My research focuses on developing (semi-)quantitative proxies for paleoclimate, paleofires, paleovegetation, and paleoenvironmental studies using fossil molecules, black carbon, and their isotopic ratios. I employ and refine a variety of organic, isotopic, and even microscopic methods to analyze geological samples, including loess-paleosol, lacustrine, and deep ocean deposits, in order to reconstruct paleoenvironmental changes of terrestrial and marine systems. The main goal of my work is to understand the mechanisms that control vegetation change and fire regime, especially its response to climate and human activities, over timescales ranging from thousands to millions of years. 

         Recent research topics include (i) reconstructing the continental climate, fire and vegetation history (C4 expansion) in Eastern Asian Monsoon area since the late Cenozoic, (ii) investigating the effects of climate and human activities on the Holocene environmental and ecological changes in the Lower Yangtze Basin, and (iii) exploring new methods to characterize biochar's effects in carbon sequestration.

1. The general program of National Natural Science Foundation of China, 41977378, Holocene fire history reconstruction around Ningshao plain and its relationship with vegetation, climate and human activities, CNY 620000, 01/ 2020 to 12/2023, approved, PI;

2. The general program of Jiangsu Natural Science Foundation, bk20171340, fire history since Holocene in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River and its relationship with climate, environment and human activities, CNY 620000 07/2017-06/2020, finished, PI;

3. The general program of National Natural Science Foundation of China, 41371202, high-resolution vegetation and climate change during the little ice age recorded in mountainous peat swamps in northern Jiangxi, CNY 900000, 01/2014-12/2017, finished, Co-PI;

4. The general program of National Natural Science Foundation of China, 41172149, n-alkane records of vegetation succession history since 7 Ma in the middle of the Loess Plateau, CNY 740000, 01/2012-12/2015, finished, PI;

5. Innovation group project of NSFC, 41321062, Surfacial geochemical process and environmental change, 01/2014-12/2016, CNY 5 million, finished, main participants;

6. Innovation group project of NSFC, 4083107, Surfacial geochemical process and environmental change, 01/2011-12/2013, CNY 5 million, finished, main participants;

7. 973 project of national key basic research and development plan: climate and environmental change in China and human impact and adaptation in arid and semi-arid areas since the last glacial maximum, 01/2011-12/2015, CNY 2 million, finished, participants;

8. The youth program of National Natural Science Foundation of China, 40802034, carbon isotope records of vegetation evolution in the northern South China Sea since the late Cenozoic, 01/2009-12/2011, CNY 250000, finished, presided over;

9. China Postdoctoral Science Foundation project, 20060400676, sea-land comparative study of Holocene fire history and climate environment, 01/2006-12/2008, CNY 50000, finished, presided over.

REPRESENTATIVE PUBLICATIONS

Zhou, B., Shen, C.D., Sun, W.D., Bird, M., Ma, W.T., Taylor, D., Liu,W.G. Late   Pliocene–Pleistocene expansion of C₄ vegetation in semiarid East   Asia linked to increased burning. Geology, 2014, 42(12): 1067-1070.

Zhou B., Wang Z, Xu X, et al. Hominin response to oscillations in climate and local environments during the Mid-Pleistocene Climate Transition in Northern China [J]. Geophysical Research Letters, 2023, 50(21): e2023GL104931. https: //doi.org/10.1029/2023GL104931

Zhou, B., Bird, M., Zheng, H., Zhang, E., Wurster, C., Xie, L., Taylor, D. New   sedimentary evidence reveals a unique history of C₄ biomass in   continental East Asia since the early Miocene. Scientific Reports, 2017, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-00285-7.

Zhou, B., Waili, G., Peterse, F., Bird, M., Records on organic carbon isotope  and molecular fossils of vegetation evolution in Central Loess Plateau since   450 ka. Sci China Ser D-Earth Sci, 2016, 59: 1206-1215.

Zhou, B., Shen, C.D., Sun, W.D., Zheng, H.B., Sun, Y.B., An, Z.S. The history of   wildfire in the Chinese Loess Plateau during the last 420 ka and its   implications to environmental and climate changes. Palaeogeography,   Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 2007, 252: 617-625.

