Geophysical survey on the tectonic and sediment distribution of Qinghai Lake basin

1 Introduction in China, with an area of 4400 km2 and a drainage area With the advancement of global change study, peo- of nearly 29,660 km2[2]. Occurring at a “climatic triple ple are paying more and more attention to the conti- junction” among the East Asian monsoon, Indian nental environment (in which we reside), its evolution Monsoon and the Westerly Jet Stream, it lies in the and its future tendency. As a component of the global transitional belt of the east monsoonal humid areas sys…     

OSL chronology for a sediment core from the southern Baltic Sea: A continuous sedimentation record since deglaciation

A chronology based on optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating is presented for the late- and post-glacial evolution of the southern Baltic Sea (15 ka to present). During this period, large water level and salinity changes occurred in the Baltic Basin due to opening and closing of connections to the North Atlantic. Previous attempts to establish a chronology for these palaeoenvironmental changes have mainly been conducted in coastal settings where organic material for ¹⁴C dating is abundant. Many of these records are, however, discontinuous due to the large water level fluctuations. In contrast, in the relatively deep water of the Arkona Basin, the sediment record is expected to be more or less continuous. The single aliquot regenerative dose (SAR) procedure was used to date 32 samples of fine quartz sand from a 10.86 m long sediment core from the centre of this basin (45 m water depth). Tests of luminescence characteristics confirmed the suitability of the material for OSL dating and the ages agree well with the available AMS ¹⁴C ages on shells. The Baltic Ice Lake drainage to the North Atlantic appears to occur 11.6 ka, agreeing with other published evidence. However, we suggest that the main marine Littorina transgression appears in the Arkona Basin at about 6.5 ka, rather than at 8.5 ka, as previously thought.     

The extent and historical trend of metal pollution recorded in core sediments from the artificial Lake Shihwa, Korea

The vertical distribution of trace metals in sediment cores was investigated to evaluate the extent and the historical record of metal pollution over 30 years in the artificial Lake Shihwa in Korea. A marked increase of trace metals after 1980 was observed due to the operation of two large industrial complexes and dike construction for a reclamation project. There was a decreasing trend of metal concentrations with the distance from the pollution source. The enrichment factor and pollution load index of the metals indicated that the metal pollution was mainly derived from Cu, Zn and Cd loads due to anthropogenic activities. The concentrations of Cr, Ni, Cu, Zn, As and Pb in the upper part of all core sediments exceeded the ERL criteria of NOAA. Our results indicate that inadequate planning and management of industrialization and a large reclamation project accomplished by dike construction have continued to strongly accelerate metal pollution in Lake Shihwa.     

Eruptive history and tectonic setting of Medicine Lake Volcano,a large rear-arc volcano in the southern Cascades

