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The ‘Mediaeval Warm Period’ drought recorded in Lake Huguangyan, tropical South China

Guoqiang Chu

Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing 100029, China; guoqiangchu{at}yahoo.com

Jiaqi Liu

Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing 100029, China

Qing Sun

The Geological Analysis Center, Beijing, China

Houyuan Lu

Zhaoyan Gu

Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing 100029, China

Wenyuan Wang

The Administrative Center for China's Agenda 21th Century, Beijing, China

Tungsheng Liu

Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing 100029, China

The geochemistry of dated sediment cores from Lake Huguangyan (21°9'N, 110°17'E), tropical South China, reveals distinct stratigraphical patterns in total organic and inorganic carbon (TOC, TIC), biogenic silica (BS) and total nitrogen (TN) over the past 1400 years. In this hydrologically closed lake, TIC variations may re‘ ect changes in the precipitation/evaporation ratio, which controls the evaporative enrichment of carbonate. TOC, BS and TN in the sediment are proxy indicators of lake productivity and nutrient input, which we believe are linked to local precipitation. High TIC content correlates with low concentrations of TOC, BS and TN, and indicates two drought episodes dated to ad 670–760 and ad 880–1260 in the sediments of Lake Huguangyan. Local historical chronicles support these data, suggesting that the climate of tropical South China was dry during the ‘Mediaeval Warm Period’ (MWP) and wet during the ‘Little Ice Age’ (LIA). The detected MWP drought is temporally correlated with evidence for lower precipitation on the Guliya (China) and Quelccaya (Peru) ice caps, and with increased salinity in Moon Lake (US Great Plains).

Key Words: Palaeoclimate • geochemistry • lacustrine sediments • ‘Mediaeval Warm Period’ • ‘Little Ice Age’ • drought • China

The Holocene, Vol. 12, No. 5, 511-516 (2002)
DOI: 10.1191/0959683602hl566ft
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