Holocene climate changes in southern Greenland: evidence from lake sediments

A Holocene lake sediment record is presented from Lake N14 situated on Angissoq Island 15 km off the main coast of southern Greenland. The palaeoclimatic development has been interpreted on the basis of flux and percentage content of biogenic silica, clastic material, organic material and sulphur as well as sedimentation rate, moss content and magnetic susceptibility. A total of 43 radiocarbon dates has ensured a reliable chronology. It is argued that varying sediment composition mainly reflects changing precipitation. By analogy with the present meteorological conditions in southern Greenland, Holocene climate development is inferred. Between 11 550 and 9300 cal. yr BP temperature and precipitation increase markedly, but this period is climatically unstable. From 9300 yr BP conditions become more stable and a Holocene climatic optimum, characterised by warm and humid conditions, is observed from 8000 to 5000 cal. yr BP. From 4700 cal. yr BP the first signs of a climatic deterioration are observed, and from 3700 cal. yr BP the climate has become more dry and cold. Superimposed on the climatic long‐term trend is climate variability on a centennial time‐scale that increases in amplitude after 3700 cal. yr BP. A climatic scenario related to the strength and position of the Greenland high‐pressure cell and the Iceland low‐pressure cell is proposed to explain the Holocene centennial climate variability. A comparison of the Lake N14 record with a terrestrial as well as a marine record from the eastern North Atlantic Ocean suggests that the centennial climate variability was uniform over large areas at certain times. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Rapid Holocene climate changes in the North Atlantic: evidence from lake sediments from the Faroe Islands

Holocene records from two lakes on the Faroe Islands were investigated to determine regional climatic variability: the fairly wind-exposed Lake Starvatn on Streymoy and the more sheltered Lake Lykkjuvötn on Sandoy. Sediment cores were analysed for content of biogenic silica, organic carbon and clastic material, and magnetic susceptibility. In addition, a new qualitative proxy for past lake ice cover and wind activity was developed using the flux of clastic grains that are larger than 255 μm. Both long-term and short-term climatic developments were similar between the two lakes, suggesting a response to a regional climate signal. The long-term climate development is characterized by early Holocene rapid warming followed by Holocene climatic optimum conditions ending around 8300 cal. yr BP. A more open landscape as evidenced from increased sand grain influx in the period 8300–7200 cal. yr BP could reflect the aftermath of the 8200 cal. yr BP event, although the event itself is not recognized in either of the two lake records. From around 7200 cal. yr BP the mid-Holocene climate deterioration is observed and from 4200 cal. yr BP the climate deteriorated further with increased amplitude of centennial cooling episodes.     

Chrysophyte resting stages: a tool for reconstructing winter/spring climate from Alpine lake sediments

Chrysophyte algae produce siliceous resting stages (stomatocysts) that are indicators of past environmental conditions. The objective of this study was to assess their strength for climate reconstructions. Stomatocysts were collected using sediment traps exposed in 45 mountain lakes (1502-2309 m a.s.l., Austrian Alps). Bi-hourly water-temperature measurements were used to determine dates of freezing and break-up, spring and autumn mixing. Canonical correspondence analyses revealed that the stomatocyst assemblages were related to the dates of ice break-up and spring mixing. The two dates are controlled by winter/spring air temperature. We developed a weighted averaging-partial least squares (WA-PLS) stomatocyst/date-of-spring-mixing regression and calibration model (R² _boot=0.85), and reconstructed 'dates of spring mixing' for Jezero v Ledvici (1824 m a.s.l., Slovenian Alps) from AD 1842 to 1996. Sample-specific standard errors of prediction corresponded to 0.6°C - 1.0°C. Despite dating uncertainties and poor fits of fossil assemblages with the training set, reconstructed 'dates of spring mixing' were significantly correlated with the mean March-April air temperature, which is known to drive break-up dates. Furthermore, the record was in agreement with glacier advances during the Little Ice Age.     

