Article
Geology
Ruixia He, Huijun Jin, Jef Vanderberghe, Yixuan Wang, Xiaoying Jin, Shaoling Wang
Summary: The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is one of the most developed and well-preserved regions in terms of periglacial phenomena and permafrost environments. The periglacial remains on the northeastern part of the plateau, consisting mostly of cryogenic wedges, provide valuable insights into the evolution of the region's periglacial and permafrost environments.
INTERNATIONAL GEOLOGY REVIEW
(2023)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
S. Wetterich, H. Meyer, M. Fritz, G. Mollenhauer, J. Rethemeyer, A. Kizyakov, L. Schirrmeister, T. Opel
Summary: Stable isotopes of wedge ice can help reconstruct past winter climate conditions. Records from Bol'shoy Lyakhovsky Island show that the LGM and MIS 3 had colder winter climates, while the moisture sources were similar during MIS 2.
GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2021)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Minda Moriah Monteagudo, Jean Lynch-Stieglitz, Thomas M. Marchitto, Matthew W. Schmidt
Summary: This study reveals that the central equatorial Pacific cooled by about 2.0 degrees Celsius during the Last Glacial Maximum, contradicting previous estimates but aligning with climate models. This suggests a larger magnitude of cooling in the tropical region during the LGM, implying a higher equilibrium climate sensitivity.
GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2021)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Qiang Wei, Yonggang Liu, Qing Yan, Tandong Yao, Miao Wang, Han Huang, Yongyun Hu
Summary: The growth of glaciers affects the local climate system and can either promote or prohibit further glacier growth. This feedback mechanism has not been included in previous glacier modeling studies of the Tibetan Plateau and its surroundings during the Last Glacial Maximum. However, this study found that when considering the feedback, the simulated volume and area of the glaciers were 20% and 10% less, respectively, compared to a standalone glacier model. The expansion of glaciers also led to changes in spatial patterns, improved model-data comparison, and had significant impacts on the winter surface temperature and precipitation distribution in the region.
GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2023)
Article
Geography, Physical
Petr Skrdla, Marek Vlach, Ladislav Nejman, Jaroslav Bartik, Yuri E. Demidenko, Tereza Rychtarikova
Summary: The Gravettian hunter-gatherers in Eastern Central Europe achieved unparalleled cultural advancements and population growth, while the succeeding Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) occupation was characterized by extremely low population densities due to severe climatic conditions. Attempts to find common cultural patterns among LGM populations have been partially successful, with environmental factors playing a significant role in site selection for seclusion and protection. The difficulty in identifying common patterns among the scattered LGM populations is attributed to gaps in knowledge of cultural lifeways during this period and the likely cultural heterogeneity of small, highly mobile populations in the cold, arid environment of Eastern Central Europe at the time.
QUATERNARY INTERNATIONAL
(2021)
Article
Geography, Physical
Ruixia He, Huijun Jin, Hugh M. French, Jef Vandenberghe, Xiaoying Li, Fang Li, Guanli Jiang, Ze Zhang, Xuemei Chen, Raul D. Serban, Shaoling Wang, Dongxin Guo
Summary: During the last 50,000 years on the Ordos Plateau, cryogenic wedges and cryoturbations formed during cold periods, with the coldest periods being most conducive for cryogenic wedge formation. As the climate warmed and permafrost degraded, cryoturbations became more prominent.
PERMAFROST AND PERIGLACIAL PROCESSES
(2021)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Asmita Banerjee, Laurence Y. Yeung, Lee T. Murray, Xin Tie, Jessica E. Tierney, Allegra N. Legrande
Summary: Ice cores and other paleotemperature proxies provide information about past surface temperatures, but little is known about high-altitude temperatures. This study uses the clumped-isotope composition of molecular oxygen in ice cores to infer that the upper troposphere was 6-9 degrees C cooler during the Last Glacial Maximum than during the late preindustrial Holocene.
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Ming Zhang, Yonggang Liu, Jiang Zhu, Zhuoqun Wang, Zhengyu Liu
Summary: In this study, we investigated the changes in climate and Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) during the Last Glacial Maximum if there were no dust. Model simulations showed that the removal of dust resulted in a global cooling and weakening of AMOC. This cooling effect was opposite to that observed during the mid-Holocene and was amplified by a positive feedback between sea ice and AMOC.
GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2022)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
J. M. Lora, C. B. Skinner, W. D. Rush, S. H. Baek
Summary: Proxy reconstructions and model simulations show that the hydroclimate during the Last Glacial Maximum was mainly influenced by ice sheets, causing reductions in moisture transport and precipitation globally, except for increases in precipitation over Patagonia, Iberia, and southwestern North America.
GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2023)
Review
Geography, Physical
Linda Pan, Glenn A. Milne, Konstantin Latychev, Samuel L. Goldberg, Jacqueline Austermann, Mark J. Hoggard, Jerry X. Mitrovica
Summary: This study investigates the impact of lateral variations in Earth structure on predicting far-field sea level and global ice volume estimates at the Last Glacial Maximum. The findings suggest that different Earth model parameters significantly affect the estimates at far-field sites, but no consistent signal is found to reconcile the differences in ice volume estimates.
QUATERNARY SCIENCE REVIEWS
(2022)
Article
Geography, Physical
Jingdong Zhao, Jinkun Qiu, Jonathan M. Harbor, Huihan Ji, Marc W. Caffee, Wanqin Guo, Huijun Zheng
Summary: Glacial landforms formed by multiple glaciations are well-preserved in the valleys around Karlik Mountain in the easternmost Tianshan range, Central Asia. Dating these landforms contributes to understanding the variations of past glaciers and provides information for reconstructing the palaeoclimate and palaeoenvironment in Central Asia.
QUATERNARY SCIENCE REVIEWS
(2023)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Liangqing Cheng, Yougui Song, Yubin Wu, Yonggang Liu, Huifang Liu, Hong Chang, Xiulan Zong, Shugang Kang
Summary: This study analyzed 143 loess OSL ages from Central Asia, finding that dust accumulation during the late Last Glacial Maximum was greater than during the early LGM. The temporal variability of dust accumulation in Central Asia is similar to that of the Chinese Loess Plateau, both following precession. However, in Greenland, dust accumulation was stronger during the early LGM, following obliquity.
GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2021)
Article
Geochemistry & Geophysics
Dillon J. Amaya, Alan M. Seltzer, Kristopher B. Karnauskas, Juan M. Lora, Xiyue Zhang, Pedro N. DiNezio
Summary: The Western U.S. experienced significant hydroclimatic changes during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), with a wetter Southwest and drier Pacific Northwest. This study examines the mechanisms behind these shifts and finds that ice sheet albedo influenced sea surface temperatures and altered large-scale atmospheric circulation, leading to changes in west coast precipitation. Importantly, the study suggests that similar hydroclimatic changes could occur today due to atmosphere-ocean feedbacks.
EARTH AND PLANETARY SCIENCE LETTERS
(2022)
Article
Geography, Physical
Dag Ottesen, Christine L. Batchelor, Lilja R. Bjarnadottir, Daniel Hesjedal Wiberg, Julian A. Dowdeswell
Summary: The analysis of glacial landforms on continental margins provides insights into sedimentation processes beneath ice sheets and aids predictions of future ice sheet resilience. This study used high-resolution marine-geophysical data to map and interpret glacial landforms along the mid-Norwegian margin, revealing the dynamic behavior of the Scandinavian Ice Sheet during the last glacial-interglacial cycle. The geometry of the continental shelf played a key role in controlling the pattern of ice-sheet retreat.
QUATERNARY SCIENCE REVIEWS
(2022)
Article
Geography, Physical
Lauriane Bourgeon, Ariane Burke
Summary: Genetic data indicates the Native American founder population diverged from its Asian parent population around 25,000 years ago and dispersed into North and South America as ice sheets retreated. Archaelogical evidence is scarce in eastern Siberia and Beringia, but stone tools and cutmarks on bones from the Last Glacial Maximum have been reported at Bluefish Caves in Yukon Territory, Canada. Taphonomic analyses from Pleistocene loess deposits at Bluefish Caves provide evidence that humans hunted various prey, including the Beringian horse, as early as 23,500 years ago.
QUATERNARY SCIENCE REVIEWS
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Ruixia He, Huijun Jin, Dongliang Luo, Yadong Huang, Futing Ma, Xiaoying Li, Hongwei Wang, Yan Li, Ning Jia, Xinyu Li, Xiaoying Jin, Raul-David Serban, Mihaela Serban, Chuanfang Zhou, Zhongkai Liang, Yanfeng Sun
Summary: The Hola basin in Northeast China has experienced extensive coal mining since the 1980s, leading to significant degradation of the permafrost environment. By analyzing ground temperature records from 2015 to 2020, the study evaluated the thermal state of permafrost under the influence of climate change and human activities. The results showed that the disturbed areas experienced warming temperatures and lowering of the permafrost table, while the undisturbed areas showed a slight cooling trend. The degradation of permafrost has had a dramatic impact on the boreal forest environment, as seen by the drying up of Yueya'hu Lake.
LAND DEGRADATION & DEVELOPMENT
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Huijun Jin, Yadong Huang, Victor F. Bense, Qiang Ma, Sergey S. Marchenko, Viktor V. Shepelev, Yiru Hu, Sihai Liang, Valetin V. Spektor, Xiaoying Jin, Xinyu Li, Xiaoying Li
Summary: Degradation of permafrost has significant hydrogeological consequences, including increased groundwater storage, altered flow paths, and intensified thermokarst activities. Understanding these impacts is crucial for managing water resources, ecosystems, and land development in permafrost regions.
