Location via proxy:   [ UP ]  
[Report a bug]   [Manage cookies]                
Skip to main content
Springer Nature Link
Account
Menu
Find a journal Publish with us Track your research
Search
Cart
  1. Home
  2. Chinese Science Bulletin
  3. Article

Humid medieval warm period recorded by magnetic characteristics of sediments from Gonghai Lake, Shanxi, North China

  • Article
  • Geography
  • Open access
  • Published: 20 July 2011
  • Volume 56, pages 2464–2474, (2011)
  • Cite this article
Download PDF

You have full access to this open access article

Chinese Science Bulletin
Humid medieval warm period recorded by magnetic characteristics of sediments from Gonghai Lake, Shanxi, North China
Download PDF
  • JianBao Liu1,
  • FaHu Chen1,
  • JianHui Chen1,
  • DunSheng Xia1,
  • QingHai Xu2,
  • ZongLi Wang1 &
  • …
  • YueCong Li2 

  • 1921 Accesses

  • 63 Citations

  • Explore all metrics

Abstract

Variations in monsoon strength, moisture or precipitation in eastern China during the MWP reflected by different climatic records have shown apparent discrepancies. Here, detailed environmental magnetic investigations and mineralogical analyses were conducted on lacustrine sediments of Core GH09B1 (2.8 m long) from Gonghai Lake, Shanxi, North China, concerning the monsoon history during the MWP. The results demonstrate that the main magnetic mineral is magnetite. The sediments with relatively high magnetic mineral concentrations were characterized by relatively fine magnetic grain sizes, which were formed in a period of relatively strong pedogenesis and high precipitation. In contrast, the sediments with low magnetic mineral concentrations reflected an opposite process. The variations of magnetic parameters in Gonghai Lake sediments were mainly controlled by the degree of pedogenesis in the lake drainage basin, which further indicated the strength of the Asian summer monsoon. The variations in the χ and S −300 parameters of the core clearly reveal the Asian summer monsoon history over the last 1200 years in the study area, suggesting generally abundant precipitation and a strong summer monsoon during the Medieval Warm Period (MWP, AD 910–1220), which is supported by pollen evidence. Furthermore, this 3–6-year resolution environmental magnetic record indicates a dry event around AD 980–1050, interrupting the generally humid MWP. The summer monsoon evolution over the last millennium recorded by magnetic parameters in sediments from Gonghai Lake correlates well with historical documentation (North China) and speleothem oxygen isotopes (Wanxiang Cave), as well as precipitation modeling results (extratropical East Asia), which all indicate a generally humid MWP within which centennial-scale moisture variability existed. It is thus demonstrated that environmental magnetic parameters could be used as an effective proxy for monsoon climate variations in high-resolution lacustrine sediments.

Article PDF

Download to read the full article text

Similar content being viewed by others

Magnetic properties of core sediments from an alpine lake in Southwest China: implications for glacier melting

Article 15 March 2022

Magnetic minerals in Mid-Pleistocene sediments on the Caiwei Guyot, Northwest Pacific and their response to the Mid-Brunhes climate event

Article 01 December 2021

Middle to Late Holocene climate, vegetation and sea-level changes in NW Tripura, northeast India, based on palynological and mineral magnetic evidence

Article 20 July 2022
Use our pre-submission checklist

Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.

References

  1. Robinson S G. The late Pleistocene palaeoclimatic record of North Atlantic deep-sea sediments revealed by mineral magnetic measurements. Phys Earth Planet Inter, 1986, 42: 22–57

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Thompson R, Stober J C, Turner G M, et al. Environmental applications of magnetic measurements. Science, 1980, 207: 481–486

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Thouveny N, Beaulieu J L, Bonifay E, et al. Climate variations in Europe over the past 140 kyr deduced from rock magnetism. Nature, 1994, 371: 503–506

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Heller F, Liu T S. Magnetism of Chinese loess deposits. Geophys J Int, 1984, 77: 125–141

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Kukla G, Hellerf F, Liu X M, et al. Pleistocene climates in China dated by magnetic susceptibility. Geology, 1988, 16: 811–814

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Thompson R, Oldfield F. Environmental Magnetism. London: Allen Unwin, 1986. 1–127

    Google Scholar 

  7. Deng C L, Liu Q S, Pan Y X, et al. Environmental magnetism of Chinese loess-paleosol sequences (in Chinese). Quat Sci, 2007, 27: 193–209

