Benthic foraminifera and their stable isotope composition in sediment cores from Lake Qarun,Egypt: changes in water salinity during the past ~500 years

We studied the sedimentology, benthic foraminifera, molluscs, and δ¹⁸O and δ¹³C of Ammonia tepida tests in two late Holocene sediment cores from Lake Qarun (Egypt). The cores, QARU2 (upper section, 8.2 m) and QARU4 (1.4 m), span approximately the past 500 years of sedimentation. Benthic foraminifera first appeared in the upper part of QARU2 at 314 cm depth, ca. AD 1550. This depth marks the beginning of colonization of the lake by foraminifera and indicates a change in lake water salinity, as foraminifera cannot tolerate fresh water. Initially, three species of benthic foraminifera colonized the lake, Ammonia tepida, Cribroelphidium excavatum and Cribrononion incertum. Relative abundance of these species fluctuated throughout cores QARU2 and QARU4 and highest overall faunal diversity occurred at the beginning of the twentieth century. High relative abundances of C. incertum and deformed tests are attributed to periods of greater lakewater salinity. Peaks in both δ¹⁸O and δ¹³C indicate times of higher evaporation and reduced fresh water inflow. Inferred salinity was high around AD 1700 and after AD 1990. Rapid response of climate proxy variables indicates the high sensitivity of Lake Qarun to environmental changes over the past several 100 years. Increases in lakewater Mg concentration during past evaporative events, associated with less fresh water inflow, probably provided conditions suitable for C. incertum to build its white or transparent tests. Gradual decrease of C. incertum, until its disappearance at 100 cm depth ca. AD 1890, indicates a more persistent trend in lake water chemistry. Higher concentrations of dissolved sulphates were the likely cause of this species disappearance. Recent, twentieth-century sediments were deposited under optimal salinity (37‰) for benthic fauna, but further environmental changes are indicated by the decrease or disappearance of several benthic foraminifera and mollusc species. Intermittent hypoxia in the lake’s bottom waters, caused by cultural eutrophication, may account for these most recent changes.     

Evaluation of ostracod-based palaeoenvironmental reconstruction with instrumental data from the arid Faiyum Depression,Egypt

The utility of ostracod-based palaeoenvironmental reconstruction was evaluated using instrumental data for Lake Qarun, Egypt. The euryhaline ostracod Cyprideis torosa was the only species found in the lake’s recent sediment record. This species is known to tolerate salinity levels and water solute compositions that may prevent colonisation by other species. Oxygen and carbon isotope ratios of ostracod carbonate from lake sediments covary with changes in instrumental values for lake level and salinity for the period 1890–1974. δ¹³C-values correlate negatively with lake water salinity (r ² = 0.87) and δ¹⁸O-values correlate negatively with measured lake level changes (r ² = 0.41). Other ostracod proxy data provide qualitative information on lake level trends. Fossil assemblage data (juvenile/adult and valve/carapace ratios and valve preservation) provide information on wave energy. Ecophenotypic variation of C. torosa valves provided some useful palaeolimnological information. Sr/Ca and Mg/Ca ratios in ostracods were not found to reflect water composition, due to the uncoupling of these ratios with salinity in Lake Qarun. Overall, our results highlight the need to calibrate ostracod proxy data in modern systems prior to their use for palaeoenvironmental reconstruction.     

Late Holocene climate and environment of the SE Pampa grasslands,Argentina, inferred from biological indicators in shallow,freshwater Lake Nahuel Rucá

