Microfossils of Polynesian cultigens in lake sediment cores from Rano Kau, Easter Island

Previous wetland vegetation records from Easter Island showing deforestation and Polynesian agriculture are limited to cores that rely on pollen, with a single cultigen pollen type identified: Urticaceae/Moraceae, possibly Broussonetia payrifera (paper mulberry). Here we redress this by also using phytolith and starch analyses on four lake sediment cores on a ~350-m transect along the southwest edge of Rano Kau, focusing on in-washed basal clayey layers. We also use a new method, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, to positively identify degraded starch collected from sedimentary deposits. The cores are the first samples recovered from an area in the lake that (a) lies below the relict village of Orongo, (b) is near a section of the crater believed to be most accessible from the Pacific coast, and (c) is far from the northern crater rim and receives high solar radiation, a likely benefit for crops of tropical origin. Pollen and phytoliths are abundant in the clayey layers and sparse in overlying layers of organic lake detritus and living rhizomes. Mixing of core deposits as a result of human activity has disordered the radiocarbon sequence, precluding development of an reliable chronology. Containing microfossils of several introduced cultigens, the clayey layers represent gardened terraces that have slumped into the lake. The data indicate large-scale deforestation and a mixed-crop production system including Broussonetia papyrifera, Colocasia esculenta (taro), Dioscorea alata (greater yam), Ipomoea batatas (sweet potato), Lagenaria siceraria (bottle gourd) and Musa (banana) sp. The data show (a) the potential for using the combined analyses to provide direct evidence of Polynesian horticulture on Easter Island and (b) that the island’s wetlands potentially hold extensive horticultural records. The study highlights the concept of ‘transported landscapes,’ whereby colonising people replace indigenous forests with artificial, imported agricultural landscapes.     

Post-glacial climate change and its effect on a shallow dimictic lake in Nova Scotia,Canada

A high-resolution, multi-proxy lake sediment record was used to establish the timing of Holocene environmental change in Canoran Lake, southwest Nova Scotia, Canada. Proxies include %C, δ¹⁵N, δ¹³C, HI, magnetic susceptibility, and pollen. Canoran Lake is a small, shallow (11 m) lake with two ephemeral inlets and an outlet. The site was deglaciated at ca. 15,300 cal (calibrated) year BP and elevated %C values indicate the establishment of a productive aquatic environment that is consistent with Allerød warming. The Allerød was interrupted by rapid air temperature cooling during the Younger Dryas (ca. 12,900–11,600 cal year BP). The Early Hypsithermal (ca. 11,600–8,500 cal year BP) was relatively warm and wet. A slight increase in clastic input occurred between 9,100 and 8,500 cal year BP but δ¹⁵N, δ¹³C, and HI values imply that the lithostratigraphic response may not be indicative of climate-induced change. The strong proxy response between 8,500 and 8,000 cal year BP was likely due to cooling and drying coincident with the 8.2 k year event. The climate was relatively warm and dry during the Late Hypsithermal (ca. 8,000–3,500 cal year BP). None of the proxies’ exhibit notable change during the 5,500 cal year BP hemlock decline, indicating that ecological change was likely due to a pathogen attack. Post-Hypsithermal (modern) climate was characterized by an increase in precipitation and a decrease in air temperatures from ca. 3,500 to 700 cal year BP (top of core).     

Fossil plant remains at Rano Raraku, Easter Island’s statue quarry: evidence for past elevated lake level and ancient Polynesian agriculture

