The oxygen isotopic values of aquatic plant cellulose and carbonates in Lake Caohai sediments were measured using a continuous flow isotopic ratio mass spectrometer(CF-IRMS).Because of predictable oxygen isotopic fractionation between cellulose and its source water,the oxygen isotopic composition of paleo-lake water has been established quantitatively.Combined oxygen isotopic values of cellulose and carbonates were used in the‘Craig’equation to determine paleotemperatures and their variation in the lake during the past 500 years.Results show that the paleotemperature trend correlates well with meteorological records from Weining.There are four notable cold intervals at Lake Caohai over the past 500 years,namely 1540–1570AD,1670–1715AD,1780–1870AD and 1900–1930AD,and the former three cold intervals have been observed in the conventional Little Ice Age(LIA).These cold periods at Lake Caohai correspond well with those recorded from tree ring,peat,and ice core data from adjacent regions,particularly temperature those inferred fromδ18O of peat cellulose from Hongyuan Southwestern China.The trend in paleotemperature variations at Lake Caohai are also consistent with both the change of Indian summer monsoon,derived fromδ18O values of a stalagmite in Dongge,and a recorded shift in solar activity.The findings of this study illustrate that coupled analysis ofδ18O values of cellulose and carbonates from lake sediments may be used as a paleotemperature proxy.These results also provide further evidence of the existence of LIA in southwestern China.
Lacustrine sediments can provide potential information about environmental changes in the past. On the basis of high-resolution multi-proxy analysis including carbon and nitrogen contents of organic matter, C/N ratios, inorganic carbon contents, and carbon and oxygen isotopic composition of carbonate, together with precise 137Cs dating, the environmental evolution of Lake Chenghai, Yunnan Province, during the past 100 years has been investigated. It is shown that the carbonate in Lake Chenghai is authigenic, and the organic matter is mainly derived from aquatic plants and algae, instead of terrestrial-source materials. The environmental evolution of Lake Chenghai can be diverged into three periods with the contrasting characteristics during the past 100 years. Before 1940, the stable carbon and oxygen isotope values, the poor correlation between them and the lower carbon and nitrogen contents of organic matter suggested that Lake Chenghai was open, and the lake water was oligotrophic during that period. During 1940-1993, the negative δ13C values and the gradual increase of carbon and nitrogen contents of organic matter and C/N ratios indicated that the eutrophication was aggravated. The closeness of Lake Chenghai and human activities may be responsible for this eutrophication. After 1993, notable increases in carbon and oxygen isotopic values of carbonate, carbon and nitrogen contents of organic matter, C/N ratios and inorganic carbon contents demonstrated that the increase of lacustrine productivity and the serious eutrophication were resulted from strong human activities. Therefore, the multi-proxy in Lake Chenghai sediments has reliably recorded the natural environmental evolution and the impacts from human activities.
The correlation between the δ^13C and δ^13C-δ^18O in primary carbonates is affected by several factors such as hydrological balance, total CO2 concentrations, climatic condition and lake productivity. The influence of these factors on the δ^13C-δ^18O correlation may be different on different time scales. In this paper, two different-type lakes in southwestern China, Lake Erhai and Lake Chenghai, are selected to investigate the influence of climatic pattern on the δ^13C-δ^18O correlation and to evaluate the reliability of the δ^13C-δ^18O covariance as an indicator of hydrological closure. The results show that there exists good correlation between the δ^13C and δ^18O in Lake Erhai （overflowing open lake） and in Lake Chenghai （closed lake）. This suggests that the δ^13C-δ^18O covariance may be not an effective indicator of hydrological closure for lakes, especially on short time scales. On the one hand, a hydrologically open lake may display covariant δ^13C and δ^18O as a result of climatic influence. The particular alternate warm-dry and cold-wet climatic pattern in southwestern China may be the principal cause of the δ^13C-δ^18O covariance in Lake Erhai and Lake Chenghai. On the other hand, a hydrologically closed lake unnecessarily displays covariant trends between δ^13C and δ^18O because of the buffering effect of high CO2 concentration on the δ^13C shift in hyper-alkaline lakes. We should be prudent when we use the covariance between δ^13C and δ^18O to judge the hydrological closure of lake.
The carbon isotopic composition of organic matter from lake sediments has been extensively used to infer variations in productivity. In this paper, based on the study of the contents and δ13C values of organic matter in different types of lakes, it has been found that δ13C values of organic matter have different responses to lake productivity in different lakes. As to the lakes dominated by aqutic macrophytes such as Lake Caohai, organic matter becomes enriched in 13C with increasing productivity. As to the lakes dominated by aquatic algae such as Lake Chenghai, δ13C values of organic matter decrease with increasing productivity, and the degradation of aquatic algae is the main factor leading to the decrease of δ13C values of organic matter with increasing productivity. Therefore, we should be cautious to use the carbon isotopic composition of organic matter to deduce lake productivity.