Medicine Lake Volcano (MLV), located in the southern Cascades ∼ 55 km east-northeast of contemporaneous Mount Shasta, has been found by exploratory geothermal drilling to have a surprisingly silicic core mantled by mafic lavas. This unexpected result is very different from the long-held view derived from previous mapping of exposed geology that MLV is a dominantly basaltic shield volcano. Detailed mapping shows that < 6% of the ∼ 2000 km² of mapped MLV lavas on this southern Cascade Range shield-shaped edifice are rhyolitic and dacitic, but drill holes on the edifice penetrated more than 30% silicic lava. Argon dating yields ages in the range ∼ 475 to 300 ka for early rhyolites. Dates on the stratigraphically lowest mafic lavas at MLV fall into this time frame as well, indicating that volcanism at MLV began about half a million years ago. Mafic compositions apparently did not dominate until ∼ 300 ka. Rhyolite eruptions were scarce post-300 ka until late Holocene time. However, a dacite episode at ∼ 200 to ∼ 180 ka included the volcano's only ash-flow tuff, which was erupted from within the summit caldera. At ∼ 100 ka, compositionally distinctive high-Na andesite and minor dacite built most of the present caldera rim. Eruption of these lavas was followed soon after by several large basalt flows, such that the combined area covered by eruptions between 100 ka and postglacial time amounts to nearly two-thirds of the volcano's area. Postglacial eruptive activity was strongly episodic and also covered a disproportionate amount of area. The volcano has erupted 9 times in the past 5200 years, one of the highest rates of late Holocene eruptive activity in the Cascades. Estimated volume of MLV is ∼ 600 km³, giving an overall effusion rate of ∼ 1.2 km³ per thousand years, although the rate for the past 100 kyr may be only half that. During much of the volcano's history, both dry HAOT (high-alumina olivine tholeiite) and hydrous calcalkaline basalts erupted together in close temporal and spatial proximity. Petrologic studies indicate that the HAOT magmas were derived by dry melting of spinel peridotite mantle near the crust mantle boundary. Subduction-derived H₂O-rich fluids played an important role in the generation of calcalkaline magmas. Petrology, geochemistry and proximity indicate that MLV is part of the Cascades magmatic arc and not a Basin and Range volcano, although Basin and Range extension impinges on the volcano and strongly influences its eruptive style. MLV may be analogous to Mount Adams in southern Washington, but not, as sometimes proposed, to the older distributed back-arc Simcoe Mountains volcanic field.     

近200年来黑河下游天鹅湖湖泊沉积记录的环境变迁

根据2002-2004年洞庭湖水质监测数据,参照GB3838-2002中Ⅲ类水质标准,选用内梅罗水污染指数法和黄浦江污染指数对洞庭湖水质现状进行评价,结果表明:(1)洞庭湖水体的主要污染指标是总磷,总氮和粪大肠菌群;(2)黄浦江污染指数平均值为0．27,所以洞庭湖12个断面水质无黑臭现象发生;(3)枯水期西洞庭湖和南洞庭湖水质污染最严重,平水期西洞庭湖水质污染最严重,洞庭湖丰水期的污染程度小于平水期;(4)洞庭湖的大部分水体的水质主要处于轻度污染的状态,局部水体的水质在枯水期达到重污染的状态．     

Variation characteristics of heavy metals and nutrients in the core sediments of Taihu Lake and their pollution history

The sedimentary environment change, trophic evolution and heavy metals pollution history of the northern Taihu Lake in the last 100 years are studied according to the sedimentary geo-chemical proxies of the core sediments, such as grain size, nutrients, heavy metals, diatom, etc. The nutrients in the sediments depended mainly on the lake internal circulation and the heavy metals were from natural geogenic sources before the 1920s, which were not influenced by human activities generally, and grain size was one of the key factors influencing heavy metals content in the sediments. The alternation of manner and strength of human activities in Taihu Lake catchment before and after the 1920s made the lake sediments coarser, and hence heavy metals and TP content decreased contrasted with that before the 1920s. TP content in sediments and water increased from the 1950s to late 1970s due to anthropogenic pollutants discharge, and the lake belonging to mesotrophic state. TN and TOC content and C/N ratio increased due to the increasing external pollutants into Taihu Lake by human activities, TP content also increased obviously in water and sediments, and the diatom association was dominated by eutrophic species since the late 1970s, indicating the eutrophication state of Taihu Lake in this period. Meanwhile the increasing in heavy metals content, such as Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn, and their proportion of valid fractions in the sediments indicates that they all result from human pollutants since the late 1970s. The heavy metals in the surface sediments have certain potential biological toxicity due to the higher SEM/AVS ratio.     

