The Natural Environment during the Last Glacial Maximum Age around Korea and Adjacent Area

This study is conducted to examine the data of climate or environmental change in the northeastern Asia during the last glacial maximum. A remarkable feature of the 18,000 BP biome reconstructions for China is the mid-latitude extention of steppe and desert biomes to the modem eastern coast. Terrestrial deposits of glacial maximum age from the northern part of Yellow Sea suggest that this region of the continental shelf was occupied by desert and steppe vegetation. And the shift from temperate forest to steppe and desert implies conditions very much drier than present in eastern Asia. Dry conditions might be explained by a strong winter monsoon and/or a weak summer monsoon. A very strong depression of winter temperatures at LGM. has in the center of continent has influenced in northeast Asia similarly. The vegetation of Hokkaido at LGM was subarctic thin forest distributed on the northern area of middle Honshu and cool and temperate mixed forest at southern area of middle Honshu in Japan. The vegetation landscape of mountain- and East coast region of Korea was composed of herbaceous plants with sparse arctic or subarctic trees. The climate of yellow sea surface and west region of Korea was much drier and temperate steppe landscape was extended broadly. It is supposed that a temperate desert appeared on the west coast area of Pyeongan-Do and Cheolla-Do of Korea. The reconstruction of year-round conditions much colder than today right across China, Korea and Japan is consistent with biome reconstruction at the LGM.