), the 8.2 cal ka BP cold event, and the Holocene Optimum (about 7.0–4.2 cal ka BP). Both peat humification records since nearly 5 ka BP are consistent, showing that mountain peatland has synchronous responses to the East Asia monsoon-induced precipitation. The LOI data confirm the above observation. The monsoon precipitation since nearly 5 ka BP recorded in these two peat profiles can be divided into three phases. During 4.9–3.5 ka BP, precipitation amount was high but fluctuated greatly. During 3.5–0.9 ka BP, precipitation amount was low. During 0.9–0 ka BP, degree of humification reduced gradually, indicating the increase of monsoon precipitation. Contrast to other high-resolution records from East China monsoon region shows that the monsoon precipitation records of the two peat profiles since nearly 16 ka BP are controlled by a common forcing mechanism of summer solar radicalization in the Northern Hemisphere.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Geographic and Oceanographic Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210093, China

    ChunMei Ma, Cheng Zhu, Qian Yin & ZhiPing Zhao

  2. Department of Land Information Engineering, Chuzhou College, Chuzhou, 239012, China

    ChaoGui Zheng

  3. Nanjing Institute of Geography & Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, 210008, China

    ChaoGui Zheng

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  1. ChunMei Ma
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Correspondence to ChunMei Ma.

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Supported by National Key Technology R&D Program (Grant No. 2006BAK21B02), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 40701190), the Key Project of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 90411015), the University Doctoral Foundation of China (Grant No. 20070284067) and the Test Foundation of Modern Analyses Center of Nanjing University

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Ma, C., Zhu, C., Zheng, C. et al. Climate changes in East China since the Late-glacial inferred from high-resolution mountain peat humification records. Sci. China Ser. D-Earth Sci. 52, 118–131 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-009-0003-5

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