Quick Search:    advanced search

GSW Home   GeoRef Home   My GSW Alerts   Contact GSW   About GSW   Journals List   Help

This Article Figures Only Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Web of Science (23) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Owen, L. A. Articles by Caffee, M. W. Search for Related Content GeoRef GeoRef Citation

Timing and style of Late Quaternary glaciation in northeastern Tibet

Lewis A. Owen^,1, Robert C. Finkel^,2, Ma Haizhou^,3, Joel Q. Spencer^,4, Edward Derbyshire^,5, Patrick L. Barnard^,6 and Marc W. Caffee^,7

¹ Department of Earth Sciences, University of California, Riverside, California 92521, USA
² Center for Accelerator Mass Spectrometry, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94550, USA, and Department of Earth Science, University of California, Riverside, California 92521, USA
³ Institute of Saline Lakes, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 18 Xining Road, Xining 810008, Qinghai, People's Republic of China
⁴ School of Geography and Geosciences, University of Saint Andrews, Saint Andrews, Fife, KY16 9AL, Scotland, UK
⁵ Centre for Quaternary Research, Department of Geography, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, Surrey, TW20 0EX, UK
⁶ Department of Earth Sciences, University of California, Riverside, California 92521, USA; and Center for Accelerator Mass Spectrometry, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94550, USA
⁷ Department of Physics/Purdue Rare Isotope Measurement Laboratory, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907, USA

Glacial successions in the Anyemaqen and Nianbaoyeze Mountains of northeastern Tibet are reassessed and new glacial chronologies are presented for these regions. Cosmogenic radionuclide and optically stimulated luminescence dating indicates that two glacial advances occurred in marine isotope stage (MIS)-3 and MIS-2. In the Anyemaqen Mountains, a third advance occurred in the Early Holocene. We suggest that glaciation was synchronous in the Anyemaqen and Nianbaoyeze Mountains, as well as in other glaciated areas of Tibet and the Himalaya that are influenced by the Asian monsoon. The maximum extent of glaciation occurred early in the last glacial cycle (MIS-3) during a time of increased insolation when the monsoon intensified and supplied abundant precipitation, as snow at high altitude, to feed high-altitude glaciers. This suggests that precipitation, as snow, is fundamental in controlling glaciation in these regions. However, the occurrence of glacial advances during the insolation minimum of MIS-2 suggests that, despite reduced precipitation at this time, the annual temperatures were cold enough to maintain positive glacier mass balances. The numerically defined chronologies for the Anyemaqen and Nianbaoyeze Mountains presented here provide a framework for comparing glacial advances in other parts of high Asia.

Key Words: Tibet • glaciation • monsoon • cosmogenic radionuclide dating • optically stimulated luminescence dating

This article has been cited by other articles:

				Y. B. Seong, L. A. Owen, C. Yi, and R. C. Finkel Quaternary glaciation of Muztag Ata and Kongur Shan: Evidence for glacier response to rapid climate changes throughout the Late Glacial and Holocene in westernmost Tibet Geological Society of America Bulletin, March 1, 2009; 121(3-4): 348 - 365. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				E. T. Brown, P. Molnar, and D. L. Bourles Comment on "Slip-Rate Measurements on the Karakorum Fault May Imply Secular Variations in Fault Motion" Science, August 26, 2005; 309(5739): 1326b - 1326b. [Full Text] [PDF]

				M.-L. Chevalier, F. J. Ryerson, P. Tapponnier, R. C. Finkel, J. Van Der Woerd, L. Haibing, and L. Qing Response to Comment on "Slip-Rate Measurements on the Karakorum Fault May Imply Secular Variations in Fault Motion" Science, August 26, 2005; 309(5739): 1326c - 1326c. [Full Text] [PDF]

				M.-L. Chevalier, F. J. Ryerson, P. Tapponnier, R. C. Finkel, J. Van Der Woerd, L. Haibing, and L. Qing Slip-Rate Measurements on the Karakorum Fault May Imply Secular Variations in Fault Motion Science, January 21, 2005; 307(5708): 411 - 414. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]