Article
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
Lei Wang, Lan Cuo, Dongliang Luo, Fengge Su, Qinghua Ye, Tandong Yao, Jing Zhou, Xiuping Li, Ning Li, He Sun, Lei Liu, Yuanwei Wang, Tian Zeng, Zhidan Hu, Ruishun Liu, Chenhao Chai, Guangpeng Wang, Xiaoyang Zhon Xiaoyu Guo, Haoqiang Zhao, Huabiao Zhao, Wei Yang
Summary: The Upper Brahmaputra (UB) river basin, the largest in the Tibetan Plateau, lacks sufficient data on precipitation, glaciers, frozen ground, and vegetation. This project aims to establish an observational network to fill this gap and assess the impacts of climate change on streamflow. The network includes stations for hydrometeorology, glacier observations, frozen ground monitoring, vegetation observations, and altimetry discharge measurements.
BULLETIN OF THE AMERICAN METEOROLOGICAL SOCIETY
(2022)
Article
Soil Science
Xiaoying Li, Huijun Jin, Hongwei Wang, Xiaoying Jin, Victor F. Bense, Sergey S. Marchenko, Ruixia He, Yadong Huang, Dongliang Luo
Summary: Forest fires have significant effects on permafrost, vegetation, and landforms, especially on the thermal environment of near-surface permafrost and the active layer. The severity of the fire is directly proportional to the increase in ground temperatures, particularly at depths of 0-1.5 m. After severe burns, temperature changes have been observed up to a depth of 6 m, with an estimated warming of 2.7 degrees C at this depth after nine years. The thickness of the active layer also increases due to the influence of forest fires, and factors such as soil moisture content, organic-layer thickness, and snow-cover thickness further complicate the impacts on the permafrost environment. More systematic, in-depth, and quantitative studies are needed to understand these mechanisms and thresholds.
Article
Geology
Ruixia He, Huijun Jin, Jef Vanderberghe, Yixuan Wang, Xiaoying Jin, Shaoling Wang
Summary: The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is one of the most developed and well-preserved regions in terms of periglacial phenomena and permafrost environments. The periglacial remains on the northeastern part of the plateau, consisting mostly of cryogenic wedges, provide valuable insights into the evolution of the region's periglacial and permafrost environments.
INTERNATIONAL GEOLOGY REVIEW
(2023)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Xiaoying Li, Huijun Jin, Ruixia He, Hongwei Wang, Long Sun, Dongliang Luo, Yadong Huang, Yan Li, Xiaoli Chang, Lizhong Wang, Changlei Wei
Summary: Wildfires have a significant impact on vegetation and permafrost in boreal regions. This study investigated the effects of a fire on the ecosystem composition and soil nutrients in the permafrost zones of Northeast China. The results showed that the fire led to ground warming, deepening of the active layer, increased soil moisture content, and changes in vegetation composition. The recovery of vegetation and carbon and nitrogen storage after the fire depended on factors such as the thermal regimes of near-surface permafrost, recovery of vegetation and organic layer, and soil moisture content.
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Fangfang Chen, Dongliang Luo, Liyun Dai, Yiting Gao, Wenjie Lei, Yadong Huang
Summary: The N-factor is an important parameter in permafrost simulation, and understanding its spatial and temporal characteristics as well as its correlation with local factors is crucial. This study analyzed the N-factor on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and found spatial and temporal variations in the N-factor in this region.
COLD REGIONS SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Raul-David Serban, Giacomo Bertoldi, Huijun Jin, Mihaela Serban, Dongliang Luo, Xinze Li
Summary: This study aims to detect the variability of ground surface temperature (GST) in the Headwater Area of the Yellow River. The results show a significant correlation between mean annual GST and land cover as well as elevation. At the local/landscape scale, meadows have higher GST than swamp meadows and bare grounds. At the fine scale, there is a high similarity in GST between plots but with some degree of error. The decrease of GST is more pronounced in bare grounds with rising elevation.
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Shuhui Gao, Huijun Jin, Qingbai Wu, Victor F. Bense, Dongliang Luo, Qingfeng Wang, Yuzhong Yang, Wenwen Chang
Summary: Warming climate and thawing permafrost affect groundwater flow regimes in cold regions. Numerical simulations were used to study permafrost evolution and groundwater movement in a headwater catchment in China. The results show that groundwater presence and movement accelerate permafrost degradation and can establish deep groundwater flow paths. The modeling also demonstrates enhanced flow velocity and discharge rate in local groundwater flow systems.
