|
|
Identifying sediment discontinuities and solving dating puzzles using monitoring and palaeolimnological records |
Xuhui DONG1,2,3(),Carl D. SAYER2,Helen BENNION2,Stephen C. MABERLY4,Handong YANG2,Richard W. BATTARBEE2 |
1. State Key Laboratory of Lake Science and Environment, Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China 2. Environmental Change Research Centre, Department of Geography, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK 3. Aarhus Institute of Advanced Studies, Aarhus University, DK-8000 Aarhus C, Denmark 4. Lake Ecosystems Group, Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Library Avenue, Lancaster LA1 4AP, UK |
|
|
Abstract Palaeolimnological studies should ideally be based upon continuous, undisturbed sediment sequences with reliable chronologies. However for some lake cores, these conditions are not met and palaeolimnologists are often faced with dating puzzles caused by sediment disturbances in the past. This study chooses Esthwaite Water from England to illustrate how to identify sedimentation discontinuities in lake cores and how chronologies can be established for imperfect cores by correlation of key sediment signatures in parallel core records and with long-term monitoring data (1945–2003). Replicated short cores (ESTH1, ESTH7, and ESTH8) were collected and subjected to loss-on-ignition, radiometric dating (210Pb, 137Cs, and 14C), particle size, trace metal, and fossil diatom analysis. Both a slumping and a hiatus event were detected in ESTH7 based on comparisons made between the cores and the long-term diatom data. Ordination analysis suggested that the slumped material in ESTH7 originated from sediment deposited around 1805–1880 AD. Further, it was inferred that the hiatus resulted in a loss of sediment deposited from 1870 to 1970 AD. Given the existence of three superior 14C dates in ESTH7, ESTH1 and ESTH7 were temporally correlated by multiple palaeolimnological proxies for age-depth model development. High variability in sedimentation rates was evident, but good agreement across the various palaeolimnological proxies indicated coherence in sediment processes within the coring area. Differences in sedimentation rates most likely resulted from the natural morphology of the lake basin. Our study suggests that caution is required in selecting suitable coring sites for palaeolimnological studies of small, relatively deep lakes and that proximity to steep slopes should be avoided wherever possible. Nevertheless, in some cases, comparisons between a range of contemporary and palaeolimnological records can be employed to diagnose sediment disturbances and establish a chronology.
|
Keywords
sediment disturbance
lake sediment
chronology
slumping
hiatus
Esthwaite Water
|
Corresponding Author(s):
Xuhui DONG
|
Just Accepted Date: 12 April 2016
Online First Date: 04 May 2016
Issue Date: 04 November 2016
|
|
1 |
Anderson N J (1986). Diatom biostratigraphy and comparative core correlation within a small lake basin. Hydrobiologia, 143(1): 105–112
https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00026651
|
2 |
Anderson N J (2014). Landscape disturbance and lake response: temporal and spatial perspectives. Freshw Rev, 7(2): 77–120
https://doi.org/10.1608/FRJ-7.2.811
|
3 |
Anderson N J, Korsman T, Renberg I (1994). Spatial heterogeneity of diatom stratigraphy in varved and non-varved sediments of a small, boreal-forest Lake. Aquat Sci, 56(1): 40–58
https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00877434
|
4 |
Appleby P, Oldfield F (1978). The calculation of lead-210 dates assuming a constant rate of supply of unsupported 210Pb to the sediment. Catena, 5(1): 1–8
https://doi.org/10.1016/S0341-8162(78)80002-2
|
5 |
Arnaud F, Lignier V, Revel M, Desmet M, Beck C, Pourchet M, Charlet F, Trentesaux A, Tribovillard N (2002). Flood and earthquake disturbance of 210Pb geochronology (Lake Anterne, NW Alps). Terra Nova, 14(4): 225–232
https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-3121.2002.00413.x
|
6 |
Bangs M, Battarbee R, Flower R, Jewson D, Lees J, Sturm M, Vologina E G, Mackay A W (2000). Climate change in Lake Baikal: diatom evidence in an area of continuous sedimentation. Int J Earth Sci, 89(2): 251–259
https://doi.org/10.1007/s005319900063
|
7 |
Barker P A, Pates J M, Payne R J, Healey R M (2005). Changing nutrient levels in Grasmere, English lake district, during recent centuries. Freshw Biol, 50(12): 1971–1981
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2427.2005.01439.x
|
8 |
Battarbee R, Jones V, Flower R, Cameron N, Bennion H, Carvalho L, Juggins S, Smol J P, Birks H J B, Last W M (2001) Tracking Environmental Change Using Lake Sediments. Volume 3: Terrestrial, Algal, and Siliceous Indicators. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers
