A synthesis of post-glacial diatom records from Lake Baikal

The biostratigraphy of fossil diatoms contributes important chronologic, paleolimnologic, and paleoclimatic information from Lake Baikal in southeastern Siberia. Diatoms are the dominant and best preserved microfossils in the sediments, and distinctive assemblages and species provide inter-core correlations throughout the basin at millennial to centennial scales, in both high and low sedimentation-rate environments. Distributions of unique species, once dated by radiocarbon, allow diatoms to be used as dating tools for the Holocene history of the lake. Diatom, pollen, and organic geochemical records from site 305, at the foot of the Selenga Delta, provide a history of paleolimnologic and paleoclimatic changes from the late glacial (15 ka) through the Holocene. Before 14 ka diatoms were very rare, probably because excessive turbidity from glacial meltwater entering the lake impeded productivity. Between 14 and 12 ka, lake productivity increased, perhaps as strong winds promoted deep mixing and nutrient regeneration. Pollen evidence suggests a cold shrub — steppe landscape dominated the central Baikal depression at this time. As summer insolation increased, conifers replaced steppe taxa, but diatom productivity declined between 11 and 9 ka perhaps as a result of increased summer turbidity resulting from violent storm runoff entering the lake via short, steep drainages. After 8 ka, drier, but more continental climates prevailed, and the modern diatom flora of Lake Baikal came to prominence. On Academician Ridge, a site of slow sedimentation rates, Holocene diatom assemblages at the top of 10-m cores reappear at deeper levels suggesting that such cores record at least two previous interglacial (or interstadial?) periods. Nevertheless, distinctive species that developed prior to the last glacial period indicate that the dynamics of nutrient cycling in Baikal and the responsible regional climatic environments were not entirely analogous to Holocene conditions. During glacial periods, the deep basin sediments of Lake Baikal are dominated by rapidly deposited clastics entering from large rivers with possibly glaciated headwaters. On the sublacustrine Academician Ridge (depth = 300 m), however, detailed analysis of the diatom biostratigraphy indicates that diastems (hiatuses of minor duration) and (or) highly variable rates of accumulation complicate paleolimnologic and paleoclimatic reconstructions from these records.     

大暖期中国湖泊沉积物有机碳储量的初步估算研究

湖泊作为陆地生态系统的重要组成部分,在区域/全球碳循环中发挥着重要作用。研究大暖期（6±0.5 ka B.P.）湖泊沉积物有机碳储量,可为未来类似增温幅度下湖泊固碳潜力变化研究提供一定的基础数据。文章通过搜集我国不同地区65个含大暖期沉积年代及有机碳数据的湖泊资料,开展了大暖期中国湖泊沉积物有机碳储量的初步研究。结果表明,大暖期我国湖泊沉积物有机碳储量约为4.56 Pg C,变化范围约为0.90~19.08 Pg C（1 Pg=10¹⁵ g）,主要集中在东部平原湖区、蒙新湖区及青藏高原湖区;有机碳累积速率约为22.3 g/（m²·a）,变化范围约为4.4~92.6 g/（m²·a）,其中以蒙新湖区最高,青藏高原湖区最低。大暖期我国湖泊有机碳储量与陆地碳库的比较表明,湖泊有机碳储量约为陆地（植被和土壤）有机碳储量的3%,而湖泊面积约为陆地面积的2%,加之湖泊沉积物较土壤及森林生物量能够保存更长的时间,因此湖泊在维系全球碳平衡中起着重要作用,湖泊的碳汇功能不容忽视。

     

