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Organic stable carbon isotopic composition reveals late Quaternary vegetation changes in the dune fields of northern China

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Huayu Lu ,
Yali Zhou ,
Weiguo Liu  and
Joseph Mason
Huayu Lu*
Affiliation:
School of Geographic and Oceanographic Sciences, the MOE Key Laboratory of Coast and Island Development, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China Department of Geography, University of Wisconsin Madison, WI 53706, USA
Yali Zhou
Affiliation:
College of Tourism and Environment, Shaanxi Normal University, Xian 710062, China
Weiguo Liu
Affiliation:
Institute of Earth Environment, State Key Laboratory of Loess and Quaternary Geology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xian 710075, China
Joseph Mason
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, University of Wisconsin Madison, WI 53706, USA
*
*Corresponding author at: School of Geographic and Oceanographic Sciences, the MOE Key Laboratory of Coast and Island Development, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China. E-mail address:huayulu@nju.edu.cn (H. Lu).
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Abstract

Vegetation changes during the late Quaternary in the dune fields of northern China are not well understood. We investigated organic carbon stable isotopic composition of surface soils, related mainly to the ratio of C3 and C4 plants, across a range of arid to subhumid climates in this region. Isotopic composition is weakly related to both temperature and moisture (multiple R2 = 0.53), with the highest δ13C (greatest C4 abundance) in the warm, subhumid Horqin dune field. In late Quaternary, eolian stratigraphic sections of the Mu Us and Horqin dune fields, but not in the much colder Otindag dune field, δ13C is higher in organic carbon from paleosols than in eolian sands. This contrast, most evident for paleosols recording a major early to middle Holocene phase of dune stabilization, is interpreted as evidence for expansion of C4 plants due to increased effective moisture, high temperature because of high insolation, and decreased disturbance related to eolian erosion and deposition.

Keywords

Dune fieldsStable carbon isotopesC4 plantsVegetation changesClimatic changeNorthern ChinaLate Quaternary
Type
Original Articles
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 77 , Issue 3 , May 2012 , pp. 433 - 444
Copyright
University of Washington

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