Evaporative enrichment of oxygen-18 and deuterium in lake waters on the Tibetan Plateau

Stable isotopes (δ¹⁸O and δD) are useful tracers for investigating hydrologic and climatic variability on a variety of temporal and spatial scales. Since the early isotopic studies on mountainous glaciers in the late 1960s, a great deal of information has been generated on the isotopic composition of rainfall, snow, ice, surface waters, and lake carbonate sediments across the Tibetan Plateau. However, measurements of δ¹⁸O and δD values of lake water are scarce. Here we present a new dataset of δ¹⁸O and δD values of lake waters collected from 27 lakes across the plateau during a reconnaissance survey in summer 2009. δ¹⁸O and δD values of lake water range from −19.9 to 6.6‰ and from −153 to −16‰, respectively. The average values of δ¹⁸O and δD are −6.4 and −72‰, considerably greater than those of precipitation observed in this region. The derived Tibetan lake water line, δD = 5.2δ¹⁸O − 38.9, is significantly different from the global meteoric water line. Most of the lakes, including some freshwater lakes, contain water with negative values of d-excess (d). There is a negative correlation between d and total dissolved solids (TDS). Each of these findings indicates that evaporation-induced isotopic enrichment prevails in Tibetan lakes. Moreover, we develop an isotope modeling scheme to calculate E/P ratios for Tibetan lakes, using a combination of existing isotopic fractionation equations and the Rayleigh distillation model. We use the intersection of the local evaporation line and GMWL as a first approximation of δ¹⁸O and δD values of lake water inputs to infer an E/P ratio for each lake. Our modeling calculations reveal that although variable from lake to lake, the water budget across the plateau is positive, with an average E/P of 0.52. This is in good agreement with other observational and model data that show varying degrees of increases in lake size from satellite imagery and significant decreases in lake salinity in many lakes on the plateau over the last several decades. Together with the new isotopic dataset, the proposed modeling framework can be used to examine and quantify past changes in a lake’s hydrologic balance from the isotopic record of downcore carbonate sediments in the region.     

Influence of vegetation change on watershed hydrology: implications for paleoclimatic interpretation of lacustrine δ18O records

Stratigraphic shifts in the oxygen isotopic (¹⁸O) and trace element (Mg and Sr) composition of biogenic carbonate from tropical lake sediment cores are often interpreted as a proxy record of the changing relation between evaporation and precipitation (E/P). Holocene ¹⁸O and Mg and Sr records from Lakes Salpetén and Petén Itzá, Guatemala were apparently affected by drainage basin vegetation changes that influenced watershed hydrology, thereby confounding paleoclimatic interpretations. Oxygen isotope values and trace element concentrations in the two lowland lakes were greatest between ~ 9000 and 6800 ¹⁴C-yr BP, suggesting relatively high E/P, but pollen data indicate moist conditions and extensive forest cover in the early Holocene. The discrepancy between pollen- and geochemically-inferred climate conditions may be reconciled if the high early Holocene ¹⁸O and trace element values were controlled principally by low surface runoff and groundwater flow to the lake, rather than high E/P. Dense forest cover in the early Holocene would have increased evapotranspiration and soil moisture storage, thereby reducing delivery of meteoric water to the lakes. Carbonate ¹⁸O and Mg and Sr decreased between 7200 and 3500 ¹⁴C-yr BP in Lake Salpetén and between 6800 and 5000 ¹⁴C-yr BP in Lake Petén Itzá. This decline coincided with palynologically documented forest loss that may have led to increased surface and groundwater flow to the lakes. In Lake Salpetén, minimum ¹⁸O values (i.e., high lake levels) occurred between 3500 and 1800 ¹⁴C-yr BP. Relatively high lake levels were confirmed by ¹⁴C-dated aquatic gastropods from subaerial soil profiles ~ 1.0–7.5 m above present lake stage. High lake levels were a consequence of lower E/P and/or greater surface runoff and groundwater inflow caused by human-induced deforestation.     

