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Plutonium and 137Cs deposited in lacustrine sediments have been used for dating and radionuclide source identification. In order to determine if the radionuclides can be applied to chronogram in shallow lakes with disturbances, we investigated the vertical distribution profiles and loss ratio of plutonium isotopes and 137Cs in sediment cores from Lakes Taihu and Dianchi. We obtained that the inventory of 239+240Pu and 137Cs were lower than those for global fallout for the corresponding latitude and the loss ratios of 137Cs in Lake Taihu was 96%, evident that the loss of 137Cs inventory led to invalid chronological time scales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]