|
9 |
Baxter M S, Farmer J G, McKinley I G, Swan D S, Jack W (1981). Evidence of the unsuitability of gravity coring for collecting sediment in pollution and sedimentation rate studies. Environ Sci Technol, 15(7): 843–846
https://doi.org/10.1021/es00089a014
|
10 |
Bennett K (1986). Coherent slumping of early postglacial lake sediments at Hall Lake, Ontario, Canada. Boreas, 15(3): 209–215
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1502-3885.1986.tb00923.x
|
11 |
Bennett K, Fuller J (2002). Determining the age of the mid-Holocene Tsuga cana densis (hemlock) decline, eastern North America. Holocene, 12(4): 421–429
https://doi.org/10.1191/0959683602hl556rp
|
12 |
Bennion H, Monteith D, Appleby P (2000). Temporal and geographical variation in lake trophic status in the English Lake District: evidence from (sub) fossil diatoms and aquatic macrophytes. Freshw Biol, 45(4): 394–412
https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2427.2000.00626.x
|
13 |
Besonen M, Patridge W, Bradley R, Francus P, Stoner J, Abbott M B (2008). A record of climate over the last millennium based on varved lake sediments from the Canadian High Arctic. Holocene, 18(1): 169–180
https://doi.org/10.1177/0959683607085607
|
14 |
Birks H H, Birks H J B (2006). Multi-proxy studies in palaeolimnology. Veg Hist Archaeobot, 15(4): 235–251
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00334-006-0066-6
|
15 |
Blockley S P E, Ramsey C B, Lane C S, Lotter A F (2008). Improved age modelling approaches as exemplified by the revised chronology for the Central European varved lake Soppensee. Quat Sci Rev, 27(1‒2): 61–71
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2007.01.018
|
16 |
Chambers J, Cameron N (2001). A rod-less piston corer for lake sediments: an improved, rope-operated percussion corer. J Paleolimnol, 25(1): 117–122
https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1008181406301
|
17 |
Chu G, Liu J, Schettler G, Li J, Sun Q, Gu Z, Lu H, Liu Q, Liu T (2005). Sediment fluxes and varve formation in Sihailongwan, a maar lake from northeastern China. J Paleolimnol, 34(3): 311–324
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10933-005-4694-0
|
18 |
Cohen A (2003) Paleolimnology: the History and Evolution of Lake Systems.New York: Oxford University Press
|
19 |
Dong X H, Bennion H, Battarbee R W, Sayer C D (2012). A multiproxy palaeolimnological study of climate and nutrient impacts on Esthwaite Water, England over the past 1200 years. Holocene, 22(1): 107–118
https://doi.org/10.1177/0959683611409780
|
20 |
Donovan J, Grimm E (2007). Episodic struvite deposits in a Northern Great Plains flyway lake: indicators of mid-Holocene drought? Holocene, 17(8): 1155–1169
https://doi.org/10.1177/0959683607082556
|
21 |
Drzymulska D, Zieliński P (2014). Phases and interruptions in postglacial development of humic lake margin (Lake Suchar Wielki, NE Poland). Limnological Review, 14(1): 13–20
https://doi.org/10.2478/limre-2014-0002
|
22 |
George D G (2012). The effect of nutrient enrichment and changes in the weather on the abundance of Daphnia in Esthwaite Water, Cumbria. Freshw Biol, 57(2): 360–372
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2427.2011.02704.x
|
23 |
Gilbert R, Lamoureux S (2004). Processes affecting deposition of sediment in a small, morphologically complex lake. J Paleolimnol, 31(1): 37–48
https://doi.org/10.1023/B:JOPL.0000013279.78388.24
|
24 |
Glew J (1988). A portable extruding device for close interval sectioning of unconsolidated core samples. J Paleolimnol, 1(3): 235–239
https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00177769
|
25 |
Håkanson L, Jansson M (1983) Principles of Lake Sedimentology. Berlin: Springer
|
26 |
Haworth E (1980). Comparison of continuous phytoplankton records with the diatom stratigraphy in the recent sediments of Blelham Tarn. Limnol Oceanogr, 25(6): 1093–1103
https://doi.org/10.4319/lo.1980.25.6.1093
|
27 |
Heegaard E, Birks H J B, Telford R J (2005). Relationships between calibrated ages and depth in stratigraphical sequences: an estimation procedure by mixed-effect regression. Holocene, 15(4): 612–618
https://doi.org/10.1191/0959683605hl836rr
|
28 |
Krammer K, Lange-Bertalot H (1986‒1991). Bacillariophyceae. In: Ettl H, Gerloff J, Heynig H, Mollenhauer D, eds. Süsswasserflora von Mitteleuropa Stuttgart: Gustav Fischer Verlag
|
29 |
Larsen C, MacDonald G (1993). Lake morphometry, sediment mixing and the selection of sites for fine resolution palaeoecological studies. Quat Sci Rev, 12(9): 781–792
https://doi.org/10.1016/0277-3791(93)90017-G
|
30 |
Lowe D (2008). Globalization of tephrochronology: new views from Australasia. Prog Phys Geogr, 32(3): 311–335
