Palaeoclimate and Atmospheric CO2 during the last glacial and Holocene
Reconstruction of CO2 during the last glacial and Holocene using stomata of leaves preserved in the varved maar lake sediments in NE China
Varved lake sediment records offer the unique opportunity to evaluate the dynamics of environment and climate change with seasonal resolution and precise and independent absolute chronologies. Here, varved sediments of the last glacial period from Lake Sihailongwan (SHL) and Lake Erlongwan (ERL), two deep maar lakes from NE China, will be investigated. SHL and ERL locate in the Long Gang area, Jilin Province, China. The climate of the Long Gang area is strongly seasonal, with the Mongolian – Siberian high pressure cell dominating the winter months, with dust storm maxima during the break down of this high pressure system in spring, and with hot and moist summer months caused by the East Asian Summer Monsoon. For both lakes precise chronologies have been established, based on AMS-14C dating of terrestrial plant macros (Lake ERL) and varve counts (Lake SHL, Fig. 1)
In this study, two aims will be pursued. One is the reconstruction of palaeo-environment and palaeoclimate by means of terrestrial plant macrofossil (stomata, leaves, seeds) analysis, with special focus on the last glacial and the Late Glacial period. The other aim is to estimate atmospheric CO2 variations for the last glacial period and the Holocene using stomata of leaves preserved in the varved sediments of Lake SHL and Lake ERL.
