Stratigraphy and palaeoenvironmental implications of Pleistocene and Holocene aeolian sediments in the Lhasa area,southern Tibet (China) |
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| Authors: | Knut Kaiser Zhongping Lai Birgit Schneider Christoph Reudenbach Georg Miehe Helmut Brückner |
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| Institution: | 1. Department of Geography, RWTH Aachen University, Templergraben 55, D-52056 Aachen, Germany;2. Key Laboratory of Desert and Desertification, Cold and Arid Regions Environment and Engineering Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Science, Lanzhou 730000, China;3. Institute for Geography, University of Cologne, Albertus-Magnus-Platz, D-50923 Cologne, Germany;1. MOE Key laboratory of Environmental Change and Natural Disaster, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, PR China;2. Department of Geosciences and Geography, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland;1. Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, China;2. College of Resources and Environment, Linyi University, Linyi 276000, China;3. School of Earth Sciences, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, China |
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| Abstract: | Along the middle and lower reaches of the Kyichu River and its tributaries (Lhasa area, southern Tibet), a multidisciplinary study was carried out in order to investigate the areal distribution, sedimentological properties, ages and palaeoenvironmental implications of aeolian deposits including intercalated palaeosols. This research was initiated to investigate to what extent southern Tibet is influenced by past human activity, as even recent evaluations perceive the present treeless desertic environment as natural. Fifteen profiles were recorded at an altitude of 3540–4580 m a.s.l. with subsequent sedimentological, geochronological (OSL, AMS 14C) and palaeobotanical (charcoal) analyses. Sediment properties of both loesses and aeolian sands reveal an origin from aeolian sorting of nearby fluvial deposits. The calculated ages are the oldest obtained thus far on aeolian sediments from southern and interior Tibet, revealing natural aeolian sedimentation before and around the Last Glacial Maximum (c. 20 ka). However, a distinct portion of Late Holocene sandy aeolian sediments also occurs. Both the evidence for the aeolian dynamics (widespread Pleistocene loess and aeolian sand deposition, local Late Holocene aeolian sand deposition, modern reactivation of widespread Pleistocene aeolian sands) and the palaeobotanical findings (Late Holocene vegetation change from a tree-bearing to a widely treeless landscape) provide evidence that the Lhasa area was strongly influenced by human activity since at least the Late Neolithic (c. 4200 cal yrs BP). Thus the present-day desertic environment might not primarily be a result of the semiarid climate or the high-altitude conditions, but rather of activities of the humans and their collateral effects. However, once established, this semi-natural ecosystem persisted, controlled by strong grazing, firewood extraction, erosion and harsh edaphic conditions, preventing the recovery of trees. |
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