Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Hongpan Xue, Xin Zhou, Luyao Tu, Li Ma, Shiwei Jiang, Shukun Cui, Liqiang Xu, Yiyan Chen, Xiaoyan Liu, Zihui Qiu, Xiaolin Zhang, Deming Kong, Fangming Zeng, Chao Huang
Summary: Soil erosion is a serious environmental problem in the red soil region of southern China. Through the study of sediments in Huguangyan Maar Lake, it was found that the sediments mainly came from the erosional input of weathering products of wall rocks through catchment runoff. The study reconstructed the soil erosion processes in the Huguangyan Maar Lake catchment over the past 1400 years and explored the potential drivers of soil erosion.
Article
Geography, Physical
Qi Li, Qing Sun, Manman Xie, Yuan Ling, Zeyang Zhu, Qing-Zeng Zhu, Nan Zhan, Patrick Rioual, Guoqiang Chu
Summary: We present a reconstruction of mean annual air temperature based on GDGTs from the sediments of Huguangyan Maar Lake in southeast China and find significant differences with model simulations and proxy sea surface temperature records. Our study reveals a regional climate pattern that was not adequately documented in previous research.
QUATERNARY SCIENCE REVIEWS
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Hongchen Wu, Jingfu Wang, Jianyang Guo, Xinping Hu, Hongyun Bao, Jingan Chen
Summary: The historical atmospheric heavy metal pollution in southern China over the past 200 years was studied using analysis of a sediment core from Huguangyan Maar Lake. The study found that Zn, Cd, Sb, Tl, and Pb in the lake were closely related to human activities, while Cr and Ni were mainly from the weathering of surrounding basalt. The increase of atmospheric Pb in southern China occurred earlier than in other regions of China, mainly due to war and the use of leaded gasoline. After 2000, atmospheric Pb continued to rise due to continued industrial development.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2022)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Xiaozhong Huang, Xiuxiu Ren, Xuemei Chen, Jun Zhang, Xiaosen Zhang, Zhongwei Shen, Yu Hu, Fahu Chen
Summary: The study reveals that the vegetation in the mountain region of northern China has undergone four stages of change over the past 4500 years, with significant impact from human activities. After 1500 CE, there was a drastic decrease in tree pollen frequencies, leading to large-scale deforestation, possibly due to intensified human activity and cooling climate.
Article
Geography, Physical
Iwo Wieczorek, Mateusz C. Strzelecki, Lukasz Stachnik, Jacob C. Yde, Jakub Malecki
Summary: This study provides the first inventory of glacial lakes in Svalbard, focusing on the post-Little Ice Age evolution and their typology. The results show a consistent increase in the total area of glacial lakes from the 1930s to 2020 and suggest a link between climatic and geological factors and the formation of specific lake dam types. 134 glacial lake drainage events have been detected since the 1930s. Svalbard has one of the highest rates of glacial lake development in the world, indicating landscape changes in response to climate change.
JOURNAL OF GLACIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Mingming Zhang, Zhaojun Bu, Hongkai Li, Shasha Liu, Jie Chen, Yaxin Cui
Summary: The study reconstructed hydrological dynamics over the past 700 years in Northeast Asia using samples from the Hani peatland in the Changbai Mountains, revealing wetter conditions from 1300-1700 AD, dry conditions from 1700-1850 AD, and wet conditions from 1850-2018 AD. The driving mechanisms for these hydrological variations were identified as La Nina-like conditions, volcanic aerosol effects, and El Nino-like conditions. The results suggest that solar activity and sunspot cycles may control the hydrological dynamics in Northeast Asia on a decadal-centennial scale.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2021)
Article
Geography, Physical
Adam Emmer, Joanne L. Wood, Simon J. Cook, Stephan Harrison, Ryan Wilson, Alejandro Diaz-Moreno, John M. Reynolds, Juan C. Torres, Christian Yarleque, Martin Mergili, Harrinson W. Jara, Georgie Bennett, Adriana Caballero, Neil F. Glasser, Enver Melgarejo, Christian Riveros, Sarah Shannon, Efrain Turpo, Tito Tinoco, Lucas Torres, David Garay, Hilbert Villafane, Henrry Garrido, Carlos Martinez, Nebenka Apaza, Julia Araujo, Carlos Poma
Summary: This study examines GLOF events in glacierized areas of the Cordilleras of Peru and Bolivia using high-resolution satellite and aerial imagery, as well as documentary data. A total of 160 GLOF events from 151 individual sites are characterized and analyzed, tripling the number of previously reported events. The study provides important statistics on these events for regional GLOF hazard identification and assessment.