PUBLICATIONS (*CORRESPONDING AUTHOR)

Zhang X., Zhou B., Huang J., et al., Burnt Cervidae bones and sedimentary environments at Luotuodun, Jiangsu Province, China: New insights for Neolithic human behavior. Quaternary International. Doi: 10.1016/j.quaint.2024.10.006

Zhang L X , Zhou B., Song B ,et al.Significant carbon isotopic fractionation during early formation of biological soil crusts with indications for dryland carbon cycling[J].iScience, 2024, 27(3). DOI:10.1016/j.isci.2024.109114.

王者，周斌．黄土沉积中化学氧化法提取黑碳流程的评估和优化[J]．第四纪研究，2023, http: //kns.cnki.net/kcms/detail/11.2708.P.20231220.1310.018.html.

Zhou B., Wang Z, Xu X, et al. Hominin response to oscillations in climate and local environments during the Mid-Pleistocene Climate Transition in Northern China [J]. Geophysical Research Letters, 2023, 50(21): e2023GL104931. https: //doi.org/10.1029/2023GL104931

张家铭，周斌，陈旸，周雪航．南京市九乡河流域栖霞段近四十年沉积序列微塑料赋存特征．地球与环境, 2023, https: //doi.org/10.14050/j.cnki.1672-9250.2023.51.026

Liu X.W., Nie J.S., Zhou B., Zhang Z.B.. East Asian summer monsoon variations across the Miocene-Pliocene boundary recorded by sediments from the Guide Basin, northeastern Tibetan Plateau. GSA Bulletin, 2023, https: //doi.org/10.1130/B36633.1

Fuchs, L., Zhou, B., Magill, C, Timothy I. Eglinton, T.I., Sun, Y.B., Peterse, F..Multiproxy records of temperature, precipitation and vegetation on the central Chinese Loess Plateau over the past 200,000 years, Quaternary Science Reviews, Volume 288, 2022, 107579

Pang, Y., Zhou, B.*, Xu, X.   Holocene fire history and its influencing factors in the monsoon region of   East China. Quaternary Sciences, 2022, https://doi.org/10.11928/j.issn.1001-7410.2022.02.04 (in Chinese with English Abstract).

Dai, M., Zhou, B.*, Hu, Y.,   Zheng, H. Climate and landscape change favouring early rice agriculture and   appreciable human impact: Evidence from sediment δ¹³C in eastern   China. Quaternary International, 2021,   https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2021.11.003

Pang, Y., Zhou, B.*, Ma,   C.M., Jiang, J.W., Taylor, D., Lu, Y.H. Alkane variation in peat reveals   palaeohydrological changes since the Little Ice Age in eastern China.   Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 2021, 585,110727,   https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2021.110727.

Sun, J., Ma, C.M.*, Zhou, B. *,   Jiang, J.W., Zhao, C. Biogeochemical evidence for environmental and   vegetation changes in peatlands from the middle Yangtze river catchment   during the medieval warm period and little ice Age. Holocene, 2021, 31:   1571‒1581.

Wang, L. *, Zhou, B.*, Zheng,   B., Wang, K., Mei, X., Wang,Q., Wang, X., Zheng,H. High-Resolution   Geochemical Records in the Inner Shelf Mud Wedge of the East China Sea and   Their Indication to the Holocene Monsoon Climatic Changes and Events. Journal   of Ocean University of China, 2021, 20(6): 1409-1418

Xu, X.C., Zhou, B.*, Zhou, X.H., Wang, Z. A review for the   stable carbon isotope proxies in the paleovegetation researches in the loess   Paleosol deposits on the Chinese loess plateau. Quaternary Sciences, 2021,   41(4): 931-947 (in Chinese with English Abstract).

Pang, Y., Zhou, B.*, Zhou,   X., Xu, X.C., Liu, X.Y., Zhan, T., Lu, Y.H. Abundance and δ13C of sedimentary   black carbon indicate rising wildfire and C₄ plants in Northeast   China during the Early Holocene. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology,   Palaeoecology, 2020, 562,110075, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2020.110075.

Hu, Y.F., Zhou, B.*, Lu,   Y.H., Zhang, J.P., Min, S.Y., Dai, M.Z., Xu, S.Y., Yang, Q., Zheng, H.B.   Abundance and morphology of charcoal in sediments provide no evidence of   massive slash-and-burn agriculture during the Neolithic Kuahuqiao culture,   China. Plos One, 2020, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0237592

Wang, K., Tada, R., Zheng, H.B., Irino, T., Zhou, B., Saito, K. Provenance changes in fine detrital quartz in   the inner shelf sediments of the East China Sea associated with shifts in the   East Asian summer monsoon front during the last 6 kyrs. Progress in Earth and   Planetary Science, 2020, https://doi.org/10.1186/s40645-019-0319-5

Yao, P., Zhou, B.*, Lu, Y.H.,   Yin, Y., Zong, Y.Q., Chen, M.T., Zachary, O. A review of microplastics in   sediments: spatial and temporal occurrences, biological effects, and analytic   methods. Quaternary International, 2019, 519: 274-281.

