Late Pleistocene montane vegetation and climate history from the Dajiuhu Basin in the western Hubei Province of Central China

• A high-resolution pollen record spanning 83.4 ka in Central China was analyzed.
• Five evident climate changes disclosed by the pollen record correspond to MIS 5-2.
• The climatic patterns are cold and humid conditions and warm and dry conditions.
• The mechanism of precipitation in Central China has regional specificity.

A continuous 775-cm-long sediment core (Core B) was collected from the Dajiuhu Basin in the western Shennongjia Forest Region of Central China. The core between 775 and 144 cm in depth spanning the period from 83.4 to 9.6 ka (calibrated age, throughout this study) was studied for pollen analysis. The high-resolution pollen record revealed the histories of the vegetation succession and climate changes from 83.4 to 9.6 ka in the mountainous regions at an altitude of approximately 1,700 m a.s.l. in Central China. The results show that five evident climate changes disclosed by the pollen record in Core B correspond to MIS (Marine Isotope Stage) 5a, MIS 4, MIS 3, the LGM (Last Glacial Maximum) of MIS 2, and the period from the deglacial of MIS 2 to the early Holocene, respectively. The temperature changes in the Dajiuhu Basin are consistent with the solar insolation in the Northern Hemisphere, the climate records in the Greenland and Guliya ice cores, the stalagmite, and the loess. However, the precipitation changes during the late Quaternary in the study area were roughly reversed with the temperature changes in the Northern Hemisphere. Therefore, the climatic patterns from 83.4 to 9.6 ka in the Dajiuhu Basin are cold and humid conditions and warm and dry conditions, which may be caused by the middle latitude position, the humid monsoon climate, and the steep mountainous geomorphology of the study area.