Insolation, Moisture Balance and Climate Change on the South American Altiplano Since the Last Glacial Maximum

Sediment cores from Lake Titicaca contain proxy records of past lake level and hydrologic change on the South American Altiplano. Large downcore shifts in the isotopic composition of organic carbon, C/N, wt.%C_org, %CaCO₃, and % biogenicsilica illustrate the dynamic changes in lake level that occurred during the past 20,000 years. The first cores taken from water depths greater than 50 meters in the northern subbasin of the lake are used to develop and extend the paleolake-level record back to the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). Quantitative estimates of lake level are developed using transfer functions based on the ¹³C of modern lacustrine organic sources and the ¹³C of modern sedimented organic matter from core-tops. Lake level was slightly higher than modern during much of the post-LGM (20,000–13,500 yr BP) and lake water was freshunder the associated outflow conditions. The Pleistocene/Holocene transition (13,500–7,500 yr BP) was a period of gradual regression, punctuated by minor trangressions. Following a brief highstand at about 7250 yr BP, lake level dropped rapidly to 85 m below the modern level, reaching maximum lowstand conditions by 6250 yr BP. Lake level increased rapidly between 5000yr BP and 4000 yr BP, and less rapidly between 4000 yr BP and 1500 yr BP.Lake level remained relatively high throughout the latest Holocene with only minor fluctuations (<12 meters). Orbitally induced changes in solar insolation, coupled with long-term changes in El Niño-Southern Oscillation variability, are the most likely driving forces behind millennial-scale shifts in lake level that reflect regional-scale changes in the moisture balance of the Atlantic-Amazon-Altiplano hydrologic system.     

Biodegradation of Nonylphenol Ethoxylate Surfactants in Biofilm Reactors

The primary degradation of a technical nonylphenol ethoxylate surfactant with an average chain length of 10 ethoxylate units (NPEO‐10) was studied in a flow‐through system by means of miniaturized biofilm reactors (mBFR) with bacteria from an activated sludge plant. 5 mg/L of the test compound (total EO concentration) were spiked in synthetic wastewater (SWW) and fed to the reactors continuously for 64 days. Compound removal and the formation of degradation products (DP) were monitored under both oxic and anoxic conditions. Solid‐phase extraction and RP‐HPLC with fluorescence detection were employed for sample preparation and analysis. Better removal of the parent compound was seen with the oxic reactors (50 to 70%) than with the anoxic reactors (30 to 50%). Compared to SWW organic matter, the test compound proved to be of refractory nature. The appearance of degradation products in the effluent was earlier with anoxic reactors despite their lower elimination efficiency. After extraction of biomass only minor amounts of NPEO‐10 and metabolites were found, indicating that small amounts were present in adsorbed or intracellular form. Ultimate biodegradation of NPEO‐10 and of octylphenol ethoxylates (OPEO‐9.5; average chain length of 9.5 EO units) was tested by means of manometric respirometry at a theoretical oxygen demand (ThOD) of 100 mg/L. Whereas NPEO‐10 was biodegraded by only 26%, at best, in 28 days, OPEO‐9.5 degradation amounted to (40 ± 5)%.     

Field Studies on the Fate and Transport of Pharmaceutical Residues in Bank Filtration

Bank filtration and artificial ground water recharge are important, effective, and cheap techniques for surface water treatment and removal of microbes, as well as inorganic, and some organic, contaminants. Nevertheless, physical, chemical, and biological processes of the removal of impurities are not understood sufficiently. A research project titled Natural and Artificial Systems for Recharge and Infiltration attempts to provide more clarity in the processes affecting the removal of these contaminants. The project focuses on the fate and transport of selected emerging contaminants during bank filtration at two transects in Berlin, Germany. Several detections of pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs) in ground water samples from bank filtration sites in Germany led to furthering research on the removal of these compounds during bank filtration. In this study, six PhACs including the analgesic drugs diclofenac and propyphenazone, the antiepileptic drugs carbamazepine and primidone, and the drug metabolites clofibric acid and 1-acetyl-1-methyl-2-dimethyl-oxamoyl-2-phenylhydrazide were found to leach from the contaminated streams and lakes into the ground water. These compounds were also detected at low concentrations in receiving public supply wells. Bank filtration either decreased the concentrations by dilution (e.g., for carbamazepine and primidone) and partial removal (e.g., for diclofenac), or totally removed PhACs (e.g., bezafibrate, indomethacine, antibiotics, and estrogens). Several PhACs, such as carbamazepine and especially primidone, were readily transported during bank filtration. They are thought to be good indicators for evaluating whether surface water is impacted by contamination from municipal sewage effluent or whether contamination associated with sewage effluent can be transported into ground water at ground water recharge sites.     

