Little Ice Age glacier fluctuations reconstructed for the southeastern Tibetan Plateau using tree rings

Long-term records are essential for evaluating recent glacier fluctuation and its linkage to climate change. Moraines of two glaciers (Gawalong glacier and Xincuo glacier) in the southeastern Tibetan Plateau were dated. Germination date of the oldest tree yields a minimum age before 1760s for the outermost lateral moraine of Gawalong glacier in southern Bomi. A tilted tree indicated that the glacier readvanced to its maximum position since the early 20th century at around 1987-1992. Xincuo glacier in eastern Gongbujiangda reached its Little Ice Age (LIA) maximum before 1876. The difference implies that detailed dating of moraines is necessary for studying LIA glacier response to climate change in the study area. Trees growing on LIA glacier deposits proved to be very useful for deriving age estimates of historic glacier fluctuations in the southeastern Tibetan Plateau. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. All rights reserved.