We analyzed pollen, non-pollen palynomorphs (NPPs), calcareous microfossils, plant macrofossils, diatoms, chrysophyte cysts, opal phytoliths and organic matter content in a 123-cm sediment sequence from Nahuel Rucá Lake, a shallow, freshwater system in the southeastern Pampa grasslands, Argentina. Three stages in the lake evolution were identified. Before 3,680 cal year BP, only pollen, NPPs (dinoflagellate cysts and acritarchs) and ostracods were recovered, suggesting brackish/saline conditions in the lake and nearby areas. Freshwater conditions are, however, indicated by Myriophyllum, Pediastrum and Zygnemataceae. The brackish/saline conditions could have been caused by marine influence during a Holocene sea level high stand that affected the area ca. 6,000 year BP. Between 3,680 and 390 cal year BP, macrophyte pollen and plant macrofossils indicate increasingly freshwater conditions in the lake and the adjacent area. Diatom and ostracod assemblages, however, suggest brackish and oligotrophic conditions, giving way to freshwater and meso-eutrophic conditions toward the end of this period. The relationship between submersed macrophytes (Myriophyllum, Potamogeton, Ceratophyllum, Chara) and planktonic algae (Chlorophyta and diatoms), suggests a shift in the lake from a clear to a turbid state. This turbid state is more evident after 390 cal year BP. High values of Pediastrum, Scenedesmus and diatoms (Cyclotella meneghiniana, Aulacoseira granulata, A. muzzanensis) observed during this stage could have reduced light penetration, with consequent loss of submersed plants. Pollen and plant macrofossils in the uppermost 20 cm indicate a shallow, freshwater lake similar to present, though an increase in brackish/freshwater diatoms suggests an increase in salinity, perhaps related to periodic droughts. Opal phytoliths yield a regional paleoclimatic reconstruction that agrees closely with inferences made using pollen, mammals and sediment characteristics.     

Records of aquatic pollen and sediment properties as indicators of late-Quaternary Alaskan lake levels

We investigated whether techniques developed to evaluate qualitative lake-level changes in the temperate zone can be used in sub-arctic and arctic Alaska. We focused on aquatic pollen records and sediment properties (loss-on-ignition and magnetic susceptibility) from centrally-located sediment-surface samples and cores, as these are the most commonly reported data in the literature. Modern aquatic pollen values are generally low (< 5%) and may be zero, even in lakes with abundant aquatic macrophytes. Greater diversity and higher values of aquatic pollen are likely at depths < 5 m, but pollen is found in depths up to 15 m. It is absent at depths > 20 m. Spores of Isoetes and Equisetum and Pediastrum cell-nets, when present, tend to be widely distributed, even in deep water. At Birch Lake, interior Alaska, trends in aquatic taxa and sediment characteristics for the last ca. 12,000 ¹⁴C yrs recorded in a single, deep-water core reflect the same water-level changes as do transect-based lake-level reconstructions - if modern distributional characteristics of pollen and spores are taken into account. The lake rose from extremely low levels at ca. 12,000 ¹⁴C yr B.P. After a period of fluctuation, it rose to a relatively high level by ca. 8000 ¹⁴C yr B.P. and then stabilized. A preliminary survey of aquatic pollen trends from other lake-sediment records suggests that the period ca. 11,000-8000 ¹⁴C yr B.P. may have seen relatively low lake levels in north-western and interior Alaska and high levels thereafter. Changes in aquatic pollen and sediments are evident in north-eastern interior lakes at the same time, but they are more difficult to interpret. Aquatic pollen productivity in Alaskan lakes may partly depend on factors other than water depth (e.g. temperature, pH, nutrient status, or length of the ice-free season). An Alaska-wide reconstruction of late-Quaternary lake levels based on extant single-core data would be best done after further study of contributing factors that may control sediment properties and aquatic pollen distribution.     