Previous paleoenvironmental records from the lake of Rano Raraku crater, Easter Island??s statue quarry, showed evidence of two major environmental changes, fluctuating lake levels and Polynesian forest clearance. There have been no reports, however, of former shorelines and it is not known if deforestation of the crater was for quarrying alone, or also for agriculture. We shed light on this by examining macrofossil casts of plants found in dryland iron pan deposits, and using combined analyses of pollen, phytoliths and starch in a lake sediment core and dryland soil profile. Casts of wetland taxa, namely Scirpus californicus and fern rhizomes, were identified in the iron pan deposits up to ~10?m above the current lake level, providing evidence of higher lake level during the last Glacial period. This height is near the level of the col on the western side of the crater, indicating that the lake was at its maximum possible elevation at the time, with overflow via the col. Microfossils of introduced Colocasia esculenta (taro), Ipomoea batatas (sweet potato), Musa (banana sp.) and possibly Lagenaria siceraria (bottle gourd) were identified in the core and soil profile, providing evidence of ancient Polynesian agriculture. Earliest evidence of gardening occurs at ~627?C513?cal BP, immediately after large-scale forest clearance. The core and soil profile were located on opposite sides of the catchment, suggesting that the crater was intensively multi-cropped and that widespread irrigated gardens co-existed with statue-quarrying activity.     

A 2,500-year record of environmental change in Highlands Hammock State Park (Central Florida, U.S.A.) inferred from siliceous microfossils

Analysis of siliceous microfossils of a 79 cm long peat sediment core from Highlands Hammock State Park, Florida, revealed distinct changes in the local hydrology during the past 2,500 years. The coring site is a seasonally inundated forest where water availability is directly influenced by precipitation. Diatoms, chrysophyte statospores, sponge remains and phytoliths were counted in 25 samples throughout the core. Based on the relative abundance of diatom species, the record was subdivided into four diatom assemblage zones, which mainly reflect the hydrological state of the study site. An age-depth relationship based on radiocarbon measurements of eight samples reveals a basal age of the core of approximately 2,500 cal. yrs. BP. Two significant changes of diatom assemblage composition were found that could be linked to both, natural and anthropogenic influences. At 700 cal. yrs. BP, the diatom record documents a shift from tychoplanktonic Aulacoseira species to epiphytic Eunotia species, indicating a shortening of the hydroperiod, i.e. the time period during which a wetland is covered by water. This transition was interpreted as being triggered by natural climate change. In the middle of the twentieth century a second major turnover took place, at that time however, as a result of human impact on the park hydrology through the construction of dams and canals close to the study site.     

Holocene diatom stratigraphy in the Archipelago Sea,northern Baltic Sea

Two sediment cores from the Archipelago Sea in the northern Baltic Sea were examined for their siliceous microfossils in order to study the Holocene palaeoenvironmental history of the area. The diatom record was divided into local diatom assemblage zones (LDAZ). An age model was constructed using independent palaeomagnetic and AMS-¹⁴C methods. The early history of the Archipelago Sea was freshwater. Initial brackish-water influence is observed at 7,950 ± 80 cal. BP (LDAZ4), but fully brackish conditions were established at 7,700 ± 80 cal. BP (LDAZ5). Diatom assemblages indicate increasing salinity, warming climate, and possible increasing trophic state during the transition from lacustrine to brackish-water conditions. The decreasing abundance of Pseudosolenia calcar-avis (Schultze) Sundström and the increasing abundance of the ice-cover indicator species Pauliella taeniata (Grunow) Round and Basson indicate reduced salinity and climatic cooling after ～5,000 cal. BP. LDAZ boundaries do not always correlate with changes in the sediment appearance, which underlines the importance of defining biostratigraphic boundaries independently to the sediment visual character, in contrast with the conventional practice for classifying the Baltic Sea sediments.     

