Academic literature on the topic 'Alpine lake sediments'

We compare fossil pollen and stomate assemblages in 29 lake sediment surface samples from mountainous regions in northwestern Canada to characterize the relationship between modern vegetation, and pollen and stomate deposition. Modern pollen spectra were dominated by arboreal taxa originating from lower elevation sites. Pinus pollen frequently reached 30% of the pollen sum, regardless of elevation. Alpine-tundra vegetation has lower pollen abundance, even in the alpine-tundra zone, where it dominates the sparse vegetation cover. Fossil stomates were observed in all but one site where trees currently exist in the vicinity of the lake, while no stomates were found in the sediments from alpine-tundra sites. The highest concentration of stomates occurred in lake sediments from closed-canopy forested areas. Our data suggest that different boreal forest types may be differentiated based on pollen assemblages and that the presence of stomates clearly distinguishes vegetation zones dominated by arboreal vegetation from alpine-tundra zones where trees are not present.Key words: pollen, conifer stomates, treeline, Pacific Northwest.

The ecological equilibrium of water reservoirs may differ from that of natural lakes. We questioned this difference by analysing the sediments of a small oligotrophic Alpine lake, whose management was modified for hydroelectric production since 1976. Corne Lake is formed by a shallow depression connected to a deep depression. The hydropower management induced water level fluctuations (+2 m in summer; −8 m in winter) that emptied the shallow depression during the winter months and promoted the erosion of littoral soils and tributary channel sediment and the sedimentation in the deep depression. The sediment of the original lake was a low-density organic mud. The sediment composition varied according to 3 phases, which chronology is debated. During a first phase we measured an increase in the ratio of Diatom/Chrysophycea and bioavailable P, as well as a decrease in the C/N ratio and bulk radiocarbon age of the sediment, suggesting a trophic surge. A second phase was characterised by a high rate of mineral sedimentation, an increase of benthic diatom genera in the deep depression of the lake and acidophilic diatoms in the shallow depression. In the third phase covering the last upper cm of the cores, the sediment tended to return to its initial composition, but the algae community differed from its initial state. We suggest that the management of Alpine lakes as reservoirs induce long-term ecological changes in relation to water level fluctuations and littoral habitats degradation.

Hesperodiaptomus arcticus, a predatory calanoid copepod, was eliminated from two alpine lakes within 6 years of stocking with salmonids. Using historical and contemporary Zooplankton and fish data, sediment analysis for diapausing eggs, and experiments on predation of Gammarus lacustris on diapausing eggs of H. arcticus, we assess the fate of these populations 35 years after fish stocking. In Pipit Lake, in which the trout introduction failed within 21 years, we propose that H. arcticus recovered as a result of hatching of diapausing eggs held in the sediments. In Snowflake Lake the diapausing egg bank was exhausted prior to the loss of the fish population 25 years after first stocking and H. arcticus recovery did not occur. Experimental studies indicate that G. lacustris predation on diapausing eggs probably occurs within the sediments. Combined with a 10-fold difference in G. lacustris density between Snowflake and Pipit lakes the results of the predation experiments imply that G. lacustris had a strong negative impact on the abundance of diapausing eggs held in Snowflake Lake sediments and therefore reduced the ability of the population to recover following perturbation.

ABSTRACT Small sub-alpine glacial lakes are often targeted as Holocene paleoclimate archives, but their evolution as landforms and depositional basins is understudied. At June Lake in the eastern Sierra Nevada of California (USA), bathymetry, surface sediment composition, and seismic stratigraphy are studied to assess the modern sedimentary system and gain insight into the basin's origins. A basin-wide seismic survey reveals sublacustrine morphological features that attest to the role of ice in scouring the June Lake basin, including a prominent abraded bedrock shoal and an adjacent overdeepened depression. The seismic survey reveals four acoustically distinct stratigraphic units that reflect the history of sedimentation following glacial scouring. The youngest of these is represented in the recovered lacustrine core records as hemipelagically deposited, organic-rich, laminated diatomaceous oozes alternating with coarse tephra beds. The organic-rich oozes are characterized by low carbon and nitrogen stable-isotope values and occur in profundal areas of the modern lake floor. These sediments suggest an algae-dominated productivity regime and preservation of organic matter at depth. With no perennial streams entering June Lake, surface-sediment grain-size distribution and geochemistry are controlled by water depth and basin morphology. Additional modern facies types include poorly sorted coarse detrital landslide deposits below steep basin walls and volcaniclastic sandy gravel in windward littoral areas. These data provide a modern facies model for sedimentation in ice-scoured, hydrologically closed sub-alpine lakes and a baseline for future paleoclimate studies using June Lake sediment cores.