Evidence for Holocene climate variability from the sediments of a Scottish remote mountain lake

High resolution sampling of sediment cores covering approximately the last 4000 yr from Lochan Uaine, a small corrie loch in the Scottish Cairngorm Mountains, show quasi‐periodic cycles in organic matter (measured as percentage loss on ignition). Analysis of these cycles show correspondences between loss on ignition, δ¹³C values and chironomid head capsule abundance. We interpret the changes as reflecting changes in lake productivity and hypothesise that they are driven by climate variability. However, it is not yet clear whether the periods of relatively high organic matter production and preservation are associated with colder or with warmer conditions. Nevertheless the results indicate the value of using sediments from remote, undisturbed mountain lakes as recorders of Holocene climate variability. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Holocene lake sediments from the Faiyum Oasis in Egypt: a record of environmental and climate change

The Qarun Lake in the Faiyum Oasis (Egypt) provides a unique record of Holocene environmental and climate change in an arid area largely devoid of fossil proxy records. Multiple lithological, palaeontological and geochemical proxies and 32 radiocarbon dates from the 26‐m‐long core FA‐1 provide a time series of the lake's transformation. Our results confirm that a permanent lake appeared in the Holocene at c. 10 cal. ka BP. The finely laminated lake sediments consist of diatomite, in which diatoms and ostracods together with lower concentrations of ions indicate a freshwater environment at the end of the early and middle Holocene. This freshwater supply was closely associated with regular inflows of the Nile water during flood seasons, when the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) migrated northwards in Africa, although it has probably never reached the Faiyum Oasis. Local rainfall, possibly connected with a northern atmospheric circulation, may have been important during winter. Several phases in the lake's evolution are recognized, represented by oscillations between deep open freshwater conditions during more humid climate and shallow fresh to brackish water during drier episodes. After a long freshwater phase, the lake setting has become more brackish since c. 6.2 cal. ka BP as indicated by diatoms and increasing contents of evaporite ions in the sediment. This clearly shows that since that time the lake has occasionally become partly desiccated. This is a result of reduced discharge of the Nile. In the late Holocene the lake was mostly brackish and then gradually turned into a saline lake. This natural process was interrupted about 2.3 cal. ka BP when a man‐made canal facilitated water inflow from the Nile. The examined FA‐1 core can be used as a reference age model of climate change in the Holocene and its impact on the development and decline of ancient civilizations in northeastern Africa.     

Heavy metals in stream sediments: Effects of human activities

The content of 11 heavy metals in the sediments of a stream system was determined by atomic absorption analysis. Geochemical phases were investigated using a sequential extraction scheme, and bulk contents were assessed with a single HNO₃ extraction. Certain heavy metals were associated with different geochemical phases. Co, Mn, and Ba concentrated primarily in the carbonate and Mn phases, while all the remaining metals concentrated in the Fe and remnant phases. Features located along the stream system influenced the content of heavy metals. Results from the geochemical phases indicated Cu, Pb, Zn, Cd and Ag were emitted by one landfill, while Cd, Ba, and Ag were emitted by a second landfill. A wastewater treatment facility appeared to emit Ni and Cu. A stream draining a reservoir and joining the study stream resulted in dilution of the heavy metals in the sediments. A populated area along the study stream appeared to emit Mn. The single HNO₃ extraction procedure is quicker to perform than the sequential extraction but does not indicate the phase associations.     

Historical lead pollution in the central region of Guizhou province,China: A record of lead stable isotopes of lake sediments

Economic reform in China since 1978 has accelerated economic development nationwide hugely, but has also brought about some environmental pollution. In order to identify the primary Pb source to the atmosphere in the central Guizhou region, Pb isotopic ratios in the acid soluble fraction of sediment from Hongfeng Lake were investigated. Lead isotopes in the lake sediments record the history of regional atmospheric Pb pollution. Before the economic reform in 1978, the ²⁰⁸Pb/²⁰⁶Pb and ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁷Pb ratios in the leachates of lake sediments were constant, with a range of 2.0060 to 2.0117 and of 1.2314 to 1.2355, respectively. In the early period of economic reform (1978 to 1988), with the rapid industrial growth in Guizhou province, the acid soluble Pb isotope ratios in the lake sediments changed sharply: the ²⁰⁸Pb/²⁰⁶Pb ratios increased from 2.0212 to about 2.05, while the ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁷Pb ratios decreased from 1.2251 to 1.2060. Emissions from Pb-ore-related industries are suggested to be the major pollution source of Pb in this period. Due to output from a local power plant since 1988, the isotope ratios of the acid soluble Pb in sediments in 1990s are characterized by a little higher radiogenic Pb (²⁰⁸Pb/²⁰⁶Pb = 2.0340–2.0400; ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁷Pb = 1.2122–1.2158) than for the 1980s.     

