Spore-pollen-climate factor transfer function and paleoenvironment reconstruction in Dajiuhu, Shennongjia, Central China

Abstract

The identified results of 121 surface sediment spore-pollen samples in Shennongjia and meteorological data base of 30 years (January, 1971–December, 2000) of 7 meteorological stations around Dajiuhu, Shennongjia are used in this study. Selecting 55 species of common spore-pollen with the method of space fitting and stepwise regression we construct the pollen climate factor transfer function of annual mean temperature: T = 7.649 − 2.33097X Abies − 0.10873X Betula − 0.17352X Compositae − 0.13176X Cruciferae + 0.13356X Euphorbiaceae − 0.83069X Campanulaceae + 1.96494X Pyrrosia + 0.38411X Pteris + 2.77741X Selaginella + 0.04439X Monolites . We had reconstructed annual mean temperature series by use of the sporo-pollen samples concentra-tion percentage in peat section with 297 cm thickness in Dajiuhu since 15.753 kaBP. The temperature series reflect well the character of climatic change since the late glacial, which indicates extreme cold climate event of the Oldest Dryas, the Older Dryas, the Younger Dryas and the 8.2 kaBP, the same to the climate fluctuations of Bolling Warm Period and Allerod Warm Period, and the character of temperature change fluctuating frequently at the transition age from the late glacial to the Holocene. The reconstructed temperature also indicate Holocene Optimum, late Holocene warm-dry climate, and the character of climatic change in Dajiuhu in the last 1 ka. The conclusion is that the sporo-pollen samples have important climatic significance to surface sediment and the section of Dajiuhu, Shennongjia and important reference value to studying climatic change during the last glaciation by the temperature transfer function and reconstructed temperature series.