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Arid Land Geography ›› 2026, Vol. 49 ›› Issue (9): 1803-1814.doi: 10.12118/j.issn.1000-6060.2025.697

• Earth Surface Process • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Sources of organic carbon in surface sediments of Lake Qinghai based on Binary model and Bayesian mixing model

CHEN Wanting(), MA Yujun(), JIANG Chuanli, HAN Chenxiaoyu   

  1. School of Geography and Planning, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510006, Guangdong, China
  • Received:2025-10-29 Revised:2025-12-07 Online:2026-09-25 Published:2026-09-07
  • Contact: MA Yujun E-mail:chenwt75@mail2.sysu.edu.cn;mayujun3@mail.sysu.edu.cn

Abstract:

Determining the sources of organic carbon in lake sediments is key to unraveling carbon cycling in lakes and the evolution of watershed environments. Currently, quantitative studies on sources of organic carbon in sediments from Lake Qinghai remain relatively limited, and disparate source-tracing proxies often yield inconsistent conclusions. Drawing on the published carbon-nitrogen ratio (C/N) of organic matter and organic carbon isotope (δ13Corg) data for surface sediments from Lake Qinghai, this study employed the Binary model and Bayesian mixing model to quantitatively resolve the contribution of terrestrial-derived and autochthonous organic carbon to the surface sediments, demonstrating that (1) Organic carbon in the surface sediments of Lake Qinghai is predominantly derived from terrestrial inputs, with an average contribution rate of 70.2%, as estimated using the MixSIAR model; the autochthonous part is mainly from the genus Cladophora (with an average contribution rate of 26.0%), and the contribution of submerged plants is relatively low (with a mean value of 3.8%). (2) The composition of organic carbon sources in the sediments displays distinct spatial heterogeneity, where the terrestrial contribution is negatively correlated with the water depth. (3) Comparison of the models indicates that the δ13Corg-based MixSIAR model exhibits higher reliability in quantifying sources of organic carbon, whereas the C/N-based Binary model is prone to uncertainties in selecting the end-member value and early diagenesis. This study revealed the source, composition, and spatial distribution patterns of organic carbon in the surface sediments of Lake Qinghai, providing a reference for evaluating the organic carbon burial mechanism in alpine saltwater lakes.

Key words: source of organic carbon, binary model, Bayesian mixing model, surface sediments, Lake Qinghai