Fig. 1
Topographic map of the Tibetan Plateau and surrounding mountains (based on ArcMap 10.4, Esri, 2015, https://desktop.arcgis.com/en/arcmap/10.4/), showing its major atmospheric circulation systems34. Locations of seven regions are enclosed by black dashed lines. Within these dashed lines, bold black font indicates the names of the seven regions, while regular black font denotes specific mountain ranges. The glacial deposit sites we compiled are shown by dots in different colors for these regions. The different glacier types at present are divided by solid black lines: (A) maritime glacier (temperate glacier)35; (B) polythermal glacier (sub-continental glacier); (C) cold-based glacier (continental glacier). Retreat phases across regions are shown as colored fan-shaped sectors: Phase I (22–20 ka), Phase II (19–18 ka), Phase III (17–16 ka), Phase IV (14.5–13 ka), and Phase V (11.6–10 ka). The black rectangles, triangles, and pentagons indicate the locations of lake, loess, and stalagmite records, respectively, used for correlation in this study. 1. Lake Karakul36; 2. Lake Tso Moriri37; 3. Mapam Yum Co38; 4. Tangra Yum Co39,40; 5. Nam Co14; 6. Mabu Co41; 7. Pumoyum Co42; 8. Mawmluh Cave43; 9. Lake Tiancai44,45; 10. Lake Naleng46; 11. Lake Qinghai47,48,49; 12. Lake Balikun50; 13. Loess section in the eastern Yili Basin51; 14. Loess section in the Western Tianshan, Kyrgyzstan52.
