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Paleoclimatic implications of an 850-year oxygen-isotope record from the northern Tibetan Plateau

Holmes, JA; Zhang, JW; Chen, FH; Qiang, MR; (2007) Paleoclimatic implications of an 850-year oxygen-isotope record from the northern Tibetan Plateau. Geophysical Research Letters , 34 (23) , Article L23403. 10.1029/2007GL032228. Green open access

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Abstract

Oxygen-isotope records from the sediments of hydrologically-closed lakes are commonly interpreted in terms of changing effective precipitation. We compare an 850-year-long oxygen-isotope record derived from ostracode carbonate from the sediments of Sugan Lake, in the northern Tibetan Plateau, with tree-ring and ice core evidence for changing temperature, precipitation and isotopic composition of the lake's inflow. Taking into account all of these independent records, we show that variations in the carbonate delta O-18 values could not have been the result of varying effective precipitation alone: changes in water temperature and in the delta O-18 of source waters also played a significant role. Where independent records of temperature, precipitation or the isotopic composition of input waters are unavailable, care should be taken to avoid simplistic interpretations of carbonate stable isotope records, as these may contribute to incorrect paleoclimatic reconstructions.

Type: Article
Title: Paleoclimatic implications of an 850-year oxygen-isotope record from the northern Tibetan Plateau
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1029/2007GL032228
Publisher version: http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2007GL032228
Language: English
Additional information: Copyright 2007 by the American Geophysical Union
Keywords: ASIAN MONSOON, TREE-RINGS, ICE CORE, CHINA, PRECIPITATION, QINGHAI, LAKE, PLEISTOCENE, MOISTURE, CLIMATE
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of S&HS
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of S&HS > Dept of Geography
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/126422
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