ISOTOPIC EVIDENCE FOR HOLOCENE CLIMATIC CHANGES IN BOSTEN LAKE, SOUTHERN XINJIANG, CHINA

Key words: 
• Bosten Lake /
• δ¹⁸O of carbonate /
• δ¹³C of carbonate /
• Holocene /
• climatic changes

Abstract: Based on the δ¹³C and δ¹⁸C fluctuation of lacustrine carbonate, CaCO₃ content and sporo pollen data, a palaeoclimatic history of Bosten Lake during the Holocene has been outlined, several stages of climatic changes are divided, and the following result es are obtained: (1) Palaeoclimatic changes revealed by carbonate isotope around Bosten Lake are basically identical with that revealed by other geological records in Xinjiang. Environmental changes presented apparent Westlies Style model: during cold period, relative humidity increased, ¹⁸O, ¹³C and CaCO₃ appeared low; but in warm periods, the dry regime aggravated. (2) The temperature reflected by δ¹⁸C exist evident features being increase in the late period during the Holocene. Together with the δ¹³C, pollen and CaCO₃ analyses, several cold and warm phases which are of broad regional significance can be identified. The warm peaks occurred at about 11.0 ka B.P., 9.4 ka B.P., 7.5 ka B.P., 5.0 ka B.P., 3.0 ka B.P. and 2.0 ka B.P.; the cold peaks at 11.5 ka B.P., 10.5 ka B.P., 8.8 ka B.P., 5.5 ka B.P., 3.3 ka B.P., 2.2 ka B.P. and 1.5 ka B.P.. (3) Several climatic events with the nature of “abrupt climatic changes” are revealed in the periods of 11.0 ka B.P.-10.5 ka B.P., 9.4 ka B.P.-8.8 ka B.P., 5.5 ka B.P.-5.0 ka B.P. and 2.0 ka B.P.-1.5 ka B.P.. (4) The results show that carbonate isotopic record of lacustrine sediment in arid area is very sensitive to climatic changes, and may be play a very important role in understanding the features and mechanism of palaeoclimatic changes.