A 140-year record of recent changes in aquatic productivity in a remote,tropical alpine lake in the Rwenzori Mountain National Park,Uganda

Environmental change in many tropical, alpine habitats remains poorly resolved due to an absence of proximate and sustained observations. In the Rwenzori Mountains of East Africa, glaciers have receded rapidly over the last century, and here we assess the impact of this recession through palaeolimnological analyses of a 45 cm sediment core (Buju3) from Lake Bujuku which is closest to the ice-fields and partly supplied by melt water in-flows. ²¹⁰Pb and ¹³⁷Cs suggest that Buju3 has an average sedimentation rate of 2.9 mm year⁻¹ and the base of the core can be dated to 1864 ± 20 years. Contemporary diatom taxa found in the lake are dominated by Tabellaria flocculosa and Synedra spp., but also include Achnanthes minutissima and Fragilaria pinnata. However, the diatom flora for Buju3 is less diverse and dominated by small, tychoplanktonic species of Fragilaria. Over the period associated with glacial recession, organic carbon isotope analysis (δ¹³C) suggests a small but distinct increase in within-lake productivity, which increases in rate since the mid 1970s up to the present day, in line with a shift towards increased algal productivity (as highlighted by C/N ratios). However, the diatom and pollen records appear rather insensitive to changes in glacier recession since the late 19th century.     

A Holocene Record of Human Induced and Natural Environmental Change from Lake Forsyth (Te Wairewa), New Zealand

A 1.2 m sediment core from Lake Forsyth, Canterbury, New Zealand, records the development of the catchment/lake system over the last 7000 years, and its response to anthropogenic disturbance following European settlement c. 1840 AD. Pollen was used to reconstruct catchment vegetation history, while foraminifera, chironomids, Trichoptera, and the abundance of Pediastrum simplex colonies were used to infer past environmental conditions within the lake. The basal 30 cm of core records the transition of the Lake Forsyth Basin from a tidal embayment to a brackish coastal lake. Timing of closure of the lake mouth could not be accurately determined, but it appears that Lake Forsyth had stabilised as a slightly brackish, oligo-mesotrophic shallow lake by about 500 years BP. Major deforestation occurred on Banks Peninsula between 1860 AD and 1890 AD. This deforestation is marked by the rapid decline in the main canopy trees (Prumnopitys taxifolia (matai) and Podocarpus totara/hallii (totara/mountain totara), an increase in charcoal, and the appearance of grasses. At around 1895 AD, pine appears in the record while a willow (Salix spp.) appears somewhat later. Redundancy analysis (RDA) of the pollen and aquatic species data revealed a significant relationship between regional vegetation and the abundance of aquatic taxa, with the percentage if disturbance pollen explaining most (14.8%) of the constrained variation in the aquatic species data. Principle components analysis (PCA) of aquatic species data revealed that the most significant period of rapid biological change in the lakes history corresponded to the main period of human disturbance in the catchment. Deforestation led to increased sediment and nutrient input into the lake which was accompanied by a major reduction in salinity. These changes are inferred from the appearance and proliferation of freshwater algae (Pediastrum simplex), an increase in abundance and diversity of chironomids, and the abundance of cases and remains from the larvae of the caddisfly, Oecetis unicolor. Eutrophication accompanied by increasing salinity of the lake is inferred from a significant peak and then decline of P. simplex, and a reduction in the abundance and diversity of aquatic invertebrates. The artificial opening of the lake to the Pacific Ocean, which began in the late 1800s, is the likely cause of the recent increase in salinity. An increase in salinity may have also encouraged blooms of the halotolerant and hepatotoxic cyanobacteria Nodularia spumigena.     

The Holocene history of West Basin Lake,Victoria, Australia; chemical changes based on fossil biota and sediment mineralogy

Analyses of diatoms, ostracods, pollen and sediment mineralogy from a 524 cm core from a stratified, hypersaline crater lake, West Basin, Victoria, has revealed clear shifts in the lake's water balance and chemistry and the region's climate over the last 10 000 years. Diatom and ostracod analyses reveal lake water salinity changes which are consistent with the conditions suitable for the precipitation of the carbonate and other minerals identified using x-ray diffraction analysis. The fluctuations in lake water balance deduced from diatom and ostracod inferred lake salinity suggest that the lake began to fill at the beginning of the Holocene and was saline and shallow. Toward the mid-Holocene the water levels rose and yet the lake remained largely saline. The late Holocene is marked by a return to more shallow but fluctuating, water conditions. Through the whole period, the regional dryland vegetation was dominated by open sclerophyll woodland. Both the lacustrine and regional environments interpreted here are consistent with those from Holocene records elsewhere in the region.This is the fourth in a series of papers published in this issue on the paleolimnology of arid regions. These papers were presented at the Sixth International Palaeolimnology Symposium held 19–21 April, 1993 at the Australian National University, Canberra, Australia. Dr A. R. Chivas served as guest editor for these papers.     

