Analysis of fossil pigments from algae and bacteria in meromictic Lake Fidler, Tasmania, and its application to lake management

Lake Fidler is an ectogenic meromictic lake with a monimolimnion maintained by periodic incursions of brackish water from the lower Gordon River estuary. A dam across the middle reaches of the Gordon River has restricted these incursions of brackish water and meromictic stability has rapidly declined. A palaeolimnological study was carried in order to assess the historical development of meromixis and the impact of the dam on the microbiological communities in the lake. Fossil pigments in a 17 m sediment core were analysed using reverse phase high performance liquid chromatography (rp-HPLC) and mass spectrometry (MS). In addition, taphonomic studies of pigment production, deposition and degradation in the water column and surface sediments were used to identify planktonic and benthic pigment degradation processes and constrain the stratigraphic interpretation. Results comparing the pigment composition of pelagic sediment traps and littoral surface sediments indicated that the core from the centre of the lake would permit a historical reconstruction of planktonic bacterial and algal communities. Marked increases in prokaryotic pigments ca 3500 yr B.P. suggested the possible colonisation of a chemocline by phototrophic bacteria. Further changes in chlorophyll: carotenoid ratios and changes in relative abundances of both chlorophyll a and bacteriochlorophyll c derivatives also indicated that a change in the depositional environment had occurred; possibly due to altered stratification or anoxia. From this we infer the onset of either intermittent or permanent meromixis. Further increases in prokaryotic pigment abundance suggested that the present state of permanent meromixis was firmly established by 2070 ±50 ¹⁴C yr B.P., and diatom analysis confirmed the development of a stable mixolimnion. High resolution studies of the top 10 cm of sediments measured pigments in mean concentrations of 15.1 ng g^-1 with a mean S.D. of only 2.78 indicating little change in pigment abundance since the construction of the dam. Thus, Lake Fidler still retains most of the features of meromixis. However, evidence from nearby Lake Morrison and Sulphide Pool has shown that any further declines in meromictic stability will cause a rapid reversion to holomixis. Palaeolimnological evidence from the early stages of meromictic development of Lake Fidler suggests that such reversion to holomixis may not permanently eliminate all the microbiological communities, and that, given time, they may return and prosper with re-establishment of a suitable chemocline. These studies will guide recommendations for a management strategy to prevent the further decay of meromixis in the Gordon River lakes.     

The formation of flocculated clay laminae in the sediments of a meromictic lake

Sediments of Lake Fidler, a meromictic lake in south-west Tasmania, contain distinctive laminae. In order to determine their composition and formation, these laminae were studied using a combination of X- ray analysis, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and vibrational spectrometry. Results indicated that the laminae were composed of clay originating from the adjacent Gordon River estuary. The clay was also found as part of the general sediment matrix of the core. The evidence indicates that the laminae are formed during incursions of brackish water from the adjacent Gordon River estuary into Lake Fidler which cause the flocculation of clay minerals in the water column. These clay minerals then sink rapidly to the sediments to form laminae. Although the formation of these laminae pre-dates meromixis, their mode of formation corroborates the theory that meromixis is maintained ectogenically by periodic inflows of brackish water replenishing monimolimnetic salts.     

Hyperspectral imaging of sedimentary bacterial pigments: a 1700-year history of meromixis from varved Lake Jaczno,northeast Poland