Paleoenvironmental evolution of the Pliocene Villarroya Lake, northern Spain, from stable isotopes and trace-element geochemistry of ostracods and molluscs

Stable isotopes and trace-element content of calcite ostracod valves and aragonite mollusc shells from the Pliocene lacustrine succession of Villarroya allow depicting the geochemical record of environmental changes and to compare our data to the paleoenvironmental reconstruction obtained from other proxies. The lower sequences (A and B) are characterized by relatively high isotopic and Me/Ca values in the biogenic carbonates. The recorded large variations of δ¹⁸O in these carbonates mainly reflect variations in the δ¹⁸O_w due to precipitation–evaporation processes and, to a lesser extent, variations in temperature of calcification. The δ¹³C data inform about changes in DIC although they are probably biased by the vital effects of the studied taxa. Minor and trace element contents in ostracod (Mg/Ca, Sr/Ca) and mollusc shells (Sr/Ca) are mainly linked to the Me/Ca of the lake water (Me/Ca_w), and to a lesser extent to temperature and to uptake kinetic effects. Several possible mechanisms may make the Me/Ca_w to vary: long periods of Ca-carbonate (calcite, aragonite) deposition after charophyte development, and different inputs for Ca and Mg to the lake due to changes in drainage area configurations through time, including the changes in saline inputs (Na-Cl type) to the lake. The stable isotopes and the calculated Sr/Ca_w and Mg/Ca_w from sequence C display lower values than those from sequences A and B. The isotopic values from biogenic carbonates of unit C indicate isotopically diluted waters in a hydrologically open lacustrine environment. Distinct δ¹³C and δ¹⁸O plots for molluscs from unit C reflect the different biotopes and metabolism type. For several intervals of the Villarroya succession there is no direct relationships among: (i) salinity changes inferred from invertebrate paleoecology, (ii) paleoenvironmental slices based on isotopic signatures and Me/Ca_w calculations (from biogenic carbonate geochemistry) and (iii) climate in the hinterland deduced from pollen data. Lakes where geochemical behaviour is constrained by sporadic saline inputs and/or relative depletion in Ca due to long periods of Ca-carbonate precipitation or biomineralization, like the Pliocene Villarroya lake was, do not show clear correlation patterns between geochemical signals and climate proxies. In these lakes only major environmental trends display unambiguous geochemical signatures, and only some main shifts in the geochemical signature profiles may be correlated with significant global and/or regional environmental changes that have been reported from other paleoenvironmental records. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

A reconnaissance study of oxygen, hydrogen and strontium isotopes in geochemically diverse lakes, Western Nebraska, USA

Reconnaissance ¹⁸O,, D, and ⁸⁷Sr data for fifteen lakes in the Western Lakes Region of the Sand Hills of Nebraska indicate dynamic hydrologic systems. The rather narrow range of ⁸⁷Sr from lake water (1.1 to 2.1) and groundwater (0.9 to 1.7) indicates that the groundwater is generally unradiogenic. Groundwater residence times and relatively unradiogenic volcanic ash within the dune sediments control the ⁸⁷Sr values. Based on the mutual variations of ¹⁸O and D, the lakes can be divided into three groups. In Group 1, both ¹⁸O and D values increase from spring to fall. The ¹⁸O and D values in Group 2 decreased from spring to fall. Group 3 are ephemeral lakes that went dry some time during 1992. The data and isotopic modeling show that variations in the ratio of evaporation relative to groundwater inflow, local humidity conditions, and the _a has substantial influence on the isotopic composition. In addition, isotopic behavior in ephemeral lakes can be rather unusual because of the changing activities of water and mineral precipitation and redissolution. The annual and interannual isotopic variability of these lakes which is reflected in the paleonvironmental indicators may be the rule rather than the exception in these types of systems.     

Holocene lake sediment records of Arctic hydrology

Although paleoclimatic research in the Arctic has most often focused on variations in temperature, the Arctic has also experienced changes in hydrologic balance. Changes in Arctic precipitation and evaporation rates affects soils, permafrost, lakes, wetlands, rivers, ice and vegetation. Changes in Arctic soils, permafrost, runoff, and vegetation can influence global climate by changing atmospheric methane and carbon dioxide concentrations, thermohaline circulation, and high latitude albedo. Documenting past variations in Arctic hydrological conditions is important for understanding Arctic climate and the potential response and role of the Arctic in regards to future climate change. Methods for reconstructing past changes in Arctic hydrology from the stratigraphic, isotopic, geochemical and fossil records of lake sediments are being developed, refined and applied in a number of regions. These records suggest that hydrological variations in the Arctic have been regionally asynchronous, reflecting the impacts of different forcing factors including orbitally controlled insolation changes, changes in geography related to coastal emergence, ocean currents, sea ice extent, and atmospheric circulation. Despite considerable progress, much work remains to be done on the development of paleohydrological proxies and their application to the Arctic.     

