Abstract:

Sediment grain size contains paleo-environmental information such as regional precipitation intensity, water level fluctuation and sediment provenance. The end-member modeling analysis can extract the end members representing different sedimentary dynamic processes. We collected two sediment cores from the center and the shore of the Erlongwan Maar Lake. 137Cs activities were measured by Coaxial High Purity Germanium Detector GMX30P-A Series, particle size was measured by the Malvern Mastersizer 2000. The parametric EMA modeling was used to analyze the grain size data of sediment cores in Erlongwan Maar Lake. Based on the results, we analyzed the sediment source and the sedimentary environment of Erlongwan Maar Lake in the past 100 years. The results indicate that the parametric EMA modeling has recognized three end members. The sediments in
Erlongwan Maar Lake are thought to be aqueous mainly, and the eolian deposits are relatively less. From EM1 to EM3, the mode
particle size increases successively. EM1 represents eolian deposits and fine-grained materials carried into the lake by flowing water. EM2 comes from the erosion of debris in the basin by surface runoff, which is the major component of sediments. EM1 and EM2 indicate a closed lake sedimentary environment with weak hydrodynamics, and EM3 indicates a process of strong surface runoff transport. The detrital material derived from continent is the main source of sediments. The distant clayey particles carried by the upper westerly wind and the near dust particles carried by meso-scale regional wind also contribute to the sediments. The sedimentary environment is relatively stable during recent 100 years. The sedimentation rate of the lake core is lower than that of the lakeshore. After 1963, the content of fine-grained materials increased, while the proportion of coarse-grained components decreased. This means the improvement of ecological environmental and the decrease of surface materials loss, which indicates that the establishment of Jilin Longwan National Nature Reserve plays an important role in soil and water conservation. 

Key words: Erlongwan Maar Lake, end member model, sedimentary environment