Abstract
AbstractThe Central Asian Pamir Mountains (Pamirs) are a high‐altitude region sensitive to climatic change, with only few paleoclimatic records available. To examine the glacial‐interglacial hydrological changes in the region, we analyzed the geochemical parameters of a 31‐kyr record from Lake Karakul and performed a set of experiments with climate models to interpret the results. δD values of terrestrial biomarkers showed insolation‐driven trends reflecting major shifts of water vapor sources. For aquatic biomarkers, positive δD shifts driven by changes in precipitation seasonality were observed at ca. 31–30, 28–26, and 17–14 kyr BP. Multiproxy paleoecological data and modelling results suggest that increased water availability, induced by decreased summer evaporation, triggered higher lake levels during those episodes, possibly synchronous to northern hemispheric rapid climate events. We conclude that seasonal changes in precipitation‐evaporation balance significantly influenced the hydrological state of a large waterbody such as Lake Karakul, while annual precipitation amount and inflows remained fairly constant.
Highlights
The Pamir Mountains (Pamirs) are located at the intersection of atmospheric influences from the Asian monsoon system, the midlatitude westerly winds, and the wintertime Siberian anticyclone (Aizen et al, 2001)
To evaluate drivers behind this phenomenon, we developed a record of humidity and lake levels throughout the last 31,000 years from a high‐altitude lake in the Pamir Mountains
Our results suggest that a significant impact on lake levels in arid regions is to be expected by the current anthropogenically driven global warming
Summary
The Pamirs are located at the intersection of atmospheric influences from the Asian monsoon system, the midlatitude westerly winds (westerlies), and the wintertime Siberian anticyclone (Aizen et al, 2001). They are characterized by a pronounced gradient of decreasing winter and spring precipitation from west to east (Miehe et al, 2001; Williams & Konovalov, 2008). Past changes in hydroclimate in this region were likely to experience shifts in the extent of those large‐scale atmospheric circulation systems (Caves Rugenstein & Chamberlain, 2018; Zhang et al, 2017). Mechanisms and the local and regional expression AICHNER ET AL.
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