Critical transition towards sustainability in Northeast China captured by century long sediment archives

This dataset contains geochemical measurements of anthropogenic air pollution indicators derived from sediment cores collected from the Sihailongwan maar lake in Northeast China, as well as historical socioeconomic indicators for Jilin Province and the national level (China). The geochemical data include concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), spheroidal carbonaceous particles (SCPs), soot, and its fossil fraction (F¹⁴C soot), covering the period from the late 19th century to 2021. The socioeconomic indicators include grain yield, GDP per capita, population, energy consumption, and the number of vehicles. These indicators were used to reconstruct the historical trajectory of air pollution and to quantify the long-term impact of human activities on the Earth system.