资源环境科技发展态势分析平台

Hydroclimatic variations of arid central Asia (ACA) significantly impact regional ecosystems and human civilizations. Here we present a lake water salinity record of the last 3000 years from Lake Sayram in the core area of ACA using a new alkenone isomer‐based RIK₃₇ index. Our record shows an abrupt decrease in salinity by more than 5‰ since the “early” Little Ice Age (LIA) (about AD 1150), which can be attributed to the combined effect of regional wetting, cooling, and topographic features. Combined with other moisture records in the region, we find two periods of relatively wet conditions during AD 1150–1550 and 1850–present, which may be linked to Arctic sea ice expansion due to natural variability, and, from AD 1950, anthropogenically‐induced warming. The wet conditions during AD 1206–1260 may have favored the spread of the Mongol Empire across the entire core area of ACA.