Lake Sediment Core Records of Sulphur Accumulation and Sulphur Isotopic Composition in Central Ontario, Canada Lakes

Stable isotopic compositions and concentrations of total sedimentary sulphur (S) were determined in cores from 6 lakes in the acid-sensitive Muskoka-Haliburton region of south-central Ontario. The isotopic composition of S in deep sediment (> ~ 20 cm) was approximately constant in all lakes, and indicated a pre-industrial δ ³⁴S value between +4.0 and +5.3‰, which is similar to current bulk deposition. Similarly, total S concentrations in deep sediment were relatively low (1.9–5 mg S g⁻¹ dwt) and approximately constant with depth within cores. All lakes exhibited up-core increases in total S and decreases in δ ³⁴S at a depth corresponding to the beginning of industrialization in the Great Lakes region ( ~ 1900), resulting in a generally reciprocal depth pattern between total S concentration and δ ³⁴S ratios. While initial shifts in total S and δ ³⁴S were likely due to enhanced SO₄ reduction of newly available anthropogenic SO₄, both the magnitude and pattern of up-core S enrichment and shifts in δ ³⁴S varied greatly among lakes, and did not match changes in S deposition post 1900. Differences between lakes in total S and δ ³⁴S were not related to any single hydrologic (e.g., residence time) or physical (e.g., catchment-area-to-lake area ratio) lake characteristic. This work indicates that sediment cores do not provide consistent records of changes in post-industrial S deposition in this region, likely due to redox-related mobility of S in upper sediment.     

Temporal salinity variation in salt evaporation basins in south-eastern Australia

Salt evaporation basins in south-eastern Australia, in contrast with natural saline lakes in this region, were not highly saline and exhibited little seasonal pattern in water depth and salinity over a 2-year sampling period. Lack of seasonality arose from either constant inflow (from continuous groundwater pumping) or erratic inflow (from unpredictable irrigation demands). Differences in zooplankton species composition between the salt evaporation basins and natural saline lakes might reflect the differences in temporal salinity patterns. Some typical saline lake zooplankton were not found in the evaporation basins. Salt evaporation basins therefore may represent additions to the inland water habitats of semi-arid Australia.     

Lacustrine ostracodes as stable isotope recorders of late-glacial and Holocene environmental dynamics and climate

Oxygen- and carbon-isotopic signatures of benthic ostracodes from lake sediments from climate sensitive regions in the Alpine region, Central Europe, the north-central USA, the Chilean Altiplano and Patagonia, Argentina, are used to characterize lake system processes and to reconstruct climate patterns of the past 16,000 years. The case studies provide examples that highlight different aspects of the broad application of isotope stratigraphies, and provide keys for the interpretation of complex lacustrine records.The integration of stable-isotope stratigraphy, sedimentology, and ecological information from ostracode assemblages is a new tool that acquires climate information from the indirect views of climate series provided by lake sediments. This tool (1) identifies lake system characteristics, (2) confines which isotopic signatures are controlled by which processes in the lake system and/or in the catchment, and (3) defines which signatures are ultimately controlled by climate change. If sudden shifts in the isotopic composition occur concomitantly with changes between sedimentological units, then the isotopes reflect first of all changes in catchment hydrology that may be ultimately controlled by climate. Also, if ostracode ¹⁸O and ¹³C values show the same timing and direction of shifts, then this indicates a major change in the hydrological budget of the lake.The case studies presented here show that coupled isotopic signatures may be used to track hydrological changes related to meltwater and deglaciation, shifting rivers and ground water sources, and changes in precipitation mechanisms and patterns. Values of ¹⁸O from large lakes with short water residence time, low evaporation rates and homothermic bottom waters provide records of past temperatures of precipitation. The ¹³C values reflect changes in the ratio of C₃:C₄ plants in the catchment. They indicate shifts in modes of organic decay in the surface sediments that can be linked to a change in hydrodynamics within a lake. The ¹³C values also allow detection of the input of volcanically charged ground waters providing large quantities of ¹⁴C-free CO₂ that hinders accurate ¹⁴C chronology. General climate trends for the sites in the Americas indicate a dry mid-Holocene punctuated by moist spells, and show a general increase in moisture during the past approximately 4000 years, interrupted by recurring droughts. This hints at an interhemispheric connection and a common driving mechanism.Environmental isotopes from high-resolution lake sediments thus provide an ideal tool to identify and characterize the regional impact and magnitude of global climate change. This tool contributes to a better understanding of regional climate change and its driving mechanisms and thus provides the type of information needed to improve climate models. Environmental isotopes provide more information than just moisture balance and airmass history if they are integrated with the detailed sedimentological and ostracode ecological evidence, and understanding for the component system. Thus environmental isotopes serve to a better understanding of the climate signal archived in lake records and represent an essential contribution to Global Change research and Earth System Science.     

