Large Holocene summer temperature oscillations and impact on the peopling of the northeastern Tibetan Plateau

Abstract

Abstract Summer temperatures on the Tibetan Plateau (TP) significantly affect stability of glaciers that provide steady water resources to nearly half of the world population. However, lack of reliable, long‐term proxy records greatly impedes understanding of regional temperature sensitivity to climate forcings. Here we present a 16 ka long, alkenone‐based summer temperature record from Lake Qinghai, northeastern TP that demonstrates major regional temperature response to changes in summer insolation and Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation during the Holocene and late glacial. Importantly, we find a period of sustained summer temperature decline (>4°C) between 5 and 3.5 ka, which coincides with expansion of Barents Sea ice coverage and is likely driven by intensification of the Westerlies. This unusually long and pronounced regional cooling event likely delayed permanent human settlements on the high‐altitude regions (>3000 m) of the TP by at least 500 years.