Comparison of taxon calibrations,modern analogue techniques,and forest-stand simulation models for the quantitative reconstruction of past vegetation

We compared results of three quantitative methods for reconstructing past vegetation, including (1) calibrations of per cent dominance vs. per cent pollen for individual tree taxa; (2) coefficients of dissimilarity between fossil and modern pollen assemblages; and (3) simulation modelling of long-term forest succession. For calibration, we used 1684 modern pollen samples and 1742 forest-inventory summaries from eastern North America. We applied the calibrations at 1 000-year intervals to the 19000-year pollen record from Anderson Pond, Tennessee. Dominance values reconstructed using taxon calibrations typically paralleled the changes in percentages of arboreal pollen. Dissimilarity values between fossil and modern pollen assemblages were lowest from 19 000 yr BP to 15 000 yr BP and from 9 000 yr BP to the present, indicating good modern analogues for both full-glacial and Holocene time periods. During times of good analogue, forest composition estimated from forest inventories at the locations of best pollen analogues was similar to that reconstructed using taxon calibrations. Relatively poor modern analogues exist for late glacial and early Holocene pollen spectra from Anderson Pond. During times of poor analogues, forest composition reconstructed from taxon calibrations differed from that derived from analogue methods. FORET-model simulations of forest-stand biomass differed markedly from palaeovegetation estimates made from the other two methods. This is primarily because the FORET model is scaled to forest succession on 1/12-ha forest plots rather than forest dynamics integrated over a broad landscape mosaic. Because they are based upon fundamental relationships of pollen production and dispersal, taxon calibrations provide the best available means for reconstructing forest history both during times of good and of poor analogues.     

Paleocene deep-water sediments and radiolarian faunas: Implications for evolution of Yarlung-Zangbo foreland basin, southern Tibet

Only a few Paleocene radiolarian assemblages have been reported, while the Early Paleocene zonal schemes remain poorly delineated. The Early Paleocene on-land radiolarians were described in the Hidaka melange belt of Japan and the North Island of New Zeal…     

Effect of sediment resuspension on underwater light field in shallow lakes in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River: A case study in Longgan Lake and Taihu Lake

Based on three continuous in situ underwater light field measurement under different wind waves conditions in Longgan Lake, Meiliang Bay of Taihu Lake in July 2003 and littoral zone near TLLER in July 2004, respectively, the effects of sediment resuspension caused by wind waves on PAR diffuse attenuation, absorption coefficients and euphotic depths are analyzed. In Longgan Lake, PAR diffuse attenuation coefficients during small, middle and large wind waves were 1.74, 2.02 and 2.45 m-1, respectively, and the corresponding PAR spectral diffuse attenuations ranged from 0.98 to 2.97, 1.34 to 3.95 and 1.80 to 5.40 m-1, respectively. In Meiliang Bay, PAR diffuse attenuation coefficients were 2.63, 3.72, 4.37 m-1 during small, middle and large wind waves. PAR diffuse attenuation coefficients increased by 41% and 66% from small to middle, large wind waves, respectively. Absorption coefficients integrated over the range of PAR of CDOM, phytoplankton were 0.26, 0.28 m-1; 0.76, 0.49 m-1, respectively during middle and large wind waves. Absorption coefficients integrated over the range of PAR of non-algal particulate matter and total suspended particulate matter increased from 0.94 to 1.73 m-1, and from 1.70 to 2.22 m-1, respectively during middle and large wind waves. Relative contributions of absorption coefficients of non-algal particulate matter to total absorption coefficient integrated over the range of PAR were 44.14%, 65.05%, respectively, during middle and large wind waves. PAR euphotic depths decreased by 0.40, 0.19, 0.20 m from middle to large wind waves in Longganhu Lake, Meliang Bay and littoral zone near TLLER. Significant correlations were found between transparency, PAR diffuse attenuation coefficients, euphotic depths and total suspended paniculate matter, wind velocity, wave height. Most significant correlations were found between transparency, PAR diffuse attenuation coefficients, euphotic depths and inorganic suspended paniculate matter but low correlations for chlorophyll a, dissolved organic carbon. Increase of total suspended paniculate matter, especially inorganic suspended paniculate matter caused by wind waves was the dominant factor affecting underwater light field in shallow lakes in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River based on observations at three stations.     

