Abstract Lake Mungo is a currently dry lake basin in the semi-arid zone of southeastern Australia. The transverse dune system on the downwind side contains a record of human occupation of international importance. It also contains one of the most continuous records of climate change over the last glacial cycle in the Australia desert. In this paper we provide a framework for the interpretation of lake level history from before the arrival of people (>41 ka) until after the establishment of the pastoral industry in the area. We present 83 optically stimulated luminescence ages from the Lake Mungo lunette. The lake level history is reconstructed from 34 stratigraphic sections along three transects through the lunette. The dating reveals considerable lake level fluctuations through time which occur over a depth range of ∼10 m in the basin. At its height, probably at multiple times before 20 ka, the lake held more than 1 km3 of water and at its final level at ∼19 ka, contained only 0.03 km3. The inception of Lake Mungo appears to have taken place during the mid-Pleistocene between ∼256 and 369 ka. During the last glacial cycle, Lake Mungo was almost continuously wetter than present from shortly after 60 ka until ∼19 ka. The Upper Mungo, Arumpo and Zanci units represent a succession of lake filling and drying events, briefly interspersed by soils. The final Zanci unit does not represent a single high lake phase, but an initial lake filling followed by a series of short-lived lake level events within a brief period of a few thousand years. At the conclusion of this event, the lake remained dry until the present day. Four OSL ages from a linear dune upwind of Lake Mungo indicates regional aeolian activity from ∼30 ka until present. Widespread erosion that produces the characteristic topography of the lunette began after the arrival of British pastoralists and traditional aboriginal ways of life overlapped briefly with this erosion. The presence of water in Lake Mungo closely corresponds to periods when regional surface temperature was colder than present during the late Pleistocene. Our new data supports a model that decreased evaporation and increased runoff were primarily responsible for increased availability of surface water in the hydrological cycle.

中文翻译：

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澳大利亚芒戈湖晚更新世湖面历史

摘要 芒戈湖是澳大利亚东南部半干旱区目前一个干涸的湖盆。下风侧的横向沙丘系统包含具有国际重要性的人类占领记录。它还包含澳大利亚沙漠最后一次冰川周期气候变化最连续的记录之一。在本文中，我们提供了一个解释从人类到来之前（> 41 ka）到该地区牧业建立之后的湖泊水位历史的框架。我们展示了来自芒戈湖月光斑的 83 个光激发光年龄。湖泊水位历史是从三个横断面的 34 个地层剖面重建的。测年揭示了随着时间的推移，在盆地约 10 m 的深度范围内发生了相当大的湖水位波动。在它的高度，可能在 20 ka 之前的多次，该湖拥有超过 1 平方公里的水，而在约 19 ka 的最终水位，只有 0.03 平方公里。芒戈湖的形成似乎发生在更新世中期~256 至 369 ka 之间。在最后一个冰川周期中，从 60 ka 后不久到 19 ka 之后，芒戈湖几乎一直比现在湿润。Upper Mungo、Arumpo 和 Zanci 单元代表了一系列湖泊充填和干涸事件，并短暂地穿插在土壤中。最终的 Zanci 单元并不代表单一的高湖阶段，而是最初的湖泊填充，随后在几千年的短暂时间内发生了一系列短暂的湖面事件。在这次活动结束时，湖一直干到今天。芒戈湖上风线状沙丘的四个 OSL 年龄表明从 30 ka 到现在的区域风沙活动。在英国牧民到来之后，产生了月内特特征地形的广泛侵蚀开始了，传统的原住民生活方式与这种侵蚀短暂重叠。芒戈湖中水的存在与更新世晚期区域地表温度比现在低的时期密切相关。我们的新数据支持一个模型，即减少蒸发和增加径流是增加水文循环中地表水可用性的主要原因。在英国牧民到来之后，产生了月内特特征地形的广泛侵蚀开始了，传统的原住民生活方式与这种侵蚀短暂重叠。芒戈湖中水的存在与更新世晚期区域地表温度比现在低的时期密切相关。我们的新数据支持一个模型，即减少蒸发和增加径流是增加水文循环中地表水可用性的主要原因。在英国牧民到来之后，产生了月内特特征地形的广泛侵蚀开始了，传统的原住民生活方式与这种侵蚀短暂重叠。芒戈湖中水的存在与更新世晚期区域地表温度比现在低的时期密切相关。我们的新数据支持一个模型，即减少蒸发和增加径流是增加水文循环中地表水可用性的主要原因。