Monsoonal variations and climate change during the late Holocene derived from tree rings and glacier fluctuations

• Applicants: Professor Dr. Achim Bräuning; Professor Dr. Frank Lehmkuhl
• Subject Area: Palaeontology
• Term: from 2010 to 2015
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 180323682

We will apply a multiproxy analysis approach including geomorphological and dendrochronological data to reconstruct glacier and climate history in southeastern Tibet during the late Holocene (last 1500 years). Monsoonal temperate glaciers in southeastern Tibet react fast and sensitive on climate changes. Geomorphological and sedimentological data from glacier sediments shall be combined to reconstruct glacier fluctuations and equilibrium-line altitude variations. Newly collected tree-ring material from glacier-near sites will help to date Little Ice Age glacier advances and to reconstruct different seasonal climatic elements by using different wood parameters like ring width, maximum latewood density and the content of stable δ13C and δ18O isotopes. Glacier and tree-ring data will be used to reconstruct former moisture and temperature conditions during important late Holocene-climate episodes like the Little Ice Age and the Medieval Warm Period. The combination of temperature-sensitive and moisture-sensitive palaeoclimate proxies will enable us to disentangle the role of temperature and humidity changes for the behaviour of monsoonal temperate glaciers on the southeastern Tibetan plateau.

• DFG Programme: Priority Programmes
• Subproject of: SPP 1372: Tibetan Plateau: Formation - Climate - Ecosystems (TiP)
• International Connection: China
• Participating Persons: Privatdozent Dr. Jussi Grießinger; Professor Dr. Jin Huijun; Professor Shichang Kang; Professor Dr. Shijie Li; Professor Dr. Wei Ma; Professorin Dr. Qinghua Ye