Assessment of coastal vulnerability to environmental change in Jiangsu coastal plain

Assessment of coastal vulnerability to future environmental change has been emphasized in coastal nations or regions. The Jiangsu coastal plain, located to the north of the Yangtze River Delta in China, is most vulnerable to sea level rise and exacerbating coastal hazards. This paper develops the method of delimiting vulnerable scope and assessing coastal vulnerability through field observations and sampling and by applying remote sensing and GIS, which are suitable for great river delta and coastal plains with large area, relative complex micro-geomorphology and the protection of seawall. Applying this method, the coastal vulnerability of the Jiangsu coastal plain to relative sea level rise (approximately 50 cm up to the year 2050) and exacerbating storm surges have been assessed. The results show that, up to the year 2050, the Jiangsu coastal plain will probably lose 12.8 % of tidal flats (about 5.8×104 hm2) and 7.9 % of cultivated land (about 7.2×104 hm2). Meanwhile, 2.0 % of population, 3.8 % of original value of fixed assets, 3.2% of GDP (Gross Domestic Product), 40.3 % of salt industry and 5.8 % of aquiculture respectively will be affected due to coastal environmental change.     

Assessment of coastal vulnerability to environmental change in Jiangsu coastal plain

1 IntroductionCoastal areas, with dense population and high urbanization, are highly sensitive to global environmental change. The impacts of coastal environmental changes, such as sea level rise and related disasters exacerbation on socio-economic development of coastal areas, have become a matter of public concern. To study the vulnerable scope and degree of impacts of sea level rise and related exacerbating coastal hazards can provide a scientific basis for lessening the potential losses th…     

Sea level change and environmental evolution of coastal lakes in Vestfold Hills, Antarctica

Ecological and palaeoecological studies were carried out in a series of lakes in the Vestfold Hills (68°38′S, 78°06′E) on eastern Antarctic continent. Dynamics types of the lakes in environmental geomorphology and physic chemistry, as well as features of biological community structures in different lakes were analyzed. Marine macro and micro fossils collected from the terraces and beaches surrounding these lakes and determined in 14 C radiocarbon ages to be the Late Pleistocene, were used as evidences to show the evolutionary processes of the lakes after sea level changes and transgressions since 18000 a B.P.. Basic modals of evolution for the lakes given in the paper could be regarded as not only explaining the history of environmental and ecological changes in VH lakes, and also reflecting of local environmental evolution in Antarctic region and global climate changes from past to present time.     

A diatom record of recent environmental change in Lake Duluti, northern Tanzania

Lake Duluti is a small, topographically closed crater lake located on the flanks of Mt Meru, northern Tanzania. Analyses of diatoms in three short sediment cores and four modern samples from Lake Duluti were used to infer past environmental changes. ²¹⁰Pb and ¹³⁷Cs activity profiles combined with AMS ¹⁴C dates provide the chronological framework. Weak agreement between the ²¹⁰Pb and ¹⁴C records, together with dating uncertainty, precludes construction of precise age models. The modern diatom flora, from plankton and three periphytic habitats, is dominated by Aulacoseira ambigua (Grunow) Simonsen, Gomphonema parvulum (Kützing) Grunow and Nitzschia amphibia Grunow. All three cores display similar stratigraphic succession, but the relative ratio of habitats represented by the diatoms varies substantially between cores. Diatoms indicate that the oldest part of the record is characterized by relatively low lake level and swampy vegetation. In the late nineteenth or early twentieth century there was a rapid lake level rise and the swamp turned into an open-water lake. High lake levels have prevailed since that time.     

