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.     

巴丹吉林沙漠晚更新世沉积物矿物学特征及其指示意义

巴丹吉林沙漠是研究亚洲内陆干旱化等古环境问题的重要窗口。以沙漠东南缘巴润宝日陶勒盖剖面为研究对象,通过详细的薄片矿物学、X射线衍射半定量及粒度等方法指标,综合分析沉积物的结构成熟度和成分成熟度等矿物学特征,恢复该地区在晚更新世沉积环境变化。结果表明：（1） 66.8 ka之前沉积的矿物碎屑分选性好、磨圆较好,稳定矿物含量高;66.8 ka之后,矿物分选性差、磨圆差,稳定矿物含量均下降,粘土矿物增加。（2） 66.8 ka之前沉积物以中砂为主,66.8 ka之后以细砂为主。研究表明巴丹吉林沙漠东南缘66.8 ka前后存在一次沉积环境突变,由风沙沉积转变为湖相沉积,可能代表了一次典型的东亚夏季风增强事件,推测与低纬西太平洋温度升高相关。对于巴丹吉林沙漠东南缘沉积物矿物学的相关认知有助于理解沙漠中沉积环境的转换过程及其驱动因子,并为重建沙漠千年尺度的古环境与古气候演变提供数据参考。     

晚更新世以来长江三角洲长尺度气候干旱事件 ——来自沉积物环境磁学的记录

选择位于长江三角洲南部区域的3个钻孔CSB4、CSB6和CSB8,开展环境磁学方面的研究,以揭示该地区晚更新世以来沉积物记录的显著气候事件。结果显示：3个钻孔都存在明显的S300低值区域,其变化规律为当S300为低值时,磁化率、ARM和SIRM的值较低,而IRMAF80mT/SIRM和ARM/SIRM的比值相对较高,表明磁性矿物浓度降低、粒度变细。同时S300低值区域沉积物以黄色粉砂质黏土为主,含铁锰质结核。IRM获得曲线定量分析结果揭示：沉积物中赤铁矿等高矫顽力组分的含量相对增加,指示长江三角洲区域3次显著的干旱气候事件。在磁性地层及其AMS 14C、光释光测年基础上,推断3次干旱事件发生的时间分别为163―121 ka B.P.（事件I）、57―42 ka B.P.（事件II）和14―10 ka B.P.（事件III）,对应海平面相对较低时期,季风减弱,降水减少,气候干旱,形成以氧化作用为主的环境。     

猪野泽中全新世干旱事件时空范围和机制

以亚洲季风边缘区石羊河流域终端湖猪野泽为例,结合最新的沉积物年代、岩性、指标及古湖泊岸堤研究结果,从时间和空间尺度上探讨了猪野泽中全新世干旱事件时空范围和机制。从空间上对比了猪野泽中全新世地貌及沉积物岩性和指标,并配合石羊河中、上游地区的中全新世沉积剖面进行研究。在时间尺度上分析了猪野泽和石羊河流域近百个全新世测年结果,最终得出猪野泽地区在8.0~7.0 cal ka B.P.期间存在百年尺度的干旱事件,而不是以前研究提出的距今7000~5000日历年期间2000 a尺度的干旱事件,并且这次极端干旱事件影响范围主要在石羊河中、下游地区,对石羊河上游地区影响较小。根据时空尺度分析对猪野泽中全新世干旱事件机制进行讨论,结果表明这次干旱事件主要是由流域气候条件特征和水热配比改变所引起的,而不是以前研究提出的亚洲夏季风减弱导致。     

