An 800 ky proxy record of climate from lake sediments of the Zoige Basin, eastern Tibetan Plateau

We present the results of magnetic susceptibility, geochemical and pollen analyses of a 120-m-long core of lacustrine and fluvial sediments from the Zoige Basin, eastern Tibetan Plateau. Palaeomagnetic dating indicates that the sediment sequence spans the last ca. 800 ky. The magnetic susceptibility record appears to be related to global ice volume over this period and this relationship is used to produce a tentative revised chronology for the sediment sequence. The various climate proxies show a pattern of periodic variations over the last 800 ky BP. The date of 500 ky BP is a significant boundary: prior to this date, the climate proxies show a pattern of more frequent variability; after 500 ky BP the variations are of lower frequency and higher amplitude. The results also indicate that marine oxygen isotope stage 13 was an unusually intense interglacial in the eastern Tibetan Plateau and Chinese Loess Plateau areas. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.