Diatom,pollen, and geochemical evidence for the palaeosalinity of Medicine Lake,S. Dakota,during the late-Wisconsin and early Holocene

Medicine Lake is a highly saline meromictic lake in eastern South Dakota. A lithostratigraphic and biostratigraphic study of the late-glacial and early post-glacial sediments shows that it was a relatively deep dilute freshwater lake during the period of the Picea pollen zone. When spruce forest changed to a Betula and then to a Quercus/Ulmus woodland in the early post-glacial period, the lake water became more concentrated but remained fresh. However, during the subsequent rapid transition to prairie in the early Holocene, when Gramineae, Ambrosia, and Artemisia dominated dry-land vegetation, the freshwater diatom flora was progressively replaced by a saline assemblage characterized by Cyclotella quillensis, Chaetoceros, and eventually Cyclotella caspia. The lake became permanently saline at about 9000 yr BP. A comparison of the fossil diatom assemblages with surface-sediment samples from a range of lakes in the Dakotas indicates that the change involved an increase in conductivity from about 500 S cm^–1 in the late-glacial period to > 10 000 S cm^–1 in the early Holocene. This rapid change is also marked by an abrupt increase in sulphate concentration in the sediment, the first appearance of bands of gypsum crystals, and the beginning of a well-laminated core sequence that continues through the remaining sediment record. Conditions of high salinity have prevailed to the present day.Contribution 299, Limnological Research Center.     

Environmental variability in Lake Naivasha,Kenya, over the last two centuries

Lake Naivasha, Kenya, is one of a number of freshwater lakes in the East African Rift System. Since the beginning of the twentieth century, it has experienced greater anthropogenic influence as a result of increasingly intensive farming of coffee, tea, flowers, and other horticultural crops within its catchment. The water-level history of Lake Naivasha over the past 200 years was derived from a combination of instrumental records and sediment data. In this study, we analysed diatoms in a lake sediment core to infer past lacustrine conductivity and total phosphorus concentrations. We also measured total nitrogen and carbon concentrations in the sediments. Core chronology was established by ²¹⁰Pb dating and covered a ~186-year history of natural (climatic) and human-induced environmental changes. Three stratigraphic zones in the core were identified using diatom assemblages. There was a change from littoral/epiphytic diatoms such as Gomphonema gracile and Cymbella muelleri, which occurred during a prolonged dry period from ca. 1820 to 1896 AD, through a transition period, to the present planktonic Aulacoseira sp. that favors nutrient-rich waters. This marked change in the diatom assemblage was caused by climate change, and later a strong anthropogenic overprint on the lake system. Increases in sediment accumulation rates since 1928, from 0.01 to 0.08 g cm⁻² year⁻¹ correlate with an increase in diatom-inferred total phosphorus concentrations since the beginning of the twentieth century. The increase in phosphorus accumulation suggests increasing eutrophication of freshwater Lake Naivasha. This study identified two major periods in the lake’s history: (1) the period from 1820 to 1950 AD, during which the lake was affected mainly by natural climate variations, and (2) the period since 1950, during which the effects of anthropogenic activity overprinted those of natural climate variation.     