内蒙古黄旗海湖泊沉积物磁化率特征及其环境意义

黄旗海H3剖面是14C测年8.0~2.0 ka BP高湖面时的粉砂质湖相沉积。对H3剖面的全样、77~20 um、20 um三个粒级的磁化率和Ti、Zr元素含量进行了测试,研究结果表明:作为气候环境代用指标,磁化率和Ti、Zr元素含量在20μm粒级样品中具有相同的指示意义。因此,在利用磁化率和地球化学元素作为气候环境代用指标时应当将样品分成不同粒级测试其含量变化,并从中寻找能够反映气候环境变化的真实信息。磁化率参数可以作为反映环境变化的代用指标,两者间有很好的相关关系,湖泊沉积中,高(低)磁化率指示干燥(湿润)的气候,较低(高)的湖面。黄旗海由磁化率反映的事件可以与北大西洋全新世突发气候事件对比,也可以和若尔盖高原泥炭记录的全新世气候事件对比,可能反映了内蒙古高原中南部、青藏高原和北大西洋地区气候变化的内在联系。     

Record of Late Pleistocene Glaciation and Deglaciation in the Southern Cascade Range. I. Petrological Evidence from Lacustrine Sediment in Upper Klamath Lake, Southern Oregon

Petrological and textural properties of lacustrine sediments from Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon, reflect changing input volumes of glacial flour and thus reveal a detailed glacial history for the southern Cascade Range between about 37 and 15 ka. Magnetic properties vary as a result of mixing different amounts of the highly magnetic, glacially generated detritus with less magnetic, more weathered detritus derived from unglaciated parts of the large catchment. Evidence that the magnetic properties record glacial flour input is based mainly on the strong correlation between bulk sediment particle size and parameters that measure the magnetite content and magnetic mineral freshness. High magnetization corresponds to relatively fine particle size and lower magnetization to coarser particle size. This relation is not found in the Buck Lake core in a nearby, unglaciated catchment. Angular silt-sized volcanic rock fragments containing unaltered magnetite dominate the magnetic fraction in the late Pleistocene sediments but are absent in younger, low magnetization sediments. The finer grained, highly magnetic sediments contain high proportions of planktic diatoms indicative of cold, oligotrophic limnic conditions. Sediment with lower magnetite content contains populations of diatoms indicative of warmer, eutrophic limnic conditions. During the latter part of oxygen isotope stage 3 (about 37–25 ka), the magnetic properties record millennial-scale variations in glacial-flour content. The input of glacial flour was uniformly high during the Last Glacial Maximum, between about 21 and 16 ka. At about 16 ka, magnetite input, both absolute and relative to hematite, decreased abruptly, reflecting a rapid decline in glacially derived detritus. The decrease in magnetite transport into the lake preceded declines in pollen from both grass and sagebrush. A more gradual decrease in heavy mineral content over this interval records sediment starvation with the growth of marshes at the margins of the lake and dilution of detrital material by biogenic silica and other organic matter.     

Stable isotopes and sediments from Pickerel Lake, South Dakota, USA: a 12ky record of environmental changes

Sedimentological parameters and stable O- and C-isotopic composition of marl and ostracode calcite selected from a 17.7-m-long core from the 8-m-deep center of Pickerel Lake, northeastern South Dakota, provide one of the longest (ca. 12ky) paleoenvironmental records from the northern Great Plains. The late Glacial to early Holocene climate in the northern Great Plains was characterized by changes from cold and wet to cold and dry, and back to cold and wet conditions. These climatic changes were controlled by fluctuations in the positions of the Laurentide ice sheet and the extent of glacial Lake Agassiz. We speculate that the cold and dry phase may correspond to the Younger Dryas event. A salinity maximum was reached between 10.3 and 9.5 ka, after which Pickerel Lake shifted from a system controlled by atmospheric changes to a system controlled by groundwater seepage that might have been initiated by the final withdrawal of Glacial Lake Agassiz. A prairie lake was established at approximately 8.7 ka, and lasted until about 2.2 ka. During this mid-Holocene prairie period, drier conditions than today prevailed, interrupted by periods of increased moisture at about 8, 4, and 2.2 ka. Prairie conditions were more likely dry and cool rather than dry and warm. The last 2.2 ka are characterized by higher climatic variability with 400-yr aridity cycles including the Medieval Warm Period and the Little Ice Age.Although the signal of changing atmospheric circulation is overprinted by fluctuations in the positions of the ice sheet and glacial Lake Agassiz during the late Glacial-Holocene transition, a combination of strong zonal circulation and strong monsoons induced by the presence of the ice sheet and high insolation may have provided mechanisms for increased precipitation. Zonal flow introducing dry Pacific air became more important during the prairie period but seems to have been interrupted by short periods of stronger meridional circulation with intrusions of moist air from the Gulf of Mexico. More frequent switching between periods of zonal and meridional circulation seem to be responsible for increased climatic variability during the last 2.2 ka.     

