气候变化领域集成服务门户(CCPortal): Collapse of the Tibetan Empire attributed to climatic shifts: Paleolimnological evidence from the western Tibetan Plateau

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DOI	10.1016/j.quascirev.2023.108280
	Collapse of the Tibetan Empire attributed to climatic shifts: Paleolimnological evidence from the western Tibetan Plateau
	Chen, Zhitong; Liu, Jianbao; Ruhland, Kathleen M.; Zhang, Jifeng; Zhang, Ke; Kang, Wengang; Chen, Shengqian; Wang, Rong; Zhang, Haidong; Smol, John P.
发表日期	2023
ISSN	0277-3791
EISSN	1873-457X
卷号	317
英文摘要	The Tibetan Empire, the only united regime in Tibetan history, existed between 618 and 877 CE, when Tibet was a unified world power, contesting control of Central Asia with the Tang Empire and the Abbasid Caliphate. Before its collapse in the 9th century, this was the world's highest elevation empire, ruling a vast territory that extended well beyond the Tibetan Plateau. However, factors leading to the rapid decline of this powerful highland empire remain elusive. Here we use a highly resolved lake sediment record from the western Tibetan Plateau to demonstrate that pronounced fluctuations in the climate regime between the 7th and 9th centuries played a key role in the fragmentation of the Tibetan Empire. Specifically, we demonstrate that a nearly complete shift from planktonic to benthic diatom life strategy signified markedly drier conditions and lower lake-levels. The height of the empire's power (ca. 600-800 CE) coincided with two centuries of uncharacteristically warm and humid conditions, whereas the empire's collapse (ca. 800-877 CE) co-occurred with an abrupt onset of severe drought conditions that were clearly registered in the paleolimnological records. Severe drought conditions combined with decreased social resilience might have led to rapid declines in crop production, which fostered a surge in domestic conflicts and expediated the final collapse of the Tibetan Empire. Although religious and political factors are commonly cited to explain the fall of this formidable great power, our paleoenvironmental analyses underscore that harsh environmental factors might have hastened the cultural decline of this highland region.
关键词	Civilization collapse Lakes Environmental change Extreme climate Severe drought Ecosystem shifts
英文关键词	HOLOCENE ENVIRONMENTAL-CHANGES; PERMANENT HUMAN OCCUPATION; BASIN; AGRICULTURE; CHRONOLOGY; RESPONSES; HISTORY; MONSOON; CHINA
WOS研究方向	Geography, Physical ; Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
WOS记录号	WOS:001068908500001
来源期刊	QUATERNARY SCIENCE REVIEWS
来源机构	中国科学院青藏高原研究所
文献类型	期刊论文
条目标识符	http://gcip.llas.ac.cn/handle/2XKMVOVA/283714
作者单位	Chinese Academy of Sciences; Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, CAS; Queens University - Canada; Chinese Academy of Sciences; Nanjing Institute of Geography & Limnology, CAS; Braunschweig University of Technology; Lanzhou University; Chang'an University
推荐引用方式 GB/T 7714	Chen, Zhitong,Liu, Jianbao,Ruhland, Kathleen M.,et al. Collapse of the Tibetan Empire attributed to climatic shifts: Paleolimnological evidence from the western Tibetan Plateau[J]. 中国科学院青藏高原研究所,2023,317.
APA	Chen, Zhitong.,Liu, Jianbao.,Ruhland, Kathleen M..,Zhang, Jifeng.,Zhang, Ke.,...&Smol, John P..(2023).Collapse of the Tibetan Empire attributed to climatic shifts: Paleolimnological evidence from the western Tibetan Plateau.QUATERNARY SCIENCE REVIEWS,317.
MLA	Chen, Zhitong,et al."Collapse of the Tibetan Empire attributed to climatic shifts: Paleolimnological evidence from the western Tibetan Plateau".QUATERNARY SCIENCE REVIEWS 317(2023).