Hypoxia in freshwater systems is currently spreading globally and putting water quality, biodiversity and other ecosystem services at risk. Such adverse effects are of particular concern in permanently stratified meromictic lakes. Yet little is known about when and how meromixis and hypoxia became established (or vanished) prior to anthropogenic impacts, or how human activities such as deforestation, erosion and nutrient cycling affected the mixing regimes of lakes. We used calibrated hyperspectral imaging (HSI) data in the visible and near infrared range from a fresh, varved sediment core taken in Lake Jaczno, NE Poland, to map sedimentary pigments at very high resolution (sub-varve scale) over the past 1700 years. HSI-inferred bacteriopheophytin a (bphe a, produced by anoxygenic phototrophic bacteria) serves as a proxy for meromixis, whereas HSI-inferred green pigments (chlorophyll a and diagenetic products) can be used as estimators of aquatic productivity. Meromixis was established and vanished long before significant human disturbance in the catchment was observed in the late eleventh century AD. Under pre-anthropogenic conditions, however, meromixis was interrupted frequently, and the lake mixing regime flickered between dimixis and meromixis. During two periods with intense deforestation and soil erosion in the catchment, characterised by sedimentary facies rich in clay and charcoal (AD 1070–1255 and AD 1670–1710), the lake was mostly dimictic and better oxygenated than in periods with relative stability and a presumably closed forest around the lake, i.e. without human disturbances. After ca. AD 1960, meromixis became established quasi-permanently as a result of eutrophication. The persistent meromixis of the last ~60 years is unusual with respect to the record of the last 1700 years.     

Sediment indicators of meromixis: comparison of laminations, diatoms, and sediment chemistry in Brownie Lake, Minneapolis, USA

Meromixis has several powerful effects on lakes, yet there is no single definitive sediment indicator of meromixis. In this study three sediment indicators of meromixis were compared in Brownie Lake, Minneapolis, Minnesota, a small eutrophic lake that became meromictic around 1925. The results show that in Brownie the onset of laminations and changes in the iron to manganese ratio most likely occurred before the development of permanently anoxic bottom water and that changes in the diatom assemblage occurred later, most likely only when meromixis was well developed.This is the 11th in a series of papers published in this special AMQUA issue. These papers were presented at the 1994 meeting of the American Quaternary Association held 19–22 June, 1994, at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. Dr Linda C. K. Shane served as guest editor for these papers.     

Formation and early history of Lakes Pepin and St. Croix of the upper Mississippi River

Study of Lake Pepin and Lake St. Croix began more than a century ago, but new information has permitted a closer look at the geologic history of these two riverine lakes located on the upper Mississippi River system. Drainages from large proglacial lakes Agassiz and Duluth at the end of the last glaciation helped shape the current valleys. As high-discharge outlet waters receded, tributary streams deposited fans of sediment in the incised river valleys. These tributary fans dammed the main river, forming riverine lakes. Lake Pepin was previously thought to be a single long continuous lake, extending for 80 km from its dam at the Chippewa River fan all the way up to St. Paul, with an arm extending up the St. Croix valley. Recent borings taken at bridge and dam locations show more than a single section of lake sediments, indicating a more complex history. The Minnesota and Mississippi Rivers did not always follow their current paths. Valleys cut into bedrock but now buried by glacial sediment indicate former river courses, with the most recent of these from the last interglacial period marked at the surface by chains of lakes. The morphology of the Mississippi valley bottom, and thus the morphology of Lake Pepin as it filled the valley, is reflect in part by the existence of these old valleys but also by the presence of glacial outwash terraces and the alluvial fans of tributary streams. A sediment core taken in Lake Pepin near Lake City had a piece of wood in gravels just below lake sediments that dated to 10.3 ka cal. BP, indicating that the lake formed as the Chippewa River fan grew shortly after the floodwaters of Lakes Agassiz and Duluth receded. Data from new borings indicate small lakes were dammed behind several tributary fans in the Mississippi River valley between the modern Lake Pepin and St. Paul. One tributary lake, here called Early Lake Vermillion, may have hydraulically dammed the St. Croix River, creating an incipient Lake St. Croix. The tributary fans from the Vermillion River, the Cannon River, and the Chippewa River all served to segment the main river valley into a series of riverine lakes. Later the growth of the Chippewa fan surpassed that of the Vermillion and Cannon fans to create a single large lake, here called late Lake Pepin, which extended upstream to St. Paul. Sediment cores taken from Lake Pepin did not have significant organic matter to develop a chronology from radiocarbon dating. Rather, magnetic features were matched with those from a Lake St. Croix core, which did have a known radiocarbon chronology. The Pepin delta migration rate was then estimated by projecting the elevations of the top of the buried lake sediments to the dated Lake Pepin core, using an estimated slope of 10 cm/km, the current slope of Lake Pepin sediment surface. By these approximations, the Lake Pepin delta prograded past Hastings 6.0 ka cal BP and Red Wing 1.4 ka cal BP. This is one of eight papers dedicated to the “Recent Environmental History of the Upper Mississippi River” published in this special issue of the Journal of Paleolimnology. D. R. Engstrom served as guest editor of the special issue.     

