Holocene lake deposits of Bosten Lake, southern Xinjiang, China

Abstract

A 9.25-m-long sediment core from Bosten Lake, Xinjiang, provides detailed information about changes in the water budget and biological acticity over the last 8400 calendar years. The chronology is constructed from six AMS radiocarbon dates on the terrestrial plant remains. Based on analyses of TOC, CO3, detrital compounds and biogenic SiO2, lake level fluctuations and periods of remarkably-negative water budget appeared at 8.4—8.2 cal ka, 7.38—7.25 cal ka, 5.7—5.5 cal ka, 3.7—3.4 cal ka and 3.3—2.9 cal ka, respectively. As they are in-phase with low lake levels at Sumxi Co and Bangong Co in western Tibet Plateau and with paleo-lakes in Inner Mongolia, a climate-induced change to some-what drier and warmer conditions is inferred. A further drop in lake level after 1320 AD of about 200 yr duration may be attributed to a negative water balance prior to the main phase of the Little Ice Age. Deep and stable lake phases of 1500 yr and 1800 yr duration at 7.2—5.7 cal ka and 5.5—3.7 cal ka coincide with maximum moisture during the Holocene Megathermal in China. The long term trend towards aridity since about 4.3 cal ka can clearly be recognised. The reduced water budget of Bosten Lake from 640–1200 AD may be attributed to local effects.