MIS 3 climate transitions revealed by high-resolution loess records from the eastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau

Wei, Xiaotong;Jiang, Hanchao;Bai, Youliang;Shi, Wei;Wu, Zhipeng;et.al.
(2025) Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology — Vol. 667, n° 112874, p. 112874 (2025)

Files

MIS3climatetransitionsrevealedbyhigh-resolutionloessrecordsfromtheeasternmarginoftheTibetanPlateau.pdf
  • Open Access
  • Adobe PDF
  • 4.84 MB
  • https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Details

Authors
  • Wei, Xiaotong
    Author
  • Jiang, Hanchao
    Author
  • Bai, Youliang
    Author
  • Shi, Wei
    Author
  • Wu, Zhipengorcid-logoUCLouvain
    Author
Show more
Abstract
Humans evolved rapidly and significantly between 60 and 20 ka, placing unprecedented demands on detailed climate evolution during the marine isotope stage (MIS) 3 period. In this study, a high-resolution loess record from the eastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau revealed that the climate was optimal in 62–43.5 ka, relatively stable in 43.5–34 ka, and continuously cooled in 34–20 ka. Such a three-stage pattern can be well correlated with changes in the temperature and CO2 content in Antarctica, climate evolution in Europe, and advances in the Laurentide Ice Sheet. The climate transition at 43.5 ka was closely related to the declining boreal summer insolation, CO2 content, temperature, and sea level, whereas the climate transition at 34 ka corresponded to a decrease in the CO2 concentration and development of polar ice sheets. These results are of great scientific significance because they provide insights into MIS 3 climate transitions and human migration.
Affiliations

Citations

Wei, X., Jiang, H., Bai, Y., Shi, W., Xu, H., Ma, X., Zhong, N., Li, S., & Wu, Z. (2025). MIS 3 climate transitions revealed by high-resolution loess records from the eastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 667(112874), 112874. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2025.112874 (Original work published 2025)