Recent lake level variations in Lake Haubi, central Tanzania, interpreted from pollen and sediment studies

Variations in pollen assemblages and in physical and chemical composition of a dated sediment record from the small Lake Haubi in north central Tanzania, reveal lake level fluctuations since the late 19th century. Lake Haubi changed from a seasonally inundated swamp to a lake in the beginning of the 20th century. With the exception of 1942-44, when it dried out completely, it remained water filled until 1994 when it again turned into a swamp. The lake level fluctuations in Lake Haubi are largely in phase with fluctuations of the larger East African lakes levels during the 20th century, and are therefore interpreted as being mainly controlled by regional climatic fluctuations. However, the initial formation of Lake Haubi at the turn of the century was likely due to local catchment specific causes, e.g. changes in land use, as the rapid increase in the water level at this time does not correspond to other lake level records from the region.     

A record of vegetation dynamics and lake level changes from Lake Emakat,northern Tanzania,during the last c. 1200 years

Analyses of down-core variations in pollen and charcoal in two short cores of lake sediment and wood samples taken from the in situ remains of Nuxia congesta from Lake Emakat, a hydrologically-closed volcanic crater lake occupying the Empakaai Crater in northern Tanzania, have generated evidence of past vegetation change and lake level fluctuations. Eight AMS radiocarbon (¹⁴C) dates on bulk samples of lake sediment provide a chronological framework for the two cores and indicate that the sediment record analysed incorporates the last c. 1200 years. The in situ remains of a Nuxia congesta tree, now standing in deep water, were dated with three additional AMS ¹⁴C dates, suggesting tree growth within the interval ∼1500–1670 AD. Down-core variations in pollen from terrestrial taxa, particularly the montane forest trees Hagenia abyssinica and Nuxia congesta, indicate a broad period of generally more arid conditions in the catchment to c. 1200 AD and at a prolonged period between c. 1420 and 1680 AD. Variations in pollen from plants in lake margin vegetation indicate low lake levels, presumably as a result of reduced effective precipitation, contemporary with indications of relatively dry conditions mentioned above, but also during the late 18th and the late 19th centuries. The presence of charcoal throughout both cores indicates the frequent occurrence of vegetation fires. An increase in burning, evident in the charcoal data and dated to the early to mid second millennium AD, could relate to an expansion of human population levels and agricultural activity in the region.     

A late quaternary ostracod record from the Tso Kar basin (North India) with a note on the distribution of recent species

The fossil ostracod associations from a radiocarbon dated sediment core (15.3–0 cal kyr) of the high altitude (4,527 m a.s.l.) hyperhaline Tso Kar lake in North India reveal changes in ostracod species abundances and composition. These document the process of lake formation and ongoing desiccation during the latest quaternary and broadly confirm the results of previous geochemical, geomorphological and pollen analysis. The most striking feature of the core record is a period of freshwater conditions between 9.0 and 6.5 cal kyr BP, as calculated by means of an ostracod-based conductivity transfer function. This early- to mid-Holocene interval of the core correlates with similar ostracod assemblages (Cytherissa lacustris—Candona candida—Eucypris afghanistanensis) of an outcrop section at the basin margin, about 98 m above the modern lake level and marks the highest lake level under the influence of an intensified Indian Summer Monsoon. After 6.5 cal kyr BP, Limnocythere inopinata is the sole representative of the ostracod fauna in the sediment core, which suggests rising salinity conditions most probably due to lake shallowing. From 3.2 cal kyr BP to present, the near absence of ostracods in the core Tk106 is most likely a consequence of salinisation of the lake towards the hyperhaline conditions that are realised at present. Although the modern morphology and physico-chemical properties of Tso Kar lake are in contrast to the past lake conditions, most of the ostracod species, except for Limnocythere mirabilis found in the sediment core, are also identified from surface sediment and outcrop samples. In contrast, Heterocypris salina and Eucypris dulcifons are widespread in the shallow surface waters with a total dissolved solids content ranging from 0.6 to 15.0 g L^?1, but are excluded from the core record and outcrop strata. At a basinal scale, the lake shrinkage and segregation into the Tso Kar and hydrologically open freshwater lake Startsapuk Tso have forced diversification of ostracod taxa, probably as an effect of the emergence of new ecological niches under enhanced “environmental pressure”.     