A multiproxy evaluation of Holocene environmental change from Lake Igaliku, South Greenland

This is the first integrated multiproxy study to investigate climate, catchment evolution and lake ecology in South Greenland. A 4-m-long sedimentary sequence from Lake Igaliku (61o 00?? N, 45o 26?? W, 15?m asl) documents major environmental and climatic changes in south Greenland during the last 10?ka. The chronology is based on a ²¹⁰Pb and ¹³⁷Cs profile and 28 radiocarbon dates. The paleoenvironmental history is interpreted on the basis of magnetic susceptibility, grain size, total organic carbon, total nitrogen and sulphur, sedimentation rates, pollen, and diatom assemblages. The basal radiocarbon date at ca. 10?cal?ka BP provides a minimum age for the deglaciation of the basin, which is followed by ~500?years of high sedimentation rates in a glacio-marine environment. After the glacio-isostatic emergence of the basin ca. 9.5?cal?ka BP, limnological and terrestrial proxies suggests early warmth, which may have been interrupted by a cold, dry and windy period between 8.6 and 8.1?cal?ka BP. A dry and windy event ~5.3?C4.8?cal?ka BP preceded the Neoglacial transition at Lake Igaliku, which is characterized by a shift toward moister and perhaps cooler conditions ~4.8?cal?ka BP, causing major changes in terrestrial and aquatic ecological conditions. Significant cooling is documented after ~3?cal?ka BP. Since ~1?cal?ka BP the climatic-driven changes were overprinted by the human influence of Norse and recent agriculture.     

A 2300-year record of environmental change from SW Anatolia, Lake Burdur, Turkey

This work deals with changes recorded by lacustrine sediments from SW Anatolia in Turkey in the context of increasing stress on the Mediterranean environment in relation to human-climate-environmental interactions. Paleolimnological investigations were carried out on Lake Burdur (Lake District geographical subregion of Turkey), which has been subject to rapid changes in its hydrological system that caused a ~10-m water-level drop in the last 30 years. Study of a 5-m-long sediment core, taken from the recently dried out part of the lake, shows significant variation in granulometry, clay mineralogy, nitrogen and organic carbon content and its isotopic composition (?¹³C_org) throughout the sedimentary sequence, which represents the last 2,300 years. Chronology is based on radiocarbon dates obtained from plant fragments. The results provide a record of environmental changes, including biological productivity and erosion intensity, in relation to changes in water level and humidity of the area. The lowest previous water level, which is the same as observed today, occurred at approximately 300 BC, after which time a water-level increase led to a maximum stage between AD 200 and 1200. From AD 1200 to the present, the climate became drier accompanied by an overall lowering of water level, with periods of water-level fluctuations superimposed. The lake never dried out as is observed today at the coring site. The present drop in the lake water level is attributed to human activity rather than to climate change. This record of climate and environmental change in the Lake Burdur area appears to be stratigraphically complete. This study provides rare data for the late Holocene in Anatolia as well as information about rapid climate changes during specific periods. The influence of both the Northern hemisphere atmospheric circulation and Indian monsoon on the east Mediterranean remains unclear. Nevertheless, the North Sea—Caspian atmospheric teleconnection could be an important factor that explains local differences in climatic evolution of Anatolia during the period considered.     

Paleolimnological investigations of anthropogenic environmental change in Lake Tanganyika: IX. Summary of paleorecords of environmental change and catchment deforestation at Lake Tanganyika and impacts on the Lake Tanganyika ecosystem