AbstractTatra’s lakes are vulnerable ecosystems and an important element of the alpine landscape. Mainly some shallow lake basins succumb to intense detritus sedimentation, fine fractions of material from the catchment area or to the overgrowing of water level by vegetation. In this paper, changes and dynamics of the 12 Tatra’s lake shorelines that were selected based on the detailed mapping of their extent are pointed out. Changes were assessed by accurate comparisons of historical and current orthophoto maps from the years 1949, 1955 and 2015 – and therefore, based on the oldest and the latest relevant materials. Due to the overgrowing of lakes caused by vegetation, their water surface decreased from −0.9% up to −47.9%, during the examined period. Losses were caused by the overgrowing of open water surface by the communities of sedges and peat bogs. The most significant dynamics of the shorelines during the last decades were reached by those lakes, into which fine sediments were simultaneously deposited by means of mountain water coarse. These sediments made the marginal parts of the lake basins shallower and accelerated rapid expansion of vegetation to the detriment of the open water surface. The overgrowing of shallow moraine lakes lying in the vegetation zone is a significant phenomenon of the High Tatras alpine landscape. It leads to their gradual extinction, turn into peat bogs and wet alpine meadows.

AbstractThe geologic setting of the Ziegler Reservoir fossil site is somewhat unusual — the sediments containing the Pleistocene fossils were deposited in a lake on top of a ridge. The lake basin was formed near Snowmass Village, Colorado (USA) when a glacier flowing down Snowmass Creek Valley became thick enough to overtop a low point in the eastern valley wall and entered the head of Brush Creek Valley. When the glacier retreated at about 155–130 ka, near the end of Marine Oxygen Isotope Stage 6, the Brush Creek Valley lobe left behind a moraine that impounded a small alpine lake. The lake was initially ~ 10 m deep and appears to have been highly productive during most of its existence, based on the abundant and exquisitely preserved organic material present in the sediments. Over time, the basin slowly filled with (mostly) eolian sediment such that by ~ 87 ka it contained a marsh or wetland rather than a true lake. Open-water conditions returned briefly between ~ 77 and 55 ka before the impoundment was finally breached to the east, establishing ties with the Brush Creek drainage system and creating an alpine meadow that persisted until historic times.

Twenty-two new radiocarbon ages from Skagit valley provide a detailed chronology of alpine glaciation during the Evans Creek stade of the Fraser Glaciation (early marine oxygen isotope stage (MIS) 2) in the Cascade Range, Washington State. Sediments at sites near Concrete, Washington, record two advances of the Baker valley glacier between ca. 30.3 and 19.5 cal ka BP, with an intervening period of glacier recession about 24.9 cal ka BP. The Baker valley glacier dammed lower Skagit valley, creating glacial Lake Concrete, which discharged around the ice dam along Finney Creek, or south into the Sauk valley. Sediments along the shores of Ross Lake in upper Skagit valley accumulated in glacial Lake Skymo after ca. 28.7 cal ka BP behind a glacier flowing out of Big Beaver valley. Horizontally laminated silt and bedded sand and gravel up to 20 m thick record as much as 8000 yr of deposition in these glacially dammed lakes. The data indicate that alpine glaciers in Skagit valley were far less extensive than previously thought. Alpine glaciers remained in advanced positions for much of the Evans Creek stade, which may have ended as early as 20.8 cal ka BP.

AbstractThe rhyolitic Lake Tapps tephra was deposited about 1.0 myr ago, shortly after culmination of the early phase of the Salmon Springs Glaciation in the Puget Lowland. It is contained within sediments that were deposited in ponds or lakes in front of the reteating glacier. An herb-dominated tundra existed in the southern Puget Lowland at that time. Lake Tapps tephra is most likely the product of an eruption that in part was phreatomagmatic. It forms an early Pleistocene stratigraphic marker across the southern sector of the Puget Lowland and provides a link between Puget lobe sediments of the Cordilleran Ice Sheet and sediments deposited by Olympic alpine glaciers.

Lake sediments from four sites in the southwest Yukon Territory, Canada, provided paleotemperature records for the past 2000 yr. An alpine and a forest site from the southeastern portion of the study area, near Kluane Lake, and another alpine-forest pair of lakes from the Donjek River area located to the northwest yielded chironomid records that were used to provide quantitative estimates of mean July air temperature. Prior to AD 800, the southwest Yukon was relatively cool whereas after AD 800 temperatures were more variable, with warmer conditions between ~ AD 1100 and 1400, cooler conditions during the Little Ice Age (~ AD 1400 to 1850), and warming thereafter. These records compare well with other paleoclimate evidence from the region.

Reflectance spectroscopy has made it possible to rapidly and nondestructively assess the chlorophyll content of plants and natural waters. However, to date this approach has not been applied to chlorophyll and chlorophyll derivatives preserved in lake sediments. Here, we explore the relationships between visible-near-infrared spectral properties of lake sediments and measured pigment concentrations for lakes that have been exposed recently to anthropogenic nitrogen deposition. Down-core decreases in pigment concentrations and changes in reflectance properties effectively chronicle increases in whole-lake primary production since 1950. Specifically, reflectance spectra of sediments from four alpine lakes in Rocky Mountain National Park (Colorado Front Range, USA) preserve salient troughs near 675 nm that covary in magnitude with concentrations of chlorophyll a and associated pheopigments. The area of the trough in reflectance between 600 and 760 nm best explains the sum of total chlorophyll a and its derivatives (r2 = 0.82, n = 23, P < 0.01). This result suggests that chlorophyll a preserved in lake sediments can be remotely sensed using a simple index derived from reflectance spectroscopy, thus providing a new paleolimnological strategy for rapid exploratory assessments of changing lake trophic status.