实施流域生态管理的长江中下游湿地保护探讨

长江中下游地区湿地分布广泛且类型多样,是我国淡水湖泊分布最集中和最具有代表性的地区。为了从根本上解决长江中下游湿地利用面临的问题,实现湿地资源的可持续利用,保护湿地环境,解决区内上、下游用水的供需矛盾,实现水资源的优化配置,调动区域湿地保护的积极性和主动性,有必要遵循湿地流域分布规律,应用流域生态学最新理论与实践成果,进行流域生态管理。一方面,要从流域角度处理好几大江湖关系、蓄泄关系、湖垸关系和山湖(河)关系等;另一方面,在流域内建立统一协调机制,对流域湿地进行保护与合理利用、合理布局和统一规划;同时在保护的前提下,科学合理地利用长江中下游湿地资源,开拓新的生产力。     

三门峡盆地第四纪古地理演变与古人类活动

三门峡盆地位居黄河中游,环境的演进与古人类的活动有着密切关系。早更新世,三门峡盆地为湖盆区,在盆边林缘地带发展了西侯度文化;中更新世,盆地内山前洪积扇面积扩大,湖盆缩小,扇前近水地带发展了匼河一丁村文化;晚更新世,湖水消失,黄河出现,黄土堆积的山麓与河谷两岸阶地上,发展了许家窑文化;全新世,大陆性季风明显,黄土丘陵与河谷阶地区发展了仰韶文化、龙山文化与现代人类社会历史。可见,盆地区古人类活动历史已长达200万年左右。而且,人类的发展迁徙与古地理环境的演进也是有着密切关系的。     

Conditions for deposition of annually laminated sediments in small meromictic lakes: a case study of Lake Suminko (northern Poland)

A three-year field study was conducted in Lake Suminko, Poland, to gain an understanding of the limnological variables that influence the formation and spatial extent of annually laminated sediments in the lake. The water body is divided into three depth strata, the mixolimnion, chemocline and monimolimnion, each defined by distinct values of temperature, electrical conductivity and oxygen concentration. Typical for meromictic lakes, the monimolimnion remains perennially anoxic and is rich in dissolved solids and nutrients. The annual pattern of particle flux in Lake Suminko is closely related to biochemical processes in the euphotic zone. During winter months we observed very low accumulation rates of non-carbonaceous matter, while during the rest of the year, three periods of calcite deposition were recorded (April, July–August, and October–November). The periods of high calcite deposition corresponded with algal blooms and oxygen concentration maxima. Two principal factors contribute to meromixis in Lake Suminko: (1) the basin is sheltered, preventing wind mixing, and (2) biochemical processes in the lake associated with high lacustrine productivity. Meromictic conditions must control the formation and preservation of laminated sediments in the lake because preserved laminations occur only in areas where the lake floor lies below monimolimnetic waters.     

