Pollen and non-pollen palynomorphs, and 14C ages of Thor profile from the Gurvan Bogd, Gobi Altai, Mongolia

The dataset represent pollen and non-pollen palynomorphs counting data as well as radiocarbon datings of the Thor profile from the Gurvan Bogd, Gobi Altai, Mongolia. The profile Thor was collected in 2007 by Frank Schlütz. A metal box was cut from the wall of a fresh peat outcrop in a water fed depression near a seasonal runlet and sampled in the laboratory. Laboratory processing took place in the Dep. Palynology and Climate Dynamics, Georg-August-University of Göttingen in 2008 by Lyudmila Shumilovskikh. For each palynological sample, one millilitre of material was treated with hydrochloric acid, potassium hydroxide, hydrofluoric acid, acetolysis mixture, microsieved (6 μm) and stored in glycerol. Before acid, Lycopodium spores were added to calculate pollen influx. Standard microscopical magnification was 400×, for ambiguous objects 1000x with oil immersion. Identification and morphological pollen types follow Beug (2004) and type collections with taxonomical adaption to the flora of the Gobi Altai (Grubov, 2001). Non-pollen palynomorphs (NPP) follow Pals et al. (1980), van Geel et al. (1981) and Müller (1970). New NPP types were described and have been uploaded to the Non-Pollen Palynomorphs Image Database (NPP ID, http://nonpollenpalynomorphs.tsu.ru/). In addition, pieces of burnt plant fragments (Schlütz & Lehmkuhl, 2009; 'charcoal') of > 10 µm were counted. Higher taxa do not include separated lower groups; for instance Poaceae does not include Poaceae > 37 µm. A total of 300 to 350 terrestrial pollen grains were identified for each sample in the Thor profile.