Mineralogy and lithostratigraphy of Harris Lake,southwestern Saskatchewan,Canada

Harris Lake, a small, groundwater fed lake in the Cypress Hills area of Saskatchewan, is one of the few lacustrine basins in the Great Plains that contains a complete, uninterrupted record of Holocene sedimentation. The lithostratigraphy and variation in the mineralogical composition of the sediments in this basin provide insight into the paleolimnology and paleohydrology of the lake and surrounding watershed. Although there is no evidence that the basin was dry for extended periods during the Holocene, the lake did experience numerous short-lived episodes of high salinity, as well as significant changes in solute composition during the early to mid-Holocene. An abrupt change, from a lake dominated by detrital sediments to one characterized almost entirely by endogenic deposition, occurred about 4000 years ago in response to the combined influence of forestation of the watershed and diversion of major fluvial and detrital influx by landsliding. These adjustments to the Harris Lake drainage basin were likely the result of the onset of cooler and wetter climatic conditions after 4500 B.P. During the late Holocene, slope failure continued to sporadically provide fresh clastic material to the otherwise endogenic-sediment dominated lake.     

Sediment magnetic properties reveal holocene climate change along the Minnesota prairie-forest ecotone

We propose a model that explains variations in magnetic parameters of lake sediments as a record of Holocene climate change. Our model is based on records from 4 lakes and incorporates the effects of erosion, dust deposition, and the authigenesis and diagenesis of the magnetic component of the sediment. Once checked against high resolution multi proxy climate records, which are currently being established for some of our study sites, it will allow us to use magnetic proxies to establish high-resolution climate reconstructions on a regional scale.Our model utilizes a combination of concentration-dependent parameters (magnetic susceptibility, IRM) and grain-size-dependent parameters (ARM/IRM, hysteresis parameters). Magnetic mineralogy is characterized by a combination of low-temperature measurements and S-ratios, and our magnetic measurements are complemented by XRD, LOI and smearslide analyses.During periods of forest growth within the watershed, deposition of terrigenous material is low and the sediment magnetic properties are characterized by low concentrations of mainly authigenic minerals (low values of IRM, high ratios of ARM/IRM). During the early to mid-Holocene dry period, deposition of terrigenous material increased due to intensified dust deposition and the erosion of lake margins caused by lowered water levels. Concentration of magnetic minerals increases (high IRM, ) and so does the grain-size of the magnetic fraction (low ARM/IRM). During the late-Holocene, sediment magnetic properties depend on the varied position of the site with respect to the prairie–forest ecotone.     

Luminescence geochronology for sediments from Lake El’gygytgyn,northeast Siberia,Russia: constraining the timing of paleoenvironmental events for the past 200 ka

