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Modern climate and vegetation variability recorded in organic compounds and carbon isotopic compositions in the Dianchi watershed

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Abstract

The aliphatic hydrocarbons distribution and compound-specific characteristics of carbon isotopic compositions in the sediments from the small catchment (197 km2) of the Dianchi watershed were investigated for identification of modern climate and vegetation variations in the study area. Results show that a regular bimodal n-alkanes distribution ranged from nC16 to nC33, with strong dominance at nC17 for short-chain n-alkanes and nC31 for long-chain n-alkanes. Mass chromatogram of total fatty acids also indicates corresponding mixed contribution of algae, hydrophilous non-emergent (C4 plants) and terrestrial plants (C3 plants) to sedimentary organic matter (OM). At the depth of −24 to −25 cm (early 1970s), nC31/nC17 and terrestrial to aquatic ratio of hydrocarbons (TAR) values decrease, suggesting a shift of OM origins from C3 terrestrial plants to algae-derived C4 plants. The highest water stage in 1971 was found to be recorded in the particle size (<4 μm). For long-chain alkanes, the values of δ 13Corg and δ 13C n-alkanes varied from −26.9 to −22.4 and −33.4 to −27.9 ‰, respectively. Population growth and economic development led to a demand for abundant habitable and cultivable land. Due to unreasonable land expansion, the primordial forest sporadically distributed. A mixture of C3 and C4 plants probably replaced C3 plants as the sources of OM in the past 10 years. The changes of land-use types and severe drought resulted in the excessive OM inputs to the watershed.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41273102, 41030751), the Scientific Research Innovation Program of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions (KYZZ_0214), the Qing Lan Project (184080H102187, 184080H20181), the Earmarked Fund of the State Key Laboratory of Organic Geochemistry, Institute of Geochemistry, CAS (OGL-201104) and the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions (PAPD). Gratefully, thanks to Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Science, for their help with laboratory work.

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  1. School of Geography Science, Nanjing Normal University, 1 Wenyuan Road, Qixia, Nanjing, 210023, China

    Meina Xu, Yanhua Wang, Hao Yang, Biao Xie & Xiaoyin Niu

  2. Jiangsu Center for Collaborative Innovation in Geographical Information Resource Development and Application, Nanjing, China

    Yanhua Wang, Hao Yang & Biao Xie

  3. Jiangsu Provincial Key Laboratory of Materials Cycling and Pollution Control, Nanjing, China

    Yanhua Wang & Hao Yang

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  1. Meina Xu
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  2. Yanhua Wang
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Correspondence to Yanhua Wang or Hao Yang.

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Xu, M., Wang, Y., Yang, H. et al. Modern climate and vegetation variability recorded in organic compounds and carbon isotopic compositions in the Dianchi watershed. Environ Sci Pollut Res 22, 14314–14324 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-015-4651-z

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