HYDROGEOLOGY JOURNAL
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Xiaoying Li, Huijun Jin, Ruixia He, Hongwei Wang, Long Sun, Dongliang Luo, Yan Li, Yadong Huang, Xue Yang, Xiaoying Jin, Xiaoli Chang, Lizhong Wang, Changlei Wei, Ze Zhang
Summary: In this study, the authors analyzed the features of permafrost and its influencing factors in a burned area in Northeast China. The results showed significant changes in soil temperatures and active layer thickness due to wildfires. The study also found a decrease in soil organic carbon and total nitrogen content in the burned areas. These findings provide important scientific basis for the protection of boreal forest and wetlands, as well as the ecosystem-protected permafrost under a warming climate.
LAND DEGRADATION & DEVELOPMENT
(2023)
Article
Geography, Physical
Meng Wang, Xianyan Wang, Baotian Pan, Shuangwen Yi, Ronald Van Balen, Zhijun Zhao, Xiaolu Dong, Jef Vandenberghe, Youwei Wang, Huayu Lu
Summary: The detailed evolution of valley-damming by glaciers on the southeastern Tibetan Plateau, including the large Gega paleolake, is reconstructed based on observed sediment sequences, and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating. At least three river-blocking episodes and consequent phases of lacustrine development in the Gega and Jiedexiu dammed lakes have occurred since the local last glacial maximum (LGM). These events were likely triggered by changes in the extent and thickness of glaciers caused by rapid climatic changes.
QUATERNARY SCIENCE REVIEWS
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Xiaoying Jin, Jianjun Tang, Dongliang Luo, Qingfeng Wang, Ruixia He, Raul-D. Serban, Yan Li, Mihaela Serban, Xinze Li, Hongwei Wang, Xiaoying Li, Wenhui Wang, Qingbai Wu, Huijun Jin
Summary: Engineering corridors on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau have significantly modified the regional ecosystem and caused changes in the alpine ecosystem. This study investigated vegetation changes and their driving factors along the G214 highway in the southern Qinghai Plateau. The results showed that the NDVIgs increased slightly from 2010 to 2019, with annual precipitation being the dominant factor influencing the variations in NDVIgs.
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Yukun Deng, Yingying Yao, Yufeng Zhao, Dongliang Luo, Bin Cao, Xingxing Kuang, Chunmiao Zheng
Summary: The Himalayan and Tibetan Plateau region, especially the Yarlung Zangbo basin, plays a crucial role in sustaining millions of lives downstream by providing water resources. This study used the SWAT model to assess the historical and future variations in runoff, snowmelt water, and water balance components. The results indicate that future precipitation projected by CMIP6 will increase by 2.7% compared to the reference period, while CMIP5 predicts a 10.2% increase. The average air temperature rise projected by CMIP6 exceeds that of CMIP5. The study also highlights the increased risk of drought in the middle and upper reaches of the basin, threatening the sustainability of upstream grassland ecosystems.
FRONTIERS IN EARTH SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Slobodan B. Markovic, Jef Vandenberghe, Zoran M. Peric, David Filyo, Tamas Bartyik, Milica G. Radakovic, Qingzhen Hao, Rastko S. Markovic, Tin Lukic, Nemanja Tomic, Milivoj B. Gavrilov, Aleksandar Antic, Ivana Cvijanovic, Gyoergy Sipos
Summary: Typical patterns of Late Pleistocene loess-paleosol units are preserved in Novo Orahovo brickyard, Northern Serbia. Preliminary luminescence chronology supports the chronostratigraphic interpretations of global isotopic marine climate reconstructions. Magnetic susceptibility and sedimentological evidence show general similarities with marine oxygen-isotope stratigraphy. These records provide new insights into dust accumulation regimes over the eastern side of the Backa loess plateau and offer new paleoenvironmental information for the region. They represent an important step towards establishing a catena from the thin loess-like sediments of the Banat foothills in the east to the thicker and seemingly more complete loess sections of the southeastern and central Carpathian Basin. Grain-size data from the loess record of Novo Orahovo explain the regional differentiation in dust deposition.
Article
Geography, Physical
Xingxing Liu, Jie Wu, Jef Vandenberghe, Hong Chang, Zhengguo Shi, Fei Guo, Yougui Song, Peng Cheng, Shugang Kang, Jianghu Lan, Yidan Ding, Huimin Fan, Yuming Liu, Hang Zhang, Youbin Sun
Summary: This study reveals the synchronous fluctuations of the East Asian winter monsoon (EAWM) and westerly wind on glacial-interglacial and precession scales, but inconsistent moisture patterns on a precessional timescale. The moisture variations in ACA lag behind those in East Asia by 2 kyr, and millennial-scale wind and moisture variability are correlated with cooling events in the North Atlantic. The combined effects of ice sheets, insolation, and meltwater flux control the wind and moisture variations in East Asia and ACA from orbital to millennial timescales.
QUATERNARY SCIENCE REVIEWS
(2023)