This study focused on the luminescence dating of sediments from Lake El’gygytgyn, a meteorite impact crater 100 km north of the Arctic Circle in northeast Siberia, formed 3.58 Ma ago. The sediment is principally eolian deposited in to a lake with nearly permanently ice. The fine-grained polymineral and quartz extracts taken from nine distinct levels from the upper 12.3 m of sediment core PG1351 were dated by infrared stimulated (IRSL) and green stimulated luminescence (GSL) using multiple aliquot additive dose procedures. The veracity of these ages is evaluated by comparing to an age model for the core derived from magnetic excursions and from correlation of variations of the magnetic susceptibility record to similar magnitude variations in δ ¹⁸O in the Greenland Ice core record. The IRSL ages from the upper 9 m of core correspond well with the independent age control for the past ca. 200 ka. However, sediments deeper in the core at 12.3 m with an inferred age of ca. 250 ka age yield a saturated IRSL response and therefore a non-finite OSL age. The youngest sediment dated from 0.70 m depth yielded the IRSL age of ca. 11.5 ka, older than the corresponding age of 9.3–8.8 ka, indicating a discrepancy in dating the youngest sediments in the upper 1 m of core. This study confirms the utility of IRSL by the multiple aliquot additive dose method to date sediments <200 ka old from eastern Siberia. This is the sixth in a series of eleven papers published in this special issue dedicated to initial studies of El’gygytgyn Crater Lake and its catchment in NE Russia. Julie Brigham-Grette, Martin Melles, Pavel Minyuk were guest editors of this special issue.     

Holocene evolution of the crater lake at Malha,Northwest Sudan

A reconstruction of the hydrological and environmental evolution of the crater lake at Malha (Northern Darfur, Sudan) resulted from the mineralogical and biological study of a 9.21 m section of lake sediments, representing an uninterrupted sequence of lacustrine deposition since 8 290 ¹⁴C years BP.Important changes in water supply and conditions of sedimentation are reflected in the nature of the sediments and the morphology and stratigraphical distribution of various salt minerals. Additional information on lake circulation patterns and salinity conditions are obtained from associated benthic paleocommunities, represented by ostracods and dipterid larvae. Combining both lines of evidence, the studied sequence can be divided in six distinct sections, which correspond to six successive periods in the lake's Holocene history. The first three periods, generally characterized by high lake levels, represent three generations of a meromictic lake, two of which have ended with a complete desiccation of the lake basin. Meromixis was stable during Period I, due to wind shelter and pronounced density stratification. In the course of Periods II and III stratification was repeatedly interrupted. During Period II, the disruptions were accompanied by important water budget fluctuations; a superimposed gradual decrease in net water supply eventually resulted in holomictic conditions terminating this period. Evidence of turbulence periodically affecting profundal waters is recorded in the sediments of Period III, suggesting that disruptions of stratification were now initiated by very strong winds. Between Period I and Period III, the littoral mixolimnion gradually evolved from near fresh to mesosaline. In Periods IV to VI, lake level was intermediate to low. The lake was holomictic for most of the time and meso- to hypersaline; during Period V, it repeatedly shrunk to a shallow brine pool.The Holocene evolution of Malha Crater Lake illustrates the progressive increase in aridity over most of North Africa following a well-established, early- to mid-Holocene major humid episode. The uninterrupted sedimentary sequence lends itself for detailed reconstruction of Holocene climatic evolution in arid Northeast Africa, a region where records of continuous lacustrine deposition are extremely scarce. As the chronology of critical events in the lake's history remains as yet unsupported by radiocarbon dates, correlation with other Holocene sequences in the eastern Sahara is highly tentative at this point.     

A Holocene record of endogenic iron and manganese precipitation and vegetation history in a lake-fen complex in northwestern Minnesota

