1. Central Mongolian lake sediments reveal new insights on climate change and equestrian empires in the Eastern Steppes
- Author
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Struck, Julian, Bliedtner, Marcel, Strobel, Paul, Taylor, William, Biskop, Sophie, Plessen, Birgit, Klaes, Bj��rn, Bittner, Lucas, Jamsranjav, Bayarsaikhan, Salazar, Gary, Szidat, S��nke, Brenning, Alexander, Bazarradnaa, Enkhtuya, Glaser, Bruno, Zech, Michael, and Zech, Roland
- Subjects
540 Chemistry - Abstract
The repeated expansion of East Asian steppe cultures was a key driver of Eurasian history, forging new social, economic, and biological links across the continent. Climate has been suggested as important driver of these poorly understood cultural expansions, but paleoclimate records from the Mongolian Plateau often suffer from poor age control or ambiguous proxy interpretation. Here, we use a combination of geochemical analyses and comprehensive radiocarbon dating to establish the first robust and detailed record of paleohydrological conditions for Lake Telmen, Mongolia, covering the past ~ 4000 years. Our record shows that humid conditions coincided with solar minima, and hydrological modeling confirms the high sensitivity of the lake to paleoclimate changes. Careful comparisons with archaeological and historical records suggest that in the vast semi-arid grasslands of eastern Eurasia, solar minima led to reduced temperatures, less evaporation, and high biomass production, expanding the power base for pastoral economies and horse cavalry. Our findings suggest a crucial link between temperature dynamics in the Eastern Steppe and key social developments, such as the emergence of pastoral empires, and fuel concerns that global warming enhances water scarcity in the semi-arid regions of interior Eurasia. Regional setting and site description Results - Sediment core chronology. - Sedimentological and geochemical analyses. - Isotope analyses, evaporation index (EI), and paleohydrology. Discussion - External forcing on the regional climate. - Hydrological modeling. - Climate impact on human history in Mongolia. Methods - Field survey and coring. - Sedimentological and geochemical characteristics. - Sediment core chronology. - Qualitative determination of the mineral composition. - Bulk isotopic composition of carbonates (δ13Ccarb, δ18Ocarb). - n‑alkane extraction and compound‑specific δ2Hn‑alkane measurements. - The evaporation index (EI). - Water balance modeling, sensitivity analysis and model scenarios.
- Published
- 2022