Paleolimnology of McNearney lake: an acidic lake in northern Michigan

McNearney Lake is an acidic (pH=4.4) lake in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan with low acid neutralizing capacity (ANC=-38 eq L^-1) and high SO _inf4 ^sup2- and aluminium concentrations. Oligotrophy is indicated by high Secchi transparency and by low chlorophyll a, total phosphorus, and total nitrogen concentrations. The lake water is currently acidic because base cations are supplied to the lake water at a low rate and because SO _inf4 ^sup2- from atmospheric deposition was not appreciably retained by the lake sediments or watershed and was present in the water column.This interdisciplinary paleolimnological study indicates that McNearney Lake is naturally acidic and has been so since at least 4000 years B.P., as determined from inferred-pH techniques based on contemporary diatom-pH relationships. Predicted pH values ranged from 4.7 to 5.0 over the 4000-year stratigraphy. Considerable shifts in species composition and abundance were observed in diatom stratigraphy, but present-day distributions indicate that all abundant taxa most frequently occur under acidic conditions, suggesting that factors other than pH are responsible for the shifts. The diatom-inferred pH technique as applied to McNearney Lake has too large an uncertainly and is not sensitive enough to determine the subtle recent changes in lakewater pH expected from changes in atmospheric deposition because: (1) McNearney Lake has the lowest pH in the contemporary diatom data set in the region and confidence intervals for pH predictions increase at the extremes of regressions; (2) other factors in addition to pH may be responsible for the diatom species distribution in the lake and in the entire northern Great Lakes region; (3) McNearney Lake has a well-buffered pH as a consequence of its low pH and high aluminium concentrations and is not expected to exhibit a large pH change as a result of changes in atmospheric deposition; and (4) atmospheric deposition in the region is modest and would not cause a pH shift large enough to be discernable in McNearney Lake.Elevated atmospheric deposition is indicated in recent sediments by Pb, V, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon accumulation rates and to a lesser extent by those of Cu and Zn; however, these accumulation rates are substantially lower than those observed for acidified lakes in the northeastern United States. Although atmospheric loadings of materials associated with fossil fuel combustion have recently increased to McNearney Lake and apparently are continuing, the present study of the diatom subfossil record does not indicate a distinct, recent acidification (pH decrease).Order of the first two authors is alphabetical     

Oxygen isotope heterogeneity of the mantle deduced from global 18O systematics of basalts from different geotectonic settings

Based upon a compilation and analysis of O-isotope data for Neogene volcanic rocks worldwide, the ¹⁸O variation for 743 basalts (historic lavas, submarine glasses, and lavas with <0.75 wt% H₂O) is +2.9 to +11.4. Mid-ocean-ridge basalt (MORB) has a uniform O-isotope composition with ¹⁸0=+5.7±0.2. Basalts erupted in different tectonic settings have mean ¹⁸O/¹⁶O ratios that are both lower and higher than MORB, with continental basalts enriched in ¹⁸O by ca. 1 over oceanic basalts. The ¹⁸O range for the subset of 88 basalts with Mg# [100·Mg(Mg+Fe²⁺)] 75–68, considered to be unmodified primary mantle partial melts, is +3.6 to +8.7. These features are a clear indication that: (1) the Earth's upper mantle is heterogeneous with respect to its O-isotope composition; (2) that both low-¹⁸O and high-¹⁸O reservoirs have contributed to basalt petrogenesis. Large-ion lithophile element-enriched basalts associated with subduction at convergent plate margins are slightly enriched in ¹⁸O, a characteristic that is considered to be an intrinsic feature of the subduction process. Intraplate oceanic and continental basalts have highly variable ¹⁸O/¹⁶O ratios, with individual localities displaying ¹⁸O ranges in excess of 1.5 to 2. Systematic co-variations between O-, Sr-, Nd-, and Pb-isotope ratios reflect the same principal intramantle end-member isotopic components (DMM, HIMU, EM-I, EM-II) deduced from radiogenic isotope considerations and, therefore, imply that a common process is responsible for the origin of upper mantle stable and radiogenic isotope heterogeneity, namely the recycling of lithospheric material into the mantle.     

The Intermittently Embedded Herbig Ae/Be Stars ISO and Ground-Based IR Observations

We discuss silicate emission profiles observed with the ISO SWS and ground-based IR observations in a population of intermittently embedded Herbig Ae/Be stars which are viewed edge-on to their polarimetrically identified dust and gas disks. The ISO SWS observations confirm the lack of a simple correlation between system age and the profile shape. Comparison with laboratory silicates suggests that much of the observed variation is due to different annealing histories of the grains. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.