冲绳海槽长链二醇生物标志物对中晚全新世黑潮变化的指示意义

长链二醇（LCDs）是一类微藻生物标志物,在海洋沉积物中除了能够指示其生物来源,近年来的工作还表明它们能够很好地用于示踪表层海水温度（SST）和营养盐。本文对冲绳海槽北部OTK-6站位的1根中晚全新世柱状沉积物（长度468cm）进行了长链二醇的提取分析,重建了7 ka B.P.以来的表层海水温度和营养盐变化历史,并与前人的黑潮指标变化进行对比。结果显示,在本研究区基于长链二醇的SST指标可能反映的是年均但略偏暖季的温度,其变化曲线与营养盐指标的变化曲线呈反向变化。而且上述温度和营养盐变化历史与前人给出的黑潮强弱变化历史对应较好,表现出黑潮增强时,SST温度升高,营养盐含量降低,与黑潮水的高温寡营养的特点一致。本文结果显示,在6.0~5.2 ka B.P.、4.2~3.5 ka B.P.、2.5~2.1 ka B.P.、1.8~1.4 ka B.P.以及1.1~0.8 ka B.P.前后黑潮对研究区域的影响加强。因此,认为基于长链二醇的温度和营养盐指标有潜力成为重建古黑潮演变的新型代用指标。

     

Recent environmental changes inferred from the sediments of small lakes in Yellowstone's northern range (Engstromet al., 1991)

Sedimentation rate data of Engstromet al. (1991) were analyzed in relation to the elevation of the eight ponds studied. The ... asynchroneity of the stratigraphic changes among the lakes ... that they noted was transformed into a pattern of time-transgressive change of sedimentation rate with elevation. Sediment units representing increasing (and decreasing) sedimentation rate and accelerating (and decelerating) sediment accumulation were correlated from pond to pond, suggesting that the sediment-producing condition somehow moved upslope over time at a rate of 3.4 to >5 m yr^–1. Climatic data appear not to explain this monotonic pattern, but dendrochronological data and elk population numbers suggest that ungulate foraging patterns might. Engstromet al. (1991) concluded that ...the lake-sediment records in the northern range do not convincingly show systematic direct or indirect effects of ungulate grazing during the history of the Park. Reinterpretation of these sediment data suggests that detailed reanalysis might lead to a different conclusion.     

Geomorphological observations and related natural hazards using merged remotely sensed data: a case study in the Corinthos area (NE Peloponnese, S. Greece)

Natural hazards are mostly related to the activation of combined geomorphological and geological processes that control landform development. The study area is located in the NE part of Peloponnese (Corinthos prefecture). It is a typical agricultural area with intense relief, the result of active tectonics and important human intervention. This study demonstrates the benefits from the synergism of SAR data (ERS-2) and optical data (SPOT2-XS) in order to highlight the possible natural-hazardprone areas. These data give different and complementary information since the radar signal depends mostly on topography, surface roughness and soil moisture, whereas the visible/infrared channels provide spectral information mostly on vegetation and land use/cover. The application presented here was focused on the enhancement of the high erosion risk areas, the improvement of the terrain interpretation, the mapping and highlighting of the landform morphology, and a more accurate determination of the main factors that control the flooding risk of Corinthos town.     

The relationship between glacial activity and sediment production: evidence from a 4450-year varve record of neoglacial sedimentation in Hector Lake, Alberta, Canada

A 4450-year sequence of varves, spanning the entire Neoglacialinterval, has been recovered from Hector Lake, Alberta. The varve record is compared to records of regional glacial history toevaluate therelationship between alpine glacial activity and sediment production. Glacial controls on sediment production vary with the timescale considered. Long-term variations in sedimentation rate, of centuries to millennial duration, reflect changes in ice extent of the same timescale. Superimposed on these long-term changes is decadal-scale variability that is complexly related to upvalley ice extent. Over the short term, high sedimentation rates may be associated with glacier maximum stands, or with periods of glacier advance or recession. Overthe last millennium at least, highest sedimentation rates appear to have been associated with transitional periods, preceding or post-dating maximum ice stands, rather than with times of maximum ice extent.     

