A 16-ka lake-level record inferred from macrofossils in a sediment core from Genggahai Lake, northeastern Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau (China)

Genggahai Lake, a small, shallow water body on the northeastern Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau, is presently occupied by dense aquatic vegetation. The distribution of macrophytes is strongly associated with water depth. Macrofossils from a 7.82-m sediment core indicate that the dominant taxa in past aquatic plant communities were almost the same as those that dominate the lake today. In combination with sediment geochemical variables TOC, TN, and δ13Cbulk-org, macrofossil assemblages (aquatic plant remains, stem encrustations, and mollusc shells) were employed to reconstruct lake-level fluctuations over the past 16 ka. The lake formed or refilled at 15.3 cal ka and sustained a low level until 11.4 cal ka. From 11.4 to 6.3 cal ka, a remarkably high level was punctuated by a period of relatively low level between 9.2 and 7.4 cal ka. Stepwise drops in lake level occurred from 6.3 to 5.5 cal ka. Water level was characterized by more frequent fluctuations between 5.5 and 4.1 cal ka. Low level persisted from 4.1 to 2.1 cal ka and from 1.6 to 0.3 cal ka. Short-lived episodes of high water level were centered around 1.8 cal ka and since 0.3 cal ka. The lake-level history of Genggahai Lake appears to be largely consistent with the Asian monsoon records from nearby and distant locations. Our preliminary results suggest that monsoon variability on centennial to millennial timescales was superimposed on the long-term pattern of the Asian monsoon, modulated by orbitally induced summer insolation, and that the Asian monsoon may play an important role in water balance in marginal regions.