14C Dating of Holocene Soils from an Island in Lake Pumoyum Co (Southeastern Tibetan Plateau)

Abstract

Soil samples from an 85-cm-long continuous section (PY608ES) were collected from an island in Lake Pumoyum Co (southeastern Tibetan Plateau, ∼5020 m asl) in August 2006. To estimate past environmental conditions of Lake Pumoyum Co during the Holocene, we analyzed radiocarbon ages, stable carbon isotope compositions, and total organic carbon/total nitrogen (TOC/TN) atomic ratios of the soil samples. The 14C measurements were performed with the Tandetron accelerator mass spectrometry system at the Center for Chronological Research, Nagoya University. The 14C concentration in the surface layer (101 pMC; 5–10 cm soil depth) was nearly modern. A 14C chronology of the sequence indicated that continuous soil development began on the island in Lake Pumoyum Co at ∼5800 cal BP (at 63 cm soil depth, the top of a gravel layer). These results may reflect a decrease in the lake level in the middle Holocene. The age of the obvious lithologic boundary (∼5800 cal BP) corresponds to the end of Holocene climate optimum.