Abstract:The characteristics of 26 geochemical elements and their environmental significance in Luyang Lake sediments (0—280 cm) for last 30,000 years in Guanzhong basin were discussed based on the element contents determinated by fluorescence spectrometer and plasma emission spectrometry, the OSL dating results and the R—type cluster analysis. Results show that: geochemical elements in Luyang Lake sediments can be divided into four categories: the first include Si, Zr, Hf, Na, indicating the decreased exogenetic clastics and the lake shrink after 4.6 ka B.P.; the second include Ga, U, Sr, indicating the arid climate at 4.6 ka B.P. and 2.0 ka B.P.; the third include Cu, Hg, Mn, Mg, indicating the increasing lake salty since 4.6 ka B.P.; the fourth contains 15 elements, including Ti, Sb, Pb, V, Th, Co, Fe, Bi, Cs, Zn, Ni, Rb, Ga, K, Al, indicating the increaseing lake salinity and the human activities around the lake. Different behaviors of geochemical elements in Luyang Lake show that: the sedimentary environment in Luyang Lake was stable between 33 ka B.P. and 10.4 ka B.P., then the lake salinity decreased in the early Holocene (10.4—4.6 ka B.P.) while increased after 4.6 ka B.P. accompaning with the reduced exogenetic clastics, the drying process at 2.0 ka B.P. caused a lot of salt formation, then the climate turned relatively wet, however, the increasing human activities accelerated the lake disappearance.