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Response of carbon cycle to drier conditions in the mid-Holocene in central China.

ABSTRACT: The nature and extent to which hydrological changes induced by the Asian summer monsoon affected key biogeochemical processes remain poorly defined. This study explores the relationship between peatland drying and carbon cycling on centennial timescales in central China using lipid biomarkers. The difference between peat n-alkane ?2H and a nearby stalagmite ?18O record reveals that intervals of prominent peatland drying occurred during the mid-Holocene. Synchronous with these drier conditions, leaf wax ?13C values show large negative excursions, with the utilization of CO2 respired from the peatland subsurface for plant photosynthesis being a possible mechanism. Crucially, successive drying events appear to have had a cumulative impact on the susceptibility of peat carbon stores to climate change. Concurrently, bacterially derived hopane ?13C values suggest the occurrence of enhanced methane oxidation during the drier periods. Collectively, these observations expand our understanding of how respiration and degradation of peat are enhanced during drying events.

SUBMITTER: Huang X

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5893629 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Response of carbon cycle to drier conditions in the mid-Holocene in central China.

Huang Xianyu X Pancost Richard D RD Xue Jiantao J Gu Yansheng Y Evershed Richard P RP Xie Shucheng S

Nature communications 20180410 1

The nature and extent to which hydrological changes induced by the Asian summer monsoon affected key biogeochemical processes remain poorly defined. This study explores the relationship between peatland drying and carbon cycling on centennial timescales in central China using lipid biomarkers. The difference between peat n-alkane δ<sup>2</sup>H and a nearby stalagmite δ<sup>18</sup>O record reveals that intervals of prominent peatland drying occurred during the mid-Holocene. Synchronous with the ...[more]

PMID: 29636471

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Project description:Settlement crises in ancient cultures of Western Asia are commonly thought to be caused by climatic events such as severe droughts. However, the insufficient climate proxy situation in this region challenges the inference of clear relationships between climate and settlement dynamics. We investigate the Holocene climatic changes on the Varamin Plain in the context of the climatic history of Western Central Asia by using a transient comprehensive Earth System Model simulation (8 ka BP to pre-industrial), a high-resolution regional snapshot simulation and a synthesis of pollen-based climate reconstructions. In line with the reconstructions, the models reveal only slightly varying mean climatic conditions on the Varamin Plain but indicate substantial changes in seasonality during the Holocene. Increased precipitation during spring, combined with lower temperature and potentially stronger snow accumulation on the upstream Alborz mountains may have led to an increased water supply on the alluvial fan during the vegetation period and thus to more favourable conditions for agricultural production during the Mid-Holocene compared to modern times. According to the model, dry periods on the Central Iranian Plateau are related to particularly weak Westerly winds, fostering the subsidence in the mid-troposphere and hampering precipitation over the region. The model reveals that dry periods have spatially heterogenous manifestations, thus explaining why they do not appear in all proxy records in the wider study region. In fact, the climatic signal may depend on local environmental conditions. The interaction of the topography with the atmospheric circulation leads to additional spatial heterogeneity. Although our results provide several indications for a connection between climate and settlement dynamics, the small overall changes in moisture call into question whether climate is the main driver for settlement discontinuities on the Central Iranian Plateau. To shed further light on this issue, more high-resolution long-term proxy records are needed.

Dataset Information

Response of carbon cycle to drier conditions in the mid-Holocene in central China.

Publications

Response of carbon cycle to drier conditions in the mid-Holocene in central China.

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