Late pleistocene evolution of Lake Manas in western China with constraints of OSL ages of lacustrine sediments

Lake Manas, located in northwestern China, has been formed in a structure depression since early Quaternary. Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating is applied to the lacustrine and aeolian deposits collected from the lake to construct a chronological frame for lake level fluctuations since the last inter-glacial period. The results yielded two stages of high lake stands (∼20 m above the present lake bed) occurred before 66 ka and 38-27 ka ago. No evidence for Holocene high lake level was found in the studying area. © 2012 Elsevier B.V.