    Google Scholar 

  8. Lanci L, Hirt A M, Lowrie W, et al. Mineral-magnetic record of late Quaternary climatic changes in a high Alpine lake. Earth Planet Sci Lett, 1999, 170: 49–59

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Hu S, Deng C, Appel E, et al. Environmental magnetic study on lacustrine sediments. Chinese Sci Bull, 2002, 49: 613–616

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Esper J, Cook E R, Schweingruber F H. Low frequency signals in long tree-ring chronologies for reconstructing past temperature variability. Science, 2002, 295: 2250–2253

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Juckes M N, Allen M R, Briffa K R, et al. Millennial temperature reconstruction intercomparison and evaluation. Clim Past, 2007, 3: 591–609

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Mann M E, Zhang Z, Hughes M K, et al. Proxy-based reconstructions of hemispheric and global surface temperature variations over the past two millennia. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 2008, 105: 13252–13257

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Mann M E, Zhang Z, Rntherford S, et al. Global signatures and dynamical origins of the Little Ice Age and Medieval climate anomaly. Science, 2009, 326: 1256–1259

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Moberg A, Sonechkin D M, Holmgren K, et al. Highly variable Northern Hemisphere temperatures reconstructed from low- and high-resolution proxy data. Nature, 2005, 433: 613–617

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Ge Q S, Zheng J Y, Fang X Q, et al. Winter half-year temperature reconstruction for the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River and Yangtze River, China, during the past 2000 years. Holocene, 2003, 13: 933–940

    Google Scholar 

  16. McIntyre S, McKitrick R. Corrections to the Mann et al. (1998) proxy data based and Northern Hemispheric average temperature series. Energy Environ, 2003, 14: 751–771

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Soon W H, Legates D R, Baliunas S L. Estimation and representation of long-term (>40 year) trends of Northern-Hemisphere-gridded surface temperature: A note of caution. Geophys Res Lett, 2004, 31: L032091, doi: 10.1029/2003GL019141

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Jones P D, Mann M E. Climate over past millennia. Rev Geophys, 2004, 42: 1–42

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Seager R, Graham N, Herweijer C, et al. Blueprints for Medieval hydroclimate. Quat Sci Rev, 2007, 26: 2322–2336

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Graham N E, Ammann C M, Fleitmann D, et al. Support for global clim reorganization during the “Medieval Climate Anomaly”. Clim Dyn, 2010, doi: 10.1007/s00382-010-0914-z

  21. Cook E R, Woodhouse C A, Eakin C M, et al. Long-term aridity changes in the Western United States. Science, 2004, 306: 1015–1018

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Proctor C J, Baker A, Barnes W L, et al. A thousand year speleothem proxy record of North Atlantic climate from Scotland. Clim Dyn, 2000, 16: 815–820

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Charman D J, Blundell A, Chiverrell R C, et al. Compilation of nonannually resolved Holocene proxy climate records: Stacked Holocene peatland palaeo-water table reconstructions from northern Britain. Quat Sci Rev, 2006, 25: 336–350

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Hodell D A, Curtis J H, Brenner M. Possible role of climate in the collapse of Classic Maya civilization. Nature, 1995, 375: 391–394

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Chen F H, Huang X Z, Zhang J W, et al. Humid Little Ice Age in arid central Asia documented by Bosten Lake, Xinjiang, China. Sci China Ser D-Earth Sci, 2006, 49: 1280–1290

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Chen J H, Chen F H, Zhang E L, et al. A 1000-year chironomidbased salinity reconstruction from varved sediments of Sugan Lake, Qaidam Basin, arid Northwest China, and its palaeoclimatic significance. Chinese Sci Bull, 2009, 54: 3749–3759

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Liu W G, Liu Z H, An Z S, et al. Wet climate during the ‘Little Ice Age’ in the arid Tarim Basin, northwestern China. Holocene, 2010, doi: 10.1177/0959683610378881

  28. Shao X, Xu Y, Yin Z Y, et al. Climatic implications of a 3585-year tree-ring chronology from the northeastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. Quat Sci Rev, 2010, 29: 2111–2122

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Chen F H, Chen J H, Holmes J, et al. Moisture changes over the last millennium in arid central Asia: A review, synthesis and comparison with monsoon region. Quat Sci Rev, 2010, 29: 1055–1068

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. An Z S. The history and variability of the east Asian paleomonsoon climate. Quat Sci Rev, 2000, 19: 171–187

