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Li/Ca ratios of ostracod shells at Lake Qinghai, NE Tibetan Plateau, China: a potential temperature indicator

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Abstract

Acquiring continuous and high-resolution natural records in recent 2,000 years is the hot issue in the palaeoclimate research. Recent studies revealed that Li/Ca and Mg/Li ratio of carbonate is a potential tracer of past environmental changes in the oceans, and is seldom applied for palaeoclimate reconstruction in lakes. To make full understanding of the potential of Li/Ca ratios of carbonates in lakes, Li/Ca ratios of monospecific ostracod shell Eucypris inflate with similar size in the lacustrine sediment core from Lake Qinghai, NE Tibetan Plateau have been analysed for the first time. Single species can effectively avoid the interspecies effects. In combination with the sedimentation rate that existed, data derived from 210Pb and 137Cs, downcore variations of Li/Ca ratios of ostracod shells during the past 800 years in Lake Qinghai have been reconstructed successfully. By comparing Li/Ca ratios and temperature inferred from meteorological records and tree ring widths in Dulan and Qilianshan in adjacent regions, Li/Ca ratios of ostracod shells negatively correlate with temperature. Higher temperature corresponds with lower Li/Ca ratios, and vice versa, indicating that Li/Ca ratio of ostracod shells is an effective indicator for temperature variations. Therefore, ongoing in-depth investigation using Li/Ca ratios of carbonates in more lakes to further reveal its palaeotemperature implications would be deserved.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to Dr. Li Jian for collecting sediment samples and Dr. Shuang Yan for reviewing this paper. Thanks are given to Dr. Qi Liang for measuring Li/Ca ratios of ostracod shells and lake water. We also would like to thank the editor and anonymous reviewer for the constructive suggestions and comments, which contributed to an obvious improvement of the manuscript. This research was financially supported by the project of National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 41073097, 40773066) and the National Basic Research Program of China (Grant No. 2006CB403201).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The State Key Laboratory of Environmental Geochemistry, Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guiyang, 550002, China

    Zheng-jie Zhu & Jing-an Chen

  2. Chongqing Key Laboratory of Exogenic Mineralization and Mine Environment, Chongqing Institute of Geology and Mineral Resources, Chongqing, 400042, China

    Zheng-jie Zhu, Da-hua Li & Shi-cong Ren

  3. Chongqing Research Center of State Key Laboratory of Coal Resources and Safe Mining, Chongqing, 400042, China

    Zheng-jie Zhu

  4. Department of Chemistry and Life Science, Baise University, Baise, 533000, China

    Fang Liu

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  1. Zheng-jie Zhu
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  2. Jing-an Chen
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  5. Fang Liu
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Correspondence to Zheng-jie Zhu or Jing-an Chen.

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Zhu, Zj., Chen, Ja., Li, Dh. et al. Li/Ca ratios of ostracod shells at Lake Qinghai, NE Tibetan Plateau, China: a potential temperature indicator. Environ Earth Sci 67, 1735–1742 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-012-1617-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-012-1617-z

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