Midge- and diatom-based palaeosalinity reconstructions for Mahoney Lake, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada

Salinity fluctuations in lakes of semi-arid regions have long been recognised as indicators of palaeoclimatic change, and have provided a valuable line of evidence in palaeo-climatic reconstruction. In the present study, fossil remains of diatoms and midges were used to reconstruct salinity changes at Mahoney Lake from the early postglacial, through the early, mid and late Holocene. A transition from midges typical of a freshwater community (Protanypus, Sergentia, Heterotrissocladius, Cladopelma, Dicrotendipes) during the early postglacial, to those indicative of saline environments (Cricotopus/Orthocladius, Tanypus) occurred in the early Holocene. The midge-inferred salinity values reflected the shift from freshwater (0.031 g/L) immediately after deglaciation, to saline water (2.4 to 55.2 g/L) in subsequent periods. A less saline period was found to have occurred after 1000 yr BP, suggesting a cooler or wetter period. The diatom record indicates similar trends, with freshwater taxa (e.g.,Cyclotella bodanica var. aff.lemanica) dominating near the bottom of the core. Diatom-inferred salinities indicate that saline conditions (about 30 g/L) prevailed throughout subsequent Holocene time, although relatively fresh conditions are indicated following deposition of the Mazama Ash, and from about 1500 yr BP until the present day. Midge and diatom-inferred salinity reconstructions for Mahoney Lake compare favorably with each other, and with climate trends inferred from earlier palynological evidence. The palaeosalinity record thus contributes new data relevant to past climatic conditions, in a region where little data have previously been collected.     

The Stanley unconformity in Lake Huron basin: evidence for a climate-driven closed lowstand about 7900 <Superscript>14</Superscript>C BP,with similar implications for the Chippewa lowstand in Lake Michigan basin

J.L. Hough in 1962 recognized an erosional unconformity in the upper section of early postglacial lake sediments in northwestern Lake Huron. Low-level Lake Stanley was defined at 70 m below present water surface on the basis of this observation, and was inferred to follow the Main Algonquin highstand and Post-Algonquin lake phases about 10 ¹⁴C ka, a seminal contribution to the understanding of Great Lakes history. Lake Stanley was thought to have overflowed from the Huron basin through the Georgian Bay basin and the glacio-isostatically depressed North Bay outlet to Ottawa and St. Lawrence rivers. For this overflow to have occurred, Hough assumed that post-Algonquin glacial rebound was delayed until after the Lake Stanley phase. A re-examination of sediment stratigraphy in northwestern Lake Huron using seismic reflection and new core data corroborates the sedimentological evidence of Hough’s Stanley unconformity, but not its inferred chronology or the level of the associated lowstand. Erosion of previously deposited sediment, causing the gap in the sediment sequence down to 70 m present depth, is attributed to wave erosion in the shoreface of the Lake Stanley lowstand. Allowing for non-deposition of muddy sediment in the upper 20 m approximately of water depth as occurs in the present Great Lakes, the inferred water level of the Stanley lowstand is repositioned at 50 m below present in northwestern Lake Huron. The age of this lowstand is about 7.9 ± 0.3¹⁴C ka, determined from the inferred ¹⁴C age of the unconformity by radiocarbon-dated geomagnetic secular variation in six new cores. This relatively young age shows that the lowstand defined by Hough’s Stanley unconformity is the late Lake Stanley phase of the northern Huron basin, youngest of three lowstands following the Algonquin lake phases. Reconstruction of uplift histories for lake level and outlets shows that late Lake Stanley was about 25–30 m below the North Bay outlet, and about 10 m below the sill of the Huron basin. The late Stanley lowstand was hydrologically closed, consistent with independent evidence for dry regional climate at this time. A similar analysis of the Chippewa unconformity shows that the Lake Michigan basin also hosted a hydrologically closed lowstand, late Lake Chippewa. This phase of closed lowstands is new to the geological history of the Great Lakes. This is the ninth in a series of ten papers published in this special issue of Journal of Paleolimnology. These papers were presented at the 47th Annual Meeting of the International Association for Great Lakes Research (2004), held at the University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. P.F. Karrow and C.F.M Lewis were guest editors of this special issue.     