Holocene paleoecology of a wild rice (Zizania sp.) lake in Northwestern Ontario, Canada

Whitefish Lake is a large (11-km-long), shallow, basin in Northwestern Ontario, Canada. The presence of extensive stands of wild rice (Zizania sp.) in combination with high archaeological site density suggests that this lake was ecologically important to regional precontact populations. Collection and analysis of sediment from Whitefish Lake was initiated in 2008 in order to reconstruct changes in lake depth, climate, and vegetation throughout the Holocene. In general, the upper 4.5 m of basinal sediment is composed of ~1.5+ m of varves, which is overlain by a 1.5-m-thick unit with ped-like structures, and ~1.5 m of lacustrine sediment. This sequence documents an early proglacial lake phase, followed by a dry interval before 4,300 (4,900 cal) BP when the lake was significantly shallower, and the establishment of the modern lake during the late Holocene. Plant microfossil (phytolith) evidence indicates that wild rice had colonized the basin ~5,300 (6,100 cal) BP as the lake level rose in response to climate change. Beginning ~4,000 (4,500 cal) BP, changes in elemental data suggest a sharp increase in lake productivity and a switch to anaerobic depositional conditions as the rate of organic sedimentation increased. Recent archaeological research confirms that wild rice was locally processed and consumed during the Middle and Late Woodland periods (~300 BC–AD 1700) although it was evidently growing in the lake well before this time.     

Past environmental change and seawater intrusion into coastal Lake Lilaste,Latvia

Diatoms, organic matter and magnetic susceptibility in a 10-m-long sediment sequence from coastal Lake Lilaste, Latvia, were analysed to evaluate Holocene environmental changes related to past sea-water intrusions. Lake Lilaste is located ~1 km from the present sea coast in an area with a low uplift rate and a threshold altitude of 0.5 m a.s.l. It was thus considered to be an appropriate site to study the influence of past sea level fluctuations on the lake and its sediments. Variations in diatom community composition, along with sediment lithostratigraphy, show that a shallow, nutrient-rich freshwater lake existed there during the early Holocene. The first brackish-water diatoms appeared concurrent with a sea level rise ca. 8700 ± 50 cal a BP, but long-term, intermittent inputs of brackish water were observed between 6700 ± 40 and 4200 ± 80 cal a BP. During those time spans, diatoms indicate increased nutrient concentrations and high conductivity, a consequence of occasional mixing of brackish and freshwater that promoted biological productivity. Lilaste was isolated from the sea at 4200 ± 80 cal a BP, after which a stable freshwater environment, dominated by planktonic diatoms such as Aulacoseira ambigua, A. granulata, A. islandica and A. subarctica, was established. At 400 ± 50 cal a BP, planktonic diatoms were gradually replaced by Fragilaria spp., indicating the beginning of anthropogenic impact. The reconstructed relative water-level curve from the lake coincides with the eustatic sea level curve from 6800 ± 40 cal a BP onwards. There was a distinct increase in abundance of brackish-water diatoms when the sea level reached the threshold of Lilaste, which at that time was probably about 3 m lower than the present sea level. According to radiocarbon-dated shifts in the diatom community composition, the Litorina Sea transgression was a long-lasting event (ca. 2200 years) in the southern part of the Gulf of Riga, where the land uplift rate was near zero. It culminated more than 1000 years later than at other sites with higher uplift, in the northern part of the Baltic Sea.     

Early middle Holocene climate oscillations recorded in the Beihuqiao Core,Yuhang, Zhejiang Province,China

A long-standing controversy exists concerning the spatial and temporal characteristics of Holocene climate change in China. Zhejiang is located in the southeast of China, where the East Asian monsoon dominates the climate and a Neolithic culture flourished. In recent years, geographers have debated the climatic conditions existing at the time of the Neolithic cultures. This study reconstructed the sedimentary environment between 11.30 and 4.17 cal ka BP based on a multi-proxy analysis of a 14.3 meter sediment core, drilled in Beihuqiao, Zhejiang Province, China. The results show: (1) The climate was getting warm between 11.50 and 8.77 cal ka BP. Grain size became finer from the bottom to the top layer, accompanied by an increase in the chemical index of alteration (CIA), Mg/Sr ratio, the percentage of clay, pollen concentrations, and a decrease in SiO₂/Al₂O₃ ratio, and the value of bases–alumina (ba), as well as other trace elements. (2) Between 8.77 and 7.99 cal ka BP, the sediment is composed of gray-yellow and gray silt. The percentage of CaO and the ratio of CaO + Na₂O + K₂O to Al₂O₃ is much higher. The pollen concentration sharply decreases. The climate was cold and dry in the early stages of this period, but became relatively warmer and wetter in the later stages. (3) The Holocene Climatic Optimum occurred at 7.99–5.68 cal ka BP. Higher contents of clay, total Fe₂O₃, Al₂O₃, CIA, the chemical proxy of alteration, pollen concentration, evergreen pollens, and high values of Mg/Sr are observed at this stage, coinciding with a lower SiO₂/Al₂O₃ value, (CaO + Na₂O + K₂O)/Al₂O₃ ratio, and an obvious reduction in silt/clay, and SiO₂ and CaO concentrations. (4) During the period 5.68–4.17 cal ka BP, the temperature in the study area declined in a stepwise fashion. The grain size became finer, and the Mg/Sr ratio decreased gradually.     

