Premium
Sedimentary evidence and luminescence and ESR dating of Early Pleistocene high lake levels of Megalake Tengger, northwestern China
Author(s) -
Yuxin Fan,
Zhenjun Li,
Guangliang Yang,
Shuangwen Yi,
Qingsong Zhang,
Wenhao Liu,
Xuesong Mou
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of quaternary science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.142
H-Index - 94
eISSN - 1099-1417
pISSN - 0267-8179
DOI - 10.1002/jqs.3246
Subject(s) - pleistocene , geology , optically stimulated luminescence , sedimentary rock , early pleistocene , thermoluminescence dating , quartz , shore , paleontology , holocene , geomorphology , oceanography
The timing of high lake‐level stands during the Late Pleistocene in western China remains controversial. Here we report new results from Megalake Tengger based on a study of palaeo‐shorelines and a drill core from Baijian Lake in the northwestern Tengger Desert. Multiple dating methods, based on luminescence signals (quartz optically stimulated luminescence, K‐feldspar post infrared‐infrared stimulated luminescence) and electron spin resonance signals of quartz, were used to date beach sands from palaeo‐shoreline profiles at altitudes of ~1310 m (+20 m above lake level), ~1320 m (+30 m) and ~1350 m (+60 m), and from the top 20 m of sandy sediments from the drill core obtained from the modern beach of Baijian Lake. The dating results show that high lake‐level stands associated with the previously reported Megalake Tengger (~1310–1320 m) occurred during the late Early to Middle Pleistocene, which is much earlier than previously reported. In addition, no geomorphological evidence of shorelines and sedimentary evidence from the drill core profile were found to support the previously reported Late Pleistocene lake levels. Our results indicate that the exact age of the previously reported ‘high lake level event’ in a large part of northwestern China during the Late Pleistocene needs to be re‐evaluated.