Effect of mining and related activities on the sediment trace element geochemistry of Lake Coeur D'Alene,Idaho, USA part II: Subsurface sediments

During the summer of 1990, 12 gravity cores were collected in Lake Coeur d'Alene, Idaho at various depths and in a variety of depositional environments. All core subsamples were analysed to determine the bulk sediment chemistry; selected subsamples were analysed for trace element partitioning and ¹³⁷Cs activity. The purpose of these analyses was to determine the trace element concentrations and distributions in the sediment column and to try to establish a trace element geochemical history of the lake in relation to mining and mining-related discharge operations in the area. Substantial portions of the near-surface sediments in Lake Coeur d'Alene are markedly enriched in Ag, As, Cd, Hg, Pb, Sb and Zn, and slightly enriched in Cu, Fe and Mn. Variations in the thickness of the trace element-rich sediments, which range from more than 119 cm to as little as 17 cm, indicate that the source of much of this material is the Coeur d'Alene River. An estimated 75 million tonnes of trace element-rich sediments have been deposited on or in the lake bed. Estimated trace element masses in excess of those considered representative of background conditions range from a high of 468 000 tonnes of Pb to a low of 260 tonnes of Hg. The similarity between the trace element-rich surface and subsurface sediments with respect to their location, their bulk chemistry, their interelement relations and their trace element partitioning indicate that the sources and/or concentrating mechanisms causing the trace element enrichment in the lake sediments have probably been the same through-out their depositional history. Based on a Mt St Helens'ash layer from the 1980 eruption, ages estimated from ¹³⁷Cs activity and the presence of 80 discernible and presumably annual layers in a core collected near the Coeur d'Alene River delta indicate that deposition rates for the trace element-rich sediments have ranges from 2.1 to 1.3 cm/year. These data also indicate that the deposition of trace element-rich sediments began, at least in the Coeur d'Alene River delta, some time between 1895 and 1910, dates consistent with the onset of mining and ore processing activities that began in the area in the 1880s.     

Water regime of Vrana Lake in Dalmatia (Croatia): changes,risks and problems

Abstract

Vrana Lake in Dalmatia is a karstic kryptodepression connected to the nearby sea through the karstic subsoil and a canal. Due to interactions with the sea, lake water salinity increases greatly during severe dry periods, seriously endangering the ecosystem. Trend analysis (1961–2010) reveals a decrease in precipitation and surface inflow, but an increase in air temperature, and in sea and lake water levels. Lake inflow and water losses are only partially monitored. Average annual inflow from the monitored part of the catchment is 1722 m³ s^-1, but total inflow is significantly greater; the average difference between total inflow and cumulative water losses is 3072 m³ s^-1. The paper uses modelling to evaluate total inflow into the lake system, taking into consideration projected climate changes/variations till 2100 from the RegCM3 and ALADIN climate models. The analysis indicates marked decrease in discharge values by the end of this century, by as much as 60%.

Editor Z.W. Kundzewicz     

Vertical quantitative and dominant population distribution of the bacteria isolated from the Muztagata ice core

With rapid development of microbiology on ex-treme environment, many microorganisms have been found on glacial surface and in deep glacier around the world. The extensive 16S rRNA sequence analysis of bacteria isolated from glacial samples indicates that the bacteria in ice are highly similar to those from ocean, lake, terrestrial sediment and agricultural soil on the earth[1,2]. This suggests a close relationship be-tween the microorganisms in glacial region and those in other environments s…     

Historical trophic evolutions and their ecological responses from shallow lakes in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River: Case studies on Longgan Lake and Taibai Lake

