Zooplankton succession during extraordinary drought–flood cycles: A case study in a South American floodplain lake

We examined the zooplankton abundance and composition of Laguna Grande, a floodplain wetland of the Lower Paraná Basin (Argentina), during an extraordinary drought–flood cycle that affected both the environment and the biological conditions of the lake. Low waters were characterised by remarkably high conductivities and pH values, and high phytoplankton and bacterioplankton abundances with cyanobacterial blooms, while high waters showed opposite features. In relation to zooplankton, the mean abundances of all the taxonomic groups (rotifers, cladocerans, copepods, ciliates, and heterotrophic nanoflagellates) were slightly higher at low waters. Major changes were observed in the specific composition of metazooplankton: the euryhaline species assemblage that dominated in the dry warm period was replaced by several oligohaline littoral and planktonic species characteristic of the Paraná River Basin, when the water level rose. Mean species richness values at high waters doubled those of low waters and were directly correlated to water depth. Most of the rotifers of the genus Brachionus and the cladoceran Moina micrura switched from parthenogenetic to sexual reproduction during low waters, as a response to a harsh environment and crowding. We suggest that the main changes in the environmental conditions in this eutrophic floodplain lake are driven by the hydrology, which regulates the zooplankton succession. The herein described shifts in the zooplankton structure and dynamics of Laguna Grande over an extraordinary drought–flood cycle contribute to the understanding of the processes that might occur under the scenarios predicted by climate change models.     

Distribution of n-alkanes in lacustrine sediments from subtropical lake in Brazil

The geochemical composition of lake bed sediments of a tropical reservoir in Brazil have been investigated. The C, N, P composition showed almost no variation between the different sampling points. All samples contained inorganic phosphorus (IP) ranging from 52 to 70%. The Redfield ratios show that the lake is without significant anthropogenic inputs. Most of the organic matter is composed by higher plants decomposition revealed in the total organic carbon (TOC):nitrogen (N) ratio ranging from 15.4 to 57.2. Also, TOC:organic phosphorus (OP) ranged from 265.3 to 933.6, suggesting that most of the organic matter has terrestrial origin from wood plants. The ratios suggest that most organic matter is influenced by the terrestrial characteristics of the watershed. Furthermore, the relative abundance of n-alkane homologues in the sediments was investigated. All samples have been analyzed for the n-alkanes C₈ to C₄₀. The sediments were dominated by n-alkanes C₂₅–C₃₈. It is concluded that n-alkane in sediments mainly come from terrestrial plants, however there is a contribution of submerged aquatic plants, especially in those sites in deeper areas of the lake. On the basis of P_aq index the n-alkanes in sediments comes from terrestrial plants, however there is a contribution from emerged/floating plants.The investigated lake seems to be considered as meso to eutrophic. Because of the relatively high primary productivity in the lakes, there is a substantial organic-matter flux to the sediments, which rapidly becomes anoxic. According to the pristine/phytane ratio the sediments represent an anoxic environment with values found between 0.38 and 1.72.     

The hydrochemistry of Lake Vostok and the potential for life in Antarctic subglacial lakes

Our understanding of Lake Vostok, the huge subglacial lake beneath the East Antarctic Ice Sheet, has improved recently through the identification of key physical and chemical interactions between the ice sheet and the lake. The north of the lake, where the overlying ice sheet is thickest, is characterized by subglacial melting, whereas freezing of lake water occurs in the south, resulting in ～210 m of ice accretion to the underside of the ice sheet. The accreted ice contains lower concentrations of the impurities normally found in glacier ice, suggesting a net transfer of material from meltwater into the lake. The small numbers of microbes found so far within the accreted ice have DNA profiles similar to those of contemporary surface microbes. Microbiologists expect, however, that Lake Vostok, and other subglacial lakes, will harbour unique species, particularly within the deeper waters and associated sediments. The extreme environments of subglacial lakes are characterized by high pressures, low temperatures, permanent darkness, limited nutrient availability, and oxygen concentrations that are derived from the ice that provides the meltwater. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Bedform patterns, subglacial meltwater events, and Late Devensian ice sheet dynamics in north-central Ireland

