Advances in Earth Science ›› 2024, Vol. 39 ›› Issue (1): 82-95. doi: 10.11867/j.issn.1001-8166.2024.006

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Significant Increase in Human Activities Since 1850 According to Multiple Proxies of Sihailongwan Maar Lake Sediment

Hong JIANG 1 , 3( ), Yongming HAN 1 , 2 , 3( ), Weiguo LIU 1 , 4, Yunning CAO 1, Jing HU 1, Huimin FAN 1, Bo LIU 1   

  1. 1.State Key Laboratory of Loess and Quaternary Geology, Institute of Earth Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi’an 710061, China
    2.School of Human Settlements and Civil Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, China
    3.National Observation and Research Station of Regional Ecological Environment Change and Comprehensive Management in the Guanzhong Plain, Xi’an 710061, China
    4.University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
  • Received:2023-08-25 Revised:2023-10-31 Online:2024-01-10 Published:2024-01-26
  • Contact: Yongming HAN E-mail:jh1212521@163.com;yongming@ieecas.cn
  • About author:JIANG Hong, Ph. D student, research areas include the relationship between global changes and human activites. E-mail: jh1212521@163.com
  • Supported by:
    the National Natural Science Foundation of China(41991250);Creative Research Groups of the National Natural Science Foundation of China(42221003);The Strategic Priority Research Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences(XDB40000000)

Hong JIANG, Yongming HAN, Weiguo LIU, Yunning CAO, Jing HU, Huimin FAN, Bo LIU. Significant Increase in Human Activities Since 1850 According to Multiple Proxies of Sihailongwan Maar Lake Sediment[J]. Advances in Earth Science, 2024, 39(1): 82-95.

Based on a global comparison of geological records, the International Anthropocene Working Group (AWG) determined that the onset of the Anthropocene was sometime in the mid-twentieth century (~1950 CE), and the Sihailongwan Maar Lake has been included as one of the candidate sites for the Global boundary Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) of the Anthropocene. However, humans had a profound impact on the environment of the areas around Sihailongwan Maar Lake even before 1950 CE. Historical sequences of TOC contents, C/N ratios, δ13Corg values, Ca/Ti ratios, and concentrations of silicate major elements, such as Si, Al, and K, since 900 CE were reconstructed, with the average resolution being ~10 a, to explore the history of human activities in this region under the background of climate change. Human activities have significantly increased since 1850 CE, and changes in the measured proxies during the Medieval Warm Period and Little Ice Age before 1850 CE generally follow natural laws. The changes in the measured proxies during 1850-1950 CE indicate a rapid population growth, which damaged vegetation and resulted in intensified weathering and deviation of the surface environment evolution from the natural state. Hence, humans had started to be an important force for the geological environment; nevertheless, the changes during this period resulted in mostly local signals. After 1950 CE, the C/N ratios and δ13Corg values decreased continuously, indicating that the environmental status of the area around Sihailongwan Maar Lake changed once again under the new government and advanced productivity. This was in sync with the Great Acceleration of the global geological environment and supports the conclusion of the AWG that the onset of the Anthropocene was sometime in the mid-twentieth century.

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