The role of pollution versus natural geological sources for lead enrichment in recent lake sediments and surface forest soils

This paper assesses the role of airborne pollution and natural geological sources for lead enrichment in lake sediments and in surface soils of boreal forests. This assessment is based on analyses of stable lead isotopes (²⁰⁶Pb and ²⁰⁷Pb) and lead concentrations in sediment cores (>30 lakes), ombrotrophic peat and soil samples in Sweden. The ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁷Pb ratio and concentration profiles in the sediment cores change synchronously over the last 3,000 years in different lakes, temporal concentration changes in sediments and peat deposits are very consistent, and these temporal concentration changes coincide well with the history of lead production in Europe. The ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁷Pb ratio is almost the same in all soil mor samples (1.152ǂ.009; n=94), and similar to values recorded in aerosols, despite very high and different ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁷Pb ratio of the mineral soil in the C-horizon (1.3-1.7). This study provides evidence that lead enrichment in recent sediments and peat, and in the mor layer are caused by deposition of pollution lead and not natural processes.     

Regional variations in atmospheric deposition and sources of anthropogenic lead in lake sediments across the Canadian Arctic

Stable Pb isotope profiles in dated lake sediment cores were used to gauge the relative amounts and possible sources of anthropogenic Pb deposited from the atmosphere in different regions of the Canadian Arctic. A distinct north-south difference was found. In four High Arctic lakes (i.e., north of 66°N) in this study, recent Pb isotopic shifts or concentration increases attributable to anthropogenic Pb were negligible. The maximum possible contribution from anthropogenic Pb was 0 to 19% of acid-leachable Pb in the 1980s or 1990s. In contrast, two lakes in the Hudson Bay region displayed significantly lower Pb isotope ratios and threefold to fivefold increases of Pb concentrations in modern sediments, corresponding to anthropogenic Pb inputs of at least 72 to 91% of leachable Pb. Eurasian urban and industrial Pb is known to dominate the High Arctic atmosphere. A possible explanation for its negligible influence on northern lake sediments is that atmospheric Pb deposition at northern latitudes is reduced compared with southern regions and is small compared to local geological inputs. ²¹⁰Pb deposition declines with increasing latitude, apparently because of declining precipitation rates; stable Pb deposition may be similarly affected. Meteorological considerations and variations in the post-1900 Pb isotopic trajectories indicated that the predominant anthropogenic Pb source region in NW Hudson Bay was Eurasia, while in SE Hudson Bay, it was Canada and the United States, with a minor Eurasian component.     

Alpine climate during the Holocene: a comparison between records of glaciers,lake sediments and solar activity

The European Alps are very sensitive and vulnerable to climate change. Recent improvements in Alpine glacier length records and climate reconstructions from annually laminated sediments of Alpine Lake Silvaplana give the opportunity to investigate the relationship between these two data sets of Alpine climate. Two different time frames are considered: the last 500–1000 years as well as the last 7400 years. First, we found good agreement between the two different climate archives during the past millennium: mass accumulation rates and biogenic silica concentration are largely in phase with the glacier length changes of Mer de Glace and Unterer Grindelwaldgletscher, and with the records of glacier length of Grosser Aletschgletscher and Gornergletscher. Secondly, the records are compared with temporally highly resolved data of solar activity. The Sun has had a major impact on the Alpine climate variations in the long term, i.e. several centuries to millennia. Solar activity varies with the Hallstatt periodicity of about 2000 years. Hallstatt minima are identified around 500, 2500 and 5000 a. Around these times grand solar minima (such as the Maunder Minimum) occurred in clusters coinciding with colder Alpine climate expressed by glacier advances. During the Hallstatt maxima around 0, 2000 and 4500 a, the Alpine glaciers generally retreated, indicating a warmer climate. This is supported by archaeological findings at Schnidejoch, a transalpine pass in Switzerland that was only accessible when glaciers had retreated. On shorter timescales, however, the influence of the Sun cannot be as easily detected in Alpine climate change, indicating that in addition to solar forcing, volcanic influence and internal climate variations have played an important role. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effects of climatic changes and anthropogenic activities on lake eutrophication in different ecoregions