Little Shingobee Lake and Fen are part of the extensive network of lakes and wetlands in the Shingobee River headwaters of northwestern Minnesota, designed to study the interactions between surface and ground waters. Prior to about 11.2 cal. ka, most of these lakes and wetlands were interconnected to form glacial Lake Willobee, which apparently formed when a debris flow dammed the Shingobee River. Between 11.2 and 8.5 cal. ka, the level of Lake Willobee fell as a result of breaching of the dam, transforming the deep lake into the existing lakes and wetlands. Analyses of a 9-m core from Little Shingobee Lake (LSL-B), and lacustrine sediments under 3.3 m of peat in a 17-m core from Little Shingobee Fen (LSF-10), show that the dominant components are allogenic clastic material, and endogenic CaCO₃ and organic matter. In both cores almost all of the iron (Fe) and manganese (Mn) are incorporated in endogenic minerals, presumed to be X-ray amorphous oxyhydroxide minerals, that occur in significant quantities throughout the cores; almost no Fe and Mn are contributed from detrital aluminosilicate minerals. This suggests that, for most of the Holocene, the allogenic watershed contributions to lake chemistry were minor compared to the dissolved mineral load. In addition, prior to 3.5 cal. ka, pollen zone boundaries coincide with large changes in lake-sediment mineralogy, indicating that both landscape and climate processes were linked to early- and mid-Holocene lake chemistry. The pollen time series, with sequential domination by spruce, pine, sagebrush-oak, birch-oak and, finally, white pine is typical of the region and reflects the changing location of the prairie-forest transition zone over time. These changes in vegetation had some profound effects on the geochemistry of the lake waters.     

Lake levels in the southern Bolivian Altiplano (19°–21°S.) during the Late Glacial based on diatom studies

This study is focused on the endorheic Uyni-Coipasa Basin located in the southern Bolivian Altiplano. Stratigraphical and fossil diatom studies based on a detailed radiocarbon chrnology revealed six phases in water-level changes and paleosalinity variations. At 15,430±80 yr B.P., lacustrine conditions settled in the southern Bolivian Altiplano. A saline lake, characterized by benthic meso-metasaline species, reached +4 m altitude above the present bottom of the basin. After 15,430±80 yr B.P., the level rapidly rose to +27 m, as suggested by a tychoplanktonic mesosaline flora. Between 14,500 years and 13,000 years, finely lanminated sediments at +32 m contained successively a dominance of epiphytic mesosaline to hypersaline species and tychoplanktonic oligosaline diatoms, indicating weak fluctuations in water-level and salinity. At 13,000 years, strong changes in the diatom flora occurred; epiphytic oligo-hypersaline diatoms were replaced by planktonic meso-polysaline species. They indicate a deep salt lake (the lake reached +100 m). After 12,000 years, the lake level abruptly dropped, as suggested by fluviatile sediments with a benthic mesopolysaline diatom flora. The main lake was replaced by shallow saline ponds. A wet pulse occurred at 11,400 years, characterized by low water level (+7 m) and high salinity. This lacustrine phase remained until 10,400 yr B.P. These data indicate changes in Precipitation minus Evaporation (P-E). Our regional interpretations are based on a comparison with teh available data on the northern (Lake Titicaca) and southern (Lipez are) Bolivian Altiplano and on the northern Chilean Altiplano (Atacama Desert).     

A record of early to middle Holocene environmental change inferred from lake deposits beneath a sabkha sequence in the Central Sahara (Seggedim, NE Niger)

Seggedim is a remote site in NE Niger where previous studies demonstrated the presence of Holocene paleolake deposits beneath an existing sabkha. In 2005, we retrieved a 15-m core that contains a high-resolution record of early to middle Holocene environmental change. Mineralogical, chemical and petrographic data were used to infer paleoenvironmental conditions recorded by successive lake stages. An exceptionally stable lake regime existed from 10.6 to 7.3 cal ka BP. This regime, reflecting moist conditions, was characterized by deposition of continuously laminated diatomite with high organic matter content, formed under meromictic conditions, with very low detrital input. A lake regime shift occurred at 7.3 cal ka BP, interpreted as the beginning of a transition to arid conditions. This shift was initially marked by a change to predominantly clastic sedimentation, followed by increased sand input during later stages, culminating in the onset of the sabkha stage. Because of the presence of reworked organic material in the deposits, reliable radiocarbon dating of the succession of lake stages could not be achieved.     