Wurster, C., Rifa, H., Zhou, B.,   Haig, J., Bird, M. Savanna in Equatorial Borneo during the late Pleistocene.   Scientific Reports, 2019, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-42670-4.

Deng, Y.K., Li, L., Ma, C.M., Zhao, L., Cui, A.N., Zhou, B. The Geocheimcal records and paleoclimate significance in   peat from the Yuhua Moutain in Jiangxi Province since the last two Millennia.   Journal of Stratigraphy, 2019, 43(4): 352-264 (in Chinese with English   Abstract).

Hu, Y., Zhou, B.*, Pang, Y.,   Xu, X. A review of study methods and progress on hominid use of fire.   Quanterary Sciences, 2019, 39(1): 240-257.

Kajita, H., Kawahata, H., Wang, K., Zheng, H.B., Yang, S.Y., Ohkouchi,   N., Utsunomiya, M., Zhou, B.,   Zheng, B. Extraordinary cold episodes during the mid-Holocene in the Yangtze   delta: Interruption of the earliest rice cultivating civilization. Quaternary   Science Reviews, 2018, 201: 418-428.

Zheng, B., Zhou, B.*, Wang,   K., Pang, Y., Chen, M., Zheng,H. Changes of provenance input and source   vegetation changes and their impact factors since Late Holocene based on   n-alkanes records from core MD06-3039A in the muddy area of the East China   Sea. Quaternary Sciences, 2018, 38(5): 1293-1303(in Chinese with English   Abstract).

Li, L., Ma, C.M., Lu, H.Y., Yi, S.W., Zhou, B., Cui, A.N., Huang, Z.H., A preliminary study of the   climate change since 2ka archived by a peat core from Yuhua Mountain in the   middle Jiangxi Province. Quaternary Sciences, 2017, 37(3): 548-559(in Chinese   with English Abstract).

Zhou, B., Bird, M., Zheng, H., Zhang, E., Wurster, C., Xie, L., Taylor, D. New   sedimentary evidence reveals a unique history of C₄ biomass in   continental East Asia since the early Miocene. Scientific Reports, 2017,   https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-00285-7.

Zhou, B., Waili, G., Peterse, F., Bird, M., Records on organic carbon isotope   and molecular fossils of vegetation evolution in Central Loess Plateau since   450 ka. Sci China Ser D-Earth Sci, 2016, 59: 1206-1215.

Zhou, B., Waili, G., Peterse, F., Bird, M. Records on Organic Carbon Isotope and   Molecular Fossils of Vegetation Evolution in Central Loess Plateau since   450ka. Sci China Earth Sci (In Chinese with English Abstract), 2016, 46:   509-418.

Li, Y., Ma, C., Zhou, B.,   Cui, A., Zhu, C., Huang, R., Zheng, C. Environmental processes derived from   peatland geochemistyr since the deglaciation in Dajiuhu, Shennongjia, central   China. Boreas, 2016, https://doi.org/10.1111/bor.12168.

Lu, Y.H., Edmonds, J.W., Yamashita, Y., Zhou, B., Jaegge, A., Baxley, M. Spatial variation in the origin   and reactivity of dissolved organic matter in Oregon-Washington coastal   waters. Ocean Dynamics, 2015, 65: 17-32.

Zhou, B., Shen, C.D., Sun, W.D., Bird, M., Ma, W.T., Taylor, D., Liu,W.G. Late   Pliocene–Pleistocene expansion of C4 vegetation in semiarid East Asia linked   to increased burning. Geology, 2014, 42(12): 1067-1070.

Peterse, F., Martinez-Garcia, A., Zhou,   B., Beets, C.J., Prins, M.A., Zheng, H.B., Eglinton, T.I. Molecular   records of continental air temperature and monsoon precipitation variability   in East Asia spanning the past 130,000 years. Quaternary Science Reviews,   2014, 83: 1-7.

Wu, W.H., Zheng, H.B., Yang, J.D., Luo, C., Zhou, B. Chemical weathering, atmospheric CO2 consumption, and   the controlling factors in a subtropical metamorphic-hosted watershed.   Cheimical Geology, 2013, 356: 141-150.

