Geomorphic features of Quaternary glaciation in the Taniantaweng Mountain, on the southeastern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

Abstract

We present geomorphological evidence for multiple glacial fluctuations during the Quaternary in the Taniantaweng Mountain, which is situated at the transition zone of the southeastern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau. To reconstruct the history of glacial evolution during the Quaternary Glaciation, we present a ~13000 km2 geomorphologic map (1:440,000) for the Quaternary glaciations, as well as three electron spin resonance (ESR) ages and three optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) ages from the landforms. By integrating these with ages from previous studies, four major glacial advances are identified during marine oxygen isotope stages (MIS) 6, 3, 2 and 1. This glacial chronology is in reasonable agreement with existing glacial chronologies from other parts of the Hengduan Mountains and surrounding mountains. Glaciers had extended to the Yuqu River during the glacial maximum advance (MIS 6), but became successively more restricted from MIS 3 to MIS 1. The glacial distribution show that precipitation brought by the south Asian monsoon might play a primary role in driving glacial advances during the last glacial period in the southeastern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.