Groundwater discharge into lakes: A review of recent studies with particular regard to large saline lakes in central Asia

Groundwater discharge into lakes is one of the least studied components of their water and salt balance. Yet groundwater inflow determines in many cases the hydrochemical, thermal and hydrobiological regimes of lakes and affects the process of sediment accumulation. Modern methods for quantitatively assessing groundwater discharge into lakes are considered. The results of studies of the groundwater contribution to the water and salt balance of Lakes Baikal, Balkhash, Issyk-Kul, the Caspian Sea and some other lakes are given. International experience in studying ground and lake water interaction is briefly characterized.     

Hydrogeological investigation of Chappice Lake, southeastern Alberta: Groundwater inputs to a saline basin

Sediment cores from Chappice Lake, a hypersaline, groundwater-fed lake in southeastern Alberta, have been used in previous studies to reconstruct Holocene climate using lake levels as a source for proxy climate data. This assumes that the lake is fed by a shallow groundwater system sensitive to changes in climate. In this study we use the dynamics and chemistry of groundwater entering the lake to test this hypothesis.Groundwater inputs calculated from historical records using a simple water budget were highest during periods when the precipitation deficit was high. Over specific time intervals, the expected relationship between lake volumes and climate were not always found. Feedback loops between lake levels and groundwater input, and time lags within the system are the mechanisms proposed to explain these discrepancies.Field measurements suggest discharge of a local surficial groundwater system. Slug tests reveal a high conductivity system (K = 10-5 m/s) surrounding the lake. Hydraulic heads measured in standpipe, multilevel and minipiezometers installed around Chappice Lake show that the lake is situated in a closed hydraulic head contour. Hydraulic heads and water table elevations show strong annual fluctuations corresponding to seasonal changes in recharge. Horizontal hydraulic gradients measured in areas of groundwater springs indicate a strong horizontal component of flow towards the lake. Vertical hydraulic gradients are low and indicate the upward flow of water consistent with the discharge of a shallow, surfical groundwater system.Groundwater sampled from deposits surrounding Chappice Lake and springs feeding the lake have compositions similar to both shallow surficial aquifers and bedrock aquifers suggesting that the lake may be receiving inputs from both sources. However, evaporation simulations using PHRQPITZ, show that the evaporation of water typical of bedrock aquifers result in a mineral assemblage and brine composition different from that found at Chappice Lake. This suggests that discharge of a regional groundwater system can be eliminated as a dominant source over the lake's history. Evaporation simulations suggest that evaporation of groundwater from shallow surficial deposits can best explain the present mineral assemblage and brine chemistry and were likely the dominant source of water to the lake.Bedrock and shallow surficial groundwater sources have different chemistries and isotopic compositions. In hydrogeological settings such as Chappice Lake where more than one source may contribute to the lake, the relative importance of the different sources may change with changes in climate. If the source water composition to the lake changes, identifying changes in climate or hydrology based on changes in the composition of the lake preserved in sediment core will be made more difficult. This may complicate paleoclimate and paleohydrological reconstructions that rely on mineralogical and isotopic data.     

Late Holocene storm-trajectory changes inferred from the oxygen isotope composition of lake diatoms,south Alaska