Geomorphic and sedimentologic evidence for the separation of Lake Superior from Lake Michigan and Huron

A common break was recognized in four Lake Superior strandplain sequences using geomorphic and sedimentologic characteristics. Strandplains were divided into lakeward and landward sets of beach ridges using aerial photographs and topographic surveys to identify similar surficial features and core data to identify similar subsurface features. Cross-strandplain, elevation-trend changes from a lowering towards the lake in the landward set of beach ridges to a rise or reduction of slope towards the lake in the lakeward set of beach ridges indicates that the break is associated with an outlet change for Lake Superior. Correlation of this break between study sites and age model results for the strandplain sequences suggest that the outlet change occurred sometime after about 2,400 calendar years ago (after the Algoma phase). Age model results from one site (Grand Traverse Bay) suggest an alternate age closer to about 1,200 calendar years ago but age models need to be investigated further. The landward part of the strandplain was deposited when water levels were common in all three upper Great Lakes basins (Superior, Huron, and Michigan) and drained through the Port Huron/Sarnia outlet. The lakeward part was deposited after the Sault outlet started to help regulate water levels in the Lake Superior basin. The landward beach ridges are commonly better defined and continuous across the embayments, more numerous, larger in relief, wider, have greater vegetation density, and intervening swales contain more standing water and peat than the lakeward set. Changes in drainage patterns, foreshore sediment thickness and grain size help in identifying the break between sets in the strandplain sequences. Investigation of these breaks may help identify possible gaps in the record or missing ridges in strandplain sequences that may not be apparent when viewing age distributions and may justify the need for multiple age and glacial isostatic adjustment models. This is the third in a series of ten papers published in this special issue of Journal of Paleolimnology. These papers were presented at the 47th Annual Meeting of the International Association for Great Lakes Research (2004), held at the University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. P.F. Karrow and C.F.M. Lewis were guest editors of this special issue. The U.S. Government's right to retain a non-exclusive, royalty-free license in and to any copyright is acknowledged.     

Multi-proxy evidence of postglacial climate and environmental change at Two Frog Lake,central mainland coast of British Columbia,Canada

Pollen and diatoms preserved in the radiocarbon dated sediments of Two Frog Lake in the Seymour-Belize Inlet Complex of the central mainland coast of British Columbia document postglacial climate change. Two Frog Lake was isolated from the sea prior to 11,040 ± 50 yr BP (13,030 cal. yr BP) when the climate was cool and dry, and open Pinus contorta woodlands covered the landscape. These woodlands were replaced by a mixed conifer forest ca. 10,200 yr BP (ca. 12,300 cal. yr BP) when the climate became moister. A relatively dry and warm early Holocene climate allowed Pseudotsuga menziesii to migrate northward to this site where it grew with Picea, Tsuga heterophylla and Alnus. The climate became cooler and moister at ca. 8,000 yr BP (ca. 9,200 cal. yr BP), approximately 500–1,000 years prior to sites located south of Two Frog Lake and on the Queen Charlotte Islands, but contemporary with sites on the northern mainland coast of British Columbia and south coastal Alaska. Climate heterogeneity in central coastal British Columbia appears to have occurred on a synoptic scale, suggesting that atmospheric dynamics linked to a variable Aleutian Low pressure system may have had an important influence on early Holocene climate change in the Seymour-Belize Inlet Complex. The transition to cooler and moister conditions facilitated the expansion of Cupressaceae and the establishment of a modern-type coastal temperate rainforest dominated by Cupressaceae and T. heterophylla. This was associated with progressive lake acidification. Diatom changes independent of vegetation change during the late Holocene are correlative with the mid-Neoglacial period, when cooler temperatures altered diatom communities.     

大青山调角海子地区全新世低温波动研究*

根据调角海子剖面寒冻现象的野外观察与测量、室内测年分析及孢粉分析等资料,对调角海子地区全新世低温波动进行了探讨,并与邻近地区的多种研究资料进行了对比.经初步研究认为,大青山调角海子地区一万年以来的低温波动主要有6次,时代分别为9100aBP～8800aBP、8000aBP～7800aBP、7000aBP～6900aBP、6000aBP～5800aBP、5300aBP～4700aBP和3100aBP～2400aBP,除第2、4次为弱低温波动,可能仅限于大青山地区外,其余均具有较为广泛的区域意义;每次低温波动的极端低温期较短,可能只有50年～60年;低温波动时年气温只比现在下降了1℃～3℃.