The Sihailongwan Maar Lake, northeastern China as a candidate Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point for the Anthropocene Series

Yongming Han*, An Zhisheng, Dewen Lei, Weijian Zhou, Luyuan Zhang, Xue Zhao, Dongna Yan, Richard Arimoto, Neil L. Rose, Sarah L. Roberts, Li Li, Yalan Tang, Xingqi Liu, Xuewu Fu, Tobias Schneider, Xiaolin Hou, Jianghu Lan, Liangcheng Tan, Xingxing Liu, Jing HuYunning Cao, Weiguo Liu, Feng Wu, Tianli Wang, Xiaoke Qiang, Ning Chen, Peng Cheng, Yifei Hao, Qiyuan Wang, Guoqiang Chu, Meiling Guo, Mei Han, Zhihai Tan, Chong Wei, Ulrike Dusek

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

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Abstract

Sihailongwan Maar Lake, located in Northeast China, is a candidate Global boundary Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) for demarcation of the Anthropocene. The lake’s varved sediments are formed by alternating allogenic atmospheric inputs and authigenic lake processes and store a record of environmental and human impacts at a continental-global scale. Varve counting and radiometric dating provided a precise annual-resolution sediment chronology for the site. Time series records of radioactive (239,240Pu, 129I and soot 14C), chemical (spheroidal carbonaceous particles, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, soot, heavy metals, δ13C, etc), physical (magnetic susceptibility and grayscale) and biological (environmental DNA) indicators all show rapid changes in the mid-20th century, coincident with clear lithological changes of the sediments. Statistical analyses of these proxies show a tipping point in 1954 CE. 239,240Pu activities follow a typical unimodal globally-distributed profile, and are proposed as the primary marker for the Anthropocene. A rapid increase in 239,240Pu activities at 88 mm depth in core SHLW21-Fr-13 (1953 CE) is synchronous with rapid changes of other anthropogenic proxies and the Great Acceleration, marking the onset of the Anthropocene. The results indicate that Sihailongwan Maar Lake is an ideal site for the Anthropocene GSSP.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)177-200
Number of pages24
JournalAnthropocene Review
Volume10
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2023

Keywords

  • Anthropocene
  • artificial radioisotopes
  • GSSP
  • Sihailongwan Maar Lake
  • varve lamination

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