The effect of the Changjiang River on water regimes of its tributary Lake East Dongting

The blocking or reversing effect of the downstream trunk river on its tributary lakes is an essential aspect of river-lake hydraulics. To measure how and the extent to which a trunk river can influence its tributary lakes, we made a case study in Changjiang River and one of its tributary lakes, Lake East Dongting (Lake ED) during a 35-year study period (1980–2014). Specifically, we investigated Lake ED’s discharge ability into Changjiang River using stage-discharge relationship curves, and hence the changes of the lake discharge ability under different hydrologic conditions of the Changjiang River. The results show that (1) the Changjiang River does exert a huge impact on the water regimes of Lake ED. And this impact varies seasonally. A variation of 3000 m³/s in Changjiang River’s runoff would change the lake water level by about 1.1 m in dry seasons, by 0.4 m in wet seasons, and by 0.6 m during severe summer floods. (2) Changes in the Changjiang River runoff triggered by the Three Gorges Dam since 2003 have led to dramatic water regime variations in Lake ED. Other factors, including reduction of lake inflow and the lake bed erosion, also exacerbated the water regime variations in Lake ED.     

基于多源空间数据的塔里木河下游湖泊变化研究

利用历史图件、地形图及遥感数据监测塔里木河下游诸多湖泊水域面积并分析近一百多年的变化情况。根据湖泊水域及其变化,该区湖泊在100多年内变化过程可以分为3个时间段：① 20世纪60年代以前,该区水文条件较好,19世纪末20世纪初湖泊总面积超过2000 km²;20世纪60-70年代至20世纪末,随着水利设施的陆续兴建,湖泊水域缩小,甚至某些湖泊彻底干涸;21世纪随着塔里木河流域综合治理与下游生态输水工程的实施,该区水文条件有所好转,干涸多年的一些湖泊重新形成水域,2013年湖泊水域总面积达760 km²。② 根据湖盆成因及水域变化把该区湖泊分为：河道西侧的风成湖,河道网之间及东侧的河成湖及河道末端的构造湖等三类。③ 初步总结风成湖演变过程,发现该区风成湖与河成湖在形状、深度、水质、形成时间等方面有较大差异。④ 近代人为因素对湖泊水域变化的影响高于自然因素。     

Palaeolimnological studies of the eutrophication of volcanic Lake Albano (Central Italy)

We use palaeolimnological techniques to reconstruct the eutrophication history of a volcanic lake (Lake Albano, central Italy) over the past three centuries. The presence of annual varves down to the bottom of the core (c. 1700 A.D.) indicated the lack of bioturbation and likely long-term meromixis. Sedimentation rates were estimated by varve counts (calcite/diatom couplets), indicating a mean rate of 0.15 cm yr^–1. The reconstruction of eutrophication was traced using past populations of algal and photosynthetic bacteria (through their fossil pigment), and geochemistry, as well as fossil remains of chironomids. Phaeophorbidea and the red carotenoid astaxanthin were used to detect past zooplankton development.The first sign of trophic change related to human activities is datedc. 1870 A.D. From that period onward a sharp increase of authigenic CaCO₃, nitrogen, N:P ratio, and dinoxanthin, a characteristic carotenoid of Chrysophyceae and Dinophyceae, is observed.Chironomid analyses showed the near absence of a deep water fauna throughout the core length. The populations of chironomid larvae are restricted to oxygenated littoral zones. In fact, the few fossil remains found are primarily of littoral origin, representing shallow water midges that were transported to profundal waters. The reduction of total chironomid in the uppermost layers of the core is to be related to human land uses.     

江南的晚更新世风成砂丘

本文主要根据长江中下游南沿地带一些主要松散砂粒组成的岗岭与丘丛的分布、物质组分与沉积构造特征及其生成时代的分析,认为它们是冰期中南侵的干冷气流,把由于海面-江面-湖面下降而大片出露的江湖滩地上的砂粒,吹扬起来又沉落的风成砂丘.     

