Late Pleistocene paleoclimatic history documented by an oxygen isotope record from carbonate sediments in Qarhan Salt Lake, NE Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

Late Pleistocene paleoclimatic variability on the northeastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (NE QTP) was reconstructed using a chronology based on AMS C-14 and Th-230 dating results and a stable oxygen isotopic record. These are derived from lake carbonates in a 102-m-long Qarhan sediment core (ISL1A) collected from the eastern Qaidam Basin. Previous research indicates that the delta O-18 values of lacustrine carbonates are mainly controlled by the isotopic composition of lake water, which in turn is a function of regional P/E balance and the proportion of precipitation that is monsoon-derived on the NE QTP. Modern isotopic observations indicate that the delta O-18 values of lake carbonates in hyper-arid Qaidam Basin are more positive during the warm and wet period. Due to strong evaporation and continental effect in this basin, the positive delta O-18 values in the arid region indicate drier climatic conditions. Based on this interpretation and the delta O-18 record of fine-grained lake carbonates and dating results in ISL1A, the results imply that drier climatic conditions in the Qarhan region occurred in three intervals, around 90-80 ka, 52-38 ka and 10-9 ka, which could correspond to late MIS 5, middle MIS 3 and early Holocene, respectively. These three phases were almost coincided with low lake level periods of Gahai, Toson and Qinghai Lakes (to the east of Qarhan Lake) influenced by ASM on the orbital timescales. Meanwhile, there was an episode of relatively high delta O-18 value during late MIS 3, suggesting that relatively dry climatic condition in this period, rather than "a uniform Qarhan mega-paleolake" spanning the similar to 44 to 22 ka period. These results insight into the understanding of "the Greatest Lake Period" on the QTP. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.