The oxygen isotope ratios of diatoms (δ¹⁸O_diatom), and the oxygen and hydrogen isotope ratios of lake water (δW) of lakes in south Alaska provide insight into past changes in atmospheric circulation. Lake water was collected from 31 lakes along an elevation transect and diatoms were isolated from lake sediment from one lake (Mica Lake) in south Alaska. In general, δW values from coastal lakes overlap the global meteoric water line (GMWL). δW values from interior lakes do not lie on the GMWL; they fall on a local evaporation line trajectory suggesting source isotopes are depleted with respect to maritime lakes. Sediment cores were recovered from 58 m depth in Mica Lake (60.96° N, 148.15° W; 100 m asl), an evaporation-insensitive lake in the western Prince William Sound. Thirteen calibrated ¹⁴C ages on terrestrial macrofossil samples were used to construct an age-depth model for core MC-2, which spans 9910 cal years. Diatoms from 46, 0.5-cm-thick samples were isolated and analyzed for their oxygen isotope ratios. The analyses employed a newly designed, stepwise fluorination technique, which uses a CO₂ laser-ablation system, coupled to a mass spectrometer, and has an external reproducibility of ±0.2‰. δ¹⁸O_diatom values from Mica Lake sediment range between 25.2 and 29.8‰. δ¹⁸O_diatom values are relatively uniform between 9.6 and 2.6 ka, but exhibit a four-fold increase in variability since 2.6 ka. High-resolution sampling and analyses of the top 100 cm of our lake cores suggest large climate variability during the last 2000 years. The 20th century shows a +4.0‰ increase of δ¹⁸O_diatom values. Shifts of δ¹⁸O_diatom values are likely not related to changes in diatom taxa or dissolution effects. Late Holocene excursions to lower δ¹⁸O_diatom values suggest a reduction of south-to-north storm trajectories delivered by meridional flow, which likely corresponds to prolonged intervals when the Aleutian Low pressure system weakened. Comparisons with isotope records of precipitation (δP) from the region support the storm-track hypothesis, and add to evidence for variability in North Pacific atmospheric circulation during the Holocene.

Early Holocene drought in the Laurentian Great Lakes basin caused hydrologic closure of Georgian Bay

Multiple proxies record aridity in the northern Great Lakes basin ~8,800–8,000 cal (8,000–7,200) BP when water levels fell below outlets in the Michigan, Huron and Georgian Bay basins. Pollen-climate transfer function calculations on radiocarbon-dated pollen profiles from small lakes from Minnesota to eastern Ontario show that a drier climate was sufficient to lower the Great Lakes, in particular Georgian Bay, to closed basins. The best modern climate analog for the early Holocene late Lake Hough stage in the Georgian Bay basin is Black Bass Lake near Brainerd MN. Modern annual precipitation at Brainerd is ~35% lower than at Huntsville ON, in the Georgian Bay catchment; warmer summers and colder, less snowy winters make Brainerd drier than the Georgian Bay snow belt. These values parallel transfer function reconstructions for the early Holocene from pollen records at five small lakes in the Georgian Bay drainage basin. Higher evaporation and evapotranspiration due to greater seasonality during the early Holocene produced a deficit in effective moisture in Georgian Bay that is recorded by the jack/red pine pollen zone that spanned ~8,800–8,200 cal (8,000–7,500) BP. This deficit drove late Lake Hough ~5 m below Lake Stanley in the Huron basin, following diversion of Laurentide Ice sheet meltwater from the Great Lakes basin. The level of Georgian Bay largely depends not on fluvial input from its own drainage basin, but rather from Lake Superior, where the early Holocene moisture deficit was greater. Reconstruction of paleoclimates in Minnesota, northwestern Ontario and Wisconsin produced a closed lake in the Superior basin, which removed the main water input to Georgian Bay. Once the inflow through the St. Marys River was reduced and inflow from other tributary streams was adjusted for isostatic and climatic differences, input was <5% of modern values. Consequent high evaporation rates produced a significant fall in lake level in the Georgian Bay basin and a negative water budget. This reduction in basin supply, together with the high conductivity of stagnant water in late Lake Hough inferred from microfossils in lowstand sediments, peaked at the end of the jack/red pine zone, ~8,300–8,200 (7,450 ± 90) BP. These major hydrologic changes resulting from climate change in the recent geologic past draw attention to possible declines of the Great Lakes under future climates.     

Morphometric and chemical response of two contrasting lake systems to modern climate change