Glacial bedform patterns and sediments deposited by the temperate and polythermal Late Devensian ice sheet in north-central Ireland record changes in the processes, location, and magnitude of subglacial meltwater throughout the last full glacial cycle (21–14 ¹⁴C kyear BP). Meltwater characteristics are related directly to basal ice thermal regime and ice dynamics, including ice velocity and shifts in the location of ice centres. Therefore, reconstructed meltwater characteristics may provide insight into wider controls on dynamic ice behaviour. A range of meltwater-related features are present across north-central Ireland. These include tunnel valleys, drumlin leeside sequences, eskers, and boulder lags. Other bedforms including Rogen moraines were modified by meltwater activity along ice streams. Meltwater was stored subglacially in two contrasting regions located beneath or near ice centres in north-central Ireland. (1) The Lough Erne Basin is developed in a lowland depression occupied partly by subglacial Rogen moraine ridges which were formed around the time of the last glacial maximum. Meltwater was stored between Rogen ridge crests and released by hydraulic jacking associated with drumlinisation (16.6 ¹⁴C kyear BP) and ice streaming (13.8 ¹⁴C kyear BP). (2) The Lough Neagh Basin occupies a similar lowland depression and was the location of an ice sheet centre throughout the last glacial cycle. No bedforms are present beneath or immediately surrounding Lough Neagh. A larger, more continuous meltwater lake existed in the Lough Neagh depression, probably sealed by a region of cold-based ice outside lake margins. Water escaped through regional-scale tunnel valleys, particularly the Poyntzpass channel which was active during the Carlingford ice readvance (Killard Stadial, correlated with Heinrich event 1 at 14.5 ¹⁴C kyear BP). Overall, reconstructed subglacial lake characteristics and drainage mechanisms are related closely to basal ice thermal regime and substrate relief (controlling lake geometry), and provide insight into controls on overall ice sheet dynamics.     

Chronology of latest Pleistocene lake‐level fluctuations in the pluvial Lake Chewaucan basin,Oregon, USA

New accelerator mass spectrometer radiocarbon ages from gastropods in shore deposits within the pluvial Lake Chewaucan basin, combined with stratigraphical and geomorphological evidence, identify an abrupt rise and fall of lake level at ca. 12 ¹⁴C ka. The lake‐level high is coeval with lake‐level lows in the well‐dated records of palaeolakes Bonneville and Lahontan, and with a period of relatively wet conditions in the more southerly Owens Lake basin. This spatial pattern of pluvial lake levels in the western USA at 12 ¹⁴C ka indicates a variable synoptic response to climate forcing at this time. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Sensitivity to acidification of subalpine ponds and lakes in north‐western Colorado

Although acidifying deposition in western North America is lower than in many parts of the world, many high‐elevation ecosystems there are extremely sensitive to acidification. Previous studies determined that the Mount Zirkel Wilderness Area (MZWA) has the most acidic snowpack and aquatic ecosystems that are among the most sensitive in the region. In this study, spatial and temporal variability of ponds and lakes in and near the MZWA were examined to determine their sensitivity to acidification and the effects of acidic deposition during and after snowmelt. Within the areas identified as sensitive to acidification based on bedrock types, there was substantial variability in acid‐neutralizing capacity (ANC), which was related to differences in hydrological flowpaths that control delivery of weathering products to surface waters. Geological and topographic maps were of limited use in predicting acid sensitivity because their spatial resolution was not fine enough to capture the variability of these attributes for lakes and ponds with small catchment areas. Many of the lakes are sensitive to acidification (summer and autumn ANC < 100 µeq L^?1), but none of them appeared to be threatened immediately by episodic or chronic acidification. In contrast, 22 ponds had minimum ANC < 30 µeq L^?1, indicating that they are extremely sensitive to acidic deposition and could be damaged by episodic acidification, although net acidity (ANC < 0) was not measured in any of the ponds during the study. The lowest measured pH value was 5·4, and pH generally remained less than 6·0 throughout early summer in the most sensitive ponds, indicating that biological effects of acidification are possible at levels of atmospheric deposition that occurred during the study. The aquatic chemistry of lakes was dominated by atmospheric deposition and biogeochemical processes in soils and shallow ground water, whereas the aquatic chemistry of ponds was also affected by organic acids and biogeochemical processes in the water column and at the sediment–water interface. These results indicate that conceptual and mechanistic acidification models that have been developed for lakes and streams may be inadequate for predicting acidification in less‐understood systems such as ponds. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Periodic drainage of ice-dammed lakes as a result of variations in glacier velocity

