Abstract:

In comparison to other biomarkers, lignin has more advantages such as stableness, specification, diversity and ubiquity, and so on.Lignin plays an important role in reconstructing the history of paleo-vegetation, and is widely applied to many disciplinarities in recent years and shows great potential and application prospect.Based on recent progresses, the chemical structures of lignin and its derivatives are reviewed.Focused on current situations and developing trends of the application of lignin parameters and stable carbon isotope of individual compounds, the analysis methods and the advantages of the application are discussed.Furthermore,a new study method for lignin research is suggested to solve the problems in reconstruction of the history of paleo-vegetation.

Key words: lignin, biomarker, paleo-vegetation, paleo-climate, reconstruction