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Wang P X, Clemens S, Beaufort L, et al. Evolution variability of the Asian monsoon system: State of the art and outstanding issues. Quat Sci Rev, 2005, 24: 595–629

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. Gong G, Hameed S. The variation of moisture conditions in China during the last 2000 years. Int J Climatol, 1991, 11: 271–283

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Ren G Y. Pollen evidence for increased summer rainfall in the medieval warm period at Maili, Noertheast China. Geophys Res Lett, 1998, 25: 1931–1934

    Article  Google Scholar 

  34. Hou J Z, Tan M, Cheng H, et al. Stable isotope records of plant cover change and monsoon variation in the past 2200 years: Evidence from laminated stalagmites in Beijing, China. Boreas, 2003, 32: 304–313

    Article  Google Scholar 

  35. Zhang P Z, Cheng H, Edwards R L, et al. A test of climate, sun, and culture relationships from an 1810-year Chinese cave record. Science, 2008, 322: 940–942

    Article  Google Scholar 

  36. He Y, Wang Y, Kong X, et al. High resolution stalagmite δ 18O records over the past 1000 years from Dongge Cave in Guizhou. Chinese Sci Bull, 2005, 50: 1003–1008

    Article  Google Scholar 

  37. Qin J M, Yuan D X, Lin Y S, et al. High resolution stalagmite records of climate change since 800 a A D in Libo, Guizhou (in Chinese). Carsol Sin, 2008, 27: 26–272

    Google Scholar 

  38. Yang B, Tan M. Variability of the East Asian summer monsoon and its relationship with regional temperature and moisture change during the last millennium (in Chinese). Quat Sci, 2009, 29: 880–887

    Google Scholar 

  39. Zheng J Y, Zhang P Y, Ge Q S, et al. Centennial changes of drought/flood spatial pattern in eastern China for the last 2000 years. Prog Nat Sci, 2001, 11}: 280–2

    Google Scholar 

  40. Man Z M. The Climate Research During the History Period in China (in Chinese). Jinan: Shandong Education Press, 2009. 316-329

  41. Zheng J Y, Wang W C, Ge Q S, et al. Precipitation variability and extreme events in eastern China during the past 1500 years. Terr Atmos Ocean Sci, 2006, 17: 579–592

    Google Scholar 

  42. Wang B, Wu Z W, Li J P, et al. How to measure the strength of the East Asian summer monsoon. J Clim, 2008, 21: 4449–4463

    Article  Google Scholar 

  43. Liu J, Wang B, Wang H, et al. Forced response of the East Asian summer rainfall over the past millennium: results from a coupled model simulation. Clim Dyn, 2010, doi: 10.1007/s00382-009-0693-6

  44. Zhu D G, Meng X G, Shao Z G, et al. Holocene lacustrine deposits in mountain lakes in Ningwu, Shanxi, China and establishment of the Ganhai Formation (in Chinese). Geol Bull Chin, 2006, 25: 1303–1310

    Google Scholar 

  45. Chen F H, Yu Z C, Yang M L, et al. Holocene moisture evolution in arid central Asia and its out-of-phase relationship with Asian monsoon history. Quat Sci Rev, 2008, 27: 351–364

    Article  Google Scholar 

  46. Zhu D G, Meng X G, Shao Z G, et al. Paleoclimatic and plaeoenvironmental evolution since holocene in the Ningwu area, Shanxi Province (in Chinese). Acta Geol Sin, 2007, 81: 316–323

    Google Scholar 

  47. Dearing J A. Magnetic susceptibility. In: Walden J, Oldfield F, Smith J, eds. Environmental Magnetism: A Practical Guide No. 6. London: Quaternary Research Association, 1999. 35–62

    Google Scholar 

  48. Moore P D, Webb J A, Collinson M E. Pollen Analysis. Oxford: Blackwell Science, 1991. 39–62

    Google Scholar 

  49. Bronk R C. Bayesian analysis of radiocarbon dates. Radiocarbon, 2009, 51: 337–360

    Google Scholar 

  50. Reimer P J, Baillie M G L, Bard E, et al. IntCal04 terrestrial radiocarbon age calibration, 0‐26 cal kyr BP. Radiocarbon, 2004, 46: 1029–1058

    Google Scholar 

  51. Liu Q S, Deng C L, Yu Y J, et al. Temperature dependence of magnetic susceptibility in an argon environment: Implications for pedogenesis of Chinese loess/palaeosols. Geophys J Int, 2005, 161: 102–112