The evolutions of diatom floras and the total phosphorous (TP) concentrations in the historical period were reconstructed for two lakes, Longgan and Taibai in the middle Yangtze River,based on high resolutional fossil diatom study from two sediment cores and an established regional diatom-TP transfer function. The TP concentration in Longgan Lake changed slightly in the range of 36-62 μg/L and kept its middle trophic level in the past 200 years. The changes of diatom assemblages reflect a macrophyte-dominated history of the lake. During the nineteenth century, the lake TP concentration increased comparatively, corresponding to the increase in abundance of benthic diatoms. The progressive increase of epiphytic diatoms since the onset of the twentieth century indicates the development of aquatic plants, coinciding with the twice drops of water TP level. The TP concentration in Taibai Lake kept a stable status about 50 μg/L before 1953 AD, while diatoms dominated by facultative planktonic Aulacoseira granulata shifted quickly to epiphytic diatom species, indicating a rapid expansion of aquatic vegetation. During 1953-1970 AD, the coverage of aquatic plants decreased greatly inferred by the low abundance of epiphytic diatoms as well as declined planktonic types, and the reconstructed TP concentration shows an obvious rising trend firstly, suggesting the beginning of the lake eutrophication. The lake was in the eutrophic condition after 1970, coinciding with the successive increase of planktonic diatoms. The comparison of the two lakes suggests the internal adjustment and purification function of aquatic plants for nutrients in water. The discrepancy of TP trends in the two lakes after 1960 reflects two different patterns of lake environmental response to human disturbance. Sediments in Taibai Lake clearly recorded the process of lake ecological transformation from the macrophyte-dominated stage to the algae-dominated stage. The limits of TP concentration (68-118 μg/L) in the transitional state can be considered as the critical value between the two stable ecosystems. Further work will be necessary to provide more evidence from the sediments in more eutrophic lakes for the primary inference. The reconstructive TP level and the inference of aquatic plants from fossil diatoms in different lakes, as well as their comparison provide a scientific basis for ecological restoration of eutrophic lakes in research regions.     

Hyperspectral feature analysis of chlorophyll a and suspended solids using field measurements from Taihu Lake,eastern China

Abstract

We report results of three field campaigns conducted at 39 stations. At each station, we measured reflectance spectra in situ and collected water samples for measuring chlorophyll a (CHL) and suspended solids (SS) concentrations in the laboratory. To identify the indicative bands and develop suitable estimation models for CHL (C _CHL) and SS (C _SS) concentrations in Taihu Lake, a spectral-feature method and a derivative method were applied. The following conclusions were drawn: (a) the critical C _CHL and C _SS probably causing their spectral variation are, respectively: 0, 10, 50 and 75 μg L^?1, and 0, 10, 50 and 100 mg L^?1; (b) the derivative method is better than the spectral-feature method for estimating C _CHL and C _SS; (c) the optimal variable for CHL is a reflectance second-order derivative at 501 nm or a reflectance first-order derivative at 698 nm; the optimal variable for SS can change when its concentration is low and the range is narrow; otherwise, the optimal variable is a reflectance first-order derivative at 878 nm; and (d) the CHL and SS have an effect on one another's retrieval. The C _CHL estimation accuracy would benefit from narrowing the C _SS range. With C _CHL increasing and its range broadening, the corresponding C _SS estimation accuracy decreases gradually.     

Development and application of a remote sensing-based salinity prediction model for a large estuarine lake in the US Gulf of Mexico coast