Biological and Geochemical Record of Anthropogenic Impacts in Recent Sediments from Lake Pupuke, Auckland City, New Zealand

Frozen sediment cores from Lake Pupuke in Auckland City, New Zealand, contain a high resolution decadal to annual scale record of changing lake paleoenvironments and geochemistry that reflects changing landuse and hydrology in the catchment over the past c. 190 years. A reliable chronology is available from AMS ¹⁴C and ²¹⁰Pb dating of the sediments, with the timing of the older part of the record supported by the first appearance of pollen of introduced Pinus and Plantago lanceolata associated with European settlement of Auckland in the early 1840s. Diatom stratigraphy, sediment elemental and carbon isotope geochemistry reflect changes in sediment sources and lake conditions commensurate with European development of the Lake Pupuke catchment, in particular enhanced algal productivity controlled by the influx of nutrients after c. 1920 AD. Attempts to prevent nuisance algal blooms in 1933, 1934 and 1939 using CuSO₄ addition produced Cu spikes in the sediment that allowed confirmation of the accuracy of the ²¹⁰Pb chronology. Hence, the elemental and isotopic composition of the Lake Pupuke sediments reflect the timing of significant anthropogenic activities, rather than climatic variations, that have occurred within the watershed over the past c. 190 years. The comparison of records of land use change in the catchment with the multi-proxy record of changes in the sediments usually allowed unambiguous identification of the signatures of change and their causes.     

Catchment disturbance inferred from paleolimnological studies of three contrasted sub-humid environments in Morocco

Paleolimnological techniques for assessing recent drainage basin disturbance are evaluated in three Moroccan lakes with catchments contrasted in terms of land-use and vegetation. Rates of sediment accumulation in the two lakes with agricultural catchments were relatively high (>1.6 cm yr^-1) in the most recent past. Dilution effects prevented core dating by the ²¹⁰Pb method alone and post-1953 chronologies were constructed by combining ²¹⁰Pb and ¹³⁷Cs data. The recent sediment accumulation rate at the currently least disturbed site, where natural Cedrus forest is still abundant, was relatively low (<0.4 cm yr^-1) but has increased since the mid-19th century.Magnetic, geochemical, pollen, and diatom studies of all three lake sediment cores linked with modern field survey data show that soil erosion in the most vegetationally disturbed catchment (Dayat-er-Roumi) has been high throughout the recent past and that intensity peaks are probably associated with wetland drainage operations beginning in the 1940's. At the partially forested site (Dayat Affougah), pre-1950's woodland clearance and other land-use changes are the likely cause of past major soil erosion episodes. The site currently dominated by natural Cedrus forest (Lac Azigza) shows only minor disturbance during the past c. 150 years although a major soil erosion episode occrred in the 17th century.Paleolimnological analysis has clearly demonstrated that major landscape change has occurred at all three sites. However, only at the two sites with catchment cultivation do previously accelerated soil erosion and lake sediment accumulation rates persist to the present. Information essential for formulation of appropriate management plans is presented and the importance of paleolimnology in assessing man-induced lake-catchment disturbance is stressed.     

Differential diatom dissolution in Late Quaternary sediments from Lake Manyara,Tanzania: an experimental approach

Diatom dissolution in saline lakes represents an important obstacle to the quantitative reconstruction of water chemistry and climate from lake sediment archives. This problem is here approached experimentally by artificially dissolving diatom-bearing core sediment from Lake Manyara, Tanzania. Manyara holds one of the longest continuous palaeolimnological records from tropical Africa although its interpretation is based on a fragmentary diatom record due to frustule dissolution. These experiments have revealed clear changes in assemblage composition as dissolution operated differentially with respect to diatom taxa. Differential dissolution has considerable impact on the water chemistry estimates derived from transfer functions. Taphonomy, rather than environmental change, may have been responsible for minor fluctuations in the diatom assemblages from Manyara, although major palaeohydrological changes during the Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene can be identified. Particularly well represented by MANE-87 is a period of intermediate lake level between 27 500 and 23 000 ¹⁴C yr BP which has regional palaeohydrological significance.     