Climatic changes and anthropogenic activities could affect nutrients?? status significantly in the different lake ecosystems. Nutrients in Lake Hulun and Lake Taihu, two largest shallow cyanobacteria-blooming lakes in northern and southern China, respectively, were at eutrophicated levels in 2009. The concentrations of total nitrogen and total phosphorus were 3.346 and 2.250?mg/L as well as 0.435 and 0.062?mg/L, respectively, in these two lakes with different causes of eutrophication. For Lake Hulun, it was the decreased amount of water as a result of the warming and drying climate that accounted for the abrupt increase of total nitrogen and total phosphorus levels through inspissation. In addition, the icebound effects, no outflows, low nutrients sequestration by the sediment and the reduction of aquatic productivity made the situation even worse. On the contrary, high population densities, the rapid development of agriculture and industry as well as urbanization have increased the nitrogen and phosphorus loads on Lake Taihu. Therefore, higher criteria of total nitrogen and total phosphorus should be applied in Lake Hulun given the difficulties in controlling climatic changes while much more rigorous standards should be established for Lake Taihu since the anthropogenic impacts on nutrient status are relatively easy to control.     

Anthropogenic influences on Pb/Al and lead isotope signature in annually layered Holocene Maar lake sediments

Annually laminated sediments from two Maar lakes in the West Eifel volcanic field (Germany) show anomalously high Pb within sections deposited during the first centuries A.D. exceeding the local geological background 8.5-fold in Lake Meerfelder Maar (MFM) and 4-fold in Lake Schalkenmehrener Maar (SMM). These Pb anomalies are associated with a distinct shift in the Pb isotope signature to less radiogenic compositions. The excess Pb causing the anomaly has the same isotopic composition as galena deposits 60 km to the NW of the Maar lakes. It is suggested that this component was transported airborne into the Maar lakes and originates from regional Roman Pb refinement and cupellation of argentiferous Pb. Varve chronostratigraphy of correlated cores indicates that significant Roman Pb input lasted for about 230 a. SMM does not get fluviatile input. Its sedimentary record is more sensitive to variations in airborne input than that of MFM, which had an inflow. SMM sediment sections deposited during periods of low soil erosion (early Holocene, Dark Ages) with comparably high Pb/Al values also show little radiogenic Pb. This is caused by airborne minerogenic matter from a geochemically and isotopically distinct remote source that becomes apparent only in sedimentation periods of very restricted local allochthonous input.     

Complexity of the 8 ka climate event in Sweden recorded by varved lake sediments

Mineral magnetic and carbon analyses of a continuous varved lake sediment sequence in west-central Sweden (Lake Mötterudstjärnet) complement similar palaeoclimate proxies obtained from two varved lake sediment sequences in northern Sweden and one in central Finland. The varve chronology is supported by tephrochronology, palaeomagnetic secular variations and ¹⁴C AMS dating of terrestrial macrofossils. We apply a simple model in which the transport and deposition of catchment mineral matter reflect the amount of winter snow accumulation, spring snow-melt and stream discharge. Our data show that winter snow accumulation was generally enhanced in Sweden between 8100 and 7750 cal. yr BP. If dating errors are taken into account, the 350-year period of increased erosion is the geomorphic response to a multi-centennial scale climatic cooling that occurred some time between 8500 and 7500 cal. yr BP. The most significant erosion event in central Sweden was centred at 8050 cal. yr BP. It lasted 150 years (between 8100 and 7950 cal. yr BP) and is equivalent to the most extreme Holocene climate anomaly in the northern hemisphere, known as the 8 ka or 8200 cal. yr BP climate event. Our high-resolution paramagnetic susceptibility and ferrimagnetic grain-size parameters suggest that snowpack accumulation increased most significantly in northern Sweden between 7900 and 7750 cal. yr BP. We suggest that this north–south difference was a response to the re-establishment of moisture-laden westerly air masses, as meridional Atlantic overturning circulation was re-established at the beginning of the Holocene thermal maximum.     

湖泊沉积有机质的地球化学记录与古气候古环境重建

与深海沉积与冰芯记录相比,湖泊沉积主要反映区域气候变迁史,可以揭示百年、甚至十年尺度的古气候事件,是高分辨率古环境、古气候重建的理想场所.传统的地质地球化学方法主要侧重于宏观物理 /化学特性描述和孢粉学的研究,近 10年来,沉积有机质分子碳、氢同位素地球化学技术的渗入,使研究工作从传统的宏观、微观层次向分子级水平发展,对诸如古生产率估算、C3/C4植被演替史、古二氧化碳分压及古温度计算等深层次问题解决提供了强有力支持.本文评述了湖泊沉积有机质分子与碳、氢同位素地球化学记录及其在区域古环境、古气候研究中的应用前景.     

