Carbonates in the sedimentary record of saline Tsagan-Tyrm Lake, west Baikal region: New type of high-resolution paleoclimatic signals

The reasons for catastrophic climate warming have been a matter of heated debates for the past few decades. The issue of the decisive role of anthropogenic factors or natural fluctuations in modern warming can be solved correctly only from paleoclimatic reconstructions, which are mainly based on study of bottom sediments of oceans, seas, and continental lakes. Despite significant intensication of paleoclimatic studies in recent years, one can sense a deficit in reliable data on past climates, especially for intracontinental regions of the large Asian continent. Reference data on this region are represented by the results of deep drilling within the framework of the International Baikal-Hovsgol Drilling Project in the two largest lakes of the Baikal rift zone (Baikal and Hovsgol). Sedimentary sections of these lakes represent a unique continuous record of climatic and environmental changes in Central Asia for a few million years.