Diatom assemblages and quantitative reconstruction for paleosalinity from a sediment core of Chencuo Lake,southern Tibet

Changing salinity in lakes and especially in closed lakes depends mainly on the balance between precipitation, runoff and evaporation in arid and semi-arid areas, hence influencing lake levels di-rectly[1-4]. Past salinity has been recovered by a vari-ety of environmental indicators from lake sediments such as diatoms, chironomids, ostracoda, isotopes of ostracoda shells, geochemistry, and isotopes of authi-cabonates[3,5—10]. Recently, with extensive data-base study on diatom-salinity transfe…     

Modeling historical climate variability and slope stability

This study presents scenario models for historical variations of climate and slope stability. A model for historical annual patterns of temperature and rainfall was established on the basis of seasonal proxies. A process-based, spatio-temporal model for groundwater variations and slope stability was developed using the GIS environment of the software PCRaster. We applied the slope stability model to study the effects of the different climate scenarios on slope stability for three different hillslopes in the area around Bonn (Germany). The findings indicate three climatic phases with different annual temperature and precipitation patterns over the historic period. The modeling results show that a climatic scenario representing unstable conditions of a transition from the more humid Little Ice Age to dryer recent climate produces the highest slope instabilities. The intensity of this impact, however, varies with the sensitivity of the geomorphic system, i.e. local landforms and lithology, and cannot be generally related to the stability of a specific hillslope. More unstable areas are not necessarily more sensitive to climatic changes: the location of permeable layers (prone to groundwater rise) in relation to sensitive layers (lower strength) and higher gradients (higher stress) influences the sensitivity of a site with respect to climate changes. The presented method is capable of modeling landscape sensitivity to climate change with respect to groundwater-controlled landslides.     

Tracking Holocene environmental changes in an alpine lake sediment core: application of regional diatom calibration, geochemistry, and pollen

Diatom abundances in the surface sediment samples of 41 mountain lakes in the central Austrian Alps (Niedere Tauern) were related to environmental variables using multi-variate techniques. Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) revealed that the pH, date of autumn mixing (A _mix), mean August water temperature (T _Aug), dissolved organic carbon (DOC), and relative water depth (Z _rel) made significant contributions to explain the diatom assemblage variation in the lakes of the training set. A weighted averaging partial least square regression and calibration model was used to establish Di-pH (R ² _boot= 0.72, RMSEP_boot= 0.131), and a thermistor measurements-based PLS model for A _mix (R ² _boot= 0.71, RMSEP_boot= 0.006 log₁₀ Julian days). The latter showed a better prediction than T _Aug, and was used in terms of climate change. These transfer functions, together with analyses of loss on ignition (LOI), the total carbon/nitrogen (C/N)-ratios, and selected pollen, were applied to an early to mid-Holocene (11.5–4 cal. ky BP) sediment core section from an Austrian Alpine treeline lake on crystalline bedrock. Additionally, passive sample scores in the CCA of the diatom training set were used to show trends in the variables DOC and Z _rel. During the early Holocene, diatoms indicative of increased pH, extended warm summers, and low water levels dominated. Between 10.2 and 7.6 cal. ky BP it was followed by diatom assemblages that indicated an increase in lake water depth and an earlier A _mix. The multi-proxy data suggest that the A _mix decline is the result of a series of snow-rich summer cool and wet climate fluctuations, which were divided by climate warming at ∼9 cal. ky BP. Increased A _mix, LOI and DOC, and the correspondent decline in the C/N-ratios, show subsequent climate warming between 7.3 and 6 cal. ky BP. The long-term trend in Di-pH indicates the impact of catchment-related processes during the early-Holocene, that were superimposed by climate.     

A rocking multianvil: elimination of chemical segregation in fluid-saturated high-pressure experiments

