40~30 ka BP在过去被认为是末次冰期的间冰阶,温度稍高,但仍在冰期内.20世纪90年代西昆仑山古里雅冰芯记录研究首次指出,当时气温可能高出现代4℃,即为以前所不知的间冰期.追踪同期湖泊沉积,孢粉与古生物,黄土与沙漠地区古土壤,石灰岩洞穴中石笋,古河道,滨海地区海相沉积等多种记录,集成研究表明,当时青藏高原与西北干旱区有许多淡水大湖,降水量远比现代丰沛,导致外流水系扩大,如青海境内的黄河上游水系形成.暖湿的气候条下,森林分布区向北向西大范围扩展,华南热带喜湿热的陆均松(Dacrydiumsp.)北界移至22°~24°N,表明当时热带气温高于现代2℃左右,降水量也有较大增加.长江下游石笋资料和北方半干旱、半湿润区的植物、古土壤、河道沉积资料均表示降水增加,森林覆盖度大.由于冰川和极地冰盖萎缩,海平面上升,给合若干地区地面沉降,海河下游、长江三角洲和珠江三角洲均出现相当规模的海侵.上述涉及全中国的特殊暖湿环境的形成与地球轨道运行岁差周期变化导致中低纬度日射增强,致使温度升高,季风区与西风带降水量都有显著增加关系密切,而植被改善又对温度和湿度有正反馈作用.
The Pochengzi Glaciation is a typical glaciation in Quaternary in the Tianshan Mountains. The glacial landforms comprise several integrated end moraines, like a fan spreading from the north to the south at the mouth of the Muzhaerte River valley and on the piedmont on the southeastern slope of the Tumur Peak, the largest center of modern glaciation in the Tianshan Mountains. The landforms recorded a complex history of the ancient glacier change and contained considerable information of the glacial landscape evolution, and dating these landforms helps us understand the temporal and spatial shifts of the past cryosphere in this valley and reconstruct the paleoenvironment in this region. Electron spin resonance (ESR) dating of the glacial tills in the upper stratum from a well-exposed section, end moraines, and associated outwashes was carried out using Ge centers in quartz grains, which are sensitive to the sunlight and grinding. The results could be divided into three clusters, 13.6–25.3, 39.5–40.4 and 64.2–71.7 ka. Based on the principle of geomorphology and stratigraphy and the available paleoen- vironmental data from northwestern China, the end moraines were determined to deposit in the Last Glaciation. The landforms and the three clusters of ages demonstrate that at least three large glacial advances occurred during the Pochengzi Glaciation, which are corresponding to marine oxygen isotope stage 4 (MIS4), MIS3b and MIS2. The landforms also indicate that the gla- ciers were compound valley glacier in MIS2 and MIS3b and piedmont glacier in MIS4, and the ancient Muzhaerte glacier were 94, 95 and 99 km at their maximum extensions in these three glacial advances.
