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137Cs tracing of lacustrine sediments in the Dalian Lake, Qinghai Province, China

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Chinese Science Bulletin

Abstract

Based upon the analysis of137Cs and grain-size parameters, the total amounts of137Cs deposition by wind and water in the Dalian Lake of Gonghe Basin, Qinghai Province are defined. The vertical profile of Cs in the lacustrine sediments exhibits three137Cs activity maxima and one minimum. The major maximum corresponds to the global137Cs fallout in 1963; the two secondary maxima correspond to the leakage of the Chernobyl reactor in 1986 and complete desiccation of the lake in 1994, respectively. The minimum corresponds to aeolian deposition caused by extensive reclamation in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The137Cs data set was used to evaluate average sedimentation rate of the Dalian Lake since 1963. The deposition was stable in 1963–1986 and 1994–1998, and it was rapid during 1986–1994. This preliminary study reveals that137Cs has the same potential to trace environmental changes introduce by human interference in arid/semiarid regions as in humid regions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. China Certer of Desert Research at Beijing Normal University, 100875, Beijing, China

    Ping Yan

  2. Key Laboratory of Environmental Change and Natural Disaster, The Ministry of Education of China, Beijing Normal University, 100875, Beijing, China

    Ping Yan

  3. Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 730000, Lanzhou, China

    Guangrong Dong & Zhibao Dong

Authors
  1. Ping Yan
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  2. Guangrong Dong
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  3. Zhibao Dong
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Correspondence to Ping Yan.

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Yan, P., Dong, G. & Dong, Z. 137Cs tracing of lacustrine sediments in the Dalian Lake, Qinghai Province, China. Chin.Sci.Bull. 46 (Suppl 1), 83–87 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03187242

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03187242

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