Observational data on the response of lakes during modern-day periods of abundant precipitation and drought may provide analogs for Holocene stratigraphic records and help elucidate the mechanisms that influence how lakes integrate climate. This study evaluated the impacts of climatic variation during the past 50 years on the morphometry and salinity of two neighboring lake systems in the central U.S. The two lakes were chosen, because paleolimnological reconstructions indicated that they had opposing geochemical responses to climate change at AD1200. This divergence suggested that local differences in hydrological setting had a major impact on the lake response to climate variation. Changes in surface area and volume were derived from aerial photographs and historic measurements of lake conductivity to contemporaneous annual precipitation data, the Palmer Drought Severity Index, and to groundwater table elevation. Hypsographic curves help to illustrate changes in lake surface area to depth. Both lakes showed predictable changes in surface area, volume, and salinity in response to precipitation change, but the magnitude of change in surface area and volume varied between the two lakes, likely because of differences in basin morphometry, but mechanisms remain speculative. These differences in basin size and shape also affected the salinity response over time. In the modern systems, the influence of groundwater on the chemical budgets appears to be limited and does not clarify the differential response of the lakes in the past. Yet, in the past the groundwater connection may have been different in turn changing the way the basins responded to climate. Although this study furthers our understanding of differences in the impacts of climate variations on Moon and Coldwater Lakes during recent times, it still does not clearly reveal why Moon and Coldwater Lake show opposite patterns of salinity change at 1200 A.D.     

Evaluating sedimentary geochemical lake-level tracers in Walker Lake, Nevada, over the last 200 years

Walker Lake, a hydrologically closed, saline, alkaline lake located along the western margin of the Great Basin of western United States, has experienced a 77% reduction in volume and commitment drop in lake level as a result of anthropogenic perturbations and climatic fluctuations over the last century. The history of lake-level change in Walker Lake has been recorded instrumentally since 1860. A high-resolution multi-proxy sediment core record from Walker Lake has been generated through analysis of total inorganic carbon (TIC), total organic carbon (TOC), and oxygen and carbon isotope ratios (δ¹⁸O and δ¹³ C) of both downcore bulk TIC and ostracods over the last 200 yr. This allows us to examine how these sediment indices respond to actual changes in this lake’s hydrologic balance at interannual to decadal timescales. In Walker Lake sediments, changes in %TIC, %TOC, and δ¹³C and δ¹⁸O of TIC and ostracods are all associated to varying degrees with changes in the lake’s hydrologic balance, with δ¹⁸O of the TIC fraction (δ¹⁸O_TIC) being the most highly correlated and the most effective hydrologic indicator in this closed-basin lake. The δ¹⁸O_TIC record from Walker Lake nearly parallels the instrumental lake-level record back to 1860. However, comparison with sporadic lake-water δ¹⁸O and dissolved inorganic carbon δ¹³C (δ¹³C_DIC) results spanning the last several decades suggests that the isotopic values of downcore carbonate sediments may not be readily translated into absolute or even relative values of corresponding lake-water δ¹⁸O and δ¹³C_DIC. Changes in the lake’s hydrologic balance usually lead to changes in isotopic composition of lake waters and downcore sediments, but not all the variations in downcore isotopic composition are necessarily caused by hydrologic changes.     

基于流量监测的西藏东南部然乌湖水量平衡季节变化及其补给过程分析

青藏高原分布着亚洲大陆最大的湖泊群,其湖泊变化对气候变化响应敏感。基于遥感数据的湖泊面积变化不足以反映外流湖对气候变化的响应,需借助湖泊水量平衡过程分析来进一步研究各补给要素的变化。本文利用2015年4月-11月然乌湖水文气象监测数据,通过建立流量—水位关系,依据连续的水位数据重建了观测期内然乌湖主要径流的水文过程线,并结合SRM模型分析了然乌湖的水量平衡过程及季节变化。结果表明,观测期内然乌湖入湖水量约为18.49×10⁸ m³,其中冰川融水约为10.06×10⁸ m³,冰川融水占然乌湖补给的54%以上,湖面降水、湖面蒸发对湖泊水量平衡过程影响微弱。流域降水对湖泊的补给具有明显的季节特征。春季受西风南支扰动影响,然乌湖地区降水量大,降水是春季然乌湖的主要补给源。夏季和早秋由于气温升高,冰川消融量大,冰川融水是湖泊补给的主控因素。在未来气候变暖的条件下,冰川融水将会在湖泊补给中占据更大比例,并可能使得流域内的冰湖水量增加,产生潜在灾害风险。     

Benthic foraminifera and their stable isotope composition in sediment cores from Lake Qarun,Egypt: changes in water salinity during the past ~500 years

