52
were obtained from this section and the result showed that it spanned
the past 32,000 yr. The Tramplin section is a naturally exposed
section on the third terrace of the Talgar River near the City of
Almaty in southeastern Kazakhstan. The site is in the steppe zone in
the foothills of the western Tianshan Mountains and ca. 100 km from
the Saryeski-Atyrau Desert to the north. The Tramplin
section is
1050 cm thick and 250 samples were taken at intervals of 2–6 cm for
13
C
org
analysis. Ten AMS
14
C dates were obtained from this section
and the result showed that it spanned the period from 46,000 yr BP to
35,000 yr BP.
The δ
13
C
org
values in central Kazakhstan loess-paleosol sequence
spanning the past ca. 46,000 yr varied between -22.1 ‰ and -26.2
‰. The calculated proportion of C
3
plants relative to C
4
plants was ≥
85% in nearly all of the samples, suggesting that C
3
plants dominated
the vegetation during the study period. The abundance of C
4
plants
reached a maximum (ca. 15%) during the last glacial maximum (ca.
25,000 – ca.19,000 yr BP). The
13
C
org
signature was most likely an
indicator of moisture and the moisture variations in central
Kazakhstan were associated with the precipitation in Western
Europe. The
13
C
org
-indicated moisture variations exhibited five
stages: decreasing during stage 1 (ca. 46,000 – ca. 31,500 yr BP),
increasing during stage 2 (ca. 31,500 – ca. 25,500 yr BP), again
decreasing during stage 3 (ca. 25,500 – ca. 19,000 yr BP), fluctuating
along a constant line during stage 4 (ca. 19,000 – ca. 5000 yr BP),
and increasing during stage 5 (last ca. 5000 yr). Our comparison
demonstrated a general similarity between the
13
C
org
-indicated
moisture variations in central Kazakhstan and the reconstructed
precipitation variations in Western Europe. The similarity implies
that the moisture of the past ca. 46,000 years in central Kazakhstan
has been controlled or modulated by westerlies that brought water
vapor from the North Atlantic not only to Western Europe but also to
central Kazakhstan.
Kazakhstan is a bridge through which the eastern civilization
and the western civilizations have interacted and through which the
agricultural cultures and the nomadic cultures have interacted.
Consequently, the Kazakhstan has been rather colorful with
interblended archaeological cultures and thus
is an ideal region to