Climate change in the Hongliujing area of Lop Nur over the past 200 years revealed by the stable oxygen isotopes of <i>Tamarix</i> cones

doi:10.1007/s11707-023-1088-4

2023, Vol. 17

Issue (4) : 970-980 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11707-023-1088-4

Climate change in the Hongliujing area of Lop Nur over the past 200 years revealed by the stable oxygen isotopes of Tamarix cones

Zhiguang LI^1,², Yaqing DONG¹, Haoyu ZHANG¹, Hongxiao SUN¹, Danyang JIA¹, Shikai SONG¹, Yuanjie ZHAO¹(

)

¹. Hebei Key Laboratory of Environmental Change and Ecological Construction, College of Geographical Sciences, Hebei Normal University, Shijiazhuang 050024, China
². Hebei Center for Ecological and Environmental Geology Research, Hebei GEO University, Shijiazhuang 050031, China

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Abstract

The layers of Tamarix cones within sedimentary deposits in arid regions have significant chronological and paleoenvironmental implications. Here, we compare the δ¹⁸O values of Tamarix cones in the Hongliujing area of Lop Nur with meteorological data for the Ruoqiang meteorological station for 1960–2019 AD. Linear regression analysis was used to reconstruct the average temperature for April and the precipitation for November in the Hongliujing area over the past 200 years. The results showed that the δ¹⁸O values were significantly negatively correlated with the temperature for February, April, May, August, December, and with the annual mean temperature; significantly negatively correlated with the precipitation for February and April; significantly negatively correlated with the sunshine hours for March and May; significantly positively correlated with the sunshine hours for February, July, August, October, and December, and with the annual mean values; and significantly correlated with the relative humidity for April, July, August, September, October, and November, and with the annual mean values. Based on the δ¹⁸O record of the past 200 years, the Hongliujing area experienced two warm-wet periods (1874–1932 and 2004–2019 AD) and two cold-dry periods (1832–1873 and 1933–2003 AD). Thus, the climate was characterized by alternating warm-wet and cold-dry conditions. Wavelet analysis revealed three main cycles: 45 years, 29 years, and 14 years.

Keywords Tamarix cones climate change δ¹⁸O Lop Nur

Corresponding Author(s): Yuanjie ZHAO

Just Accepted Date: 20 November 2023 Online First Date: 12 January 2024 Issue Date: 06 February 2024

Cite this article:

Zhiguang LI,Yaqing DONG,Haoyu ZHANG, et al. Climate change in the Hongliujing area of Lop Nur over the past 200 years revealed by the stable oxygen isotopes of Tamarix cones[J]. Front. Earth Sci., 2023, 17(4): 970-980.

URL:

https://academic.hep.com.cn/fesci/EN/10.1007/s11707-023-1088-4
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fesci/EN/Y2023/V17/I4/970

Fig.1 Location of the sampling site in Lop Nur, north-western China.

Fig.2 Sampling of the Tamarix cones.

Fig.3 The chronological sequence of the Tamarix cones (Li, 2022).

Fig.4 The measured δ¹⁸O values and reconstruction δ¹⁸O values of Tamarix cones.

Tab.1 Correlation coefficients between the δ¹⁸O values of Tamarix cones and climatic variables

Fig.5 Reconstructed average April temperature in Hongliujing, Lop Nur.

Tab.2 Defined temperature periods in Hongliujing, Lop Nur

Fig.6 Reconstructed November precipitation in Hongliujing, Lop Nur.

Tab.3 Defined precipitation periods in Hongliujing, Lop Nur

Fig.7 Comparison of the current study reconstructed temperature with (a) Chen et al. (2017b) tree-ring based reconstruction of temperature for the northern Xinjiang; (b) Jiang et al. (2016) tree-ring based temperature reconstruction for the Mt. Altai region; (c) Wang et al. (2016) reconstruction of temperature for Heihe River Basin using tree-ring width; (d) Liang et al. (2008) tree-ring based summer temperature reconstruction for the source region of the Yangtze River on the Tibetan Plateau; (e) reconstruction of temperature in the current study from Tamarix cones for Hongliujing, Lop Nur.

Fig.8 Comparison of the current study reconstructed precipitation with (a) Li et al. (2022) tree-ring based precipitation reconstruction for east of Yinshan Mountain; (b) Hou et al. (2011) reconstruction of precipitation for the eastern of Qilian Mountain using tree-ring width; (c) Chen et al. (2016) tree-ring based precipitation reconstruction for the eastern of Xinjiang; (d) Zhang et al. (2009) tree-ring based reconstruction of precipitation for Aksu River Basin on the southern slope of Tianshan Mountain; (e) reconstruction of precipitation in the current study from Tamarix cones for Hongliujing, Lop Nur.

Fig.9 Results of wavelet analysis of the average April temperature in Hongliujing, Lop Nur. (a) Wavelet transform coefficients. (b) Wavelet variances. (c) Variation of wavelet coefficients on different timescales.

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