We studied the sedimentology, benthic foraminifera, molluscs, and δ¹⁸O and δ¹³C of Ammonia tepida tests in two late Holocene sediment cores from Lake Qarun (Egypt). The cores, QARU2 (upper section, 8.2 m) and QARU4 (1.4 m), span approximately the past 500 years of sedimentation. Benthic foraminifera first appeared in the upper part of QARU2 at 314 cm depth, ca. AD 1550. This depth marks the beginning of colonization of the lake by foraminifera and indicates a change in lake water salinity, as foraminifera cannot tolerate fresh water. Initially, three species of benthic foraminifera colonized the lake, Ammonia tepida, Cribroelphidium excavatum and Cribrononion incertum. Relative abundance of these species fluctuated throughout cores QARU2 and QARU4 and highest overall faunal diversity occurred at the beginning of the twentieth century. High relative abundances of C. incertum and deformed tests are attributed to periods of greater lakewater salinity. Peaks in both δ¹⁸O and δ¹³C indicate times of higher evaporation and reduced fresh water inflow. Inferred salinity was high around AD 1700 and after AD 1990. Rapid response of climate proxy variables indicates the high sensitivity of Lake Qarun to environmental changes over the past several 100 years. Increases in lakewater Mg concentration during past evaporative events, associated with less fresh water inflow, probably provided conditions suitable for C. incertum to build its white or transparent tests. Gradual decrease of C. incertum, until its disappearance at 100 cm depth ca. AD 1890, indicates a more persistent trend in lake water chemistry. Higher concentrations of dissolved sulphates were the likely cause of this species disappearance. Recent, twentieth-century sediments were deposited under optimal salinity (37‰) for benthic fauna, but further environmental changes are indicated by the decrease or disappearance of several benthic foraminifera and mollusc species. Intermittent hypoxia in the lake’s bottom waters, caused by cultural eutrophication, may account for these most recent changes.     

Geochemical Responses to a Major Transgression in Giant African Lakes

Bulk organic matter (OM) in sediments that accumulated in Lakes Victoria, Albert and Tanganyika during the major transgression that transformed these basins from a desiccated or lowstand condition at the time of the Last Glacial Maximum to highstand with overflow in the terminal Pleistocene and early Holocene, show some striking compositional trends. Sediment OM content (TOC) and Rock-Eval Hydrogen Index (HI) both rise markedly, reflecting increasing primary productivity during the transgression and enhanced conditions for the preservation of labile OM, In Lake Victoria rising sedimentary sulphur content tracks the change in HI. Over the same time interval in all three lakes, δ¹³C_OM shows a falling trend of 5–8‰ . Nitrogen isotopic and C/N trends are, in contrast, more variable. Relatively high δ¹⁵N values at an early stage in the transgression may reflect isotopic effects associated with ammonia loss from an alkaline waterbody, while high δ¹⁵N later in the transgression was probably due to periods when stratification-related denitrification had a particularly strong impact upon the lakes' N cycle. The observed changes are attributed to the influence of the landscape drowned during the transgression upon the nutrient budget of the lake, a rise in river-supplied nutrients as the climate became wetter, and an increasing tendency to stable chemical stratification as the water column deepened. In the case of δ¹³C, additional contributory factors were changes in the amount and isotopic composition of river-supplied dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) as runoff and soil–moisture turnover rates increased, and the replacement of a C4-grassland dominated flora by mixed woodland-grassland and forest with a significant presence of C3 plants. Distinct geochemical changes are also apparent in Lakes Victoria and Albert sediments at the end of the transgression which are consistent with a reduction in nutrient loading. In the case of N this resulted in biological N fixation becoming a major part of the lakes' N cycle, Some of the observed geochemical variations may be generally applicable as proxy indicators of major transgressions in large lakes. IDEAL Contribution No. 152.     

Isotopic fingerprints on lacustrine organic matter from Laguna Potrok Aike (southern Patagonia, Argentina) reflect environmental changes during the last 16,000 years

