Abstract:Numerous studies dated glacial deposits within the Himalayan-Tibetan orogen. While most focus on young deposits, i.e., younger than the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM or Marine oxygen Isotope Stage (MIS)-2, ~20 ka), older moraines such as those from MIS-6 (~130–191 ka) are much harder to date and interpret due to the less well-preserved nature of their surfaces and boulders, as well as their scattered and continuous age distribution due to long-lived erosion since deposition. Here, we dated with 10Be, two imbricated moraines near Yadong in southern Tibet, as MIS-2 and 6, showing that the most extensive, smooth surfaces were abandoned during MIS-6. Compiling published data from 54 MIS-6 moraines on the Tibetan Plateau reveals that they exist in most regions, dry or humid. They are particularly well-preserved (sharp crests) in eastern and northern Tibet, while in southern and central Tibet, their crests are rounded to sub-rounded. Because both MIS-2 and 6 were equally cold, and because MIS-6 moraines are much more extensive than those from the LGM, we conclude that MIS-6 glacial advances were controlled by more abundant precipitation than during MIS-2. This would be consistent with the peak in Asian monsoon during MIS-6, revealed by sediments from the South China Sea.