Holocene monsoon climate documented by oxygen and carbon isotopes from lake sediments and peat bogs in China: a review and synthesis

There has been much recent debate about Holocene climate variation in the monsoon region of China, especially the temporal pattern of variations in precipitation, the time-transgressive nature of the Holocene precipitation maximum, and the extent to which variations in regions influenced by the Indian Summer Monsoon (ISM) and the East Asian Summer Monsoon (EASM) have been synchronous. We summarize and compare carbonate oxygen-isotope records (δ¹⁸O_carb) from ten lakes within the present-day ISM region. We discuss their paleoclimate significance considering the present-day moisture source, isotopic composition of precipitation and the hydrological setting. The δ¹⁸O_carb records are controlled mainly by the isotopic composition of lake water, which in turn is a function of regional Precipitation/Evaporation (P/E) balance and the proportion of precipitation that is monsoon-derived. We normalized the δ¹⁸O_carb data and used these records to generate an integrated moisture index. This index, along with oxygen-isotope records from speleothems and carbon-isotope records (δ¹³C_org) from peats within the monsoon region, suggests that Holocene climate was broadly synchronous across the monsoon region and, within the limits of accuracy of the existing age models, provides no strong evidence for previously-proposed anti-phasing of the ISM and the EASM. Stable-isotope records from lake sediments and peat bogs have excellent potential for providing high-quality paleoclimate data for monsoon Asia, and complement high-resolution speleothem sequences, which are only found in certain localities.     

Holocene lake salinity changes in the Wimmera,southeastern Australia,provide evidence for millennial-scale climate variability

Palaeosalinity records for groundwater-influenced lakes in the southwest Murray Basin were constructed from an ostracod-based, weighted-averaging transfer function, supplemented with evidence from Campylodiscus clypeus (diatom), charophyte oogonia, Coxiella striata (gastropod), Elphidium sp. (foraminifera), Daphniopsis sp. ephippia (Cladocera), and brine shrimp (Parartemia zietziana) faecal pellets, the δ¹⁸O of ostracods, and > 130 μm quartz sand counts. The chronology is based on optically stimulated luminescence and calibrated radiocarbon ages. Relatively wet conditions are marked by lower salinities between 9600 yr and 5700 yr ago, but mutually exclusive high- and low-salinity ostracod communities suggest substantial variability in effective precipitation in the early Holocene. A drier climate was firmly in place by 4500 yr and is marked at the groundwater-dominated NW Jacka Lake by an increase in aeolian quartz and, at Jacka Lake, by a switch from surface-water to groundwater dominance. Short-lived, low-salinity events at 8800, 7200, 5900, 4800, 2400, 1300 and 400 yr are similar in timing and number to those recorded on Australia's southern continental shelf, and globally, and provide evidence for the existence of the ~ 1500-yr cycle in mainland southern Australia. We surmise that these are cool events associated with periodic equatorward shifts in the westerly wind circulation.     

Annually-laminated lake sediments and the study of Quaternary environmental changes — a review

Annually-laminated lake sediments (non-glacial varves) have in recent years been discovered in increasing abundance, especially since the development of in situ freezer samplers. So far, the majority of examples have been found in three main areas (Eastern North America, Northern and Central Europe, and East and Central Africa). A much more widespread distribution seems highly probable however.The formation of annual laminations in freshwater lakes is governed by a number of factors, the most important of which appears to be morphometry. Seasonality of sediment supply, which may be controlled by physical, biological or even cultural processes in the lake, or in its catchment, is also clearly significant.Four main types of laminations (here termed ferrogenic, calcareous, biogenic and clastic) have so far been recorded, although it is quite clear that others exist. Special field and laboratory techniques are needed in order that the particular properties of varved sediments may be fully exploited.Annually-laminated sediments have so far been applied to the investigation of a number of aspects of the Quaternary. These include the study of (a) geochronology (b) climatic change, (c) vegetation history, especially the role of fire in forest ecosystems, (d) the calculation of rates of sediment influx to lakes, and of rates of erosion from their catchments, and (e) the monitoring of processes in the modern environment such as heavy metal pollution, eutrophication, and ‘acid rain’.Annually-laminated lake sediments combine an internal, independent chronology with the preservation of discrete, visible increments of seasonal and annual sedimentation. Given this unique property, and the likelihood that many more examples will be discovered, the prospects for further applications of studies of these sediments to the investigation of the Quaternary seem very good indeed.