Holocene environmental change in the West African Sahel: sedimentological and mineral‐magnetic analyses of lake sediments from Jikariya Lake,northeastern Nigeria

Previous studies have demonstrated long‐term changes in effective moisture in sub‐Saharan Africa. Here, we reconstruct Holocene environments using a ～7 m lake‐sediment sequence recovered from the northeastern Nigerian Sahel and attempt to distinguish basin‐specific changes from regional climatic variations. The sequence was analysed for sedimentological properties, mineral magnetism and pollen, and dated by ¹³⁷Cs, ²¹⁰Pb excess and ¹⁴C. Extremely arid conditions of the terminal Pleistocene ended ca. 11 500 cal. BP (calendar years) when climate ameliorated and a lake developed until the occurrence of an arid event leading to lake desiccation at ～11 200 cal. BP. Following this, climate ameliorated and a water body re‐emerged. Very wet conditions predominated 11 200–5600 cal. BP, followed by drought between 5600 and 5500 cal. BP and a return to moderate humidity from 5500 to 4000 cal. BP. After 4000 cal. BP, a marked deterioration occurred, culminating in lake desiccation at ca. 800 cal. BP. After this time the climate remained generally dry and the re‐emerging lake was shallow. Comparison of these results with other well‐dated sequences in the region demonstrates the importance of basin‐specific influences on the palaeolimnological records in addition to regional climatic controls. Disentangling these different controls, as well as the reconstruction of Holocene climate, therefore requires a multiple‐basin approach. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Some aspects of the hydroclimatology of the Quesnel River Basin,British Columbia,Canada

In conjunction with available climate data, surface runoff is investigated at 12 gauges in the Quesnel watershed of British Columbia to develop its long‐term (1926–2004) hydroclimatology. At Quesnel itself, annual mean values of air temperature, precipitation and runoff are 4·6 °C, 517 and 648 mm, respectively. Climate data reveal increases in precipitation, no significant trend in mean annual air temperature, but an increasing trend in mean minimum temperatures that is greatest in winter. There is some evidence of decreases in winter snow depth. On the water year scale (October–September), a strong positive correlation is found between discharge and precipitation (r = 0·70, p < 0·01) and a weak negative correlation is found between precipitation and temperature (r = ? 0·36, p < 0·01). Long‐term trends using the Mann‐Kendall test indicate increasing annual discharge amounts that vary from 8 to 14% (12% for the Quesnel River, p = 0·03), and also a tendency toward an earlier spring freshet. River runoff increases at a rate of 1·26 mm yr^?1 m^?1 of elevation from west to east along the strong elevation gradient in the basin. Discharge, temperature and precipitation are correlated with the large‐scale climate indices of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) and El‐Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO). Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Prediction of macrophyte communities in drought‐affected groundwater‐fed headwater streams

The results of a 10 year study of groundwater‐dominated streams in the chalklands of southern England show that macrophyte communities occupying the headwaters of such streams have a measurable variability in terms of species composition and spatial cover, especially in relation to river flow. This occurs as a result of species adaptation to typically ephemeral flow regimes. Associations have also been established between variations in the vegetation and hydroclimatic parameters at the catchment scale, such as rainfall, percolation and soil moisture conditions. This has led to the derivation of a system whereby the nature of headwater macrophyte communities can be forecast/hindcast, on the basis of parameterized, antecedent flow records, to a current accuracy level of 72% for any of 13 community types and 90% for any of four community groups. It is anticipated that this accuracy rate will improve with (i) an updated community classification, (ii) refinement of the parameterization procedures for flow records, and (iii) the extension of the method from the six study streams currently under scrutiny to a further 18 streams. Greater accuracy of prediction will be constrained by natural variation within the vegetation and the interaction of an array of geomorphological and land‐use variables operating at diverse spatial scales. The process used here to establish vegetation–flow relationships could be used in other locations with groundwater‐fed streams, providing a useful tool for assessing some of the impacts of bioclimatic changes driven by global warming. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Design alternatives for a domestic carbon trading scheme in the United States

One critical aspect of the Kyoto Protocol is its flexibility in compliance. Countries or groups of countries are free to choose their own implementation strategies. Should the United States ratify the Protocol, it will most likely use emissions trading in some form to implement this accord. Two variations on a US domestic carbon trading system are presented here. One is an auction system controlling carbon at the point of energy production and distribution. The second is a hybrid system allocating permits to large combustors and controlling smaller sources through standards. Within this paper we describe and compare the main attributes of each system. Separate sections also discuss various methods for allocating permits and incorporating standards.     

Paleolimnological reconstruction of recent acidity changes in four Sierra Nevada lakes

We have completed a paleolimnological analysis of sediment cores from four lakes in the Sierra Nevada Range of California (USA). The diatom-inferred pH profile from Harriet Lake in Yosemite National Park (present pH=6.52) indicates no significant trends over the last 250 years. Inferred pH from Emerald Lake in Sequoia National Park (present pH=6.10) indicates a very small increase (<0.1 pH unit) over the past 60 years and perhaps another small increase (ca. 0.15 pH unit) since 1976. Eastern Brook Lake in Inyo National Forest (present pH=7.06) shows evidence of both long-term alkalinification (ca. 0.3 pH unit over the last 200 years) and pH fluctuations since 1970. Lake 45 in King's Canyon National Park (present pH=5.16) appears to have acidified slightly (ca. 0.2 pH unit) over the last 60 years. Factors causing the observed trends are uncertain, but a role for acidic deposition cannot be ruled out.     

Chronology of Sediment Deposition in Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon

A combination of tephrochronology and ¹⁴C, ²¹⁰Pb, and ¹³⁷Cs measurements provides a robust chronology for sedimentation in Upper Klamath Lake during the last 45 000 years. Mixing of surficial sediments and possible mobility of the radio-isotopes limit the usefulness of the ¹³⁷Cs and ²¹⁰Pb data, but ²¹⁰Pb profiles provide reasonable average sediment accumulation rates for the last 100–150 years. Radiocarbon ages near the top of the core are somewhat erratic and are too old, probably as a result of detrital organic carbon, which may have become a more common component in recent times as surrounding marshes were drained. Below the tops of the cores, radiocarbon ages in the center of the basin appear to be about 400 years too old, while those on the margin appear to be accurate, based on comparisons with tephra layers of known age.Taken together, the data can be combined into reasonable age models for each site. Sediments have accumulated at site K1, near the center of the basin, about 2 times faster than at site CM2, on the margin of the lake. The rates are about 0.10 and 0.05 cm/yr, respectively. The chronological data also indicate that accumulation rates were slower during the early to middle Holocene than during the late Holocene, consistent with increasing wetness in the late Holocene.