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OSL chronology and possible forcing mechanisms of dune evolution in the Horqin dunefield in northern China since the Last Glacial Maximum

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 June 2012

LinHai Yang*
Affiliation:
Key Laboratory of Desert and Desertification, Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, China State Key Laboratory of Cryospheric Sciences, Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, China
Tao Wang
Affiliation:
Key Laboratory of Desert and Desertification, Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, China
Jie Zhou
Affiliation:
Xi'an Branch of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi'an 710043, China
ZhongPing Lai*
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory of Cryospheric Sciences, Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, China Luminescence Dating Group, Qinghai Institute of Salt Lakes, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining 810008, China
Hao Long
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory of Lake and Environment, Nanjing Institute of Limnology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China
*
Correspondence to: L.H. Yang, Key Laboratory of Desert and Desertification, Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 320, West Donggang road, Lanzhou 730000, China.
⁎⁎Correspondence to: Z.P. Lai, State Key Laboratory of Cryospheric Sciences, Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000 Xining 810008, China. Email Address: ylh@ieecas.cn, zplai@lzb.ac.cn

Abstract

The evolution processes and forcing mechanisms of the Horqin dunefield in northern China are poorly understood. In this study, systematic OSL dating of multiple sites is used together with pollen analysis of a representative section in order to reconstruct the evolution of the dunefield since the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). Our results show that there was extensive dune mobilization 25–10 ka, transition to stabilization 10–8 ka, considerable dune stabilization 8–3 ka, and multiple episodes of stabilization and mobilization after 3 ka. Comparison of dune evolution of the dunefields in northern China during the Holocene showed that Asian monsoon and resultant effective moisture have played an important role in the evolution of dunefields at the millennial time scale. Further analysis indicated that the dune evolution in the Horqin dunefield before 3 ka was synchronous with climatic changes. However, increasing human activity has impacted dune evolution during the last 3 ka.

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Copyright
University of Washington

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