Late Glacial and Holocene vegetational history of the Altai Mountains (southwestern Tuva Republic, Siberia)

Abstract

Two lakes of glacial origin (Grusha at 2413 m and Akkol at 2204 m) are located on a broad high-mountain plateau on the dry eastern end of the Russian Altai Mountains in the Republic of Tuva, just north of Mongolia. The present vegetation of the area is an open high-mountain tundra–steppe mosaic, with patches of Larix and Pinus sibirica forests on north-facing slopes 30 km northwest of the lakes. Alpine meadows occur near streams and snow patches. Pollen diagrams and radiocarbon dates (16 for Grusha and 12 for Akkol) were used to reconstruct the vegetational history since the last glaciation. The core from Grusha contains about 50 cm of Late Glacial sediment of relatively low organic content, mostly correlated with the Younger Dryas episode because of the high percentages of Artemisia, Gramineae, and Chenopodiaceae, along with a diversity of non-arboreal pollen types indicating tundra–steppe and meadow-steppe. In the earliest Holocene, starting with increased organic matter at about 195 cm (12,000 cal. yr BP), the Artemisia–Gramineae–Chenopodiaceae pollen assemblage continued, along with an increase in shrub Betula but without the diversity of minor non-arboreal types. The interpretation of dry and warm climate at this time is supported by the unconformity at Akkol, implying a dried lake. Then after about 1000 years the increase of Pinus sibirica, P. sylvestris, Picea obovata, and Abies sibirica suggests that forests developed in response to increased humidity, first at the higher-elevation Grusha, and then at Akkol. After about 6000 cal. yr BP the role of forests decreased sharply in the area. The Picea and Abies components almost disappeared, as they did also in more westerly areas of the Altai Mountains. Steppe elements increased along with alpine herbs, especially after 2000 cal. yr BP as a result of cooling or increased aridity, as well as probable human activity. Correlation of the vegetation sequence for the Tuva sites with those to the west in the central Altai Mountains indicates that the Late Glacial open landscapes persisted in the earliest Holocene but then were invaded by coniferous forests as a result of increased moisture and temperature associated with Atlantic storm systems as well as with insolation-enhanced Asian monsoon. Cooling and drying after about 6000 cal. yr BP brought the decline of Abies and Picea and the expansion of tundra–steppe.