    Article  Google Scholar 

  52. Sun Z M, Hu S Y, Ma X H. A rock-magnetic study of recent lake sediments and its palaeoenvironmental implication (in Chinese). Acta Geophys Sin, 1996, 39: 178–187

    Google Scholar 

  53. Peters C, Dekkers M J. Selected room temperature magnetic parameters as a function of mineralogy, concent ration and grain size. Phys Chem Earth, 2003, 28: 659–667

    Google Scholar 

  54. Meng Q Y, Li A C, Li T G, et al. Rock magnetic properties of the West Philippine Sea sedimens and its Paleoenvironmental Significances (in Chinese). Prog Nat Sci, 2009, 19: 868–876

    Google Scholar 

  55. Day R, Fuller M D, Sehmidt V A. Hysteresis properties of titanomagnetite: Grain size and composition dependence. Phys Earth Planet In, 1997, 13: 260–267

    Article  Google Scholar 

  56. Dunlop D J. Theory and appfication of the Day plot (M rs/M s versus H cr/H c), 1, Theoretical curves and tests using titanomagnetite data. J Geophys Res, 2002, 107: 2056, doi: 10.1029/2001JB00487

    Article  Google Scholar 

  57. Dunlop D J. Theory and application of the Day plot (M rs/M s versus H cr/H c), 2, Application to data for rocks, sediments and soils. J Geophys Res, 2002, 107: 2057, doi: 10.1029/2001JB00487

    Article  Google Scholar 

  58. Ao H, Deng C L. Review in the identification of magnetic minerals (in Chinese). Prog Geophys, 2007, 22: 432–442

    Google Scholar 

  59. Dearing J A, Bird P M, Dann R J L. Secondary ferrimagnetic minerals in Welsh soils: A comparison of mineral magnetic detection methods and implications for mineral formation. Geophys J Int, 1997, 130: 727–736

    Article  Google Scholar 

  60. Xia D S, Yang L P, Ma J Y, et al. Magnetic property of Lanzhou dustfall and its implication in urban pollution. Sci China Ser D-Earth Sci, 2007, 50: 1724–1732

    Article  Google Scholar 

  61. Bloemendal J, King J W, Hall F R, et al. Rock magnetism of Late Neogene and Pleistocene deep-sea sediments: Relationship to sediment source, diagenetic process and sediment lithology. J Geophys Res, 1992, 97: 4361–4375

    Article  Google Scholar 

  62. Wang X S, Lovlie R, Pu S, et al. Magnetic signature of environmental change reflected by Pleistocene lacustrine sediments from the Nihewan Basin, North China. Palaeogeogr Palaeoclimatol Palaeoecol, 2008, 260: 452–462

    Article  Google Scholar 

  63. Banerjee S K, King J, Marvin A J. Rapid method for magnetic granulometry with applications to environmental studies. Geophys Res Lett, 1981, 8: 333–336

    Article  Google Scholar 

  64. Heider F, Zitzelsoberger A, Fabian K. Magnetic susceptibility and remanent coercive force in grown magnetite crystals from 0.1 μm to 6 mm. Phys Earth Planet Inter, 1996, 93: 239–256

    Article  Google Scholar 

  65. Moskovitz B M, Frankel R B, Bazylinski D A. Rock magnetic criteria for the detection of biogenic magnetite. Earth Planet Sci Lett, 1993, 120: 283–300

    Article  Google Scholar 

  66. Oldfield F. Toward the discrimination of fine-grained ferrimagnets by magnetic measurements in lake and near-shore marine sediments. J Geophys Res, 1994, 99: 9045–9050

    Article  Google Scholar 

  67. Oldfield F, Dearing J A, Thompson R, et al. Some magnetic properties of lake sediments and their possible links with erosion rates. Pol Arch Hydrobiol, 1978, 25: 321–331

    Google Scholar 

  68. Zhou L P, Oldfield F, Wintle A G, et al. Partly pedogenic origin of magnetic variations in Chinese Loess. Nature, 1990, 346: 737–739

    Article  Google Scholar 

  69. Lu H Y, Han J M, Wu N Q, et al. Implication of magnetic susceptibility from modern soils in China (in Chinese). Sci China Ser B, 1994, 24: 1290–1297

    Google Scholar 

  70. Chen F H, Bloemendal J, Wang J M, et al. High-resolution multi-proxy climate records from Chinese Loess: Evidence for rapid climatic changes over the last 75 kyr. Paleogeogr Paleoclimatol Palaeoecol, 1997, 130: 323–335

