Summer temperature reconstruction on the central Tibetan Plateau during 1860–2002 derived from annually resolved ice core pollen

Abstract

We present a 140‐year ice core pollen record with annual time resolution from the Puruogangri ice field in the central Tibetan Plateau. A linear regression model between the sum of the steppe and meadow pollen taxa and summer temperature at Naqu accounts for 66% of the summer temperature variance for the period 1955–2002. On the basis of this model, we reconstructed summer temperature history for the central Tibetan Plateau from 1860 to 2002. Three marked warm periods during the 1870s, 1890s, and 1990s and five cold periods during the 1860s, 1880s, 1900s, 1950s, and 1960–1970s were identified. Within the last 100 years, late 20th century warming is distinctive and may have had a major role in the present retreat of most glaciers on the Tibetan Plateau. The pollen record is also significantly correlated with average annual temperatures over the whole Tibetan Plateau, suggesting that these proxy data have the potential for reflecting large‐scale regional temperature change. The statistically significant similarity between the Puruogangri ice core pollen record and the δ18O time series indicates that both are reliable indicators of temperature change at annual to multiyear timescales in this region.