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Evidence of Abrupt Climate Change during the Mid‐ to Late‐Holocene Recorded in a Tropical Lake, Southern China
Author(s) -
LING Yuan,
TANG Wenkun,
WANG Yong,
TIAN Fei,
YUAN Lupeng,
YE Mengni
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
acta geologica sinica ‐ english edition
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.444
H-Index - 61
eISSN - 1755-6724
pISSN - 1000-9515
DOI - 10.1111/1755-6724.14566
Subject(s) - intertropical convergence zone , holocene , stalagmite , geology , climate change , monsoon , peat , climatology , physical geography , flood myth , paleoclimatology , oceanography , geography , precipitation , archaeology , meteorology
Research on abrupt paleoclimatic and paleoenvironmental change provides a scientific basis for evaluating future climate. Because of spatial variability in monsoonal rainfall, our knowledge about climate change during the mid‐ to late‐Holocene in southern China is still limited. We present a multi‐proxy record of paleoclimatic change in a crater lake, Lake Shuangchi. Based on the age‐depth model from 210 Pb, 137 Cs and AMS 14 C data, high‐resolution mid‐ to late‐ Holocene climatic and environmental records were reconstructed using multiple indices (TOC, TN, C/N, δ 13 C and grain size). Shuangchi underwent a marked change from a peat bog to a lake around 1.4 kaBP. The C 3 plants likely dominated during 7.0–5.9 ka and 2.5–1.4 kaBP, while C 4 plants dominated between 5.9–3.2 and 3.0–2.5 kaBP. Algae were dominant sources of organic matter in the lake sediments after 1.4 kaBP. Several intervals with high concentrations of coarser grain sizes might be due to flood events. These results reveal that several abrupt paleoclimatic events occurred around 6.6 ka, 6.1 ka, 5.9 ka, 3.0 ka, 2.5 ka and 1.4 kaBP. The paleoclimatic change recorded in the lake may be related to the migration of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) and El Niño ‐ Southern Oscillation (ENSO) activity.