Paleorecords from multiple indicators of environmental change provide evidence for the interactions between climate, human alteration of watersheds and lake ecosystem processes at Lake Tanganyika, Africa, a lake renowned for its extraordinary biodiversity, endemism and fisheries. This paper synthesizes geochronology, sedimentology, paleoecology, geochemistry and hydrology studies comparing the history of deltaic deposits from watersheds of various sizes and deforestation disturbance levels along the eastern coast of the lake in Tanzania and Burundi. Intersite differences are related to climate change, differences in the histories of forested vs. deforested watersheds, differences related to regional patterns of deforestation, and differences related to interactions of deforestation and climate effects. Climate change is linked to variations in sediment accumulation rates, charcoal accumulation, lake level and water chemistry, especially during the arid-humid fluctuations of the latter part of the Little Ice Age. Differences between forested and deforested watersheds are manifested by major increases in sediment accumulation rates in the latter (outside the range of climatically driven variability and for the last 40 years unprecedented in comparison with other records from the lake in the late Holocene), differences in eroded sediment and watershed stream composition, and compositional or diversity trends in lake faunal communities related to sediment inundation. Variability in regional patterns of deforestation is illustrated by the timing of transitions from numerous sedimentologic, paleoecologic and geochemical indicators. These data suggest that extensive watershed deforestation occurred as early as the late-18th to the early-19th centuries in the northern part of the Lake Tanganyika catchment, in the late-19th to early-20th centuries in the northern parts of modern-day Tanzania, and in the mid-20th century in central Tanzania. Rapid increases in sediment and charcoal accumulation rates, palynological and lake faunal changes occurred in the early-1960s. We interpret this to be the result of greatly enhanced flushing of sediments in previously deforested watersheds triggered by extraordinary rainfall in 1961/62. Regional differences in deforestation histories can be understood in light of the very different cultural and demographic histories of the northern and central parts of the lake shoreline. Incursion of slaving and ivory caravans from the Indian Ocean to the central coast of Lake Tanganyika by the early-19th century, with their attendant diseases, reduced human and elephant populations and therefore maintained forest cover in this region through the late-19th to early-20th centuries. In contrast, the northeastern portion of the lakeshore did not experience the effects of the caravan trades and consequently experienced high human population densities and widespread deforestation much earlier. These studies demonstrate the importance of paleolimnological data for making informed risk assessments of the potential effects of watershed deforestation on long-term lake ecosystem response in the Lake Tanganyika catchment. Differences in sediment yield and lake floor distribution of that yield, linked to factors such as watershed size, slope, and sediment retention, must be accounted for in management plans for both human occupation of currently forested watersheds and the development of future underwater reserves.     

Sediment geochemical records of environmental change in Lake Wuliangsu, Yellow River Basin, north China

We present a paleolimnological record from shallow Lake Wuliangsu in the Yellow River Basin, north China, using a short (56 cm) sediment core. Our objective was to investigate environmental changes in this semi-arid region over the past ~150 years. The sediment core was dated using ¹³⁷Cs and ²¹⁰Pb. We examined stratigraphic trends in core lithology, nutrients, stable isotopes (δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N) and trace element concentrations in the Lake Wuliangsu core to discern between natural sediments and those affected by human agency. A lithologic transition from yellow, coarse-grained sediment to grey, fined-grained sediment marked the lake’s formation about 1860. Until ~1950, sediments displayed relatively low and constant heavy metal concentrations, indicating little human influence. In the 1950s, enrichment factors (EFs) increased, reflecting greater impact of human activities. Carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes in organic matter (OM), along with heavy metal concentrations, were used to infer past shifts in trophic state and identify pollutants that came from agriculture, industry and urbanization. In the late 1950s, the first evidence for environmental change is recorded by increases in total organic carbon (TOC), total organic nitrogen (TN), TOC/TN, EFs, δ¹³C and a decrease in δ¹⁵N. After about year 2000, a more rapid increase in trophic status occurred, as indicated by greater total phosphorus (TP), EFs, δ¹⁵N and lower δ¹³C values. Changes in isotope and TOC/TN values in the lake sediments may reflect a shift in lake ecology during this period. The first increase in trophic status during the late 1950s was mainly a result of agricultural development in the catchment. In contrast, the change after ca. AD 2000 was driven largely by urban and industrial development. Agreement between paleolimnologic data from Lake Wuliangsu, and both instrumental and written records, indicates that the lake sediments provide a reliable archive for investigating the formation and environmental history of the lake.     

A 300 year record of environmental change from Lake Tuborg, Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, Canada

Lamination thickness measurements in sediments from Lake Tuborg, northern Ellesmere Island, Canada document an increase in high-energy hydrologic discharge events from ∼1865 to 1962. The timing of these events corresponds with evidence for an increase in the amount of melt on the adjacent Agassiz Ice Cap, as recorded in ice cores. There appears to have been a non-linear change in depositional energy resulting from a dramatic increase in Agassiz meltwater discharge, particularly after ∼1908. A strong correlation between the Lake Tuborg varve thickness record, the amount of melting on the Agassiz Ice Cap and Eureka 900 mb air temperature records suggests that changes in the height of the freezing level in the atmosphere have affected the extent of summer melting on the Agassiz Ice Cap, leading to high volume discharge events and associated sediment flux to Lake Tuborg.     

