Sediment cores were collected from Lake Erhai, which is located on the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau, a landform formed by the uplift of the Himalayas. These sediments were deposited up to about 697±15 years ago based on 210Pb ex and 137Cs dating. δ 13C inorg, δ 18O inorg and δ 13C org values and concentrations of C inorg, C org, N and P within the sediment cores have been measured. C org has an average deposition flux of 12.7 g/m 2, and an accumulation flux of 7.20 g/m 2. The calculated decomposition rate constant is 0.017 a −1 with a half life of 40 a. δ 13C inorg and δ 18O inorg values range from −1.6 to −7.9‰ and −5.7 to −13.6‰, respectively, and show similar trends over the past 700 years, which is interpreted to be controlled mainly by temperature, corresponding to climatic changes of two and half periods of a ‘warm–cold–warm’ cycle. δ 13C org ranges from −25 to −28‰, indicating that the organic matter originated mainly from land-derived plants, with overprinting from anthropogenic activities over the past 460 years (since 1537 ad). N and P org concentrations show a similar vertical distribution to C org. Atomic ratios of organic carbon and nitrogen (C/N) are 5.8 and 6.8 for the deposition and accumulation stages, respectively, similar to the Redfield ratio in the ocean. The C/P ratio, however, is higher than that in the ocean. The vertical distribution of carbon in the sediment cores indicates that Lake Erhai has the characteristics of both an inland lake (land-derived organic matter) and the ocean (similar C/N ratio). The lower C/N and C/P ratios in the lake Erhai sediments are characteristic for a lake at high altitude and in a subtropical region. This ‘low latitude–high altitude effect’ is probably related to the uplift of the Himalayas.