Sedimentary Characteristics and Paleoenvironmental Records of Zabuye Salt Lake, Tibetan Plateau, since 128 ka BP

Abstract: This paper for the first time reveals high‐resolution core records of Zabuye Salt Lake in the interior of the Qinghai‐Tibet Plateau. According to 1346 samples taken continuously, relatively accurate 14C, U‐series disequilibrium and ESR ages have been obtained, thus revealing that the lake core ages from 0 to 83.63 m of hole SZK02 are ∼800 to over 128 ka. In the paper, the lake core sedimentary characteristics (including the lithologies and mineral assemblages) are analyzed in detail and correlated with ostracod assemblages I to XX and sporopollen zones A to I, and on the basis of an integrated analysis of the δ 18O values of authigenic calcium‐magnesium carbonate and environmental proxies of minerals, sporopollen and microfossils in the lake core, a correlation has been made of oxygen isotope change between this lake core and the Greenland GISP2 and GRIP and Guliya ice cores, and the climate of Zabuye Salt Lake since 128 ka BP is divided into the last interglacial stage (including substages e, d, c, b and a) of oxygen isotope stage (OIS) 5, early glacial stadial of the last glacial stage of OIS 4, interglacial stadial of the last glacial stage of OIS 3, late glacial stadial of the last glacial stage or Last Glacial Maximum of OIS 2 and postglacial state of OIS 1; in addition, 6 Heinrich (H6‐H1) events, Younger Dryas event and 8.2 ka BP cold event have been recognized.