Black carbon(BC) particles emit into the atmosphere during the combustion process, which can directly affect the radiation balance, leading to global warming. BC that deposited in the rivers, lakes, oceans and soils plays an important role in the global biogeochemical cycles. It became a hot topic in the international geoscience research. The definition, emissions, deposition and degradation processes of BC were reviewed, and its important role and research significance in the present and past environment and climate system were summarized. BC is an important component of the inert carbon pool and it was involved in the global slow carbon cycle. Due to its strong adsorption properties, BC exerts positive impact on the regional climate warming. Since it is difficult to degrade, BC can be stored for millions of years, which provides clue for the reconstructions of paleoclimate and paleoenvironment. BC records from marine sediments indicated the evolution of natural fire over the past few million years. BC records from the Late Quaternary loess sections also showed the variation of natural fire. BC records from lacustrines and ice cores over the recent thousand years not only reflected the changes of natural fire, but also implied the signals of human activities. Future research should pay more attentions to standard measurement methods, and then the function of black carbon could be truly understood in the global climate and environment systems.%燃烧形成的黑碳粒子进入大气中可影响辐射平衡,导致全球气候变暖,其沉降在河流、湖泊、海洋、土壤等环境中对全球生物地球化学循环起到重要的作用,成为当前国际地球科学研究的热点问题.综述了黑碳的定义及排放、沉降、降解过程,并总结了其在现在及过去环境和气候系统中的重要作用与研究意义.黑碳是全球惰性有机碳库的重要组成部分,在全球慢速碳循环中发挥潜在作用.因其具有很强的吸光特性,它在区域气候变暖过程中扮演重要角色.沉降在不同地质载体中的黑碳难以降解,可以保存几百万年,为地质历史时期古气候和古环境重建研究提供重要信息.海洋沉积物过去数百万年的黑碳记录指示了天然火的演化信息,晚第四纪黄土剖面黑碳也指示了天然火的变化信息,最近千年的湖泊和冰芯黑碳记录既反映了天然火的信息,也指示人类活动的信号.未来黑碳研究应进一步关注标准测量方法,以真正理解黑碳在全球气候与环境系统中的作用.
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