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14C GEOCHRONOLOGY AND RADIOCARBON RESERVOIR EFFECT OF REVIEWED LAKES STUDY IN CHINA

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 November 2021

Weijian Zhou*
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory of Loess and Quaternary Geology, Institute of Earth Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi’an 710061, China Beijing Normal University, Interdisciplinary Research Center of Earth Science Frontier, Beijing 100875, China CAS Center for Excellence in Quaternary Science and Global Change, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xian 710061, China Xi’an Institute for Innovative Earth Environment Research, Xi’an 710061, China
Yuda Chui
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory of Loess and Quaternary Geology, Institute of Earth Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi’an 710061, China University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
Ling Yang
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory of Loess and Quaternary Geology, Institute of Earth Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi’an 710061, China University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
Peng Cheng
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory of Loess and Quaternary Geology, Institute of Earth Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi’an 710061, China Joint Shaanxi Province Key Laboratory of Accelerator Mass Spectrometry Technology and Application between Institute of Earth Environment, CAS, Xi’an 710061, China, and Xi’an Jiao Tong University, Xi’an 710049, China Open Studio for Oceanic-Continental Climate and Environment Changes, Pilot National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology (Qingdao), Qingdao 266061, China
Ning Chen
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory of Loess and Quaternary Geology, Institute of Earth Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi’an 710061, China Joint Shaanxi Province Key Laboratory of Accelerator Mass Spectrometry Technology and Application between Institute of Earth Environment, CAS, Xi’an 710061, China, and Xi’an Jiao Tong University, Xi’an 710049, China
Guodong Ming
Affiliation:
CAS Key Laboratory of Crust-Mantle Materials and Environments, School of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026, China
Yan Hu
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory of Loess and Quaternary Geology, Institute of Earth Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi’an 710061, China University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
Wenli Li
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory of Loess and Quaternary Geology, Institute of Earth Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi’an 710061, China University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
Xuefeng Lu
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory of Loess and Quaternary Geology, Institute of Earth Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi’an 710061, China Joint Shaanxi Province Key Laboratory of Accelerator Mass Spectrometry Technology and Application between Institute of Earth Environment, CAS, Xi’an 710061, China, and Xi’an Jiao Tong University, Xi’an 710049, China
*
*Corresponding author. Email: weijian@loess.llqg.ac.cn
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Abstract

Lacustrine sediments are important archives for paleoclimate research, but there are evident carbon reservoir effects. Radiocarbon (14C) ages of lake sediments must be corrected for these effects before applying them to paleoclimate research. The authors review the lacustrine research from the last 20 years from different climatic regions in China, and systematically investigate the 14C age and correction methods used in the studies of 81 lakes. It is found that the climate-vegetation cover and distribution of carbonate around lakes are dominant factor controlling radiocarbon reservoir effects. In eastern China, the average 14C reservoir age is about 500 14C years and is associated with relatively dense vegetation. However, in northwest China and Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, widespread carbonate bedrock may markedly increase the radiocarbon reservoir age which frequently is about 1500 and 2500 14C years. A piecewise linear regression model provides more reliable 14C reservoir age correction that accounts for sedimentary facies and sedimentation rate changes. It is worth mentioning that when analyzing 14C ages deviated greatly from time sequence, the age anomalies may indicate important effects relevant to the study of climate and environmental changes.

Information

Type
Review Article
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press for the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona
Figure 0

Figure 1 Spatial distribution of lake 14C reservoir effect in different vegetation and bedrock zones in China. Blue circles and purple circles represent the location of inflow and outflow lakes, respectively. Lake numbers are shown here 1 and also in supplementary Table S1. A–G present different climate and vegetation zones (modified from Zhao et al. 2009). Average reservoir ages are in red.

Figure 1

Figure 2 Statistical graph of lake reservoir effect in China: (a) box-plot of 14C reservoir age in outflow and inflow lakes; (b) box-plot of lake 14C reservoir age under different vegetation types (A–G, please also see Figure 1); (c) box-plot of lake 14C reservoir ages in regions with carbonate and without carbonate bedrocks; (d) relationship of reservoir age verses TOC content in lake sediments. Top/bottom of boxes (a)–(c) denote upper/lower quartiles; upper/lower horizontal lines denote maximum/minimum; inner lines denote median; black squares denote arithmetic mean.

Figure 2

Figure 3 Age-depth model of Lake Qinghai 1F core. 14C reservoir age obtained by piecewise linear regression using 14C ages based on different sedimentation rate (clay from 0–499 cm, silty sand from 499–901 cm, fine sand from 901–1861 cm). RA denotes average 14C reservoir age.

Figure 3

Figure 4 (a) Carbon reservoir age compared with climatic abrupt events (after Ming et al. 2020), from top to bottom: (i) NGRIP δ18O record (Rasmussen et al. 2014); (ii) Ca/Sr ratios for core SL 170 in central Baffin Bay, North Atlantic (Jackson et al. 2017); (iii) detrital carbonate events recorded in MD99-2236 core, North Atlantic (Jennings et al. 2015); (iv) modeled ages for the onset and end of sand layers for the YD (Younger Dryas), PBO (pre-Boreal oscillation) and 8.2 ka events in Lake Bayan Nuur sediments. Modeled ages using different reservoir values (ΔR) are shown with calculated uncertainties; the shaded area indicates the timing of dry/cold intervals for each record; (b) standardized XRD results of allochthonous dolomite input (black line) compared with the 14C ages (red dashed line) (after Lockot et al. 2015).

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