Comparing palaeolimnological and instrumental evidence of climate change for remote mountain lakes over the last 200 years

This paper compares the palaeolimnological evidence for climate change over the last 200 years with instrumental climate data for the same period at seven European remote mountain lakes. The sites are Øvre Neådalsvatn (Norway), Saanajärvi (Finland), Gossenköllesee (Austria), Hagelseewli (Switzerland), Jezero v Ledvici (Slovenia), Estany Redó (Spain, Pyrenees), and Niné Terianske Pleso (Slovakia). We used multiple regression analysis to transfer homogenised lowland air temperature records to each of the sites, and these reconstructions were validated using data from on-site automatic weather stations. These data showed that mean annual temperature has varied over the last 200 years at each site by between 1 and 2 °C, typical of the high frequency variability found throughout the Holocene, and appropriate, therefore, to test the sensitivity of the various proxy methods used. Sediment cores from each site were radiometrically dated using ²¹⁰Pb, ¹³⁷Cs and ²⁴¹Am and analysed for loss-on-ignition, C, N, S, pigments, diatoms, chrysophytes, Cladocera and chironomids. Comparisons between the proxy data and the instrumental data were based on linear regression analysis with the proxy data treated as response variables and the instrumental data (after smoothing using LOESS regressions) as predictor variables. The results showed few clear or consistent patterns with generally low or very low r² values. Highest values were found when the data were compared after smoothing using a broad span, indicating that some of the proxy data were capturing climate variability but only at a relatively coarse time resolution. Probable reasons for the weak performance of the methods used include inaccurate dating, especially for earlier time periods, the influence of confounding forcing factors at some sites e.g., air pollution, earthquakes, and the insensitivity of some methods to low amplitude climate forcing. Nevertheless, there were trends in some proxy records at a number of sites that had a relatively unambiguous correspondence with the instrumental climate records. These included organic matter and associated variables (C and N) and planktonic diatom assemblages at the majority of sites and chrysophytes and chironomids at a few sites. Overall for longer term studies of the Holocene, these results indicate the need to be cautious in the interpretation of proxy records, the importance of proxy method validation, the continuing need to use reinforcing multi-proxy approaches, and the need for careful site and method selection.     

Palaeolimnology of Lake Piene-Kuuppalanlampi (Kurkijoki, Karelian Republic, Russia): isolation history, lake ecosystem development and long-term agricultural impact

The post-glacial history of Lake Pieni-Kuuppalanlampi, western Lake Ladoga region, was studied by means of stratigraphic pollen and diatom analyses. Diatoms were analysed to track the isolation history of the basin and the limnological effects of the early land-use phases indicated by pollen analysis. Chrysophycean stomatocysts and Isoëtes spores were also employed in the limnological reconstructions. Sediment dating was provided by six conventional radiocarbon dates.The lower part of the 370-cm long sediment sequence represents early Holocene, large lake conditions: the (freshwater) Yoldia and Ancylus stages of the Baltic basin, with a short-term lagoonal or isolation phase at the end of Yoldia. The basin was isolated due to Ancylus lake regression at 9785 cal B.P. For the small-lake sequence (0–250 cm) we used diatom inferences (WA-method) for hindcasting water chemistry. The post-isolation limnology of Pieni-Kuuppalanlampi reflects the development of vegetation on its small hill-top catchment. In its early development, the lake was mesotrophic, but became more acidic (pH about 6) and oligotrophic after the decline of temperate hardwood trees and the spread of spruce to the area after around 5000 B.P. The lake ecosystem appears to have reacted sensitively to agricultural land-use in the catchment from AD 400–800 onwards: inferred total phosphorus levels and pH both rise during these periods.     

A weighted-averaging regression and calibration model for inferring lakewater salinity from fossil diatom assemblages in saline lakes of the Vestfold Hills: a new tool for interpreting Holocene lake histories in Antarctica

The relationship between surface sediment diatom assemblages and measured limnological variables in thirty-three coastal Antarctic lakes from the Vestfold Hills was examined by constructing a diatom-water chemistry dataset. Previous analysis of this dataset by canonical correspondence analysis revealed that salinity accounted for a significant amount of the variation in the distribution of the diatom assemblages. Weighted-averaging regression and calibration of this diatom-salinity relationship was used to establish a transfer function for the reconstruction of past lakewater salinity from fossil diatom assemblages. Weighted-averaging regression and calibration with classical deshrinking provided the best model for salinity reconstructions and this was applied to the fossil diatom assemblages from one of the saline lakes in the Vestfold Hills in order to assess its potential for palaeosalinity and palaeoclimate reconstruction.     

