A Review of Paleoenvironmental Reconstruction Using Crater Lake Sediments in Monsoonal China

Abstract

The sediments of crater lakes are one of the ideal archives for high-resolution paleoenvironmental reconstruction. This paper presents sedimentary records of 21 crater lakes in monsoonal China and systematically discusses the geographical distribution and formation ages of these crater lakes. Sediment provenance of the crater lakes and its influencing factors were analyzed, and paleoenvironmental sequences and human activities records on different timescales reconstructed by crater lake sediments in monsoonal China were reviewed. The following points are highlighted: (1) Crater lakes in monsoonal China have been shown to preserve continuous long-time sediments that can exceed even 400 ka, although the chronology of some sediments in the southern part is debated and there were currently fewer long time records from the northern part; (2) the sediment provenance of crater lakes in northern China (e.g., aeolian inputs) was different from that in the south (e.g., the volcanic-lake rim), due to the different location and deposition conditions of crater lakes; (3) crater lake sediments have been used to reconstruct the history of climate changes on different timescales, but reconstruction studies of glacial-interglacial and decadal-annual scale records and studies of spatial comparisons of records on different timescales still need to be strengthened; (4) the anthropogenic signals, which include cultivation, logging, and industrial activity, are well documented in crater lake sediments from different areas and can therefore provide key evidence for the study of the Anthropocene.

Keywords

crater lake sediments / monsoon / climate change / human activities

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