Long‐term climato‐limnological oscillation during the past 2.5 million years printed in Lake Baikal sediments

Abstract

The physical properties of long sediment cores (BDP96) obtained from the Academician Ridge of Lake Baikal, eastern Siberia, show that the changes in the climato‐limnological environment of the continental interior during the past 2.5 m.y. clearly reflected global climatic change. Oscillation in water content and grain size, which are closely related to biogenic productivity, coincides with marine δ 18 O variation. The values for water content and grain size are large during interglacial periods and small during glacial periods. Milankovitch parameters were also imprinted in the sediments over the past 2.5 m.y.: a 400‐ky period as well as a 100‐ky period due to eccentricitical parameters is found in addition to other orbital parameter (a 40‐ky period of obliquitical and a 20‐ky period of precessional parameter). This indicates that change in solar insolation was closely related to long term variations in climato‐limnological regime in this area.