https://doi.org/10.1177/0309133308091949
|
31 |
Ludlam S (1974). The role of turbidity currents in lake sedimentation. Limnol Oceanogr, 19(4): 656–664
https://doi.org/10.4319/lo.1974.19.4.0656
|
32 |
Lund J W G, Kipling C, Le Cren E D (1958). The inverted microscope method of estimating algal numbers and the statistical basis of estimations by counting. Hydrobiologia, 11(2): 143–170
https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00007865
|
33 |
Maberly S C, Elliott J A (2012). Insights from long-term studies in the Windermere catchment: external stressors, internal interactions and the structure and function of lake ecosystems. Freshw Biol, 57(2): 233–243
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2427.2011.02718.x
|
34 |
Mackay E B, Jones I D, Folkard A M, Barker P (2012). Contribution of sediment focussing to heterogeneity of organic carbon and phosphorus burial in small lakes. Freshw Biol, 57(2): 290–304
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2427.2011.02616.x
|
35 |
Mackereth F (1969). A short core sampler for subaqueous deposits. Limnol Oceanogr, 14(1): 145–151
https://doi.org/10.4319/lo.1969.14.1.0145
|
36 |
Martin P, Boes X, Goddeeris B, Fagel N (2005). A qualitative assessment of the influence of bioturbation in Lake Baikal sediments. Global Planet Change, 46(1‒4): 87–99
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloplacha.2004.11.012
|
37 |
Morellón M, Valero-Garcés B, González-Sampériz P, Vegas-Vilarrúbia T, Rubio E, Rieradevall M, Delgado-Huertas A, Mata P, Romero Ó, Engstrom D R, López-Vicente M, Navas A, Soto J (2011). Climate changes and human activities recorded in the sediments of Lake Estanya (NE Spain) during the Medieval Warm Period and Little Ice Age. J Paleolimnol, 46(3): 423–452
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10933-009-9346-3
|
38 |
Moreno A, Valero-Garcés B, González-Sampériz P, Rico M (2008). Flood response to rainfall variability during the last 2000 years inferred from the Taravilla Lake record (Central Iberian Range, Spain). J Paleolimnol, 40(3): 943–961
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10933-008-9209-3
|
39 |
Rasmussen S O, Andersen K K, Svensson A M, Steffensen J P, Vinther B M, Clausen H B, Siggaard-Andersen M L, Johnsen S J, Larsen L B, Dahl-Jensen D, Bigler M, Röthlisberger R, Fischer H, Goto-Azuma K, Hansson M E, Ruth U (2006). A new Greenland ice core chronology for the last glacial termination. J Geophys Res, 111(D6): D06102
https://doi.org/10.1029/2005JD006079
|
40 |
Renberg I (1981). Improved methods for sampling, photographing and varve-counting of varved lake-sediments. Boreas, 10(3): 255–258
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1502-3885.1981.tb00486.x
|
41 |
Rose N L, Harlock S, Appleby P, Battarbee R W (1995). Dating of recent lake-sediments in the United-Kingdom and Ireland using spheroidal carbonaceous particle (Scp) concentration profiles. Holocene, 5(3): 328–335
https://doi.org/10.1177/095968369500500308
|
42 |
Sadler P (2004). Quantitative biostratigraphy—Achieving finer resolution in global correlation. Annu Rev Earth Planet Sci, 32(1): 187–213
https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.earth.32.101802.120428
|
43 |
Sanchez-Cabeza J A, Ruiz-Fernández A C (2012). 210Pb sediment radiochronology: an integrated formulation and classification of dating models. Geochim Cosmochim Acta, 82: 183–200
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2010.12.024
|
44 |
Sanders G, Jones K, Hamilton-Taylor J, Doerr H (1992). Historical inputs of polychlorinated biphenyls and other organochlorines to a dated lacustrine sediment core in rural England. Environ Sci Technol, 26(9): 1815–1821
https://doi.org/10.1021/es00033a016
|
45 |
Smol J (2009). Pollution of Lakes and Rivers: A Paleoenvironmental Perspective. Wiley-Blackwell
|
46 |
Telford R, Heegaard E, Birks H (2004). All age–depth models are wrong: but how badly? Quat Sci Rev, 23(1‒2): 1–5
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2003.11.003
|
47 |
ter Braak C, Smilauer P (2002). CANOCO reference manual and CanoDraw for Windows user’s guide: software for canonical community ordination (version 4.5). Ithaca, N.Y.: Microcomputer Power
|
48 |
Tibby J (2001). Diatoms as indicators of sedimentary processes in Burrinjuck reservoir, New South Wales, Australia. Quat Int, 83‒85: 245–256
https://doi.org/10.1016/S1040-6182(01)00043-X
|
49 |
Yeloff D, Mauquoy D (2006). The influence of vegetation composition on peat humification: implications for palaeoclimatic studies. Boreas, 35(4): 662–673
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1502-3885.2006.tb01172.x
|
|
Viewed |
|
|
|
Full text
|
|
|
|
|
Abstract
|
|
|
|
|
Cited |
|
|
|
|
|
Shared |
|
|
|
|
|
Discussed |
|
|
|
|