Salinity in estuaries is highly variable due to river discharge, tidal motion, and winds. Information on the spatial and temporal changes in salinity can provide important ecological indications, but accurate monitoring of the space–time variability for a large estuary is often costly and time-consuming. This study applied remote sensing techniques to develop a salinity prediction model for Lake Pontchartrain, a large estuarine lake located in the Northern Gulf of Mexico, USA. “Ground truth” salinity was measured along two transects across the lake and near the shoreline. Water-leaving reflectance from the measurement locations was extracted from Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) images pre-processed through “banding” noise reduction and radiometrical correction approaches. Ordinary least square and ridge regression methods were performed to identify model parameters and to determine relationships between salinity and reflectance. Salinity in the lake on eight dates was predicted with the developed model. Difference in salinity level and patterns, and impacts of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita on salinity were assessed with ANOVA and Fuzzy Similarity methods. The results showed that the model achieved a high power in prediction of the lake salinity (R² = 0.89 and RMSE of validation = 0.27). Reflectance from TM bands 1, 2, and 4 was positively correlated to salinity levels and explained 1.9%, 20.3%, and 10.2% variance in salinity levels. Reflectance from bands 3 and 5 was negatively correlated to salinity and explained 34.1% and 31.2% variance. Under normal circumstances without the impacts of hurricanes, the lake salinity presented two patterns with average salinity level of 5.5 ppt. After Katrina’s landfall, the average was significantly increased by 1.1 ppt and the spatial patterns were altered. The pattern on 30 August 2005 was the most dissimilar one as compared to the two normal patterns, and then followed by the patterns on 9 and 25 October, and 7 September 2005. This study demonstrated that satellite remote sensing techniques can be applied to monitor salinity in coastal environments, and that freshwater discharge not only affects salinity levels and patterns under normal conditions but also is crucial for the return of salinity patterns to normal conditions after hurricane disturbance.     

The last 40 ka tephrostratigraphic record of Lake Ohrid,Albania and Macedonia: a very distal archive for ash dispersal from Italian volcanoes

A 1075 cm long core (Lz1120) was recovered in the south-eastern part of the Lake Ohrid (Republics of Macedonia and Albania) and sampled for identification of tephra layers. Magnetic susceptibility investigations show rather high magnetic values throughout the core, with peaks unrelated to the occurrence of tephra layers but instead to the relative abundance of detrital magnetic minerals in the sediment. Naked-eye inspection of the core allowed us to identify of two tephra layers, at 896–897 cm and 1070–1075 cm. Laboratory inspection of the grain-size fraction > 125 μm allowed for the identification of a third cryptotephra at 310–315 cm. Major element analyses on glass shards of the tephra layers at 896–897 cm and 1070–1075 cm show a trachytic composition, and indicate a correlation with the regionally dispersed Y-3 and Y-5 tephra layers, dated at ca 30 and 39 cal ka BP. The cryptotephra at 310–315 cm has a mugearitic–benmoreitic composition, and was correlated with the FL eruption of Mt. Etna, dated at 3370 ± 70 cal yr BP. These ages are in agreement with five ¹⁴C AMS measurements carried out on plant remains and macrofossils from the lake sediments at different depths along the core.     

Study on the nutrient evolution and its controlling factors of Longgan Lake for the last 200 years

Based on the total phosphorous (TP) concentration in sediment core, the TP concentration in lake water quantitatively reconstructed from fossil diatoms and diatom-TP transfer function in the Longgan Lake during the last 200 years, the temperature and precipitation data from meteorological observation for the last 50 years, the temperatures and precipitation sequences of climate simulation for the last 200 years, as well as the amount of the agricultural phosphate fertilizer in Longgan area for nearly 50 years, the characteristic and the law of the nutrient status evolution were analyzed, and the influence of the climatic factor, the anthropologic factor and the aquatic biology factor on the nutrient status evolution and its mechanism were discussed for the Longgan Lake during the last 200 years. The results showed that, in the nearly 200 years, the TP concentration in the sediment core of the Longgan Lake gradually increased, its range of variation was situated between 330-580 mg/kg, the mean value was 388 mg/kg, a nearly 30-year vibration adjustment period existed at 1950 around. The TP concentration in lake water changed in a different way. Before 1950, it had a slow increasing tendency in fluctuated background, to 1950 around it reached up to the mean value (52.18μg/L), and vibrated and adjusted around the mean value, then it fast declined, its change range was situated between 37.75-62.33μg/L. The analyses indicated that, in the centennial time scale, the climate change was the main controlling factor, while in the decadal time scale in the recent 50 years, human activities were the leading factors for the nutrient status evolution of the Longgan Lake. 60% of the variability of the TP concentration in the sediments and 57% of that in lake water were due to human activities. The differentiation between phosphorus concentration in the sediment and in the lake water reflected the response processes and the adjustment abilities of the lake aquatic ecosystems to the lake nutrient level, implying the maintenance and the destruction of the balances between the algae and the aquatic plants, as well as the corresponding accumulating characteristics of the phosphorus.     