Sedimentary cladoceran assemblages and their functional attributes record late Holocene climate variability in southern Finland

We examined long-term relationships between Cladocera and limnogeological and climate variables in a late Holocene lake sediment sequence to assess cladoceran responses to climate change and reconstruct past climate variations in southern Finland, near the Baltic Sea coast. Elemental composition, organic matter, and inferred water quality variables were used to constrain paleoenvironmental (until 4500 cal BP) conditions and human impact. Fossil Cladocera assemblages, ephippia, and body size trends were utilized to estimate mean July air temperature (T _Jul) variability, open-water season length, and water-temperature regimes. Results revealed stable cladoceran communities, dominated by Eubosmina, until 500 cal BP, followed by major assemblage changes including increases in Chydorus cf. sphaericus, Alonella spp., and Bosmina longirostris. Pb and Cu concentrations were associated temporally with increasing human impact and warming climate during the past few centuries, and were the most significant factors in explaining cladoceran community changes, based on redundancy analysis. A Cladocera-based T _Jul reconstruction estimated elevated temperatures for the end of the Holocene Thermal Maximum, a cooler period during ~3000–2000 cal BP, slightly increased temperatures during 1200–800 cal BP corresponding to the Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA), and lower temperatures during the Little Ice Age (LIA), 800–200 cal BP. The reconstruction also suggests that significant climate warming took place during the twentieth century. Cladocerans mostly associated with warm periods included B. longirostris and Pleuroxus uncinatus, whereas Alona affinis, A. quadrangularis, and C. cf. sphaericus were associated with colder climate. Compared to a reference Chironomidae-inferred T _Jul reconstruction from the same region, discrepancies were apparent in amplitude of temperature change, as the temperature variability in the cladoceran-based record was muted until ~200 cal BP. During the LIA, increased ephippia and body size agreed with the temperature reconstruction, but suggested a severely shorter open-water season and reduced water temperatures compared to the preceding late Holocene episodes, even though the cladoceran T _Jul showed quite similar temperatures for these periods. Our results suggest that fossil cladoceran assemblages, ephippia, and morphological attributes respond sensitively to long-term climate fluctuations and this record reflects well the major climate events of the late Holocene and provides realistic paleoclimatic estimates for maritime southern Finland.     

Natural and human-induced environmental changes in Eastern Europe during the Holocene: a multi-proxy palaeolimnological study of a small Latvian lake in a humid temperate zone