Carbon isotopes of marl and lake sediment organic matter reflect terrestrial landscape change during the late Glacial and early Holocene (16,800 to 5,540 cal yr B.P.): a multiproxy study of lacustrine sediments at Lough Inchiquin,western Ireland

A 7.6-m lake sediment core from a marl lake, Lough Inchiquin, records variation in landscape evolution from 16,800 cal yrs B.P. to 5,540 cal yrs B.P. We observe significant variations (up to 12‰) in δ ¹³C_org and δ ¹³C_calcite values that are interpreted to reflect secular changes in lake water δ ¹³C_DIC values that result from a regional landscape transition from barren limestone bedrock to a forested ecosystem. Lake water δ ¹³C_DIC values are therefore influenced by two isotopically distinct sources of carbon: terrestrial organic material (−27.1 to −31.2‰VPDB) via oxidized soil organic matter and weathered limestone bedrock (+3.4‰VPDB). Isotope excursions in lacustrine sediment records are forced not only by changes in productivity but also by changes in the terrestrial environment. This has profound implications for the interpretation of paleoclimate records derived from lacustrine sediment and suggests that selection of appropriate lakes can provide records of terrestrial change where other related records are not available.     

Modest diatom responses to regional warming on the southeast Tibetan Plateau during the last two centuries

A general mean annual temperature increase accompanied with substantial glacial retreat has been noted on the Tibetan Plateau during the last two centuries but most significantly since the mid 1950s. These climate trends are particularly apparent on the southeastern Tibetan Plateau. However, the Tibetan Plateau (due to its heterogeneous mountain landscape) has very complex and spatially differing temperature and precipitations patterns. As a result, intensive palaeolimnological investigations are necessary to decipher these climatic patterns and to understand ecological responses to recent environmental change. Here we present palaeolimnological results from a ²¹⁰Pb/¹³⁷Cs-dated sediment core spanning approximately the last 200 years from a remote high-mountain lake (LC6 Lake, working name) on the southeastern Tibetan Plateau. Sediment profiles of diatoms, organic variables (TOC, C:N) and grain size were investigated. The ²¹⁰Pb record suggests a period of rapid sedimentation, which might be linked to major tectonic events in the region ca. 1950. Furthermore, unusually high ²¹⁰Pb supply rates over the last 50 years suggest that the lake has possibly been subjected to increasing precipitation rates, sediment focussing and/or increased spring thaw. The majority of diatom taxa encountered in the core are typical of slightly acidic to circumneutral, oligotrophic, electrolyte-poor lakes. Diatom species assemblages were rich, and dominated by Cyclotella sp., Achnanthes sp., Aulacoseira sp. and fragilarioid taxa. Diatom compositional change was minimal over the 200-year period (DCCA = 0.85 SD, p = 0.59); only a slightly more diverse but unstable diatom assemblage was recorded during the past 50 years. The results indicate that large-scale environmental changes recorded in the twentieth century (i.e. increased precipitation and temperatures) are likely having an affect on the LC6 Lake, but so far these impacts are more apparent on the lake geochemistry than on the diatom flora. Local and/or regional peculiarities, such as increasing precipitation and cloud cover, or localized climatic phenomena, such as negative climate feedbacks, might have offset the effects of increasing mean surface temperatures.     

