Peat record reflecting Holocene climatic change in the Zoigê Plateau and AMS radiocarbon dating

Through the use of reliable AMS dating of high resolution (15–30 years) peat and the establishment of monsoon climate proxies sequence, we have been able to recognize several cold, dry events in the Tibetan Plateau during the Holocene. The more obvious ones occurred around 12800, 11300, 10200, 9580, 8900, 6400, 4400, 3700, 2800 and 1500 cal. aBP. These events correlate well with both ice rafting events recorded in high latitude North Atlantic Ocean sediment cores and cooling events in the low latitude SST. Spectral analysis indicates high frequency climate variation on centennial-millennial time scale during the Holocene. This further reflects Holocene climate instability and the existence of centennial-millenium scale rhythm in mid latitude areas as well.