A high resolution record of vegetation and environmental variation through the last ∼ 25,000 years in the western part of the Chinese Loess Plateau

We present a high-resolution reconstruction of vegetation and environmental changes from a 40-m thick section in the western part of the Chinese Loess Plateau in attempt to reveal the details of the MIS 2 and MIS 1 climate variations. Our data show that a desert steppe occupied the landscape between ∼24,500 and ∼13,600 14C yr BP. Two episodes of further vegetation deteriorations occurred between ∼20,000 and ∼17,100 14C yr BP and between ∼15,100 and ∼13,600 14C yr BP, corresponding to the Heinrich events 2 and 1. The late glacial stage between ∼13,600 and ∼9880 14C yr BP included four sub-stages that correspond chronologically and climatologically to the European deglacial sub-stages. The first sub-stage (∼13,600 to ∼12,400 14C yr BP) corresponds to the Bølling warm period; the second sub-stage (∼12,400 to ∼11,500 14C yr BP) to the Older Dryas cold period; the third sub-stage (∼11,500 to ∼10,700 14C yr BP) to the Allerød warm period; and the fourth Sub-stage (∼10,700 to ∼9880 14C yr BP) to the Younger Dryas cold period. The early–mid Holocene (∼9880 to ∼4370 14C yr BP) was a period when a forest steppe dominated the landscape under a warm and wet climate. During this period, eight cool and dry spells occurred at ∼9720 14C yr BP (E1), ∼9380 14C yr BP (E2), ∼8870 14C yr BP (E3), ∼8660 14C yr BP (E4), ∼8440 14C yr BP (E5), ∼8240 to ∼8060 14C yr BP (E6), ∼7120 to ∼6550 14C yr BP (E7), and ∼5640 to ∼5120 14C yr BP (E8). After a major deterioration in vegetation between ∼4370 to ∼3270 14C yr BP, the study area experienced improved moisture conditions between ∼3270 to ∼1450 14C yr BP, followed by a persistent deterioration of vegetation under a drying climate during the past ∼1500 years.