Late Holocene hydrologic changes in northern New Zealand inferred from stable isotope values of aquatic cellulose in sediments from Lake Pupuke

Isotopic records of aquatic cellulose are becoming increasingly important for palaeohydrological reconstructions, but widespread application of this climate proxy is hampered by minerogenic contamination that affects oxygen isotope measures in cellulose. Few records of isotopes in aquatic cellulose are available from palaeoclimate archives in the Southern Hemisphere. In this study, we used a new bulk cellulose extraction method and determined the oxygen (δ¹⁸O) and carbon (δ¹³C) isotope values in cellulose from a Holocene lake sediment core segment (7.2–1.1 cal ka BP) from Lake Pupuke, Auckland, New Zealand. Isotope values from modern, potential sources of sedimentary cellulose revealed the aquatic origin of the cellulose extracted from the core, and hence enabled inference of past lake water δ¹⁸O values from the δ¹⁸O of measured cellulose in the core. A shift to a more positive water balance in the lake was identified around 2.8 cal ka BP by a decrease in inferred lake water δ¹⁸O values. At that time, greater epilimnetic primary productivity is indicated by the higher δ¹³C values of sedimentary cellulose. Greater divergence between the δ¹³C values of cellulose and bulk organic matter suggests stronger stratification of the lake, likely caused by greater freshwater input. We discuss a possible link to a solar minimum that occurred at that time.     

The History of Recent Limnological Changes and Human Impact on Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon

Hypereutrophic Upper Klamath Lake has been studied for almost 50 years to evaluate the nature, cause, and effects of its very productive waters. Mitigation of undesirable effects of massive cyanobacterial blooms requires understanding their modern causes as well as their history. Knowledge of the pre-settlement natural limnology of this system can provide guidelines for lake restoration and management of land and water use strategies to maximize the benefits of this aquatic resource. This investigation uses a paleolimnological approach to document the nature and chronology of limnological and biological changes in Upper Klamath Lake for the past 200 years, covering the time when the lake was first described until today. A 45-cm gravity core, dated by ²¹⁰Pb and diatom correlations, was analyzed for diatoms, pollen, akinetes (resting spores) of the cyanobacterium Aphanizomenon flos-aquae, reworked tephra shards, and sediment magnetic characteristics. Pollen profiles show little vegetation change during this time. In contrast, diatoms indicative of increased nutrient fluxes (P and Si) increase moderately, coinciding with the settlement of the region by Euro-Americans. Numerous settlement activities, including draining of lake-margin marshes, upstream agriculture and timber harvest, road construction, and boat traffic, may have affected the lake. Magnetic properties and reworked tephra suggest riparian changes throughout the basin and increased lithogenic sediment delivery to the lake, especially after 1920 when the marshes near the mouth of the Williamson River were drained and converted to agricultural and pasture land. Drainage and channelization also decreased the ability of the marshes to function as traps and filters for upstream water and sediments. Akinetes of Aphanizomenon flos-aquae record progressive eutrophication of Upper Klamath Lake beginning in the 20th century and particularly after 1920 when lake-margin marsh reclamation more than doubled. The coincidence of limnological changes and human activities following European settlement suggests a major impact on the Upper Klamath Lake ecosystem, although ascribing specific limnological changes to specific human activities is difficult.     

High-resolution paleoecological analysis of recent disturbance in a southern Chilean Nothofagus forest

A 1600 year paleoecological record of environmental change is developed from a small lake in the Nothofagus forest of southern Chile (45.5°S, 72°W). High resolution fossil pollen, charcoal, sedimentological, and chrysophycean stomatocyst analyses are used to investigate the impacts of natural and anthropogenic disturbances on terrestrial and lacustrine environments. Chronological control is based on a combination of ²¹⁰Pb and ¹⁴C dating. Temporal resolution during the past 150–200 yr is ca. 8 yr/sample. The macroscopic charcoal record correlates very closely with historical and dendroecological records of 20th century anthropogenic burning in this region. The chrysophyte stratigraphy indicates that this burning had immediate impacts on the lake itself, while the pollen record provides evidence for a succession of vegetation changes lagging slightly behind the disturbance. These palynological changes are very similar to the pollen signal of European disturbance in northeastern North America. Pre-European shifts in chrysophyte assemblages may be due to the influence of earthquake activity on the lake, though there is no corroborative evidence in the pollen or charcoal records. This study demonstrates that high resolution paleoecological methods can be used to help bridge the temporal gap between traditional ecological and paleoecological studies of environmental change in the temperate forests of southern South America.