Climatic and human impacts on quasi-periodic and abrupt changes of sedimentation rate at multiple time scales in Lake Taihu, China

Abstract

With the ensemble Empirical Mode Decomposition Method (EEMD) and the non-parametric Mann-Kendall Test, the quasi-periodic and abrupt changes of sedimentation rate at multiple time scales, and their relations to climate changes and human activities from 1951 to 2010 in Meiliang Bay of Lake Taihu (China) were studied. The results showed the following. (1) The change in sedimentation rate can be completely decomposed into three quasi-periodic changes on 3.7, 6.4, and 24-yr time scales, and a long-term trend. (2) The quasi-periodic changes in sedimentation rate are significantly and positively related to changes in annual average temperature at 6.4 and 24-yr time scales and human activities at 3.7-yr time scales, and not significantly related to precipitation at these time scales. The trend of sedimentation rate has a negative relation with temperature, but positive relations with precipitation and human activities. As a whole, the total variance contribution of climate changes to the quasi-periodic changes of sedimentation rate is close to that of human activities; (3) Temperature and precipitation are possibly related to the abrupt change of sedimentation rate as a whole. Floods have significant impacts on abrupt changes in the sedimentation rate at 3.7, 6.4 and 24-yr time scales. Moreover, some abrupt changes of sedimentation rate at 3.7- and 6.4-yr time scales are partly related to the changes of precipitation at 3.1-yr time scale and temperature at 5-yr time scale. The results of this study will help identify the impacts of climate change and human activities on lake sedimentation at different time scales, and will be available for use as a guide for reasonable development and effective protection of lake resources.