The role of palaeolimnology in assessing eutrophication and its impact on lakes

Eutrophication is perhaps the most pervasive form of pollution. Here we first review its effects on lake ecosystems based largely on modern ecological investigation. The longer time scale afforded by palaeolimnological investigation has seen an increase in the number of the publications since 1990 with a disproportionate increase in citations demonstrating the increasing use and usefulness of palaeolimnology to help understand lakes ecosystems and their response to eutrophication. We summarise briefly the history and origins of palaeolimnological investigation into eutrophication and its impacts in lakes. Then we review quantitative and qualitative palaeolimnological methods for tracking change in nutrient concentrations, algal community and abundance, macrophyte community composition and abundance and zooplanktivorous fish density. The usefulness of stable isotope analysis on sediment organic matter to track eutrophication is assessed and alternative methods discussed. A current challenge is to determine the effects of recent climate change on lake ecosystems. The impacts of climate change and eutrophication on the ecology of lakes have many similarities making it difficult to disentangle the impact of one from the other, in particular where the eutrophication impacts are greatest. We review a number of recent palaeolimnological studies, in particular those integrating long term monitoring data, which have gone some way to identifying when nutrients or climate may be having the greatest impact. Finally, we discuss possible future directions for the discipline, such as the greater integration of studies of evolutionary change using molecular techniques.     

Holocene environmental history in northwest Finnish Lapland reflected in the multi-proxy record of a small subarctic lake

A 2.5-m-long sediment core was retrieved from Lake Somaslampi, a small lake located in a kame field on the north slope of the Scandes Mountains in Finnish Lapland. Holocene environmental changes were inferred from the lithological, geochemical, pollen, diatom and Cladocera records stored in the lake sediment. The chronology was based on six radiocarbon AMS dates supported by a palynological control chronology. The sediment profile consists of a glacial sedimentary sequence truncated by a lacustrine one. A hiatus, tentatively correlated with climate cooling and advances of glaciers during the 8.2 ka yrs BP “Finse cooling Event”, occurs between these sequences. The glacial sequence was composed of fluvioglacial clastics, smoothly changing into glacio-lacustrine diatomaceous ooze deposited in a meromictic proglacial lake that covered the kame field. The meromixis was probably caused by the greater depth of the lake, the extended ice-cover, and the microbial mats covering large areas of the lake bottom. A distinct change in the biota of the glacio-lacustrine sediments indicates higher trophic conditions than during deposition of the fluvioglacial clastics. The late-Pleistocene vegetation was characterised by subarctic birch tundra vegetation (Betula–Salix–Ericaceae) with low biodiversity gradually changing to Betula–Pinus dominance in the early Holocene. The lake was deep and had a diatom inferred pH ~ 7 indicated also by the dominance of planktonic Cladocera. The base of the lacustrine sediment sequence (6,650–6,300 cal. BP) consisted of loess-rich sediment indicating an increase in eolian activity. This is also supported by the pollen record, which is dominated by more long-distant taxa such as Alnus and Pinus, and by the increased C/N ratio of the sediment. After the initial meromictic phase of the lake, an abrupt lowering of the water level occurred. Lake Somaslampi was isolated from the larger Pre-Lake Somas basin and became holomictic, shallow, much warmer and more productive, until the deterioration of climate around 3,000 yr BP and the increased input of clastics from the tundra soils. The vegetation followed the general climatic trend by gradually changing from the dominance of Betula and Pinus to the dominance of more tundra-related vegetation like Poaceae and Cyperaceae. However, the higher frequencies of planktonic Cladocera and centric diatoms in the most recent sediments indicates higher trophic conditions, increased turbulence and a prolonged ice-free period, which can possibly be linked to the recent climate warming especially in areas of higher altitude and latitude.     