Biomarker-based paleo-record of environmental change for an eutrophic,tropical freshwater lake,Lake Valencia,Venezuela

The lipids in a sediment core from Lake Valencia, a hypereutrophic freshwater lake in Venezuela, are examined to understand environmental changes over the last ∼13,000 years. From the latest Pleistocene to the earliest Holocene, total organic carbon (TOC) substantially increased from 2.2 to 10%, while total organic carbon over total nitrogen (TOC/TN) decreased from as high as 34 to as low as 10. Correspondingly, the concentration of terrestrially derived triterpenoids markedly decreased, and the dominant n-alkane shifted from C₃₁ to C₂₃ or C₂₅. During the same period, algal biomarkers such as botryococcenes, dinosterol, isoarborinol, C₂₀ HBIs and 1,15C₃₂ keto-ol markedly increased in abundance. These changes suggested a greater contribution of algal organic matter at the onset of the Holocene, which was concurrent with increasing rainfall and the formation of a permanent lake (Lake Valencia) in the Aragua Valley, Venezuela. The age profile of Paq, a n-alkane based proxy, showed large oscillations (0.20–0.81), reflecting historical variations in source strength of submerged/floating vs. terrestrial/emergent OM inputs. An abrupt increase in tetrahymanol abundance at ∼7,260 cal years BP suggests the establishment of an oxic–anoxic boundary in the lake’s water column. After reaching its maximum abundance at ∼2,100 cal year BP, botryococcenes, a biomarker of Botryococcus braunii, gradually decreased to below the detection limit in the uppermost sediments, while different algal/microbial biomarkers such as diploptene, dinosterol and isoarborinol substantially increased. These different historical profiles of algal/microbial biomarkers reflect different responses of source organisms to environmental changes throughout this period. The δ¹³C determinations presented exceptionally enriched values for botryococcene isomers (−7.7 to −15.1‰), indicating the utilization of bicarbonate as carbon sources in an extremely productive ecosystem.     

Studies of Cainozoic environmental change in Tasmania and coastal East Antarctica: a review

Observational studies on Cainozoic environmental changes in both Tasmania and East Antarctica have led to important modifications in the accepted interpretation of the history of glaciation for each area. Many contributors have played an important role in the processes of investigation leading to the present state of knowledge. A crucial role has been played by the integration of the methods of glacial geomorphology, stratigraphy, sedimentology and dating methods. From studies based on combinations of these approaches, a model of multiple glaciations has been developed to explain observed features in Tasmania. This model is complemented by studies of vegetation history, largely through pollen analysis. A less complete picture of the history of ice‐sheet fluctuations in East Antarctica is beginning to emerge from similar applications of cross‐disciplinary studies.     

A high resolution multi-proxy record of pronounced recent environmental change at Baker Lake,Nunavut

Arctic aquatic systems are considered to be especially sensitive to anthropogenic disturbance, which can have cascading effects on biological communities as aquatic food-web structure is altered. Bio-indicators that respond to major limnological changes can be used to detect and infer major environmental change, such as climate warming, with the use of paleolimnological techniques. A multi-proxy approach was used to quantify recent environmental changes at Baker Lake, Nunavut, Arctic Canada. Analyses of fossilized remains of chironomids and diatoms were conducted on a sediment core of 20 cm in length sampled at 0.5-cm intervals. A new surface sediment training set of subfossil chironomid assemblages from 65 lakes across the eastern Canadian Arctic generated a robust (r _jack² = 0.79) surface water paleotemperature transfer function. The transfer function was applied to stratigraphic intervals from the Baker Lake sediment core to generate a paleotemperature reconstruction of sub-decadal resolution. The surface water temperature reconstruction inferred a 2°C increase in mid-summer surface water temperature for Baker Lake over the last 60 years, which was corroborated by the local instrumental record spanning the period of 1950–2007 AD. The chironomid record shows a recent decline of several cold-water taxa and appearance of warm-water indicators. This shift in community structure began circa 1906 AD, and intensified after 1940 AD. The corresponding fossil diatom record showed an increase in small planktonic Cyclotella taxa over the past 60 years, intensifying in the last 5 years, which also suggests a warmer climate and longer ice-free periods. The shifts in the diatom assemblages began later than the shifts in the chironomid assemblages, and were of lower magnitude, reflecting differences in the mechanisms in which these two indicators respond to environmental change.     

