Spatiotemporal distribution of mass movements: insights into regional changes in climate and geological environments

Global climate change is a critical topic within geological and environmental research, serving as a pivotal factor in the formation of geological events and the reformation of river landscapes, thereby influencing the regional geological historical processes. Identifying a stable and reliable proxy for climate change is essential for analyzing the evolution of geological environments. We propose a proxy based on mass movements to investigate the correlation between the formation of the accumulation residuals on the southeastern margin of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and the paleoenvironment, aiming to reconstruct the regional climate evolution history since the Late Pleistocene. Our study reveals that the spatiotemporal distribution of mass movements provides an effective window for understanding paleoenvironments and serves as a key proxy for identifying glacial cycles and climate change, with substantial implications for reshaping the geological environment. Since the Late Pleistocene, southeastern Tibet has experienced at least five significant periods of mass movements. The periodicity of mass movements is basically synchronous with glacial alternations, variations in solar radiation, Earth's orbital precession, and shifts in marine oxygen isotopes. Additionally, it correlates with the sedimentation and erosion processes of rivers. Climate change plays a determinative role in the spatial and temporal patterns of mass movements, while tectonic activity intensifies the frequency and magnitude of these movements during specific periods and in particular regions.