Reconstructing Holocene temperature evolution is important for understanding present temperature variations and for predicting future climate change, in the context of global warming. The evolution of Holocene global temperature remains disputed, due to differences between proxy reconstructions and model simulations, a discrepancy known as the ‘Holocene temperature conundrum’. More reliable and quantitative terrestrial temperature records are needed to resolve the spatial heterogeneity of existing records. In this study, based on the analysis of branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers (brGDGTs) from a loess-paleosol sequence from the Ganjia Basin in the north-eastern Tibetan Plateau (NETP), we quantitatively reconstructed the mean annual air temperature (MAAT) over the past 12 ka. The MAAT reconstruction shows that the temperature remained low during the early Holocene (12–8 ka), followed by a rapid warming at around 8 ka. From 8 to 4 ka, the MAAT record reached its highest level, followed by a cooling trend from the late Holocene (4–0 ka). The variability of the reconstructed MAAT is consistent with trends of annual temperature records from the Tibetan Plateau (TP) during the Holocene. We attribute the relatively low temperatures during the early Holocene to the existence of ice sheets at high-latitude regions in the Northern Hemisphere and the weaker annual mean insolation at 35°N. During the mid to late Holocene, the long-term cooling trend in the annual temperature record was primarily driven by declining summer insolation. This study provides key geological evidence for clarifying Holocene temperature change in the TP.

在全球变暖的背景下，重建全新世温度演化对于理解当前温度变化和预测未来气候变化非常重要。由于代理重建和模型模拟之间的差异，全新世全球温度的演变仍然存在争议，这种差异被称为“全新世温度难题”。需要更可靠和定量的陆地温度记录来解决现有记录的空间异质性。在这项研究中，基于对青藏高原东北部甘家盆地（NETP）黄土-古土壤序列中支链甘油二烷基甘油四醚（brGDGTs）的分析，我们定量重建了青藏高原东北部甘家盆地（NETP）的年平均气温（MAAT）过去 12 ka。MAAT重建表明，全新世早期（12-8ka）气温保持较低水平，随后在8ka左右迅速变暖。从8到4ka，MAAT记录达到最高水平，随后从全新世晚期（4-0ka）开始有冷却趋势。重建的 MAAT 的变化与全新世青藏高原 (TP) 年温度记录的趋势一致。我们将全新世早期相对较低的气温归因于北半球高纬度地区冰盖的存在以及北纬35°年平均日照较弱。全新世中后期，年气温记录的长期变冷趋势主要是由夏季日照减少驱动的。本研究为阐明青藏高原全新世温度变化提供了关键地质证据。