Abstract Ongoing global warming will have a significant impact on terrestrial water resources, especially in arid and semi-arid regions. Assessing changes in the hydrology and water resources in inland basins under a warm climate in the recent geological past can provide a valuable context for assessing their current and possible future status. Here we present a record from a rapidly-accumulating sediment core from Lake Dalianhai in the Gonghe Basin in the northeastern Tibetan Plateau. The chronology of the uppermost 51.63 m of the core is based on AMS 14C dates from 11 samples of terrestrial plant microfossils and 14 bulk samples. Hydroclimatic variations within the basin during the last 23,000 yr were reconstructed from sedimentological and geochemical parameters and paleoshoreline records. The results indicate that the Gonghe Basin experienced relatively arid conditions during 23,000-14,700 cal yr BP. Lake Dalianhai was refilled at 14,700 cal yr BP and a high lake level was sustained until the beginning of the Holocene, as indicated by changes in the concentration of OH-GDGTs. However, the lake level was low during the early to middle Holocene (11,700-4700 cal yr BP) and increased during the late Holocene. Based on a comparison with lake level records and aeolian sand deposits from the region, we conclude that the climate was extremely dry in basins in the northeastern Tibetan Plateau during the early to middle Holocene. We propose that strong evaporation combined with high summer temperatures during the early to middle Holocene were responsible for the dry climate at that time, rather than changes in mid-latitude precipitation. Given the situation occurred during the early to middle Holocene, ongoing global warming may seriously threaten water resources in inland China, even if precipitation increases substantially.

中文翻译：

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早、中全新世青藏高原东北部盆地温度引起的干旱气候

摘要 持续的全球变暖将对陆地水资源产生重大影响，特别是在干旱和半干旱地区。评估近期地质过去温暖气候下内陆盆地的水文和水资源变化可为评估其当前和未来可能的状况提供宝贵的背景。在这里，我们展示了来自青藏高原东北部共和盆地大连海湖的快速堆积沉积岩心的记录。岩心最上面 51.63 m 的年表基于来自 11 个陆生植物微化石样本和 14 个散装样本的 AMS 14C 日期。过去 23,000 年盆地内的水文气候变化是根据沉积学和地球化学参数以及古海岸线记录重建的。结果表明，共和盆地在 23,000-14,700 cal BP 期间经历了相对干旱的条件。大连海湖在 14,700 cal BP 重新填满，高湖水位一直持续到全新世开始，如 OH-GDGT 浓度的变化所示。然而，在全新世早期至中期（11,700-4700 cal yr BP）湖水位较低，并在全新世晚期升高。通过与该地区湖泊水位记录和风积沙沉积的比较，我们得出结论，青藏高原东北部盆地在早、中全新世期间气候极其干燥。我们认为，在全新世早期至中期，强烈的蒸发加上夏季高温是造成当时气候干燥的原因，而不是中纬度降水的变化。