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A comparative study of n-alkane biomarker and pollen records: an example from southern China

  • Articles / Geology
  • Published:
Chinese Science Bulletin

Abstract

We report the results of a comparative study of n-alkane biomarkers and pollens in lacustrine and peat deposits at Dingnan, Jiangxi Province in southern China, and discuss the likely causes for the discrepancy in the interpretations of the n-alkane biomarker and pollen records in terms of climate and vegetation change. The results show that past changes in climate and vegetation revealed by the n-alkane record are not always consistent with the pollen assemblage record in the whole section. Biomarkers do not permit direct identification of the plant family and/or genus and mainly record compositions of local plant remains, while pollens mainly reflect the regional vegetation change. Biomarkers and pollen records complement each other, providing a better picture of local and regional environments. Furthermore, biomarkers are more sensitive than pollen to climatic and vegetational change. Several climatic events are clearly identified by the n-alkane biomarker proxies, such as C31/(C27+C29+C 31) ratio and can be correlated to the North Atlantic Heinrich event, B/A, YD and two dry-cool events during the early Holocene such as the periods of 9850 to 9585 cal a B.P. and 8590 to 7920 cal a B.P. These events are consistent with those found in the surrounding regions, suggesting that the regional climate was coupled with global-scale abrupt climatic events. Our results suggest that biomarker and pollen data can record the more detailed climate and vegetation information, thus improving the resolution and precision of vegetation and climate reconstruction.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Continental Dynamics, Department of Geology, Northwest University, Xi’an, 710069, China

    YanHong Zheng

  2. State Key Laboratory of Loess and Quaternary Geology, Institute of Earth Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi’an, 710075, China

    YanHong Zheng, WeiJian Zhou & XueFeng Yu

  3. Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environment Geology of Ministry of Education, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, 430074, China

    ShuCheng Xie

Authors
  1. YanHong Zheng
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  2. WeiJian Zhou
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  3. ShuCheng Xie
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  4. XueFeng Yu
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Correspondence to WeiJian Zhou.

Additional information

Supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 40602004) and National Basic Research Program of China (Grant No. 2004CB720200)

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Zheng, Y., Zhou, W., Xie, S. et al. A comparative study of n-alkane biomarker and pollen records: an example from southern China. Chin. Sci. Bull. 54, 1065–1072 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11434-008-0563-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11434-008-0563-3

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