A combination of carbon-to-nitrogen ratios (TOC/TN), Rock Eval-analyses, and stable isotope values of bulk nitrogen (δ¹⁵N) and organic carbon (δ¹³C_org) was used to characterize bulk organic matter (OM) of a piston core from the Patagonian maar lake Laguna Potrok Aike (Argentina) for the purpose of palaeoenvironmental reconstruction. Sedimentary data were compared with geochemical signatures of potential OM sources from Laguna Potrok Aike and its catchment area to identify the sources of sedimentary OM. Correlation patterns between isotopic data and TOC/TN ratios allowed differentiation of five distinct phases with different OM composition. Before 8470 calibrated ¹⁴C years before present (cal. yrs BP) and after 7400 cal. yrs BP, isotopic and organo-geochemical fingerprints indicate that the sediments of Laguna Potrok Aike consist predominantly of soil and diatom OM with varying admixtures of cyanobacterial and aquatic macrophyte OM. For a short phase of the early Holocene (ca. 8470–7400 cal. yrs BP), however, extremely high input of soil OM is implied by isotopic fingerprints. Previous seismic and geochronological results indicate a severe lake-level drop of 33 m below present-day shortly before 6590 cal. yrs BP. It is suggested that this lake level drop was accompanied by increased erosion of shore banks and channel incision enhancing soil OM deposition in the lake basin. Thus, isotopic data can be linked to hydrological variations at Laguna Potrok Aike and allow a more precise dating of this extremely low lake level. An isotopic mixing model was used including four different sources (soil, cyanobacteria, diatom and aquatic macrophyte OM) to model OM variations and the model results were compared with quantitative microfossil data.     

Recent rapid salinity rise in three East Antarctic lakes

Research in East Antarctica has shown several recent environmental changes that may be linked to human impacts on climate. In order to detect the influence and context of these changes on coastal aquatic ecosystems we examined lake sediment cores from three lakes in the Windmill Islands, East Antarctica; Beall Lake, Holl Lake and ȁ8Lake Mȁ9. Cores were sectioned at␣2.5 mm intervals. Their diatom species composition was examined to detect changes in lake salinity using a diatom-salinity transfer function, and their algal pigment content was examined to detect photoautotrophic community responses to environmental change. Results showed that Holl Lake originated in a depression exposed by Holocene recession of the continental ice sheet and that Beall Lake and Lake M originated as isolated marine basins formed by changes in relative sea level. A general late Holocene trend of declining lake salinity was evident in all three lakes, interrupted by one short-term high salinity event in Beall Lake. This is consistent with a long-term positive moisture balance. This general decline in salinity has been followed by a remarkable recent rapid increase in salinity in all three lakes in the last few decades. We speculate that this rapid increase in salinity might be linked to changes taking place in the region including feedbacks resulting from decreasing sea ice extent as recorded in the nearby Law Dome ice core, and positive feedbacks in the catchments whereby reduced snow cover has led to decreased albedo, which in turn has caused increased evaporation and sublimation. Collectively these changes have shifted the lakes across a threshold from positive to negative moisture balance. A minor, but not rapid shift in the abundance of diatom pigments relative to pigments from green algae and cyanobacteria was also detected suggesting that some changes in photoautotrophic community composition have occurred. Measurements of modern nutrient levels are also higher than would be expected in Beall Lake and Holl Lake, given the extremely low sediment accumulation rates. This may be associated with a c. 300% increase in the population of Adélie penguins in the Windmill Islands recorded since the 1950s, or may a first signs of a rapid increase in catchment development and associated lake productivity as experienced in Antarctic and Arctic lakes subject to recent rapid regional warming. The most marked feature of the records is the rapid increase in salinity in all three lakes in␣the last few decades, which has occurred in lakes both with and without resident penguin populations.Dominic A. Hodgson and Donna Roberts contributed equally to this work     

Stable isotope (δ<Superscript>13</Superscript>C and δ<Superscript>15</Superscript>N) values of sediment organic matter in subtropical lakes of different trophic status

Lake sediments contain archives of past environmental conditions in and around water bodies and stable isotope analyses (δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N) of sediment cores have been used to infer past environmental changes in aquatic ecosystems. In this study, we analyzed organic matter (OM), carbon (C), nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N values in sediment cores from three subtropical lakes that span a broad range of trophic state. Our principal objectives were to: (1) evaluate whether nutrient concentrations and stable isotope values in surface deposits reflect modern trophic state conditions in the lakes, and (2) assess whether stratigraphic changes in the measured variables yield information about shifts in trophic status through time, or alternatively, diagenetic changes in sediment OM. Three Florida (USA) lakes of very different trophic status were selected for this study. Results showed that both δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N values in surface sediments of the oligo-mesotrophic lake were relatively low compared to values in surface sediments of the other lakes, and were progressively lower with depth in the sediment core. Sediments of the eutrophic lake had δ¹³C values that declined upcore, whereas δ¹⁵N values increased toward the sediment surface. The eutrophic lake displayed δ¹³C values intermediate between those in the oligo-mesotrophic and hypereutrophic lakes. Sediments of the hypereutrophic lake had relatively higher δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N values. In general, we found greater δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N values with increasing lake trophic state.