Fatty acids are widely distributed in various geological carriers, and can be taken as records of the living environment of the maternal sources. However, the specific sources and the paleoclimatic significance of the distribution characteristics of the fatty acids are still not completely clear, therefore, only a limited application of fatty acids is made in the paleoclimatic reconstruction. By analyzing the n-fatty acids in the surface sediments of lakes and puddles spanning three climatic zones in the arid/semi-arid Tibet, this paper reveals that the sources of middle, long chain n-fatty acids and a part of short chain ones are related to that of n-alkanes, which can be compared. The correlation between the indices and the paleoclimatic factors is established. It is shown that the content of the normal fatty acid and the CPI indices increase with the increase of the temperature and the precipitation. An R-FA indices for the paleoclimate reconstruction is proposed, which is proportional to the annual average temperature and precipitation.

arid region of Tibet  /  surface sediment of lakes  /  n-fatty acids  /  paleoclimate reconstruction