Early Cretaceous solar cycles recorded in lacustrine laminations in North China

Solar cycles are important moderators of the Earth’s global climate system. Although modern-day solar cycles are well known, they have been less studied over geological time. High-resolution records such as varves have been previously used for reconstructing solar cycles from the Paleoproterozoic through Quaternary. In this paper, very fine (<1 mm) sedimentary laminations of the Early Cretaceous Yixian Formation in Xiushui Basin were studied in Northern Liaoning Province, North China. Two different microfacies of the striped shale in the Third Member of the Yixian Formation were identified. These include the light-gray to gray siltstone (Mf 1) and the gray to black organic-rich mudstone (Mf 2). Laminations of Mf 2 are mainly made of biofilms. Sub-millimeter scaled couplets of biofilm and siliciclastic-rich sublamina record seasonal growth and withering of microbial mats during the warm season (summer) and cold season (winter), respectively. Evolutionary spectral analyses of three binary rank series (the binary boxcar series, triangle series, and midpoint-triangle series), varve couplet thickness and gray scale image data (gray data) show multiple periodicities consistent with solar cycles, including the robust Schwabe sunspot cycle (10.0–10.6 year) and solar Bruckner cycle (31.0–40.6 year), and relatively weaker signals for the solar Hale cycle (21.9 year) and 16.5-year solar cycles that have been linked to solar magnetic activity. Solar cycles recognized in this paper indicate the total solar irradiance (TSI) influenced microbial mat growth in the Early Cretaceous in North China. Further, we extend our new record with a compilation of varve-recorded sunspot cycles throughout geological time to show that the 11-year Schwabe sunspot cycle and the 22-year Hale cycle have persisted since the Paleoproterozoic.