Fluid saturated high-pressure experiments often result in strongly zoned experimental charges, this hinders experimentation in chemically homogeneous systems which in turn has serious consequences on equilibration, reaction progress, and (apparent) phase stabilities. In order to overcome these problems, a 600-ton press accommodating either a multianvil or end-loaded piston cylinder module has been mounted in such a way that it can be turned by 180°, thus inverting its position in the gravity field. During turning, hydraulic pressure, heating power, and cooling water remain connected allowing fully controlled pressures and temperatures during experiments.A series of experiments at 13 GPa, 950°C, on a serpentine bulk composition in the MgO-SiO₂-H₂O system demonstrates that continuous turning at a rate of 2 turns/min results in a nearly homogeneous charge composed of phase E + enstatite. The same experiment at static conditions resulted in four mineral zones: quench phase E, enstatite, enstatite + phase E, and phase E + phase A. Phase A disappears in experiments at a turning rate ≥1 turn/min. A static 15-min experiment shows that zonation already forms within this short time span. Placing two short capsules within a single static experiment reveals that the fluid migrates to the hot spot in each capsule and is not gravitationally driven toward the top. The zonation pattern follows isotherms within the capsule, and the degree of zonation increases with temperature gradient (measured as 10 °C within a capsule) and run time.Our preferred interpretation is that Soret diffusion causes a density-stratified fluid within the capsule that does not convect in a static experiment and results in temperature dependant chemical zonation. The aggravation of zonation and appearance of additional phases with run time can be explained with a dissolution-reprecipitation process where the cold spot of the capsule is relatively MgO enriched and the hot spot relatively SiO₂ and H₂O enriched (at 13 GPa and 950°C). Rocking and tilting of a stratified fluid induces Rayleigh-Taylor instabilities, causing chemical rehomogenization. If turning is faster than the time required to build significant chemical potential gradients in the fluid, chemical zonation in the distribution of the solids is suppressed.     

Mid-latitude Southern Indian Ocean response to Northern Hemisphere Heinrich events

The lack of temporal resolution and accurate chronology of Southern Ocean marine cores has hampered comparison of glacial millennial-scale oscillations between the Southern Ocean, Antarctic ice and other records from both hemispheres. In this study, glacial climate variability is investigated over the last 50 ka using a multi-proxy approach. A precise chrono-stratigraphy was developed on the high-sedimentation rate core MD94-103 (Indian Southern Ocean, 45°35′S 86°31′E, 3560 m water depth) by geomagnetic synchronization between the later core and NAPIS75, and ¹⁴C dates. High-resolution time-series of δ¹⁸O in planktonic foraminifera Globigerina bulloides and Neogloboquadrina pachyderma, and sea surface temperatures (SSTs) estimated from the alkenone U^K′₃₇ index and foraminifera assemblages have been generated. Temporal evolution of the two temperature proxy records is notably different during the last glacial period. While foraminifera data indicate a consistent cooling towards the last glacial maximum, anomalous warm glacial alkenone temperatures suggest a strong advection of warm “detrital” alkenones by surface waters of the Agulhas current. Superimposed to this general trend, during Heinrich events, foraminiferal SSTs point to warmer surface waters, while concurrent alkenone SSTs exhibit apparent coolings probably caused by enhanced local alkenone production. By analogy to modern observations, possible influence of ENSO-like conditions on the subantarctic Southern Ocean SSTs is discussed.     

Oxygen isotope fractionation during synthesis of CaMg-carbonate and implications for sedimentary dolomite formation

Hydrous CaMg-carbonate was synthesized at temperatures of 40°, 60° and 80°C in the laboratory. This material has very similar mineralogical characteristics to natural disordered dolomite from the Coorong region in South Australia. Besides the dolomite variable amounts of amorphous carbonate are present in all samples. The oxygen isotope compositions of synthesized bulk carbonate samples (e.g., amorphous carbonate plus dolomite) plot significantly lower than the Northrop and Clayton (1966) dolomite-water equilibrium. Fractionated degassing of the samples, however, revealed relatively low oxygen isotope values for fast-reacting (using 100% H₃PO₄) amorphous carbonate. In contrast, slow-reacting dolomite has more positive oxygen isotope values, and calculated carbonate-water oxygen isotope fractionation values are close to strongest known dolomite-water oxygen isotope fractionation published earlier on. Variations of reaction/stabilization temperatures during synthesis gave evidence for dolomite formation from hypersaline solutions by a dissolution/reprecipitation process. It is likely that amorphous carbonate has been a problem in defining the dolomite-water fractionation in the past. Moreover, dolomite-associated amorphous carbonate contents probably led to incorrect speculations about lower oxygen isotope fractionation in a so-called protodolomite-water system.     