This study uses the Holocene lake sediment of Lake ?ū?i (Latvia, Vidzeme Heights) for environmental reconstruction with multi-proxy records including lithology, computerised axial tomography scan, grain-size analysis, geochemistry, diatoms and macrofossils, supported by AMS radiocarbon dating. Numerical analyses (PCA; CONISS) reveal three main phases in the development of the lake. Response to the Lateglacial–Holocene transition in Lake ?ū?i took place around 11,300 cal. BP. Organogenic sedimentation started with distinctive 5-cm-thick peat layer and was followed by lacustrine sedimentation of carbonaceous gyttja. Several findings of the peat layer with similar dated age and position at different absolute altitudes indicate that lake basin was formed by glaciokarstic processes. In the Early Holocene (until around 8,500 cal. BP), the lake was shallow and holomictic, surrounded by unstable catchment with erosion and inflow events. Predominance of diatom species of Cyclotella and Tabellaria, large numbers of respiratory horns of phantom midge pupae (Chaoboridae), high Fe/Mn ratio, as well as the presence of laminated sediments indicates the transition to a dimictic and oligo-mesotrophic lake conditions with high water level, anoxia in the near-bottom and stable catchment in the Middle Holocene (8,500–2,000 cal. BP). This contrasts with many hydrologically sensitive lakes in Northern and Eastern Europe in which the water level fell several meters during this period. During the Late Holocene (from 2,000 cal. BP to the present), the lithological and biotic variables reveal major changes, such as the increase in erosion (coarser grain-size fraction) and eutrophication [diatoms Aulacoseira ambigua (Grun.) Sim., Stephanodiscus spp., Cyclostephanos dubius (Fricke) Round]. Characteristics of lake-catchment system during the Late Holocene reflect anthropogenic signal superimposed on the natural forcing factors. To date, the Late Quaternary palaeolimnological reconstructions using lake sediment has been limited in the Baltic region. Therefore, findings from Lake ?ū?i provide important information about environmental and climatic changes that took place in this part of Eastern Europe. This study shows that the relative importance of climate and local factors has varied over the time and it is essential to consider the lake basin topography, catchment size and land cover as potential dominant forcing factors for changes in sedimentary signal.     

Sponge spicules indicate Holocene environmental changes on the Nabileque River floodplain, southern Pantanal, Brazil

Sponge spicules are siliceous microfossils that are especially useful for analysis of sandy fluvio-lacustrine sediments. Sponge spicules in a long sediment core (~550 cm below surface), consisting of fine sand, sandy silt, and organic-rich mud, recovered from the floodplain of the Nabileque River, southern Pantanal, Brazil (S20°16′38.3″/W57°33′00.0″), form the basis of a novel paleoenvironmental interpretation for this region. Optically stimulated luminescence dates constrain the timing of deposition to the middle-late Holocene and all spicules identified are typical of the Brazilian cerrado biome. The base of the section is dominated by Oncosclera navicella Carter 1881, Metania spinata Carter 1881, and Corvospongilla seckti Bonetto and Ezcurra de Drago 1966, which indicate a lotic to semi-lotic environment strongly influenced by an actively meandering river channel at ~6.7–5.7 ka BP. The appearance of Heterorotula fistula Volkmer-Ribeiro and Motta 1995, Dosilia pydanieli Volkmer-Ribeiro 1992 and Radiospongilla amazonensis Volkmer-Ribeiro and Maciel 1983 at ~340 cm downcore suggests a reduction in flowing water and a more stable lentic environment, consistent with deposition in an oxbow lake. This oxbow lake environment existed during an interval of regional aridity between ~4.5 and 3.9 ka BP. Spicules, as well as phytoliths and diatoms, are highly variable moving up-section, with species from both lotic and lentic ecosystems present. Above ~193 cm, the total abundance of spicules declines, consistent with wetter climate conditions and development of an underfit river similar to the modern floodplain. Results support hypotheses related to migration of the Paraguay River inferred from geomorphological studies and add a key southern-region dataset to the emerging Holocene database of paleoenvironmental records from the Pantanal wetlands.     

