Solar variability and the levels of Lake Victoria,East Africa,during the last millenium

A new diatom series with 1–6 year resolution from Lake Victoria, East Africa, shows that lake level minima occurred ca. 820–760, 680–660, 640–620, 370–340, and 220–150 calendar years BP. Inferred lake levels were exceptionally high during most of the Little Ice Age (ca. 600–200 calendar years BP). Synchrony between East African high lake levels and prolonged sunspot minima during much of the last millenium may reflect solar variabilitys effects on tropical rainfall, but those relationships reversed sign ca. 200 years ago. Historical records also show that Victoria lake levels rose during every peak of the ca. 11-year sunspot cycle since the late 19th century. These findings suggest that, if these apparent tropical sun–climate associations during the last millenium were real, then they were subject to abrupt sign reversals.Electronic Supplementary Material to this article is available at .     

Response of a Lake Michigan coastal lake to anthropogenic catchment disturbance

A paleolimnological investigation of post-European sediments in a Lake Michigan coastal lake was used to examine the response of Lower Herring Lake to anthropogenic impacts and its role as a processor of watershed inputs. We also compare the timing of this response with that of Lake Michigan to examine the role of marginal lakes as early warning indicators of potential changes in the larger connected system and their role in buffering Lake Michigan against anthropogenic changes through biotic interactions and material trapping. Sediment geochemistry, siliceous microfossils and nutrient-related morphological changes in diatoms, identified three major trophic periods in the recent history of the lake. During deforestation and early settlement (pre-1845–1920), lake response to catchment disturbances results in localized increases in diatom abundances with minor changes in existing communities. In this early phase of disturbance, Lower Herring Lake acts as a sediment sink and a biological processor of nutrient inputs. During low-lake levels of the 1930s, the lake goes through a transitional period characterized by increased primary productivity and a major shift in diatom communities. Post-World War II (late 1940s–1989) anthropogenic disturbances push Lower Herring Lake to a new state and a permanent change in diatom community structure dominated by Cyclotella comensis. The dominance of planktonic summer diatom species associated with the deep chlorophyll maximum (DCM) is attributed to epilimnetic nutrient depletion. Declining Si:P ratios are inferred from increased sediment storage of biogenic silica and morphological changes in the silica content of Aulacoseira ambigua and Stephanodiscus niagarae. Beginning in the late 1940s, Lower Herring Lake functions as a biogeochemical processor of catchment inputs and a carbon, nutrient and silica sink. Microfossil response to increased nutrients and increased storage of biogenic silica in Lower Herring Lake and other regional embayments occur approximately 20–25 years earlier than in a nearby Lake Michigan site. Results from this study provide evidence for the role of marginal lakes and bays as nutrient buffering systems, delaying the impact of anthropogenic activities on the larger Lake Michigan system.     

The use of sedimentary algal pigments to infer historic algal communities in Lake Apopka,Florida

The primary producer community of Lake Apopka, a large (125 km²), shallow (mean depth, 1.7 m), polymictic Florida lake, shifted from macrophyte dominance to phytoplankton dominance in the 1940s. Today, frequent wind resuspension of highly organic, unconsolidated sediments supports a meroplanktonic community that is predominantly diatoms, but during calm periods the algal community is dominated by planktonic cyanobacteria. Sedimentary algal pigments (chlorophyll derivatives and carotenoids) and chemical proxies for nutrient enrichment (polyphosphate, total phosphorus and biogenic silica) in three sediment cores were used to investigate historic changes in primary producers. Sediments were separated into three stratigraphic zones using multivariate statistical techniques. Stratigraphic zonation was established in each core although sediment deposition at one site was insufficient to adequately resolve temporal changes. These results show the importance of selecting suitable sites for paleolimnological studies. The oldest zone represents macrophyte-derived sediments, and the two overlying zones represent phytoplankton-derived sediments deposited since the 1940s. Algal pigments in the most recent sediment zone show little degradation, which might be due to the presence of viable meroplankton in the sediment. After the initial primary producer shift from macrophytes to phytoplankton, the lake experienced a short period of cyanobacterial dominance followed by a period of benthic diatom abundance before being replaced by the present algal community consisting of cyanobacteria and meroplanktonic diatoms. Chlorophyll derivatives and carotenoids were highly correlated with total phosphorus. Historic trends inferred from the data include algal and cyanobacterial productivity that increased with increased phosphorus loading. The study demonstrates that valid paleolimnological proxies for historic eutrophication are available in loosely consolidated sediments of shallow, subtropical lakes.     

