Religious Fire, Human Imprint: Millennium Black Carbon Record on the Northeastern Tibetan Plateau

The ecological environment of the Tibetan Plateau, known as the “Third Pole of the Earth”, is extremely sensitive and fragile. With rapid societal development, environmental problems on the Tibetan Plateau have become prominent, as it is downwind of the emission sources from densely populated areas in the Middle East and South Asia, and the plateau has become one of the regions significantly affected by transboundary pollutant transmission (including black carbon, BC). The Tibetan Plateau has a long history of life and religious sacrifices, including aromatic plant-burning, which were recorded in the geologic record; therefore, BC can be used as a potential indicator to study the changes in religious activities.