Paleohydrological changes in an Amazonian floodplain lake: Santa Ninha Lake

Holocene environments have been reconstructed by sedimentological, mineralogical and organic geochemical analysis of a 270-cm core from Santa Ninha Lake, a floodplain lake in lower Amazonia. Dated by fourteen AMS-radiocarbon dates, the sediment core has a basal age of 5,600?cal?years BP and different sedimentary units were identified. These units document various hydrologic phases in the evolution of this lake. Reduced Amazon River influence, with reduced high-water levels of the river, characterized the period between 5,600 and 5,100?cal?years BP. Comparison with other Amazonian and Andean paleoclimate studies point to a dryer climate during this phase. After 5,100?cal?years BP coarse sediments and quartz increase which suggest a higher inflow of the Amazon River. Between 5,000 and 2,300?cal?years BP the coarse sediments and quartz remain high but the organic carbon showed the lowest values. The riverine inflow caused dilution of the organic material produced in the lake and consequently low rates of carbon flux in these phases were recorded. These results show that the hydrodynamics of the Amazon River strongly influence the behavior, productivity and consequently the sedimentation process in the floodplain lakes.     

GIS技术和水热平衡模型在古湖泊水文重建研究中的应用--以石羊河流域为例

首次利用GIS技术并结合沉积学研究结果,计算全新世两个时段石羊河流域终闾湖泊的面积,建立石羊河流域水热平衡模型,进而恢复全新世两个时期的降水量。     

美国科罗拉多河高速水流实验对下游水生生态系统的影响及启示

科罗拉多河的适应性管理处于世界领先水平。美国为研究格伦峡谷大坝对下游水生生态系统的影响而进行了3次高速水流实验,取得了显著的生态效益,也积累了许多宝贵经验。分析显示,利益相关方参与是该实验成功的体制保障,跟踪监测与评估是实验成功的技术保障,闸坝适应性调度是河流保护与管理的有效手段。该实验的实施过程和效果对我国闸坝调度有许多有益的启示。例如,对下游水生生物和湿地生态系统的保护应作为闸坝调度的目标之一,应加强闸坝适应性调度的实验和研究,促进利益相关方参与河流保护与管理。     

Water regime of the Argun’ river and Lake Hulun Nur under anthropogenic impact

In arid regions of Central Asia, cyclicity in the humidification behavior of a region shows long-term trends of changes in the water levels of closed lakes. Thus, the last 10 years saw a decrease in the water level by several meters on one of the region’s largest lakes — Hulun Nur (PRC). For water level stabilization on the PRC’s territory, a package of measures is undertaken for a partial Hailar river flow transfer (in the upper reaches of the Argun’ river) to Lake Hulun Nur. It is obvious that the lake’s water level regime will experience substantial changes. This paper discusses a variety of consequences of the river flow transfer and different water management modes, and forecasts the lake’s possible level regime, the Argun’ river discharge and the ecological consequences of measures of this kind for the Russian part of the drainage basin.     

长江中游四湖流域湖泊变迁与湖区土壤空间格局的关联分析

分析了20世纪20年代以来长江中游四湖流域湖泊阶段性变化特征,并结合湖区土壤空间分布数据,重点探讨现代土壤空间格局与湖泊的阶段性变化是否存在关联。研究结果表明,从20世纪20年代至今,江汉平原四湖流域湖泊经历了由扩大到缩小至稳定的阶段性变化过程;通过湖泊变迁序列与湖区土壤格局的综合分析,发现四湖流域湖泊变化范围内的土壤空间分异与20世纪20年代以来湖泊变化历程具有密切关系。20世纪20年代以来,四湖流域湖泊变化范围集中分布了全流域67%以上的潜育型水稻土和沼泽型水稻土;在四湖流域自20世纪40年代起的湖泊萎缩阶段,湖泊变化时间距今愈近,相应湖泊变化范围中沼泽型水稻土和潜育型水稻土面积比例愈大,淹育型水稻土和潴育型水稻土面积比例则愈小。在湖泊变化不同时间组合所对应的空间范围中,各类型水稻土所占面积比例随时间变化而表现的规律性,在一定程度表现出人为耕作及土壤性质改良对土壤性质转变的影响作用;而根据沼泽型水稻土转变速率的空间差异性,可推测湖区脱沼泽过程与地形地貌分异相关。