AUTHOR=Wang Yixin , Ning Kai , He Qinghua , Jie Dongmei , Guan Qingyu 

TITLE=Holocene paleotemperature reconstruction based on phytolith records of lacustrine sediments in the Badain Jaran Desert, northwestern China

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Earth Science

VOLUME=Volume 10 - 2022

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/earth-science/articles/10.3389/feart.2022.998061

DOI=10.3389/feart.2022.998061

ISSN=2296-6463

ABSTRACT=Quantitative reconstruction of regional paleotemperature is the key to understanding temperature change and its driving mechanisms. In this study, 133 phytolith samples were collected as proxy indicators from lacustrine sediments of the Zhunzhahanjilin (ZZH) profile in the hinterland of the Badain Jaran Desert, China. The phytolith samples were then analyzed to quantitatively reconstruct the Holocene paleotemperature at the millennial scale. Based on Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) 14C dates and an ordered clustering method were used to divide the phytoliths into five assemblage zones with environmental significance. The quantitative reconstruction results indicated that the paleotemperature in the Badain Jaran Desert was relatively high during the early Holocene (11040–8200 cal a BP), the average paleotemperature was approximately 9.5 ℃. This may have led to the increase in melted water near the surrounding area and recharge to the lakes in the Badain Jaran Desert. Meanwhile, the average paleotemperature during the middle Holocene (8200–3100 cal a BP) was approximately 7.9 ℃. This period was also warm and the environment was humid, and then the paleotemperature decreased during the late Holocene (3100 cal a BP to the present). The Holocene paleotemperature in the Badain Jaran Desert may have been related to July insolation in the northern Hemisphere and have a range of impacts on the hydrological circle in this arid region.