    Article  Google Scholar 

  71. Sun X J, Du N Q, Weng C Y, et al. Plaeovegetation and palaeoenvironment of Manasi Lake Xinjiang, N. W. China during the last 14000 years (in Chinese). Quat Sci, 1994, 3: 239–248

    Google Scholar 

  72. Liu H Y, Wang Y, Tian Y H, et al. Climatic and anthropogenic control of surface pollen assemblages in East Asian steppes. Rev Palaeobot Palynol, 2006, 138: 281–289

    Article  Google Scholar 

  73. Zheng Z, Huang K Y, Xu Q H, et al. Comparison of climatic threshold of geographical distribution between dominant plants and surface pollen in China. Sci China Ser D-Earth Sci, 2008, 51: 1107–1120

    Article  Google Scholar 

  74. Zhao Y, Yu Z C, Chen F H, et al. Sensitive response of desert vegetation to moisture change based on a near-annual resolution pollen record from Gahai Lake in the Qaidam Basin, northwest China. Glob Planet Change, 2008, 62: 107–114

    Article  Google Scholar 

  75. Chen F H, Chen J H, Huang W. A discussion on the westerly-dominated climate model in mid-latitude Asia during the modern interglacial period (in Chinese). Earth Sci Front, 2009, 16: 23–32

    Article  Google Scholar 

  76. Wang Y J, Cheng H, Edwards R L, et al. The Holocene Asia monsoon: Links to solar changes and North Atlantic climate. Science, 2005, 308: 854–857

    Article  Google Scholar 

  77. Li H C, Lee Z H, Wang N J, et al. The δ 18O and δ 13C records in an aragonite stalagmite from Furong Cave, Chongqing, China: A-2000-year record of monsoonal climate. J Asian Earth Sci, 2010, doi: 10.1016/j.jseaes.2010.06.011

  78. Chu G, Liu J, Sun Q, et al. The ‘Mediaeval Warm Period’ drought recorded in Lake Huguangyan, tropical South China. Holocene, 2002, 12: 511–516

    Article  Google Scholar 

  79. Ma Z G, Fu C B. Some evidences of drying trend over North China from 1951 to 2004. Chinese Sci Bull, 2006, 51: 2913–2925

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Western China’s Environmental System (Ministry of Education), Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730000, China

    JianBao Liu, FaHu Chen, JianHui Chen, DunSheng Xia & ZongLi Wang

  2. College of Resources and Environment, Hebei Normal University, Shijiazhuang, 050016, China

    QingHai Xu & YueCong Li

Authors
  1. JianBao Liu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. FaHu Chen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. JianHui Chen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. DunSheng Xia
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. QingHai Xu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. ZongLi Wang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. YueCong Li
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to FaHu Chen.

Additional information

This article is published with open access at Springerlink.com

Rights and permissions

This article is published under an open access license. Please check the 'Copyright Information' section either on this page or in the PDF for details of this license and what re-use is permitted. If your intended use exceeds what is permitted by the license or if you are unable to locate the licence and re-use information, please contact the Rights and Permissions team.

About this article

Cite this article

Liu, J., Chen, F., Chen, J. et al. Humid medieval warm period recorded by magnetic characteristics of sediments from Gonghai Lake, Shanxi, North China. Chin. Sci. Bull. 56, 2464–2474 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11434-011-4592-y

Download citation

  • Received: 15 February 2011

  • Accepted: 16 May 2011

  • Published: 20 July 2011

  • Issue Date: August 2011

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11434-011-4592-y

Share this article

Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:

Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.

Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative

Keywords

  • Gonghai Lake
  • lacustrine sediments
  • magnetic parameter
  • Medieval Warm Period
  • humid climate
Use our pre-submission checklist

Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.

Advertisement

Search

Navigation

  • Find a journal
  • Publish with us
  • Track your research

Discover content

  • Journals A-Z
  • Books A-Z

Publish with us

  • Journal finder
  • Publish your research
  • Open access publishing

Products and services

  • Our products
  • Librarians
  • Societies
  • Partners and advertisers

Our imprints

  • Springer
  • Nature Portfolio
  • BMC
  • Palgrave Macmillan
  • Apress
  • Your US state privacy rights
  • Accessibility statement
  • Terms and conditions
  • Privacy policy
  • Help and support
  • Cancel contracts here

Not affiliated

Springer Nature

© 2024 Springer Nature