The ostracode record from Harris Lake, southwestern Saskatchewan: 9200 years of local environmental change

Holocene paleoenvironments of Harris Lake, southwestern Saskatchewan, are reconstructed from the ostracode stratigraphy of a 10.4 m sediment core. Twenty three taxa, representing nine genera, were identified and counted from 113 samples. At each depth, a theoretical faunal assemblage was derived from the raw counts. The mean and variance of chemical, climatic and physical variables were inferred from modern analogues of the fossil assemblages, using existing autecological data from 6720 sites, mostly in western Canada. These data suggest four paleoenvironments: an early-Holocene (9240–6400 years BP) variable climate supporting aspen parkland vegetation; the warm dry hypsithermal (6400–4500 years BP); a short transitional period of ameliorating climate and expanding subboreal forest (4500–3600 years BP); and the present environment since 3600 years BP. A change in regional climate with the draining of Glacial Lake Agassiz (ca. 8500 years BP) and landsliding in the watershed (ca. 4000 years BP) caused relatively rapid environmental change. The ostracode record generally corroborates the interpretations of other proxy data previously published for Harris Lake. Most of the discrepancy involves the timing and severity of maximum Holocene warmth and aridity. Peak aridity interpreted from the pollen data is earlier than in the other proxy records. Both the diatoms and ostracodes indicate highest paleosalinity between ca. 6500 and 5000 years BP, but maximum salinity in the diatom record occurs between ca. 6000–5700 years BP, whereas the ostracode-inferred salinity is relatively low at this time and peaks later at ca. 5000 years. Neither of these reconstructions suggests the short episodes of hypersalinity interpreted from the mineralogy.     

Paleolimnological assessment of recent environmental change in Lake Baikal: sediment chronology

Sediment cores collected from six sites in Lake Baikal as part of an extensive investigation of sediment records of recent environmental change were dated radiometrically by ²¹⁰Pb. Although the results obtained were in some respects comparable to those obtained by previous ²¹⁰Pb studies, there were some significant differences. Most notably, a core from abyssal depths in the centre of the middle basin appeared to record at least wo major episodes of rapid sedimentation, possibly caused by turbidity currents. All cores, including those from the North Basin, contained significant records of weapons test fallout ¹³⁷Cs, though these were of little chronological value due to the long residence time of ¹³⁷Cs in the water column. Models and budgets for sediment and radionuclide transport through Baikal are presented and used to help validate the ²¹⁰Pb results.     

30多年来柴窝堡湖演化特征及其环境效应

在对柴窝堡地区多期陆地资源卫星、中巴资源卫星以及Modis遥感影像解译基础上,结合器测气象资料、地下水以及湖泊水深等数据,对柴窝堡湖面积变化及其环境效应进行了研究.结果表明:20世纪70年代以来湖泊总体呈下降趋势,但到20世纪末至21世纪初期受流域降水增加影响,湖泊面积出现一定程度的扩展,面积最高达到约29.5 km2...     

A late Holocene pollen record of deforestation and environmental change from the Lake Tauanui catchment, Northland, New Zealand

Late Holocene pollen and sediment records from the Lake Tauanui catchment, northern New Zealand, indicate that the lake formed about 5500 years ago following a series of volcanic events in the Tauanui Volcanic Centre. These volcanic events initiated a volcanosere resulting in a mixed conifer-hardwood forest. Dacrydium cupressinum was the dominant tree. Agathis australis was always present. Changes similar to those registered in other Northland pollen diagrams are apparent. At ca 4000 yr B.P., when the climate became cooler and drier than before, a fire occurred in the catchment area causing erosion of the surrounding slopes and some destruction of forest. Fluctuations in abundance of many forest species, including Ascarina lucida, A. australis and D. cupressinum, from ca 3500 yr B.P. indicate repeated disturbance, increasingly so after 1600 yr B.P. Summer droughts and increased frequency of cyclonic winds are suggested as the cause. Major anthropogenic deforestation events defined by palynology occurred across many parts of the New Zealand landscape at ca 700 yr B.P. At Lake Tauanui anthropogenic forest disturbance, radiocarbon dated to ca 1000 yr B.P., is indicated by significant decline in all tree and shrub elements with concomitant increase in pteridophytes, especially Pteridium esculentum. Charcoal concentration increases steadily from the onset of disturbance, and in the final phase after the arrival of Europeans, major clearance of vegetation is indicated. Herbs increase markedly in this period, in diversity and abundance.     