Previous discussions of the catastrophic drainage of ice-dammed lakes have centred on mechanisms where characteristics of the lake are crucial to drainage initiation, for example dam flotation or tunnel formation at a critical lake depth. This paper describes a mechanism for lake drainage where drainage initiation depends on the characteristics of the glacier and is independent of the characteristics of the lake. Prediction of this mechanism must be based on glacier dynamics, whereas the mechanisms most commonly discussed previously are best predicted primarily on the basis of lake evolution. An ice-dammed lake at the margin of the glacier Solheimajokull, in southern Iceland, was observed to drain rapidly into the sub- or englacial drainage system, supplying water and debris to the bed or interior of the glacier. Geomorphological evidence suggests that the lake drains and refills periodically, discharging up to 13300 m³ of water into the glacier-hydrological system. The depth of the maximum lake is insufficient to cause either flotation of the ice margin or tunnel opening by plastic deformation of the ice, and we suggest that sudden drainage is related to ice-bed separations associated with specific glacier flow states rather than to a critical lake depth threshold. This mechanism of lake drainage has implications for conditions at the glacier bed, for the development of basal ice and for the entrainment of debris into the glacier, as well as for the prediction of potentially hazardous catastrophic drainage events and jokulhlaups from ice-dammed lakes.     

Ephemeral landform development following rapid coastal uplift in the southern orogen of Taiwan

Newly emerged landscapes above sea level are characterized by rapidly evolving geomorphic systems where the initial fluvial pattern adapts to a former submarine topography. Such an early formed fluvial system establishes drainage basins and unstable landforms that characterize high topographic asymmetry which are prone to fast removal or reorganization. Transitional landscapes might form depositional systems as lakes or ponds that subsequently are incised, captured and incorporated into drainage basins. In this study we focus on the recently emerged Hengchun Peninsula to survey its paleoenvironment evolution. Three drillings performed in the Gangkou basin with fieldwork revealed several indicators that reconstructed stages of the landscape reorganization. The major finding shows an ephemeral large lake in the central part of the Hengchun Peninsula that was drained to the Pacific c. 6000 bp . The lake belonged to an ephemeral lakeland that was created after the emergence of the peninsula. Currently, several areas as relict landforms indicate this stage of topography evolution that through high rates of incision and subsequent captures, transforms into drainage basins. Furthermore, two drillings show brackish waters at the present estuary of the Gangkou basin. These two different paleoenvironments today build one system – Gangkou catchment. Long-term uplift rates show that a hanging wall of the Hengchun Fault plays a significant role in the creation of a lakeland by tilting the peninsula's surface. The tilt impacts on asymmetrical emergence of the peninsula and catchment development. Our study shows that a new geomorphic system might create depositional ephemeral landforms (lakes) that represent phases of early topography evolution after emergence above a sea level that are subjected to instantaneous rearrangement and evolves through large-scale phases before it reaches a topographic steady-state.     

Intercalation Assembly and Chemical Product Engineering of Layered Intercalated Functional Materials Based on Efficient Utilization of Magnesium Resources in Salt Lakes

正1 Introduction Magnesium salts are very important by-product of salt lake industry in West China.Nearly 200 million cubic meters of waste brine are released to the environment     

Hydrochemistry of Salt Lakes in Southeastern Transbaikalia(Russia) in the Time of Arid Phase of Climate Change at the Beginning of the XXI Century

正1 Introduction In the south of Eastern Transbaikalia in the border area with China and Mongolia,there are at least 300 saline without outlet lakes.They are confined to the semi-arid zone Daurian steppes with pronounced continental salinization processes and are mostly located on the bottoms of the intermountain basins.Their origin is related to evaporative concentration of fresh waters lakes filling.