Review of Holocene glacial chronologies based on radiocarbon dating in Tibet and its surrounding mountains

Abstract A compilation of 53 14C ages on moraines constrains the Holocene glacial history of Tibet and the surrounding mountains. Several Holocene glacial stages are identified. The Little Ice Age had three substages at 1.0–0.13 cal. ka BP. However, the glacial advances may have occurred 200–600 a earlier in southern and eastern bordering mountains than in the northern bordering mountains. The earlier glacial advance might have been driven by humid conditions in bordering areas of Tibet. Most glacial advances in the Neoglaciation occurred at 3.5–1.4 cal. ka BP. They can be identified in almost every mountain range. An early Holocene glacial advance occurred 9.4–8.8 cal. ka BP, in both central Tibet and bordering mountains. The timings of Holocene glacial advances are synchronous with the cooling periods in the δ18O record from ice cores and with the results of optically stimulated luminescence dating and cosmogenic exposure dating in Tibet. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.