Hydrology of Dali Lake in central-eastern Inner Mongolia and Holocene East Asian monsoon variability

Lacustrine records from the northern margin of the East Asian monsoon generate a conflicting picture of Holocene monsoonal precipitation change. To seek an integrated view of East Asian monsoon variability during the Holocene, an 8.5-m-long sediment core recovered in the depocenter of Dali Lake in central-eastern Inner Mongolia was analyzed at 1-cm intervals for total organic and inorganic carbon concentrations. The data indicate that Dali Lake reached its highest level during the early Holocene (11,500–7,600 cal yr BP). The middle Holocene (7,600–3,450 cal yr BP) was characterized by dramatic fluctuations in the lake level with three intervals of lower lake stands occurring 6,600–5,850, 5,100–4,850 and 4,450–3,750 cal yr BP, respectively. During the late Holocene (3,450 cal yr BP to present), the lake displayed a general shrinking trend with the lowest levels at three episodes of 3,150–2,650, 1,650–1,150 and 550–200 cal yr BP. We infer that the expansion of the lake during the early Holocene would have resulted from the input of the snow/ice melt, rather than the monsoonal precipitation, in response to the increase in summer solar radiation in the Northern Hemisphere. We also interpret the rise in the lake level since ca. 7,600 cal yr BP as closely related to increased monsoonal precipitation over the lake region resulting from increased temperature and size of the Western Pacific Warm Pool and a westward shifted and strengthened Kuroshio Current in the western Pacific. Moreover, high variability of the East Asian monsoon climate since 7,600 cal yr BP, marked by large fluctuations in the lake level, might have been directly associated with variations in the intensity and frequency of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events.     

Middle to late Holocene chironomid-inferred July temperatures for the central Northwest Territories,Canada

We analyzed subfossil chironomids, sediment organic matter and sediment particle size data from a 1.11-m-long freeze core collected from Carleton Lake (unofficial name), located approximately 120 km north of the modern treeline. This well-dated core spans the last ca. 6,500 years. Two chironomid transfer functions were applied to infer mean July air temperatures. Our results indicated that the chironomid-inferred temperatures from this lake sediment record did not pass a significance test, suggesting that other factors in addition to temperature may have been important in structuring the chironomid community through time. Although not statistically significant, the chironomid-inferred temperatures from this site do follow a familiar pattern, with highest inferred temperatures occurring during the Holocene Thermal Maximum (~6–4 cal kyr BP), followed by a long-term cooling trend, which is reversed during the last 600 years. The largest change in the chironomid assemblage, which occurred between ca. 4,600 and 3,900 cal yr BP is possibly related to the well-documented northward advance and subsequent retreat of treeline in this region.     

Late Quaternary climatic changes in southern Chile, as recorded in a diatom sequence of Lago Puyehue (40°40′ S)

A late Quaternary diatom stratigraphy of Lago Puyehue (40°40′ S, 72°28′ W) was examined in order to infer past limnological and climatic changes in the South-Chilean Lake District. The diatom assemblages were well preserved in a 1,122 cm long, ¹⁴C-dated sediment core spanning the last 17,900 years, and were in support of an early deglaciation of Lago Puyehue. The presence of a short cold spell in South Chile, equivalent to the Younger Dryas event in the Northern Hemisphere, the Antarctic Cold Reversal in Antarctica, or the Huelmo-Mascardi event in southern South America, was not clearly evidenced in the diatom data, although some climate instability may have occurred between 13,400 and 11,700 cal. yr. BP, and a relatively long period (between 16,850 and 12,810 cal. yr. BP) with low absolute abundances and biovolumes could be tentatively interpreted as a period of low rainfall and/or temperatures. An increase in the moisture supply to the lake was tentatively inferred at 12,810 cal. yr. BP. After 9,550 cal. yr. BP, inferred stronger and longer persisting summer stratification, may have been the result of the higher temperatures associated with an early-Holocene thermal optimum. The mid-Holocene appeared to be characterized by a decrease in precipitation, culminating around 5,000 cal. yr. BP, and rising again after 3,000 cal. yr. BP, likely associated with a previously documented lowered frequency and amplitude of El Niño events. An increase in precipitation during the late Holocene (3,000 cal. yr. BP–present) might have marked subsequent increased frequency of El Niño occurrences, leading to drier summers and slightly moister winters in the area.     