GLOBAL AND PLANETARY CHANGE
(2022)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Benjamin H. Hills, Knut Christianson, Andrew O. Hoffman, T. J. Fudge, Nicholas Holschuh, Emma C. Kahle, Howard Conway, John E. Christian, Annika N. Horlings, Gemma K. O'Connor, Eric J. Steig
Summary: Geophysical exploration of a subglacial lake near the South Pole suggests that it has been thermodynamically stable for at least the last 120,000 years, making it a promising site for sediment coring.
GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2022)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Jonathan L. Carrivick, Clare M. Boston, Jenna L. Sutherland, Danni Pearce, Hugo Armstrong, Anders Bjork, Kristian K. Kjeldsen, Jakob Abermann, Rachel P. Oien, Michael Grimes, William H. M. James, Mark W. Smith
Summary: Glaciers and ice caps (GICs) in Greenland have experienced significant fragmentation and mass loss since the Little Ice Age (LIA) termination in 1900. The number of glaciers has increased from 5327 to 5467, with at least 587 km(3) of ice lost from the ablation areas. The long-term mean mass balance has been estimated to be negative, and the rate of mass loss has increased threefold between 2000 and 2019. The spatial variability in glacier changes highlights the complex challenges in understanding regional and local factors affecting glacier evolution.
GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Tianhang Li, Wei Zhong, Zhiqiang Wei, Shengtan Shang, Susu Ye, Yuanhan Chen, Junyu Pan, Xiaojun Wang
Summary: The new Pb-210-dated record of Hg accumulation in the Huguangyan Lake (HGY) sediment core from a Hg-enriched area in South China suggests that atmospheric deposition is the main source of Hg influx into the lake, with minimal input from the catchment and limited adsorption effects of organic matter and clay. Enhanced anthropogenic input of Hg began in the early 1900s, correlating with wars or increased economic activities in China. The HGY sediments serve as a valuable natural archive for studying atmospheric Hg deposition related to human activities.
ENVIRONMENTAL GEOCHEMISTRY AND HEALTH
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Moritz Muschick, Eliane Jemmi, Nicholas Lengacher, Stephanie Hansch, Nathan Wales, Mary A. Kishe, Salome Mwaiko, Jorunn Dieleman, Mark Alexander Lever, Walter Salzburger, Dirk Verschuren, Ole Seehausen
Summary: Tropical freshwater lakes are well-known for their biodiversity, and the East African Great Lakes in particular are famous for their cichlid fishes. This study demonstrates, for the first time, that fish fossils from tropical lake sediments contain endogenous ancient DNA (aDNA), providing valuable information on the evolutionary trajectories and diversity of these fish taxa. The preservation and success rates of aDNA differ between investigated lakes, possibly due to differences in oxygenation.
Article
Geography, Physical
Heinz Wanner, Christian Pfister, Raphael Neukom
Summary: The Little Ice Age, lasting from 1250 to 1860 AD, was the coldest period in the past 8000 years. It was influenced by factors such as volcanic eruptions and weak solar irradiance. The temperature drop during this period triggered sea-icealbedo feedback and weakened the Atlantic overturning circulation.
QUATERNARY SCIENCE REVIEWS
(2022)
Article
Geochemistry & Geophysics
Zhong Wei, Tang Xiaowen, Shang Shengtan, Wei Zhiqiang, Chen Yuanhan, Quan Mingying, Li Tianhang
Summary: The study of magnetic properties in Hugunagyan Lake shed light on the evolution of East Asian monsoon systems, revealing that the magnetic minerals in the sediments mainly originate from weathered materials in the catchment area.
NEAR SURFACE GEOPHYSICS
(2021)
Article
Geography, Physical
Faruk Ocakoglu, Aydin Akbulut, Emel Oybak Donmez, Alaettin Tuncer, Cemal Tunoglu, Sanem Acikalin, Celal Erayik
Summary: This study investigates the impact of precipitation changes on lake hydrology and vegetation in NW Anatolia since the Little Ice Age using sediment cores from Lake Sunnet. The results suggest that the LIA resulted in shallow aquatic conditions and considerably cooler climate. The Maunder Minimum and Dalton Minimum periods were characterized by dry and cold conditions, while a relatively warmer climate dominated the area until the end of the 20th century.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Hsun-Ming Hu, Chuan-Chou Shen, John C. H. Chiang, Valerie Trouet, Veronique Michel, Hsien-Chen Tsai, Patricia Valensi, Christoph Spoetl, Elisabetta Starnini, Marta Zunino, Wei-Yi Chien, Wen-Hui Sung, Yu-Tang Chien, Ping Chang, Robert Korty
Summary: This study focuses on the Little Ice Age (LIA), specifically the climate patterns and hydroclimatic conditions in Europe during the early LIA. By analyzing a new stalagmite record from northern Italy and other published data, researchers discovered a split in the climatological westerlies during the early LIA, possibly attributed to sea ice melting.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2022)