Selective depressions of surface silicic acid within cyclonic mesoscale eddies in the oligotrophic western North Pacific

To reveal spatial dynamics of silicic acid [Si(OH)₄] in the poorly sampled oligotrophic western North Pacific, we investigated the surface distribution of Si(OH)₄ and associated biogeochemical parameters by using an underway survey system with a highly sensitive nutrient analyzer along the 138°E transect (between 30 and 34°N) and the 155°E transect (between 10 and 35°N) during the summers of 2007 and 2008. Surface Si(OH)₄ concentrations ranged from the detection limit (11 nmol L⁻¹) to 2462 nmol L⁻¹. High Si(OH)₄ concentrations (>1000 nmol L⁻¹) and dynamic fluctuations were generally observed north of 23°N, while consistently stable low concentrations of 415–751 nmol L⁻¹ were observed south of 23°N. Surface nitrate+nitrite (N+N) and phosphate (PO₄³⁻) were typically depleted to <20 nmol L⁻¹, except for PO₄³⁻ in the area south of 16°N. The majority of the study area was characterized by high-Si(OH)₄ and low-N+N and PO₄³⁻. However, submesoscale/mesoscale depressions of Si(OH)₄ were locally observed in the cyclonic eddy fields north of 23°N. Among a total of six Si(OH)₄ depressions within the eddies, a complete Si(OH)₄ depletion (<11 nmol L⁻¹) was observed on the cyclonic side near the Kuroshio axis (33.1°N, 138°E). This depletion was closely coupled with a diatom bloom, suggesting that Si(OH)₄ was exhausted by diatoms. All of the Si(OH)₄ depressions were selective and not accompanied by local depressions of N+N and PO₄³⁻. This unique phenomenon might be driven by biogeochemical processes such as selective Si export (Si pump), anomalous Si uptake associated with diatom physiology, and/or Si uptake supported by N₂ fixation.     

Halocarbons associated with Arctic sea ice

Short-lived halocarbons were measured in Arctic sea–ice brine, seawater and air above the Greenland and Norwegian seas (~81°N, 2–5°E) in mid-summer, from a melting ice floe at the edge of the ice pack. In the ice floe, concentrations of C₂H₅I, 2-C₃H₇I and CH₂Br₂ showed significant enhancement in the sea ice brine, of average factors of 1.7, 1.4 and 2.5 times respectively, compared to the water underneath and after normalising to brine volume. Concentrations of mono-iodocarbons in air are the highest ever reported, and our calculations suggest increased fluxes of halocarbons to the atmosphere may result from their sea–ice enhancement. Some halocarbons were also measured in ice of the sub-Arctic in Hudson Bay (~55°N, 77°W) in early spring, ice that was thicker, colder and less porous than the Arctic ice in summer, and in which the halocarbons were concentrated to values over 10 times larger than in the Arctic ice when normalised to brine volume. Concentrations in the Arctic ice were similar to those in Antarctic sea ice that was similarly warm and porous. As climate warms and Arctic sea ice becomes more like that of the Antarctic, our results lead us to expect the production of iodocarbons and so of reactive iodine gases to increase.     

Seasonal contribution of living phytoplankton carbon to vertical fluxes in a coastal upwelling system (Ría de Vigo, NW Spain)

The aim of this study is to explore the contribution of living phytoplankton carbon to vertical fluxes in a coastal upwelling system as a key piece to understand the coupling between primary production in the photic layer and the transfer mechanisms of the organic material from the photic zone. Between April 2004 and January 2005, five campaigns were carried out in the Ría de Vigo (NW Iberian Peninsula) covering the most representative oceanographic conditions for this region. Measurements of particulate organic carbon (POC), chlorophyll-a (chl a), phaeopigments (phaeo), and identification of phytoplankton species were performed on the water column samples and on the organic material collected in sediment traps.The POC fluxes measured by the sediment traps presented no seasonal variation along the studied period ranging around a mean annual value of 1085±365 mg m⁻² d⁻¹, in the upper range of the previously reported values for other coastal systems. The fact that higher POC fluxes were registered during autumn and winter, when primary production rates were at their minimum levels points to a dominant contribution of organic carbon from resuspended sediments on the trap collected material. On the contrary, fluxes of living phytoplankton carbon (C_phyto) and chl a clearly presented a seasonal trend with maximum values during summer upwelling (546 mg m⁻² d⁻¹ and 22 mg chl a m⁻² d⁻¹, respectively) and minimum values during winter (22 mg m⁻² d⁻¹ and 0.1 mg chl a m⁻² d⁻¹, respectively). The contribution of C_phyto to the vertical flux of POC ranged between 2% and 49% in response to the pelagic phytoplankton community structure. Higher values of C_phyto fluxes were registered under upwelling conditions which favour the dominance of large chain-forming diatoms (Asterionellopsis glacialis and Detonula pumila) that were rapidly transferred to the sediments. By contrast, C_phyto fluxes decreased during the summer stratification associated with a pelagic phytoplankton community dominated by single-cell diatoms and flagellates. Minimal C_phyto fluxes were observed during the winter mixing conditions, when the presence of the benthic specie Paralia sulcata in the water column also points toward strong sediment resuspension.     

Methods for biological assessment of salt-loaded running waters - fundamentals, current positions and perspectives

Salinisation of running waters is a severe problem in many parts of the world. Monitoring and management of such waters require ecological methods which consider the hydrochemical effects of salinisation on the aquatic communities in order to set targets to protect habitats and biodiversity. Several bioassays have been developed for this purpose and are surveyed here. They are based on the salt sensitivity of the following groups of organisms: diatoms, ciliates and macroinvertebrates. In this paper experiences gained so far are also considered as well as practical applications originating from this research.     