内蒙古嘎顺诺尔湖泊沉积物磁化率与粒度的古环境意义

湖泊沉积物磁化率和粒度已被广泛地应用于古环境和古气候研究,但在不同地区两者的关系不同,一般与磁性矿物来源、种类和赋存粒级有关。查明磁性矿物来源和赋存状态是利用粒度和磁化率恢复古环境的重要基础。通过测定干旱区嘎顺诺尔GXN剖面湖泊沉积物的磁化率与粒度及两者的相关关系,结合代表性样品的岩石磁学特征,揭示此类地区湖泊沉积物磁性矿物来源和赋存状态,探讨它们在干旱区湖泊沉积物中所反映的环境变化信息。结果显示,剖面下部（200~105 cm）和上部（36~0 cm）沉积物磁化率与粗砂含量呈正相关,中部（105~36 cm）与粉砂含量呈正相关,表明磁性矿物主要富集于粗颗粒和较粗颗粒组分中。剖面下部和中部沉积物以顺磁性矿物为主,含少量亚铁磁性矿物（如磁铁矿+磁赤铁矿）,含少量顺磁性矿物;剖面上部沉积物以亚铁磁性矿物为主（如磁赤铁矿+磁铁矿）,含少量顺磁性矿物。根据嘎顺诺尔晚全新世湖泊沉积物剖面的岩性、磁化率和粒度组合特征,可将其划分为河漫滩相沉积（200~105 cm）、浅湖相沉积（105~36 cm）和滨浅湖相沉积（36~0 cm）3个阶段。该湖粒度组分中<4 μm和4~64 μm颗粒主要反映了湖泊水动力的变化,受碎屑物来源和水动力条件的控制;而河漫滩相中>64 μm粗颗粒组分的峰值是风力作用的结果。河漫滩相及滨浅湖相的磁化率高值则指示了湖面较低,水动力较强,有较多的磁性矿物随粗颗粒入湖;浅湖相的磁化率低值则指示该时期湖面较高,水动力较弱,磁性矿物随入湖粗颗粒含量的减少而降低。     

Modeling the history of Lake of the Woods since 11,000 cal yr B.P. using GIS

Because of differential isostatic rebound, many lakes in Canada have continued to change their extent and depth since retreat of the Laurentide Ice Sheet. Using GIS techniques, the changing configuration and bathymetry of Lake of the Woods in Ontario, Manitoba, and Minnesota were reconstructed for 12 points in time, beginning at 11,000 cal yr B.P. (9.6 ¹⁴C ka B.P.), and were also projected 500 years into the future, based on the assumption that Lake of the Woods continued to have a positive hydrological budget throughout the Holocene. This modeling was done by first compiling a bathymetric database and merging that with subaerial data from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM). This DEM file was then adjusted by: (1) isobase data derived from Lake Agassiz beaches prior to 9000 cal yr B.P. (8.1 ¹⁴C ka B.P.) and (2) modeled isostatic rebound trend analysis after 9000 cal yr B.P. Just after the end of the Lake Agassiz phase of Lake of the Woods, only the northernmost part of the basin contained water. Differential rebound has resulted in increasing water depth. In the first 3000 years of independence from Lake Agassiz, the lake transgressed >50 km to the south, expanding its area from 858 to 2857 km², and more than doubling in volume. Continued differential rebound after 6000 cal yr B.P. (5.2 ¹⁴C ka B.P.) has further expanded the lake, although today it is deepening by only a few cm per century at the southern end. In addition, climate change in the Holocene probably played a role in lake level fluctuations. Based on our calculation of a modern hydrological budget for Lake of the Woods, reducing runoff and precipitation by 65% and increasing evaporation from the lake by 40% would end overflow and cause the level of the lake to fall below the outlets at Kenora. Because this climate change is comparable to that recorded during the mid-Holocene warming across the region, it is likely that the area covered by the lake at this time would have been less than that determined from differential isostatic rebound alone.     