Zhou, B., Zheng, H.B., Yang, W.G., Taylor, D., Lu, Y.H., Wei, G.J., Li, L.,   Wang, H. Climate and vegetation variations since the LGM recorded by   biomarkers from a sediment core in northern South China Sea. Journal of   Quaternary Science, 2012, 27: 948-955.

Ahmad, S.M., Zheng, H.B., Raza, W., Zhou,   B., Lone, M.A., Raza, T. Suseela, G. Glacial to Holocene changes in the   surface and deep waters of the northeast Indian Ocean. Marine Geology, 2012,   329-331: 16-23.

Zhou, B., Zheng, H.B., Yang, W.G., Wei, G.J., Li, L., Wang, H. Sedimentary   organic carbon records in the northern South China sea, Implications for   vegetation and environmental changes since the last glacial period.   Quaternary Science research (In Chinese with English Abstract), 2011, 31(3):   498-505.

Wu, W.H., Zheng, H.B., Yang, J.D., Luo, C., Zhou, B. Chemical weathering of large river catchments in China   and the global carbon cycle. Quaternary Science research (In Chinese with   English Abstract), 2011, 31(3): 397-407.

Li, L., Zheng, H.B., Zhao, L., Zhou,   B., Jia, J.T., He, M.Y. Temporal and Spatial Changes of Clay Mineral   Assemblages in Yangtze and Yellow River Drainage and its Provenance and   Paleoclimate Implications since Miocene. Journal of Palaeogeograph (In   Chinese with English Abstract), 2011, 3: 355-362.

Zhou, B., Shen, C.D., Zheng, H.B., Zhao, M.X. Vegetation evolution on the   central Chinese Loess Plateau since late Quaternary evidenced by elemental   carbon isotopic composition. Chinese Science Bulletin, 2009, 54: 2082-2089.

Zhou, B., Shen, C.D., Zheng ,H.B., Zhao, M.X., Sun, Y.M. Vegetation evolution on   the central Chinese Loess Plateau since late Quaternary evidenced by   elemental carbon isotopic composition. Chinese Science Bulletin (in Chinese   with English Abstract), 2009, 54(9): 1262-1268.

Zhou, B., Zheng, H.B., Yang, W.G., Li, L., Wang, H. Provenance and   Paleo-environment changes in the northern part of South China Sea since the   last glacial period as recorded by organic geochemistry proxies. Quaternary   Sciences (in Chinese with English Abstract), 2008, 28(3): 407-413.

Yang, W.G., Zheng, H.B., Xie, X., Zhou,   B., Chen, X. East Asian summer monsoon maximum records in northern South   China Sea during the early Holocene. Quaternary Sciences (in Chinese with   English Abstract), 2008, 28(3): 425-430.

Zhou, B., Shen, C.D., Zheng, H.B., Chen, J.Y. Extraction and identification of   elemental carbon in sediment and its environmental and climatic implications.   Frontiers of Earth Science in China-Selected Publications from Chinese   Universities, 2008, 2(2): 131-137.

Zhou, B., Shen, C.D., Sun, W.D., Zheng, H.B., Sun, Y.B., An, Z.S. The history of   wildfire in the Chinese Loess Plateau during the last 420 ka and its   implications to environmental and climate changes. Palaeogeography,   Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 2007, 252: 617-625.

Zhou, B., Shen, C.D., Zheng, H.B., Chen, J.Y. Extraction and identification of   elemental carbon in sediment and its environmental and climatic implications.   Acta Sedimentologica Sinica, 2007, 25(10): 745-751.

Zhou, B., Shen, C.D., Sun, Y.M., Yang, Y., Yi, W.X. A biomass burning record   from the Lingtai Loess Section during the last 370 ka and implication for   climate and environment. Chinese Science Bulletin, 2006, 51(10): 1211-1217.

Zhou, B., Shen, C.D., Sun, Y.M., Yi, W.X., Yang, Y. A biomass burning record   from the Lingtai Loess Section during the last 370 ka and implication for   climate and environment. Chinese Science Bulletin, 2006, 51: 2116-2124.

Zhou, B., Sheng, C.D., Yi, W.X., Sun, Y.M. The determination and study of   elemental carbon in soil. Soil and environment, 2002, 11(2): 133-136 (in   Chinese with English Abstract).