Evidence of late Holocene climate variability in the western Nanling Mountains,South China

A 95-cm-thick peat sequence obtained from Daping Swamp in the western Nanling Mountains provides evidence for climate variability in the past ~3,000 year. Multi-proxy records (including organic carbon isotopes, humification degree, organic matter content, and dry bulk density) revealed three intensified Asian summer monsoon (ASM) intervals (i.e.~2900–2700, 2500–1700 and 1000–600 cal. yr BP) and three weakened ASM intervals (i.e.~2800–2500, 1700–1000 and 600–200 cal. yr BP). Our δ¹³C record shows a possible correlation with the sunspot number and residual atmospheric ¹⁴C records on multi-centennial scale, especially for the period between 2960 and 2200 cal. yr BP. A spectral analysis of δ¹³C record reveals three significant cycles (i.e., 396, 110 and 102 yr) and all these cycles could be related to solar activity, suggesting that solar output may have influenced the late Holocene climate variability in the study region.     

A 12.8-ka-long palaeoenvironmental record revealed by subfossil ostracod data from lacustrine freshwater tufa in Lake Sinijärv,northern Estonia

High-resolution quantitative analysis of ostracod assemblages from 4.3-m-thick freshwater tufa-rich sediments, deposited during the last 12.8 ka in Lake Sinijärv, northern Estonia, yielded information on water level, trophic state conditions, and temperature changes since the late glacial. AMS ¹⁴C dates from aquatic mosses provided time constraints on the palaeoenvironmental development of the region. In the ostracod assemblage structure, four faunal zones (OFZ) were determined. The most significant change in the ostracod fauna occurred at 10,590 cal. y BP, when a typical littoral, polythermophilic fauna was replaced by a mostly sublittoral, species-rich meso- to stenothermophilic fauna. The ostracod data indicate two major low-water-level periods in the lake at 12,800–10,590 and 7,600–3,700 cal. y BP. Sediment analysis indicates the most intensive tufa precipitation occurred during these low stand periods, rather than during the warmest climate in Estonia between 8,000 and 4,500 cal. y BP. The late glacial low water level in the groundwater-fed Lake Sinijärv at 12,800–10,590 cal. y BP coincides partly with the regression in the Lake Peipsi basin (14,000–12,100 cal. y BP) and with the last drainage event of the Baltic Ice Lake at 11,600 cal. y BP. The low-water-level period in Lake Sinijärv occurred earlier than in lakes in the SE sector of Scandinavian glaciation. The change from low to high water level in Lake Sinijärv at 10,590 cal. y BP preceded the first post-glacial transgression events in the small lowland lakes of Estonia, southern Sweden, Poles`ye in Belarus, and Valday in NW Russia. In general, the mid-Holocene low-water-level period in Lake Sinijärv between 7,600 and 3,700 cal. y BP is concurrent with the regressions in the lakes of the SE sector of Scandinavian glaciation.     

Temporal patterns in lacustrine stable isotopes as evidence for climate change during the late glacial in the Southern European Alps

We investigated oxygen and carbon isotopes of bulk carbonate and of benthic freshwater ostracods (Candona candida) in a sediment core of Lago Piccolo di Avigliana that was previously analyzed for pollen and loss-on-ignition, in order to reconstruct environmental changes during the late glacial and early Holocene. The depth–age relationship of the sediment core was established using 14 AMS ¹⁴C dates and the Laacher See Tephra. While stable isotopes of bulk carbonates may have been affected by detrital input and, therefore, only indirectly reflect climatic changes, isotopes measured on ostracod shells provide unambiguous evidence for major environmental changes. Oxygen isotope ratios of ostracod shells (δ¹⁸O_C) increased by ～6‰ at the onset of the Bølling (～14,650 cal BP) and were ～2‰ lower during the Younger Dryas (～12,850 to 11,650 cal BP), indicating a temporal pattern of climate changes similar to the North Atlantic region. However, in contrast to records in that region, δ¹⁸O_C gradually decreased during the early Holocene, suggesting that compared to the Younger Dryas more humid conditions occurred and that the lake received gradually increasing input of ¹⁸O-depleted groundwater or river water.     

