Carbon accumulation in Dahu Swamp in the eastern Nanling Mountains (south China) and its implications for hydroclimatic variability over the past 47 000 years

Abstract

Wetlands act as persistent natural carbon sinks over long time scales. Understanding the response of these carbon reservoirs to climate change is critical to assessing potential climate feedbacks. We conducted a study of an 860‐cm‐long sediment core in Dahu Swamp in south China to determine how the carbon accumulation rate (CAR) has varied as a function of palaeohydrology and palaeoclimate over the past 47 000 years. From an orbital time scale, our results show that the CAR in Dahu Swamp is relatively low in the wet periods of Marine Isotope Stage 3 (MIS 3) (mean: 46.7 gC m−2 a−1) and MIS 1 (mean: 28.2 gC m−2 a−1), compared to the dry periods of MIS 2 (mean: 59.9 gC m−2 a−1). At centennial and millennial scales, the highest CARs of Dahu Swamp mainly occur in organic‐rich silt or clay (gyttja) layers, which correspond to the relatively dry climate (e.g. c. 48 000–41 000, c. 33 000–32 000, c. 15 800–14 900 and c. 4400–4250 cal. a BP). The CAR of Dahu Swamp is mainly controlled by local hydrological variations that are closely related to the East Asian summer monsoon (EASM) intensity, which may be co‐influenced by orbitally induced summer insolation forcing and internal feedback processes (e.g. Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation and El Niño/Southern Oscillation). Based on comparison with the CARs in monsoonal regions of China, we consider that precipitation may be the key factor for wetland CAR in EASM areas, whereas temperature is more important in Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau regions under Indian summer monsoon influence. The CAR of Dahu Swamp provides valuable records of wetland carbon accumulation dynamics in subtropical monsoon regions, which contradict the traditional patterns in global northern wetlands.