Magnetic anisotropy of calcite at room-temperature

The intrinsic room temperature magnetic properties of pure calcite were determined from a series of natural crystals, and they were found to be highly dependent on the chemical composition. In general, dia-, para-, and ferromagnetic components contribute to the magnetic susceptibility and the anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS). With a combination of magnetic measurements and chemical analysis these three contributions were determined and related to their mineralogical sources. The intrinsic diamagnetic susceptibility of pure calcite is − 4.46 ± 0.16 × 10^− 9 m³/kg (− 12.09 ± 0.5 × 10^− 6 SI) and the susceptibility difference is 4.06 ± 0.03 × 10^− 10 m³/kg (1.10 ± 0.01 × 10^− 6 SI). These diamagnetic properties are easily dominated by other components. The paramagnetic contribution is due to paramagnetic ions in the crystal lattice that substitute for calcium; these are mainly iron and manganese. The measured paramagnetic susceptibility agrees with the values calculated from the known concentration of paramagnetic ions in the crystals according to the Curie law of paramagnetic susceptibility. Substituted iron leads to an increase in the AMS. The paramagnetic susceptibility difference was found to correlate linearly with the iron content for concentrations between 500 and 10,000 ppm. An empirical relation was determined: (k₁ − k₃)^para (kg/m³) = Fe-content (ppm) × (1 ± 0.1) × 10^− 12 (kg/m³/ppm). The maximum susceptibility difference (Δk = k₁ − k₃) was found to be unaffected by iron contents below 100 ppm. Ferromagnetic contributions due to inclusions of ferromagnetic minerals can dominate the susceptibility. They were detected by acquisition of isothermal remanent magnetization (IRM) and their contribution to the AMS was separated by high-field measurements.     

Environmental changes in an alpine lake (Gossenköllesee, austria) over the last two centuries – the influence of air temperature on biological parameters

Changes in microfossils (diatoms, chrysophytes, chironomids and cladocera remains), geochemistry and deposition of atmospheric pollutants have been investigated in the sediment records of the alpine lake Gossenköllesee (Tyrol, Austria) spanning the last two centuries. The sediment records were compared with seasonal and annual air temperature trends calculated for the elevation (2417 m a.s.l.) and the geographical position (47° 1346N, 11° 0051E) of the lake, and with precipitation records available since 1866 from Innsbruck. Temperature trends followed a 20–30 year oscillation between cold and warm periods. Regarding long-term changes, temperature trends showed a U-shaped trend between 1780 and 1950, followed by a steep increase since 1975.Physical, geochemical, and organic parameters were not controlled by air temperature. Among the biological records only diatoms and chrysophytes reacted to air temperature changes: the relative abundance of planktonic diatoms increased during warm periods and changes in mean annual alpine air temperature explained 36.5% of their variation. The relation between abundance of seasonal stomatocyst types and air temperature varied on two different time scales: while summer stomatocysts were influenced by short term temperature fluctuations, the autumn stomatocysts were affected only by the long term changes. Other biological parameters exhibited a constant species composition (chironomids, pigments) or changes were small and independent of temperature (cladocera). Spheroidal carbonaceous fly-ash particles, and trends in Pb and Cr indicated increasing deposition of atmospheric pollutants but had no detectable effects on the biological parameters either. In respect to temperature variations over the last 200 years, this alpine lake is much less sensitive than expected and has thus to be regarded as a well buffered site. However, temperature alone is not sufficient to understand changes in species composition and other biogeochemical processes with unknown historical patterns might have affected species composition more strongly.     

Emission of nitrous oxide from temperate forest soils into the atmosphere

N₂O emission rates were measured during a 13-month period from July 1981 till August 1982 with a frequency of once every two weeks at six different forest sites in the vicinity of Mainz, Germany. The sites were selected on the basis of soil types typical for many of the Central European forest ecosystems. The individual N₂O emission rates showed a high degree of temporal and spatial variabilities which, however, were not significantly correlated to variabilities in soil moisture content or soil temperatures. However, the N₂O emission rates followed a general seasonal trend with relatively high values during spring and fall. These maxima coincided with relatively high soil moisture contents, but may also have been influenced by the leaf fall in autumn. In addition, there was a brief episode of relatively high N₂O emission rates immediately after thawing of the winter snow. The individual N₂O emission rates measured during the whole season ranged between 1 and 92 g N₂O-N m^–2 h^–1. The average values were in the range of 3–11 g N₂O-N m^–2 h^–1 and those with a 50% probability were in the range of 2–8 g N₂O-N m^–2 h^–1. The total source strength of temperate forest soils for atmospheric N₂O may be in the range of 0.7–1.5 Tg N yr^–1.     

Zur derivativspektroskopischen Bestimmung der Ligninsulfonsäure in Gegenwart von Huminsäuren

A Specord M 40 device with the Date Handling 1 computer cassette was used for the derivative-spectroscopie determination of lignosulphonic acid. Because of the higher sensitivity and the better evaluable peaks, the 2nd derivation of the five possible derivations was used. The analysis method described in detail was tested with test substances on a surface water which was polluted with waste-products from the pulp industry. With the stated device parameters, the lignosulphonic acid up to 2 mg/l can be determined in the presence of humic acids and chlorolignosulphonic acids. In weakly polluted waters, as groundwaters and shore filtrates. still lignosulphonic acid concentrations of 0.1 mg/l can be detected after an adequate enrichment.