内蒙古黄旗海不同粒级湖泊沉积物Rb、Sr组成与环境变化

内蒙古黄旗海湖泊沉积物剖面层次结构清晰完整,通过对该剖面全样、77 μm~20 μm和小于20 μm三个不同粒级Rb、Sr含量和磁化率的系统测定,结果表明,湖泊沉积物中小于20 μm粒级成分的Rb、Sr含量和Rb/Sr值变化阶段明显,Rb/Sr值与磁化率分布曲线十分吻合,因此,小于20 μm粒级成分的Rb/Sr值与磁化率包含更加真实的古气候环境信息。Rb/Sr值反映了风化的强度,因而可以作为指示夏季风环流强度的代用指标。黄旗海湖泊沉积物的地球化学Rb、Sr元素含量和Rb/Sr值以及磁化率值波动特征具有深刻的环境演变背景,由此揭示的环境特征在一定程度上反映了全新世气候千百年尺度的波动变化,与全球气候波动有关。     

Sensitivity of tropical-African aquatic invertebrates to short-term trends in lake level and salinity: a paleolimnological test at Lake Oloidien,Kenya

Aquatic invertebrates are intrinsically capable of rapid and sensitive response to changes in their lacustrine habitat. Fossil invertebrate assemblages preserved in the sediments of a climate-sensitive lake can thus produce high-resolution proxy records of past climate. In shallow lakes, however, a potential conflict exists between the sensitivity of biota to frequent habitat change in their fluctuating environment and the increased probability of disturbance of selected proxy records by bioturbation and physical mixing of sediments. I investigated this problem with tropical-African aquatic invertebrate faunas in a paleolimnological sensitivity study that incorporates both the response of biota to short-term habitat change and the taphonomic integrity of fossil assemblages in a small, shallow, and hydrologically closed lacustrine basin. Analysis of chironomid, cladoceran, and ostracode remains in a²¹⁰Pb-dated short core from Lake Oloidien (Kenya) indicates that habitat changes accompanying the late 19th- and 20th-century fluctuations in lake level (Z _max range: 3 to 18 m) and salinity (conductivity range:c. 400 toc. 2000–4000 µS cm^–1) were sufficient to drastically alter the composition of local benthic and planktonic invertebrate faunas. This response remained relatively unaffected by taphonomic phenomena during its incorporation into the sediment record. Results indicate that tropical-African aquatic invertebrate faunas in suitable climate-sensitive lakes are a valuable tool to resolve paleoclimatic fluctuations on a timescale of decades.This paper was presented at the VI Palaeolimnology Symposium, held at Canberra in April 1993. Dr. Mark Brenner guest edited this contribution.     

A Holocene record of allochthonous, aeolian mineral grains in an Australian alpine lake; implications for the history of climate change in southeastern Australia

A radiocarbon-dated core, NC, taken in the alpine Blue Lake in the Snowy Mountains of southeastern Australia provides a Holocene record of sedimentation that consists mainly of organic clays. Two types of quartz grains are recovered from 81 samples from the core. One type consists of angular grains, with frequently shattered faces, which originates from granitic lithologies present within the small catchment area of the lake. The other type is characteristically rounded to subrounded, often textured with frequent silica coating and is considered to have been deposited within the lake and its catchment by aeolian processes. These aeolian grains are thought to have been transported along the main dust path that ferries aeolian dust from the Mallee region, west of the Snowy Mountains, as far as the southeastern Tasman Sea. Aeolian grains with the largest size occur over approximately the last 1.6 ka of the Holocene and this indicates an increase of climatic instability, with arid phases that commenced about 3.5 ka. At 2 ka, a wet period in southeastern Australia coincided with low aeolian input at Blue Lake. The period of consistent reduced aeolian activity spans the 7.6 to 5.5 ka interval at Blue Lake.