Recharge to the inter-dune lakes and Holocene climatic changes in the Badain Jaran Desert, western China |
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| Authors: | Xiaoping Yang Bingqi Zhu Bing Xu Zhibang Ma Jiaqi Liu |
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| Institution: | Key Laboratory of Cenozoic Geology and Environment, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China |
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| Abstract: | We present new estimates on evaporation and groundwater recharge in the Badain Jaran Desert, western Inner Mongolia of northwestern China, based on a modified Penman Equation suitable for lakes in China. Geochemical data and water balance calculations suggest that local rainfall makes a significant contribution to groundwater recharge and that past lake-level variations in this desert environment should reflect palaeoclimatic changes. The chronology of lake-level change, established by radiocarbon and U-series disequilibrium dating methods, indicates high lake levels and a wetter climate beginning at ca. 10 ka and lasting until the late mid-Holocene in the Badain Jaran Desert. The greatest extension of lakes in the inter-dune depressions indicates that the water availability was greatest during the mid-Holocene. Relicts of Neolithic tools and pottery of Qijia Culture (2400-1900 BC) suggest relatively intensive human activity in the Badain Jaran Desert during the early and middle Holocene, supporting our interpretation of a less harsh environment. Wetter climates during the Holocene were likely triggered by an intensified East Asian summer monsoon associated with strong insolation. |
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| Keywords: | Lake Groundwater recharge Evaporation Global change Holocene Badain Jaran Desert Inner Mongolia |
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