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Calcareous root tubes are widely distributed across the Badain Jaran Desert and the Tengger Desert of the Alashan Plateau in northwest China. However, the reliability of their 14 C dating results and their environmental significance remain unclear. In this study, the conventional 14 C ages of 31 calcareous root tube samples and one aquatic mollusc shell sample, which were all collected from the Badain Jaran Desert and the Tengger Desert, were measured. The results reveal that nine of the 14 calcareous root tube samples from the Badain Jaran Desert were from Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 3, while two samples were from MIS 2. The other three samples were dated to the mid-Holocene, one of which is consistent with the aquatic mollusc shell sample collected from the shoreline of Zhunzhahanjilin Lake in the Badain Jaran Desert. Moreover, the 17 calcareous root tube samples from the Tengger Desert were all dated to the mid- and late-Holocene, most of which were from the mid-Holocene. The results demonstrate that calcareous root tubes can be used as 14 C dating materials and that the accuracy of their 14 C dating depends on the time scale. The dating results were reliable at the millennial scale. However, the reliability of the ages from MIS 3a is lower than that of the Holocene ages, though the ages were reliable in tens of thousands years. Based on the statistical analysis, the overwhelming majority of calcareous root tubes collected from the deserts of the Alashan Plateau were formed during MIS 3a and the mid-Holocene. The concentrated emergence of calcareous root tubes in phases implies that they were formed during periods of relatively humid environments in desert areas, arid regions. Moreover, the results indicate that the effectivity of the moisture level probably affects the formation of calcareous root tubes, and the presence of calcareous root tubes indicates the occurrence of periods of relatively humid environments in the study area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Holocene climate records obtained from the Asian summer monsoon domain suggest a regionally-delineated response to changing summer monsoon. The interaction between the East Asian summer monsoon (EASM) and the Indian summer monsoon (ISM), two subsystems of the Asian summer monsoon, has been considered as a factor that explains those inconsistent Holocene climate records. However, this assumption is not valid when the relationship between the two subsystems is not clear. This paper presents a literature review regarding climate simulation of the Asian summer monsoon for testing the long-term relationship. The absolutely-dated Holocene speleothem records in the EASM domain and the ISM domain were compared to verify the simulation results. In addition, a unified monsoon index, which has a unified solid dynamic basis and is appropriate for different monsoon regions, was used in order to identify the modern relationship between the two subsystems. The speleothem records show more synchronous than asynchronous on the Holocene millennial-scale monsoon evolution, furthermore the two subsystems respond to the Younger Dryas (YD) and 8.2ka events in a similar way. However, these monsoon simulations roughly suggest that the two subsystems respond to Holocene climate change in different ways. While the simulations were mostly performed in a certain period of the Holocene, the speleothem records provided a relatively continuous Asian summer monsoon history. Therefore, time scales could affect the comparison between simulations and speleothem records. Then, we further discussed the interaction between the Asian monsoon subsystems according to simulations and modern monsoon indices. Overall, the relationship between the two subsystems is more complicated than synchronous or asynchronous, which is a dynamic relationship and related to the atmosphere–land–ocean–vegetation interaction. In addition, the relationship can vary over different time scales, and the links between time scales should be paid more attention to. Besides, the interaction between the westerly winds and the Asian summer monsoon in the mid-latitudes of East Asia will profoundly affect those areas in response to Holocene climate change. It is recommended that further research should be emphasized in dynamic mechanisms between the Asian summer monsoon subsystems and between the Asian monsoon and the westerly winds. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In the regions surrounding the Qinghai Tibet Plateau, changes in erosion rates have been linked to the tectonics, climate and topography over different time scales. To understand the mechanisms governing the changes of erosion rates, it is important to study erosion rates by different methods and for different time scales. In inland drainage basins, deposition rates of terminal lake sediments can indicate basin-wide erosion rates at the millennial-scale. This paper presents three lake records of the Last Deglaciation and Holocene (Huahai Lake, Zhuye Lake and Yanchi Lake) from the Hexi Corridor, north of the Qilian Mountains, in arid China. Organic matter, terrestrial pollen concentrates, seeds, grasses and plant debris are used for conventional and AMS 14C dating. On the basis of 66 radiocarbon dates, lithology and grain-size, we infer relatively high basin-wide erosion rates during the Last Deglaciation and early Holocene in the three drainage basins, when the three lake sediments were seriously affected by reworking. The deposition rates were an order of magnitude or greater in these lakes during the Last Deglaciation and early Holocene than during the mid-to-late Holocene. During the transition period of the last glacial–interglacial cycle, significant climatic changes occurred in East and Central Asia, corresponding to the strengthening of the Asian summer monsoon and to increasing effective moisture in arid Central Asia, which can have strong impacts on basin-wide erosion rates north of the Qinghai Tibet Plateau. Moreover, melting glaciers in the Qilian Mountains probably also contributed to the high basin-wide erosion rates. At the same time, tectonic activity was not recognizable in the study area during that period. In the arid and semiarid regions surrounding the Qinghai Tibet Plateau, dramatic changes in erosion rates appear during the transition periods of the glacial–interglacial cycles, which illustrate the climatic controls on erosion rates at this time scale. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The Asian summer monsoon and the westerly winds interact in the mid-latitude regions of East Asia, so that climate change there is influenced by the combined effect of the two climate systems. The Holocene millennial-scale Asian summer monsoon change shows the out-of-phase relationship with the moisture evolution in arid Central Asia. Although much research has been devoted to the long-term climate change, little work has been done on the mechanism. Summer precipitation, in the marginal regions of the Asian monsoon, is strongly affected by the monsoon and the westerly winds. The purpose of this paper is to examine the mechanism of the millennial-scale out-of-phase relationship by modern summer precipitation analysis in the northwest margin of the Asian monsoon (95–110°E, 35–45°N). First, the method of Empirical Orthogonal Function (EOF) analysis was carried out to the 1960–2008 summer rainfall data from 64 stations in that region; then the water vapor transportation and geopotential height field data were studied, in order to explain and understand the factors that influence the summer precipitation; lastly, the East Asian Summer Monsoon Index (EASMI), South Asian Summer Monsoon Index (SASMI), Summer Westerly Winds Index (SWI) were compared with the EOF time series. The results indicate the complicated interannual-scale interaction between the Asian summer monsoon and the westerly winds, which can result in the modern out-of-phase relationship in the study area. This study demonstrates that the interaction between the two climate systems can be considered as a factor for the millennial-scale out-of-phase relationship. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• New methods to quantitatively reconstruct consecutive lake level changes in desert. • The highest lake levels occurred at the early Holocene in BJD hinterland. • Increase in meltwater resulted in high lake levels during the early Holocene. Quantitative reconstruction of consecutive paleolake-level fluctuations may help reconstruct lake evolution during the Holocene. However, the reconstruction of a groundwater recharged lake in a desert hinterland is challenging. In this study, 23 samples of lake bottom sediments were obtained from eight groundwater recharged lakes in the hinterland of the Badian Jaran Desert in northwest China to establish models between the grain size component and lake level. Our results showed that the four grain size components of the sediments could be separated using the Weibull function. The first two fine grain components (W1 and W2) were deposited in the atmospheric dust. The two coarser components (W3 and W4) could be interpreted as sediments transported by wind from the surrounding sand dunes, while W3 was subsequently redistributed by lake waves. Changes in the lake water depth could be expressed by the W1 and W2 component contents, as well as the modal size of W3. Using the above models, unmixing grain size components of the lake sediment obtained from the ZZH section located in a seasonal lake (Zhunzhahan Jaran Lake) in the desert hinterland were used to quantitatively reconstruct the lake-level fluctuations during the Holocene. The lake level frequently fluctuated between 3.82 and 9.21 m during 10.6–8.6 cal kyr BP, slightly fluctuated between 3.41 and 5.26 m during 8.6–4.7 cal kyr BP, and markedly declined from 6.09 m to 4.46 m during 4.7–3.5 cal kyr BP. Lake-level changes in the hinterland of the Badian Jaran Desert did not correspond to the effective moisture changes during the early Holocene. Instead, the rise in lake level during the early Holocene would have resulted from the input of groundwater from the meltwater in the mountains of the recharge area. The data reveal new methods for quantitatively reconstructing consecutive paleolake-level fluctuations by groundwater recharged lakes in the desert hinterland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]