Multi-proxy evidence of postglacial climate and environmental change at Two Frog Lake,central mainland coast of British Columbia,Canada

Pollen and diatoms preserved in the radiocarbon dated sediments of Two Frog Lake in the Seymour-Belize Inlet Complex of the central mainland coast of British Columbia document postglacial climate change. Two Frog Lake was isolated from the sea prior to 11,040 ± 50 yr BP (13,030 cal. yr BP) when the climate was cool and dry, and open Pinus contorta woodlands covered the landscape. These woodlands were replaced by a mixed conifer forest ca. 10,200 yr BP (ca. 12,300 cal. yr BP) when the climate became moister. A relatively dry and warm early Holocene climate allowed Pseudotsuga menziesii to migrate northward to this site where it grew with Picea, Tsuga heterophylla and Alnus. The climate became cooler and moister at ca. 8,000 yr BP (ca. 9,200 cal. yr BP), approximately 500–1,000 years prior to sites located south of Two Frog Lake and on the Queen Charlotte Islands, but contemporary with sites on the northern mainland coast of British Columbia and south coastal Alaska. Climate heterogeneity in central coastal British Columbia appears to have occurred on a synoptic scale, suggesting that atmospheric dynamics linked to a variable Aleutian Low pressure system may have had an important influence on early Holocene climate change in the Seymour-Belize Inlet Complex. The transition to cooler and moister conditions facilitated the expansion of Cupressaceae and the establishment of a modern-type coastal temperate rainforest dominated by Cupressaceae and T. heterophylla. This was associated with progressive lake acidification. Diatom changes independent of vegetation change during the late Holocene are correlative with the mid-Neoglacial period, when cooler temperatures altered diatom communities.     

A multi-proxy holocene record of environmental change fromthe sediments of Skinny Lake, Iskut region, northern British Columbia,Canada

A stratigraphic record from a lake in the Central Plateau Regionof northern British Columbia reveals changes in environment and inferredclimate during the Holocene. Upon deglaciation (ca. 11500 BP), Skinny Lakebecame an embayment of an ice-dammed lake. High clastic sedimentationrates, an unstable landscape, and cool, possibly wet conditions likelypersisted until the early Holocene (ca. 9000 BP). From ca. 9000–8300 BPdeclining lake levels coupled with warm and dry conditions resulted in theformation of a prominent marl bed. A colonizing shrub and herb assemblagepersisted from 9000 BP until about 8300 BP when it was replaced by a spruce(Picea) and subalpine fir (Abieslasiocarpa) forest under slightly cooler and moister conditions. Themiddle Holocene was warmer-than-present, however, decreasingtemperature and increasing precipitation trends characterize the period fromca. 6000 BP–3000 BP. The transition to modern climate at 3000 BP isevident primarily in the lithostratigraphic record and corresponds with theinitiation of the Tiedemann glacial advance (ca. 3300 BP) in thesouth-coastal mountains of British Columbia. A significant change infossil pollen occurs at ca. 2400 BP and is characterised by an increase in pinepollen accompanied by decreases in alder (Alnus), spruceand fir. This also coincides with an increase in west-sourced exoticwestern hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla) and cedar type(Cupressaceae) pollen possibly transported by regional changes in air masscirculation patterns associated with Aleutian Low dynamics. This studydemonstrates that both lithostratigraphic and biotic proxies are helpful inreconstructing the timing and nature of climate change and that each may havevarying sensitivities to a particular type of change.