Water-level observations of Lake Weishan-Zhaoyang-Nanyang in China during 1814∼1902 AD

Abstract

Fei, J. 2009. Water-level observations of Lake Weishan-Zhaoyang-Nanyang in China during 1814 ∼ 1902 AD.

This article reports the evaluation and preliminary interpretation of the monthly water-level observations of Lake Weishan-Zhaoyang-Nanyang (WZN) in east China during 1814∼1902 AD. Observations were conducted by the government. According to the extant historical literature, the gaps in observations for this time period are 13.2%, 24.9%, and 24.5%, respectively, for the three parts of the lake: Weishan, Zhaoyang, and Nanyang. After a preliminary interpretation, we suggest that a correspondence exists between the high water-level years of Lake WZN and the flood years of the Yellow River during 1814∼1902 AD.

Key words:

• flood
• lake
• observation
• Qing dynasty
• water-level

Acknowledgments

We wish to thank Professors Hua-Kai Hu, Jie Zhou and Qian-Li Sun for the kind suggestions. This research was supported by the 2009 Anhui Provincial Foundation for the Outstanding Young Talents in Colleges and the 2006 Presidential Award of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Notes

¹Denotes the 29th day (i.e., the last day) of the first month.

¹Bold: high water-level year of Lake WZN that corresponds with a flood year of the Yellow River. Italic: low water-level year of Lake WZN that corresponds with a flood year of the Yellow River.

²Data of the flood years of the Yellow River are from Cen (2004).