Reconstruction of Holocene Optimum paleoclimatic variations using long-chain n-alkanes and alkenones in sediments from Dabusu Lake, northeastern China

Long-chain n-alkanes and alkenones were analyzed in sediments from Dabusu Lake, northeastern China, from ca. 7.2-4.5 kyr BP (the Holocene Optimum) and the present. Long-chain n-alkanes are derived from leaf waxes of terrestrial vascular plants and aquatic macrophytes. Using n-alkane proxies such as Paq and average chain length (ACL) indices, variations in paleovegetation were reconstructed. The Paq values were generally low, indicating that aquatic macrophytes were a minor floral component in Dabusu Lake. The ACL data indicated that forest/ grassland mixed vegetation occurred around the lake. From the alkenone distribution patterns (C-37/C-38, C-40/C-37, and %C-37: 4 ratios), the main alkenone producers were inferred to be Group II producers, especially Ruttnera lamellosa. We estimated water temperatures based on alkenone unsaturation indices (U-37(K) and UK37K") using the temperature calibrations obtained from culture strains of R. lamellosa. The variation pattern of the U-37(K")-based water temperatures was almost similar to that of the U-37(K)-based pattern, although some spikes differed between the temperatures based on the two indices. The U-37(K')'-based water temperatures were lower from 7.2 to 6.2 kyr BP, and subsequently increased after 6.2 kyr BP. The alkenone-based temperatures were highest from 5.5 to 5.3 kyr BP, indicating that this maximal stage was the Holocene Thermal Maximum in the Dabusu region. The markedly decreasing spikes of UK''37-based water temperatures in our study likely corresponded to the cooling events during the Holocene Optimum, as previously reported, especially Asian monsoon events (AM) 1 and Bond event 4 (BE4). Also, the increasing spike (7.2 kyr BP) in temperatures was possibly associated with the warming regime just after AM2. Moreover, the rapid increasing spikes of alkenone-based temperatures corresponded to those of Paq at 7.2 kyr BP (just after AM2) and 6.4 kyr BP. These results imply that the rapid warming reconstructed using alkenone-based temperatures might have resulted in increased precipitation around the lake at these ages, especially just after the AM2 cooling.