Climatic instability recorded by the mollusk assemblages from the late glacial loess deposits in China

The loess-paleosol sequence in China records abundant and valuable informat ion on the global and regional climate changes. Biological record from the loess sequence is the most direct evidence on variation in pattern of paleo -atmospheric circulation and changes in winter and summer monsoon. A new re cord of climatic instability, which occurred in the Loess Plateau during th e late glacial period, is presented. Through the study of terrestrial mollu sks from three loess sequences, the authors intend to characterize the biol ogical response process to rapid climate change and to learn the mechanisms driving the instable climate changes and the possible linkage in different regions. The result shows the striking consistent variability in the ratio records ol:three mollusk sequences of the late glacial, indicating apparen t rapid climate fluctuations. Correlation of our three mollusk records with the oxygen isotopic records from Greenland ice cores and foraminiferal rec ords from the Northeast Pacific Ocean reveals similar instability climate d uring the late glacial period, which provides us a new thought probing the climate instability observed in the North Atlantic, the North Pacific and t he Loess Plateau. The low-level atmospheric circulation in the Northern Hem isphere may be one possible way to link the unstable climate patterns obser ved In the above three regions.