Discovery of Borax-bearing Mirabilite Beds in Dong Co, Northern Tibet, and Its Palaeoclimatic Significance

The authors investigated lacustrine chemical sediments on terrace-I of Dong Co-a salt lake in the interior of the northern Tibetan Plateau and firstly discovered borax and a complete sedimentary section with five pure mirabilite beds. According to the sedimentary characteristics of rhythmic layering, palaeotemperatures for the formation of the cold-phase mineral-mirabilite-at the profiles and 14C dating, the authors applied the theory and method of comparative salinology in the study of the history of the palaeoclimate and palaeoenvironment of Dong Co in the early and middle Holocene and drew the conclusion that the salt lake had experienced the following climatic evolution: the warm and moist stage (>8470 a BP and possibly to 10500 a BP)→cold and dry stage (8470-8170 a BP)→warm and moist stage (8170-7590 a BP)→stage of repeated climatic oscillations (7590-7400 a BP, alternation of three dry oscillations and three moist oscillations in a generally cold climatic background)→cold and dry stage (7400-6