Editing Holocene (section)

=== Central Asia ===
Central Asia experienced glacial-like temperatures until about 8,000 BP, when the Laurentide Ice Sheet collapsed.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Zhao |first1=Jiaju |last2=An |first2=Chen-Bang |last3=Huang |first3=Yongsong |last4=Morrill |first4=Carrie |last5=Chen |first5=Fa-Hu |date=15 December 2017 |title=Contrasting early Holocene temperature variations between monsoonal East Asia and westerly dominated Central Asia |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0277379117300458 |journal=[[Quaternary Science Reviews]] |language=en |volume=178 |pages=14–23 |doi=10.1016/j.quascirev.2017.10.036 |bibcode=2017QSRv..178...14Z |access-date=19 July 2024 |via=Elsevier Science Direct}}</ref> In [[Xinjiang]], long-term Holocene warming increased meltwater supply during summers, creating large lakes and oases at low altitudes and inducing enhanced moisture recycling.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Rao |first1=Zhiguo |last2=Wu |first2=Dandan |last3=Shi |first3=Fuxi |last4=Guo |first4=Haichun |last5=Cao |first5=Jiantao |last6=Chen |first6=Fahu |date=1 April 2019 |title=Reconciling the 'westerlies' and 'monsoon' models: A new hypothesis for the Holocene moisture evolution of the Xinjiang region, NW China |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0012825218306780 |journal=[[Earth-Science Reviews]] |volume=191 |pages=263–272 |doi=10.1016/j.earscirev.2019.03.002 |bibcode=2019ESRv..191..263R |s2cid=134712945 |issn=0012-8252 |access-date=15 September 2023}}</ref> In the [[Tian Shan|Tien Shan]], sedimentological evidence from Swan Lake suggests the period between 8,500 and 6,900 BP was relatively warm, with steppe meadow vegetation being predominant. An increase in [[Cyperaceae]] from 6,900 to 2,600 BP indicates cooling and humidification of the Tian Shan climate that was interrupted by a warm period between 5,500 and 4,500 BP. After 2,600 BP, an alpine steppe climate prevailed across the region.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Huang |first1=Xiao-zhong |last2=Chen |first2=Chun-zhu |last3=Jia |first3=Wan-na |last4=An |first4=Cheng-bang |last5=Zhou |first5=Ai-feng |last6=Zhang |first6=Jia-wu |last7=Jin |first7=Ming |last8=Xia |first8=Dun-sheng |last9=Chen |first9=Fa-hu |last10=Grimm |first10=Eric C. |date=15 August 2015 |title=Vegetation and climate history reconstructed from an alpine lake in central Tienshan Mountains since 8.5ka BP |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0031018215002370 |journal=[[Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology]] |volume=432 |pages=36–48 |doi=10.1016/j.palaeo.2015.04.027 |bibcode=2015PPP...432...36H |issn=0031-0182 |access-date=10 September 2023}}</ref> Sand dune evolution in the Bayanbulak Basin shows that the region was very dry from the Holocene's beginning until around 6,500 BP, when a wet interval began.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Long |first1=Hao |last2=Shen |first2=Ji |last3=Chen |first3=Jianhui |last4=Tsukamoto |first4=Sumiko |last5=Yang |first5=Linhai |last6=Cheng |first6=Hongyi |last7=Frechen |first7=Manfred |date=15 October 2017 |title=Holocene moisture variations over the arid central Asia revealed by a comprehensive sand-dune record from the central Tian Shan, NW China |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277379117302883 |journal=[[Quaternary Science Reviews]] |volume=174 |pages=13–32 |doi=10.1016/j.quascirev.2017.08.024 |bibcode=2017QSRv..174...13L |issn=0277-3791 |access-date=10 September 2023}}</ref> In the [[Tibetan Plateau]], the moisture optimum spanned from around 7,500 to 5,500 BP.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Wünnemann |first1=Bernd |last2=Yan |first2=Dada |last3=Andersen |first3=Nils |last4=Riedel |first4=Frank |last5=Zhang |first5=Yongzhan |last6=Sun |first6=Qianli |last7=Hoelzmann |first7=Philipp |date=15 November 2018 |title=A 14 ka high-resolution δ18O lake record reveals a paradigm shift for the process-based reconstruction of hydroclimate on the northern Tibetan Plateau |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277379118303548 |journal=[[Quaternary Science Reviews]] |volume=200 |pages=65–84 |doi=10.1016/j.quascirev.2018.09.040 |bibcode=2018QSRv..200...65W |s2cid=134520306 |issn=0277-3791 |access-date=10 September 2023}}</ref> The [[Tarim Basin]] records the onset of significant aridification around 3,000-2,000 BP.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Cai |first1=Yanjun |last2=Chiang |first2=John C.H. |last3=Breitenbach |first3=Sebastian F.M. |last4=Tan |first4=Liangcheng |last5=Cheng |first5=Hai |last6=Edwards |first6=R. Lawrence |last7=An |first7=Zhisheng |date=15 February 2017 |title=Holocene moisture changes in western China, Central Asia, inferred from stalagmites |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0277379116307089 |journal=[[Quaternary Science Reviews]] |language=en |volume=158 |pages=15–28 |doi=10.1016/j.quascirev.2016.12.014 |bibcode=2017QSRv..158...15C |via=Elsevier Science Direct}}</ref>