Hydrologic variation during the last 170,000 years in the southern hemisphere tropics of South America

Despite the hypothesized importance of the tropics in the global climate system, few tropical paleoclimatic records extend to periods earlier than the last glacial maximum (LGM), about 20,000 years before present. We present a well-dated 170,000-year time series of hydrologic variation from the southern hemisphere tropics of South America that extends from modern times through most of the penultimate glacial period. Alternating mud and salt units in a core from Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia reflect alternations between wet and dry periods. The most striking feature of the sequence is that the duration of paleolakes increased in the late Quaternary. This change may reflect increased precipitation, geomorphic or tectonic processes that affected basin hydrology, or some combination of both. The dominance of salt between 170,000 and 140,000 yr ago indicates that much of the penultimate glacial period was dry, in contrast to wet conditions in the LGM. Our analyses also suggest that the relative influence of insolation forcing on regional moisture budgets may have been stronger during the past 50,000 years than in earlier times.     

Holocene Climate in the Northern Great Plains Inferred from Sediment Stratigraphy, Stable Isotopes, Carbonate Geochemistry, Diatoms, and Pollen at Moon Lake, North Dakota

Seismic stratigraphy, sedimentary facies, pollen stratigraphy, diatom-inferred salinity, stable isotope (δ¹⁸O and δ¹³C), and chemical composition (Sr/Ca and Mg/Ca) of authigenic carbonates from Moon Lake cores provide a congruent Holocene record of effective moisture for the eastern Northern Great Plains. Between 11,700 and 9500¹⁴C yr B.P., the climate was cool and moist. A gradual decrease in effective moisture occurred between 9500 and 7100¹⁴C yr B.P. A change at about 7100¹⁴C yr B.P. inaugurated the most arid period during the Holocene. Between 7100 and 4000¹⁴C yr B.P., three arid phases occurred at 6600–6200¹⁴C yr B.P., 5400–5200¹⁴C yr B.P., and 4800–4600¹⁴C yr B.P. Effective moisture generally increased after 4000¹⁴C yr B.P., but periods of low effective moisture occurred between 2900–2800¹⁴C yr B.P. and 1200–800¹⁴C yr B.P. The data also suggest high climatic variability during the last few centuries. Despite the overall congruence, the biological (diatom), sedimentological, isotopic, and chemical proxies were occassionally out of phase. At these times the evaporative process was not the only control of lake-water chemical and isotopic composition.     

The CO2 absorption method as an alternative to benzene synthesis method forC dating

A fast and economical routine sample preparation system is described for direct counting of¹⁴C for hydrological purposes. The method employs commercially available CO₂ absorbers, such as Carbosorb, and liquid scintillation counters. The maximum error involved individual analyses is about ±4pmc (1 δ) on the Beckman counter and about ±2 pmc on the Quantulus counter with a resulting detection limit of 21,000–29,000 a for the Beckman LS7500 and 1220 Quantulus, respectively for a counting time of 1000 min. To avoid physical weighing procedures, an indirect method is presented to determine the grams of C absorbed in the counting solution by using the H-# quench monitor technique available in the Beckman liquid scintillation counters. On one sample preparation system at least five samples can be prepared per normal working day. The applicability of the CO₂-absorption method is discussed with reference to two field sites and with reference to comparisons with data obtained on the same samples measured with conventional techniques.     

The CASPIA project: diatoms,salt lakes,and environmental change

The Climate and Salinity (CASPIA) Project is concerned with diatoms as environmental indicators in inland waters and their use in reconstructing salinity and major ion composition from fossil diatom assemblages in lake sediments. By comparing saline lake diatom floras from around the world the project aims to establish a common, harmonised approach to sample collection, diatom identification and nomenclature, and to develop techniques for numerical analysis and data storage.This is the first in a series of papers published in this issue on the paleolimnology of arid regions. These papers were presented at the Sixth International Palaeolimnology Symposium held 19–21 April, 1993 at the Australian National University, Canberra, Australia. Dr A. R. Chivas served as guest editor for these papers.Palliser Triangle Global Change Project Contribution Number 19.