Major Project under Natural Fund for Natural Sciences

High-resolution Record of Ancient Environment of Late Neozoic Qinghai Lake and its Significance on Global Change

Approval No.: 40599420

Time limit for execution: 2006.1-2009.12

Chief scientist: Academician An Zhisheng

Affiliated to: CAS Earth Environment Institute

Abstract of the Project

Qinghai Lake, the largest inland one of China, located in the northeast of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and the transition zone between western arid zone sensitive to environmental change and East Asia monsoon humid zone, and influenced by monsoon and west wind circulation in winter and summer, holds very important position in research of global environmental change. The Qinghai Lake international environmental drilling project with the applicant as the chief scientist has gained a large number of high-quality cores. This project is just designed to take the unique high-resolution original records gained from drilling in Qinghai Lake as main research object, combine with modern hydrology, meteorological observation and surrounding geologic and biological records, and carry out high-precisionage dating and multiple substitute indexes analysis and discipline cross research to rebuild the history of evolution of climate-tectonic environment of lake area since Late Neozoic by different time scale, particularly the temperature, precipitation and lake water saltness sequence since last deglaciation,  and to find out extreme climate events; to determine space pattern of lake basin in characteristic period of time, ecological landscape development characteristics in lake area, explore lake development history 　and relation between plateau northeast growth and environmental change, and compare them with monsoon zone, arid zone and global records, so as to put forward the dynamic model of China’s monsoon-arid environmental transition law, trend of development and global relations to make contributions to global environmental change  science and provide understandings of natural background for ecological 　and environmental treatment in Western China.

Research Target

Through high-resolution physical, chemical and biological system research of  Qinghai Lake core, combining with research of modern environmental process, to quantitative-quantitative rebuilding high-resolution climate-environment transition time sequence of Qinghai Lake and neighboring area in Late Neozoic as different time scale ; to recover natural environment transition history of Qinghai Lake area, and compare them with neighboring area and global records, so as to explore  and expound the dynamic ties between Asian monsoon-arid environmental system and global environmental change, and reveal the relations between the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau growth and rise and regional and global environmental change, with a view to providing a research example for understanding impact of interaction of sea, land and atmosphere in earth climate system in the past years on Qinghai Lake and China’s semi-arid zone, preparing scientific basis for treatment and improvement of China’s  semi-arid and arid zone’s ecological environment system, and for forecast of climate environment change trend against the backdrop of global warming.

Description of the Research

1. Chronological research of Qinghai Lake core

Through chronological approaches such as magnetic stratigraphy, AMS 14C, U-series method and TL/OSL, etc, combining climate stratigraphy and regional stratum contrast to establish the chronological frame of Late Neozoic environmental transition sequence of Qinghai Lake area.

2. Semi-quantitative -quantitative research of climate environment factors　

Mainly of indexes of element and isotope composition, organic molecular marker compound and isotope, etc and conversion functions of climate factors to explore climate factors during lake sediment (with key indexes of temperature, precipitation, lake saltness and water level) and realize semi-quantitative-quantitative rebuilding of ancient climate environment evolution sequence.

3.Research of the history of ecological and chemical weathering of high-resolution ancient vegetation in Qinghai Lake area

By pollen, kish carbon and plant residue in lake core to rebuild the history of vegetation and ecological system evolution in Qinghai Lake since Late Neozoic particularly since  last ice age cycle (gyration) and Holocene, explore impact of human activities in Qinghai Lake area on ecological environment change; to in-depth research change of micro-element composition of sedimentation Sr isotope and Rb, Sr and Zr, etc, and understand basin vegetation evolution and plateau/mountainous region chemical weathering process and their interrelationship,  so as to provide scientific evidence for researching plateau rise/growth and long-term climate change.

4. Rise/growth relations between Qinghai Lake area and the northeast of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in terms of tectonic scale

In accordance with core’s chronological sequence and geophysical exploration results and with comparative research of field geologic tectonic surveys to rebuild the tectonic history of Qinghai Lake basin coupling evolution,  and collect the history of growth/rise of the northeast of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau since Late Neozoic.

5. Qinghai Lake tectonic-climate evolution time sequence and comparison of regional and global climate records

Through comparison and simulating test of regional and global records to in-depth understand the dynamic relations of China’s monsoon-arid environmental system transition and global environmental change, and try to find solutions to some major scientific questions of Late Neozoic environmental change; to combine near-1000 years’ high-resolution biological/geologic records and historical documentation of Qinghai Lake area with modern observation records to research environmental change trend and natural ecological recovery mode in Qinghai Lake semi-arid zone

Topic Arrangement　　　　　

Topic 1: Chronological research of Late Neozoic sedimentary stratum in Qinghai Lake area

Approval No.: 40599421 

The leader of the research : Research Fellow Lu Yanchou

Topic 2: Quantitative -semi-quantitative research of climate environment factors and establishment of ancient climate sequence in Qinghai Lake area

Approval No.: 40599422

The leader of the research : Research Fellow Liu Weiguo

Topic 3: Research of Qinghai Lake Late Neozoic vegetation ecological and chemical weathering history

Approval No.: 40599423

The leader of the research : Research Fellow Wang Sumin

Topic 4: Climate-tectonic history of Qinghai Lake area and relations between the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau rise/growth and global change

Approval No.: 40599424

The leader of the research : Research Fellow An Zhisheng

Project Office :

Research Fellow Liu Xiaodong 　 029-88323262

Associate Research Fellow Song Yougui  029-88326315

Email: lqdp@ieecas.cn,syg@ieecas.cn