Climatically relevant periodicities in the thickness of biogenic carbonate varves in Spooensee, Switzerland (9740-6870 calendar yr BP)

Accurate determination of the thicknesses of 2717 biogenic carbonate varves from a Swiss lake (Soppensee), spanning the period from about 9740 to 6870 calendar yr BP, allowed the computation of a power spectrum using classical FFT methods. The presence of pronounced peaks at 40-50 and 20-25 yr agrees with the results of other studies on varve thickness and D¹⁴C which have been interpreted as indicating an association between solar forcing and varve thickness. The presence in the Soppensee varve series of an additional peak at 10.9 yr, corresponding to the Schwabe sunspot cycle, lends further support to this hypothesis. Because the Soppensee varves are of biogenic rather than clastic origin, any influence fluctuations in solar irradiance may have had on sedimentation rates is likely to have been exerted via primary production.     

Differential sedimentation versus coring artifacts: a comparison of two widely used piston-coring methods

In order to compare two widely used piston-coring techniques, parallel cores were taken with both a Kullenberg and a Livingstone corer in the deepest part of Soppensee (25 m), a small eutrophic Swiss lake containing varved sediments. The cores were taken within a horizontal distance of 3 m and yield comparable stratigraphic records. Differences in millimetre-scale microstructure are attributed to primary sedimentation processes at the water/sediment interface. Sediment thin-sections, as well as sediment x-radiograph investigations, reveal no difference in microstructure that could unequivocally be attributed to one of the coring methods used. The differences in deposition are therefore thought to reflect the inherent variability of lacustrine sedimentation in Soppensee.Major differences in overall core recovery do occur, however, in organic-rich, highly porous sediments. These variations are primarily attributed to differential gas expansion. Actual sediment-accumulation rates can therefore only be correctly estimated if the sedimentary record can be constrained within a high-resolution temporal framework, e.g. by annual laminations.     

The role of biogeochemical cycling for the formation and preservation of varved sediments in Soppensee (Switzerland)

We analyzed seasonally aggregated observations of temperature, conductivity, dissolved oxygen and dissolved inorganic carbon from Soppensee (District of Lucerne, Switzerland) for the yrs 1980 to 1993. Holomictic Soppensee is characterized by a strong summer stratification with a thin epilimnion separated from an anoxic hypolimnion by a strong pycnocline formed by thermal and chemical gradients. A vertical one-dimensional model was developed to simulate the observed seasonal cycles of carbon and oxygen. The processes of net community production, mineralization of organic matter, precipitation and dissolution of calcite, gas exchange, in- and outflow, sedimentation and vertical eddy diffusion are included. According to the model, the annual net community production is estimated to about 110 g C m^-2 yr^-1 and the annual net primary production to about 330 to 440 g C m^-2 yr^-1, which is a typical value for eutrophic lakes. A mass balance of the carbon cycle indicates that most of the inflow comes from groundwater which is super-saturated with respect to atmospheric CO₂. Therefore the surface waters exhibit a large capacity for calcite precipitation. The results of the model are used to constrain the conditions that favor the formation of varved sediments in Soppensee during thousands of yrs. Model calculations show that the deep waters would still turn anoxic even if the sedimentation rate of organic matter were decreased to 25%. Several physical factors such as biogenic stabilization of the deep waters due to calcite dissolution and low input of wind energy are responsible for the long term anoxia in Soppensee.