Mid-Holocene coastal hydrology and salinity changes in the east Taihu area of the lower Yangtze wetlands, China

During the mid-Holocene the eastern Taihu area, on China's Yangtze delta plain, was populated by advanced late Neolithic cultures supported by intensive domesticated rice cultivation. This agricultural system collapsed around 4200 cal yr BP, with severe population decline, the end of the Liangzhu culture, and about half a millennium of very low-scale human activity in the area before the re-establishment of agricultural production. Microfossil analyses from six sedimentary sequences, supported by AMS ¹⁴C dating, has allowed reconstruction of mid-Holocene hydrological conditions and salinity changes which would have had a major influence on agricultural viability and cultural history in the coastal wetlands. These data, allied to existing stratigraphic and sea-level records, show that chenier ridges that developed after ca. 7000 cal yr BP in the east of the area sheltered it from marine inundation and, although still connected to the sea through tidal creeks, low-salinity conditions persisted throughout the Neolithic period. There is no evidence that marine flooding caused the collapse of Liangzhu culture. Marine influence was stable and evolved slowly. Social and cultural causes may also have been important, but if environmental change triggered the collapse of Neolithic agricultural society here, other natural forces must be sought to explain this event.     

The annual silica cycle of the North Pacific subtropical gyre

Silica cycling in the upper 175 m of the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre was examined over a two year period (January 2008-December 2009) at the Hawaii Ocean Time-series (HOT) station ALOHA. Silicic acid concentrations in surface waters ranged from 0.6 to 1.6 ??M, exhibiting no clear seasonal trends. Biogenic silica concentrations and silica production rates increased by an order of magnitude each summer following stratification of the upper 50 m reaching values of 157 nmol Si L⁻¹ and 81 nmol Si L⁻¹ d⁻¹, in 2008 and 2009, respectively. Sea surface height anomalies together with analyses of variability in isothermal surfaces at 150-175 m indicated that the summer periods of elevated biogenic silica were associated with anticyclonic mesoscale features during both years. Lithogenic silica concentrations increased in the spring during the known period of maximum atmospheric dust concentrations with maximum values of 36 nmol Si L⁻¹ in the upper 10 m. Dust deposition would enhance levels of dissolved iron in surface waters, but there was no response of diatom biomass or silica production to increases in near-surface ocean lithogenic silica concentrations suggesting iron sufficiency of diatom silica production rates.Low ambient silicic acid concentrations restricted silica production rates to an average of 43% of maximum potential rates. Si sufficiency only occurred during the summer period when diatom biomass was elevated suggesting that bloom diatoms are adapted to exploit low silicic acid concentrations. Annual silica production at HOT is estimated to be 63 mmol Si m⁻² a⁻¹ with summer blooms contributing 29% of the annual total. Diatoms are estimated to account for 3-7% of total phytoplankton primary productivity, but 9-20% of organic carbon export confirming past suggestions that diatoms are relatively minor contributors to primary productivity and autotrophic biomass, but important contributors to new and export production in oligotrophic open-ocean ecosystems.Annual silica production at HOT is nearly 4-fold lower than estimates at the Bermuda Atlantic Time-series Study (BATS) site in the Sargasso Sea from the 1990s, but annual silica export at the base of the euphotic zone is similar between the two gyres indicating very different balances between silica production and its loss in surface waters. On a relative basis, BATS is a more productive system with respect to silica, where biogenic silica is recycled with high efficiency in surface waters; in contrast the NPSG is a lower productivity system with respect to silica, but where lower recycling efficiency leads to a much higher fraction of new silica production. The two gyres show contrasting long-term trends in diatom biomass as biogenic silica concentrations at HOT have been increasing since 1997, but they have been decreasing at BATS suggesting very different forcing of decadal trends in the contribution of diatoms in carbon cycling between these gyres. Combining the data from both gyres indicates that globally subtropical gyres produce 13 Tmol Si a⁻¹, which is only 51% of previous estimates reducing the contribution of subtropical gyres to 5-7% of global annual marine silica production.     

基于奇异值分解技术的近海水体硅藻浓度反演模型研究

浮游植物是水体生态系统中的重要初级生产者,其中硅藻贡献海洋初级生产力约40%,因此估算硅藻浓度对了解海洋生物地球化学过程和生态系统演变至关重要。本文基于2016年6月黄渤海和2018年7月黄渤海航次实测色素浓度数据集,利用CHEMTAX软件,获取硅藻浓度信息;之后,结合实测遥感反射率数据,利用奇异值分解方法,构建硅藻浓度反演模型。检验结果表明：模型的决定系数为0.80(p<0.001),平均绝对百分比误差和中值误差分别为58.62%和39.12%,模型适用度较高;经过卫星验证,该模型适用于GOCI(Geostationary Ocean Color Imager)传感器。将模型应用于2020年6月份GOCI月平均数据,其硅藻浓度空间分布趋势与前人研究一致。本研究成果可为近海水体硅藻生物量的遥感估算研究提供技术方法支撑。