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Environmental change inferred from Rb and Sr of lacustrine sediments in Huangqihai Lake, Inner Mongolia

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Abstract

Based on the geochemical elements Rb and Sr in sediments with three different grain size fractions from profile H3 on the northern lacustrine bottomland 13 m above the Huangqihai Lake surface in 1986, the paper investigates the record of palaeolake stand state, sedimentary environmental evolution, and winter monsoon change. First, these samples are separated into three different grain size fractions, i.e., total sediments, 77-20 μm and <20 μm. Second, the chemical elements—Rb and Sr—of the grain size separation were tested and analyzed systematically in this paper. Then the elements compositions of these samples are measured using VP-320 mode fluorescence spectrum instrument, respectively. The magnetic susceptibility of these samples is measured using Kappabridge KLY-3 mode instrument made in Czech AGICO Company. The results showed the elements and the ratios varied regularly with the grain size. But the ratio of Rb/Sr in the sediments <20 μm correlates positively with the magnetic susceptibility of these samples. Therefore, the ratio of Rb/Sr in the fraction <20 μm from the lake sediments reflected the strengthening of the weathering in the deposition sites. It is a good indicator of the summer monsoon-induced weathering and pedogenesis fluctuations and can be used to reconstruct the conditions of the paleoclimate and paleoenvironment.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Environment and Tourism College, Linyi Normal University, Linyi, 276005, Shandong, China

    Lei Chen & Hongyuan Shen

  2. School of Geography and Environment, Jiangxi Normal University, Nanchang, 330027, China

    Yulian Jia

  3. Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, CAS, Nanjing, 210008, China

    Jinglu Wu

  4. School of Geographic and Oceanographic Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210093, China

    Xusheng Li & Ling Wei

  5. Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, CAS, Beijing, 100029, China

    Pengling Wang

Authors
  1. Lei Chen
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  2. Hongyuan Shen
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  3. Yulian Jia
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  4. Jinglu Wu
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  5. Xusheng Li
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  6. Ling Wei
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  7. Pengling Wang
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hongyuan Shen.

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Foundation: National Natural Science Foundation of China, No.40401006

Author: Chen Lei (1971–), Associate Professor and Master, specialized in environmental evolvement.

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Chen, L., Shen, H., Jia, Y. et al. Environmental change inferred from Rb and Sr of lacustrine sediments in Huangqihai Lake, Inner Mongolia. J. Geogr. Sci. 18, 373–384 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11442-008-0373-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11442-008-0373-1

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