A 2.8 Ma record of environmental evolution and tectoni events inferred from the Cuoe core in the middle of Tibetan Plateau

The uplift of the Tibetan Plateau is the most im-portant event in the Cenozoic Era. It has been provedthat the rising Plateau is of great significance to globalatmospheric circulation and climate change. It has alsoinfluenced the transmission and balance of the globalmatter and energy[1—3]. The uplift of the Plateau is un-doubtedly true, but there have long been argumentsabout the process and mode of the Plateau uplift. Didthe Plateau rise as a whole or partly? Did it rise oncefor all or …     

中国太湖物理—生物工程实验中菱对水质影响的模式

A model on a physico-biological engineering experiment for purifying water in Wulihu Bay of Lake Taihu by using Trapa natans var. bispinosa was constructed. The state variables in water in the physico-biological engineering were ammonium nitrogen (NH₄⁺-N); nitrate nitrogen (NO₃^--N); nitrite nitrogen (NO₂^--N); phosphate phosphorus (PO₄^3--P); dissolved oxygen (DO); nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) in detritus; biomass density, N and P in phytoplankton and in Trapa natans var. bispinosa, N and P in the substance adsorbed by the membrane of the engineering and the rootstocks of Trapa natans var. bispinosa. The state variables in bottom mud layer were PO₄^3--P in the core water,exchangeable P and N. The external forcing functions were solar radiation, water temperature, NH₄⁺-N; NO₃^--N; NO₂^--N; PO₄^3--P; N and P in detritus; DO; phytoplankton concentrations in inflow water and the retention time of the water in physico-biological engineering channel. The main physical, chemical and biological processes considered in the model were:growth of Trapa natans var. bispinosa and phytoplankton; oxidation of NH₄⁺-N and NO₂^--N, of detritus break down; N and P sorption by the enclosure cloth of the experimental engineering and by the rootstocks of Trapa natans var. bispinosa in water; reaeration of water; uptake of P, NH₄⁺-N, NO₃^--N by phytoplankton and Trapa natans var. bispinosa:mortality of the phytoplankton and Trapa natans var. bispinosa:settling of detritus; and nutrient release from sediment. Comparison of calculated results and observed results showed that the model was constructed reasonably for the experiment. The mechanism of purifying lake water in the experiment engineering was discussed by the use of the model.     

Climatic and environmental changes at southeastern coast of Lake Biwa over past 3000 years, inferred from borehole temperature data

In order to infer past climatic change in central Japan, we measured temperatures in a borehole at the Karasuma site, on the southeastern coast of Lake Biwa, and reconstructed sediment surface temperature history during the last 3000 years. The reconstructed temperature history shows apparent Medieval Warm Period, Little Ice Age, and contemporary temperature warming. However, the large amplitude of the temperature changes up to 4-5 K cannot be explained by past climatic change only, suggesting that there was some other cause of the larger amplitude temperature changes. The onsets of temperature decrease in the late 12th century a.d. and temperature increase in the mid 17th century a.d. appear to coincide with occurrences of two destructive earthquakes (1185 and 1662 a.d.) that caused water level changes of Lake Biwa. It suggests that the reconstructed sediment surface temperature history reflects the environmental change due to tectonically induced water level changes of the lake. If the annual mean of the ground surface temperature was higher than that of the bottom water temperature in a shallow part of the lake, which is consistent with the present-day data, the large amplitude of the sediment surface temperature change may be attributed to a combined effect of past climatic and environmental changes. Thus, we suggest that the borehole temperature at the Karasuma site preserves information not only on past climate changes but also on environmental changes due to tectonically induced water level changes.