Holocene moisture variations in the Arid Central Asia: New evidence from the southern Altai Mountains of China

Abstract

A continuous peat sequence collected in the southern Altai Mountains provides a new opportunity to reconstruct the Holocene vegetation and moisture history in the Arid Central Asia. Based on pollen data of 190 samples with a chronologic support of eight AMS dates from a 380-cm core at Tuolehaite (TLHT) Peat, the Holocene moisture variations in the southern Altai Mountains of China were reconstructed. The reconstruction revealed a wet early Holocene (~10,600–~8500cal. yr BP), a considerably dry middle Holocene (~8500–~4000 cal. yr BP) and a resumed wet late Holocene (~4000–0 cal. yr BP). The Holocene moisture reconstruction is generally corroborated by other reviewed sequences from the southern Altai Mountains and the surrounding areas. According to the analysis of modern sources of precipatable water vapor for the southern Altai Mountains, the Holocene moisture variations in the southern Altai Mountains were proposed to have been causally associated with the variations in the sea surface temperature (SST) in the North Atlantic Ocean and also with the variations in the strength of Siberian High Pressure in the core of the Eurasian continent.