Rapid hydrological change during the late last glacial period in the south Siberia

Nara, Fumiko*; Watanabe, Takahiro   ; Kokubu, Yoko   ; Nakamura, Toshio*

Lake Baikal sediment cores record the paleoclimatic and biological changes in the continental area corresponding with the global and local climate changes. In this study, we show the rapid changes of the sedimentation rate in Lake Baikal sediment core (VER99G12) at around 19 cal ka BP, which were recovered from the C analysis of total organic carbon. The sampling site of VER99G12 is located in front of the Selenga River, which provides the largest inflow into the lake. Therefore, the sediment core in this study was mainly composed of the deposition from the Selenga River watershed. High-time resolution C data sets from the sediment core revealed the rapid increase in sedimentation rate corresponding with the global climate warming (MWP-19Ka). The change of grain size and the K/Ti atomic ratios in the core also responded at the period as well. These results suggest the increase in the precipitation in the continental area at around 19000 years ago.