SEISMOLOGY AND GEOLOGY ›› 1997, Vol. 19 ›› Issue (1): 77-86.

• Brief Report • Previous Articles     Next Articles

ISOTOPE STUDIES OF SHIHUA CAVE—Ⅲ:RECONSTRUCTION OF PALEOCLIMATE AND PALEOENVIRONMENT OF BEIJING DURING THE LAST 3000 YEARS FROM δ18O AND δ13C RECORDS IN STALAGMITE

Li Hongchun1, The-Lung Ku1, Chen Wenji2, Liu Tungsheng3   

  1. 1. Deparment of Earht Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA90089;
    2. Institute of Geology, SSB, Beijing 100029;
    3. Institute of Geology, Academia Sinica, Beijing 102206
  • Received:1996-06-30 Online:1997-03-05 Published:2009-11-25

利用洞穴石笋的δ18O和δ13C重建3000a以来北京地区古气候和古环境——石花洞研究系列之三

李红春1, 顾德隆1, 陈文寄2, 李铁英3   

  1. 1.美国南加州大学地质科学系, CA90089;
    2. 国家地震局地质研究所, 北京, 100029;
    3. 北京地质调查所, 北京, 102206

Abstract: Unlike low resolution (>1000 years) δ 18O record which mostly indicates temperature change in the past,variations of high-resolution (<100 years) δ18O record of stalgmite mainly reflect changes in rainfall and the isotopic compition of moisture source in the study area. The δ 13C value of speleothem is mainly controlled by isotope composition of soil CO2that consists of isotopic composition of C3and C4plants. The C3/C4ratio is strongly correlated with climatic change. When the δ 18O and δ 13C shift to more negative values,the ratio of C3/C4indicates wet climate increased precipitation,development of forest. All those climatic conditions may indicate summer monsoon strengthening in the study area. This thoutht provides a new approach to reconstruct high resolution paleomonsoon records. We have first demonstrated this new idea throughout a series studies in Shihua Cave,Beijing. A 12.5cm stalagmite was subsampled at 1mm interval (~25 years resolution) and 109 samples were collected for δ 18O and δ 13C analyses. Using Hendy rule,cave temperature and δ 18O H2O ,we have illustrated the isotopic equilibrium between precipitated calcite and its parent solution and the reliability of our measurement. The δ 18O and δ 13C records provide climatic information during the past 3000 years in Beijing. Our results show that there are six apparently climatic cycles during the last 3000 years in Beijing. The wet periods were peaked at 2860,2350,1850,1480,790 and 150 yr B.P.,respectively,with a time step about 500 years. After 600 yr B.P. ,all of the δ 13C values show much heaiver than 3ka-mean values. We suspect that this change in C3/C4ratio (de-forest) was influenced by human activity also. There is a good agreement in the comparisons of the paleoclimate interpreted from the speeothem δ 18O and δ 13C records with historical records of temperature and precipitation in Beijing,and precipitation in North Central China reconstructed from tree-ring study in Huashan Mountain. Climate in Beijing during the last 500 years,was strongly influenced by the Little Ice Age event which had been found as a global climatic event. In Beijing the climate was relativly arid during the early period of the Little Ice Age. The climate became wetter after 400 yr B.P. and reached a maximum moisture for the 3000 yr period at ~150 yr B.P. Since 100 yr B.P.,the climate has become arid again.

Key words: Palaeoclimate, Paleoenvironmental analysis, Stable isotope, Beijing

摘要: 首次提出用石笋中稳定同位素记录重建由降雨量和降水气团同位素组成所反映的古气候历史,从而为研究高分辨率的古季风气候信息开辟了新的途径。利用Hendy准则、洞穴温度、研究区水系的δ18OH2O值以及温度公式,证实了同位素分析结果的可靠性,CaCO3-H2O之间存在同位素平衡分馏。对采自石花洞的石笋样品进行了分辨率约为25a的δ18O和δ13C的分析测量,从而得到3000a以来,北京地区古气候和古环境的变化信息。

关键词: 古气候, 古环境分析, 稳定同位素, 北京