2000 years of lake-level fluctuations and human adaptation around China's largest freshwater lake

• DOI: 10.1016/j.palaeo.2023.111397
• Publication Date: 2023-01-04T23:48:56Z
• Authors: Huanye Wang; Weiguo Liu; Qin Leng; Lin Yang; Hui Zhao; Jun Yang; Yuwei Chen; Shangbin Xiao; Yunning Cao; Jing Hu; Xiaoke Qiang; Peng Cheng; Hua Du; Xiangzhong Li; Yuan Yao; Yuxin He; Zenghao Zhao; Hong Yang
• Keywords: Human settlement; Coastal flood

The human society is facing growing flood risks due to the rapidly-changing global climate. Understanding how early coped with flooding will shed light on increase of contemporary social resilience projected intensified extreme climate change. However, assessment such ancient response hydrological changes remains difficult paucity records for risk coupled activities. Here, we present a two-millennium continuous reconstruction water level Poyang Lake, China's largest freshwater body, using microbial tetraethers extracted from well-dated sedimentary core. rising trend lake over past 2000 years indicates an in this fertile region that has long been populated by settlements. A comparison spatial-temporal distribution cities and towns basin reveals that, during first millennium, settlements passively retreated outwards upwards away minimize water. reversal pattern occurred at ∼1000 CE, witnessing moving closer lakeshore second millennium despite high table. strategic shift, accompanied booming economy southern China Song Dynasty, was possibly facilitated technology innovations, as conservancy construction enhanced shipbuilding, around basin. Such responding 1000 ago common practice today although unprecedented scale anthropogenic change near future may post additional unexpected challenges.