Late Holocene lake level dynamics inferred from magnetic susceptibility and stable oxygen isotope data: Lake Elsinore, southern California (USA)

Southern California faces an imminent freshwater shortage. To better assess the future impact of this water crisis, it is essential that we develop continental archives of past hydrological variability. Using four sediment cores from Lake Elsinore in Southern California, we reconstruct late Holocene (3800 calendar years B.P.) hydrological change using a twentieth-century calibrated, proxy methodology. We compared magnetic susceptibility from Lake Elsinore deep basin sediments, lake level from Lake Elsinore, and regional winter precipitation data over the twentieth century to calibrate the late Holocene lake sediment record. The comparison revealed a strong positive, first-order relationship between the three variables. As a working hypothesis, we suggest that periods of greater precipitation produce higher lake levels. Greater precipitation also increases the supply of detritus (i.e., magnetic-rich minerals) from the lake's surrounding drainage basin into the lake environment. As a result, magnetic susceptibility values increase during periods of high lake level. We apply this modern calibration to late Holocene sediments from the lake's littoral zone. As an independent verification of this hypothesis, we analyzed ¹⁸O_(calcite), interpreted as a proxy for variations in the precipitation:evaporation ratio, which reflect first order hydrological variability. The results of this verification support our hypothesis that magnetic susceptibility records regional hydrological change as related to precipitation and lake level. Using both proxy data, we analyzed the past 3800 calendar years of hydrological variability. Our analyses indicate a long period of dry, less variable climate between 3800 and 2000 calendar years B.P. followed by a wet, more variable climate to the present. These results suggest that droughts of greater magnitude and duration than those observed in the modern record have occurred in the recent geological past. This conclusion presents insight to the potential impact of future droughts on the over-populated, water-poor region of Southern California.     

Adsorption-desorption of phosphate and its availability in the sediment of a saline lake (Fuente de Piedra,southern Spain)

Seasonal changes of soluble reactive phosphorus concentrations in sediments of Fuente de Piedra, a saline lake, have been observed and linked to salinity changes. Phosphate availability in sediments was studied in the laboratory under different salinities, from 10 to 70 g L⁻¹. Changes in adsorption of dissolved phosphate appear to be controlled by salinity variations. The adsorption coefficient increases with salinity and the amount of phosphorus adsorbed ranged between 10 and 30 per cent of the total. Salinity-modulated adsorption is proposed as the primary mechanism explaining the seasonal dynamics of phosphorus in this saline lake and its effects on progressive eutrophication.     

晚冰期以来河西走廊花海古湖泊演化过程及其对气候变化的响应

通过分析河西走廊花海古湖泊沉积物中的盐类矿物组成,结合年代序列,重建了花海晚冰期以来湖泊演化过程及其对气候变化的响应。结果表明：晚冰期及新仙女木时期,花海湖泊以芒硝沉积为主,属硫酸盐型湖泊,湖水的盐度较高且周期性波动频繁;全新世早期（10.47 cal ka BP以前）,湖泊以洪泛堆积和风成沉积为主,揭示了湖泊萎缩、甚至干涸;全新世早期至全新世中期（10.47～8.87 cal ka BP）盐类矿物以碳酸盐沉积为主,为碳酸盐型湖泊,湖水淡化,湖泊水位开始逐渐回升;全新世中期（8.87～5.50 cal ka BP）盐类矿物呈现一定的波动变化,其中,8.8 cal ka BP 时期盐类矿物以硫酸盐沉积为主,湖泊由碳酸盐型转化为硫酸盐型,湖水咸化,盐度升高;随后盐类矿物以碳酸盐沉积为主,湖泊由硫酸盐型转化为碳酸盐型,湖水盐度降低、湖泊扩张;全新世中晚期（5.50 cal ka BP以来）出现沉积间断,表明中晚全新世时期湖泊逐渐萎缩。在全新世期间,花海湖泊千年尺度演化过程揭示了该区域气候干湿状况受亚洲季风和西风共同控制的影响。