Detecting ancient wild rice (Zizania spp. L.) using phytoliths: a taphonomic study of modern wild rice in Minnesota (USA) lake sediments

Wild rice (Zizania spp. L.) is a North American native grain with spiritual and dietary significance to many native people. Wild rice is also an important aquatic plant that provides critical habitat to wetland and aquatic wildlife. Past distribution of wild rice in North America is poorly understood, largely because of the limited taxonomic resolution of Poaceae pollen. A novel technique for detecting diagnostic Zizania silica phytoliths allows unambiguous identification of this taxon in lake sediments. We need to better understand modern depositional patterns of phytoliths in lake sediments, however, before attempting detailed paleoreconstructions. We analyzed distributions of diagnostic Zizania and other Poaceae phytoliths in modern sediments from three lakes with variable percent cover of wild rice and a non-wild rice control lake in central Minnesota. Absolute counts of phytoliths per gram sediment were achieved using an exotic diatom marker. Non-Zizania short-cell phytoliths, i.e. phytoliths from wetland grasses Phragmites australis and Muhlenbergia glomerata, dominate the assemblages in all lakes. Most Poaceae short-cell phytoliths appear to be derived locally, with little evidence for regional inheritance from eolian or alluvial processes. Because of anatomical differences in decay of plant debris and other taphonomic issues, Zizania inflorescence rondel phytoliths were most abundant, with morphotypes from other parts rarely encountered. Even in sediments under the densest wild rice stands, Zizania phytoliths contributed a maximum of 9 % to total Poaceae phytolith abundance. Lake morphology also affects the depositional pattern of phytoliths in modern sediments, so coring locations should be considered carefully. At least 500 phytoliths should be counted to detect a sufficient number of wild rice phytolith morphotypes. Diagnostic Zizania phytoliths are a reliable tool for wild rice detection in paleolake sediments.     

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”.     

Response of chironomids to late Pleistocene and Holocene environmental change in the eastern Bolivian Andes

We present the first palaeolimnological investigation of chironomid larval assemblages from the Bolivian Eastern Cordillera. Taxonomic diagnoses are provided for the 10 chironomid taxa (subfamilies: Chironominae, Orthocladiinae and Tanypodinae) identified in the lake sediments. We compared changes in the chironomid assemblage from two Andean sites with previously reported palynological, charcoal and geochemical data, and highlight the potential of chironomid analysis to provide additional insights into environmental change in this region of high biodiversity over the last 18,000?years. At Lake Challacaba (17°33.257??S, 65°34.024??W; 3,400?m asl), the chironomid and geochemical data indicate periodic desiccation and hypersalinty of the basin c. 4,000?C3,460?cal?year BP. Increased abundance of Chironomus sp. at c. 1,000?cal?year BP suggests a change in human activity, supporting inferences from the pollen and spore records, which indicate elevated pastoral agriculture at this time. The greatest assemblage change in the chironomid record from Laguna Khomer Kocha Upper (17°16.514??S, 65°43.945??W; 4,153?m asl) occurred at c. 6,380?cal?year BP, concomitant with an increase in marsh woodland taxa, wetter conditions and a rising lake level at the end of a Holocene dry event. There is no apparent response in the chironomid assemblage to burning, however, at the onset of this dry event (c. 10,000?cal?year BP), which is the major transformative agent of the terrestrial vegetation. This study shows that chironomid assemblages in the tropical Andes responded to regional and local environmental changes, and in particular, that they were sensitive to adjustments in net moisture balance (water level fluctuations and salinity) and anthropogenic impacts (nutrient input). This suggests that within-lake processes are more important as drivers of chironomid assemblage composition than terrestrial vegetation or fire regime. Nevertheless, the full potential of subfossil chironomid analysis will only be realised once more modern autecological data are available.