Climate is the principal driving force of hydrological extremes like floods and attributing generating mechanisms is an essential prerequisite for understanding past, present, and future flood variability. Successively enhanced radiative forcing under global warming enhances atmospheric water-holding capacity and is expected to increase the likelihood of strong floods. In addition, natural climate variability affects the frequency and magnitude of these events on annual to millennial time-scales. Particularly in the mid-latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere, correlations between meteorological variables and hydrological indices suggest significant effects of changing climate boundary conditions on floods. To date, however, understanding of flood responses to changing climate boundary conditions is limited due to the scarcity of hydrological data in space and time. Exploring paleoclimate archives like annually laminated (varved) lake sediments allows to fill this gap in knowledge offering precise dated time-series of flood variability for millennia. During river floods, detrital catchment material is eroded and transported in suspension by fluid turbulence into downstream lakes. In the water body the transport capacity of the inflowing turbidity current successively diminishes leading to the deposition of detrital layers on the lake floor. Intercalated into annual laminations these detrital layers can be dated down to seasonal resolution. Microfacies analyses and X-ray fluorescence scanning (µ-XRF) at 200 µm resolution were conducted on the varved Mid- to Late Holocene interval of two sediment profiles from pre-alpine Lake Ammersee (southern Germany) located in a proximal (AS10prox) and distal (AS10dist) position towards the main tributary River Ammer. To shed light on sediment distribution within the lake, particular emphasis was (1) the detection of intercalated detrital layers and their micro-sedimentological features, and (2) intra-basin correlation of these deposits. Detrital layers were dated down to the season by microscopic varve counting and determination of the microstratigraphic position within a varve. The resulting chronology is verified by accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) 14C dating of 14 terrestrial plant macrofossils. Since ~5500 varve years before present (vyr BP), in total 1573 detrital layers were detected in either one or both of the investigated sediment profiles. Based on their microfacies, geochemistry, and proximal-distal deposition pattern, detrital layers were interpreted as River Ammer flood deposits. Calibration of the flood layer record using instrumental daily River Ammer runoff data from AD 1926 to 1999 proves the flood layer succession to represent a significant time-series of major River Ammer floods in spring and summer, the flood season in the Ammersee region. Flood layer frequency trends are in agreement with decadal variations of the East Atlantic-Western Russia (EA-WR) atmospheric pattern back to 200 yr BP (end of the used atmospheric data) and solar activity back to 5500 vyr BP. Enhanced flood frequency corresponds to the negative EA-WR phase and reduced solar activity. These common links point to a central role of varying large-scale atmospheric circulation over Europe for flood frequency in the Ammersee region and suggest that these atmospheric variations, in turn, are likely modified by solar variability during the past 5500 years. Furthermore, the flood layer record indicates three shifts in mean layer thickness and frequency of different manifestation in both sediment profiles at ~5500, ~2800, and ~500 vyr BP. Combining information from both sediment profiles enabled to interpret these shifts in terms of stepwise increases in mean flood intensity. Likely triggers of these shifts are gradual reduction of Northern Hemisphere orbital summer forcing and long-term solar activity minima. Hypothesized atmospheric response to this forcing is hemispheric cooling that enhances equator-to-pole temperature gradients and potential energy in the troposphere. This energy is transferred into stronger westerly cyclones, more extreme precipitation, and intensified floods at Lake Ammersee. Interpretation of flood layer frequency and thickness data in combination with reanalysis models and time-series analysis allowed to reconstruct the flood history and to decipher flood triggering climate mechanisms in the Ammersee region throughout the past 5500 years. Flood frequency and intensity are not stationary, but influenced by multi-causal climate forcing of large-scale atmospheric modes on time-scales from years to millennia. These results challenge future projections that propose an increase in floods when Earth warms based only on the assumption of an enhanced hydrological cycle.
Globale Klimamodelle prognostizieren eine Zunahme von Starkhochwassern infolge der Klimaerwärmung. Weiterhin werden natürliche Klimafaktoren die Intensität und Häufigkeit solcher Ereignisse auf Zeitskalen von Jahren bis Jahrtausenden beeinflussen. Für ein umfassendes Verständnis hochwassergenerierender Klimamechanismen müssen daher lange Zeiträume und regionale Muster in Betracht gezogen werden. Aufgrund der Limitierung der meisten instrumentellen Abflusszeitreihen auf die letzten 100 Jahre, bieten diese nur einen sehr begrenzten Einblick in das Spektrum möglicher Klima-Hochwasser Zusammenhänge. Die Nutzung natürlicher Hochwasserarchive, wie warvierter Seesedimente, erlaubt die Untersuchung von Hochwasseraktivität auf Zeitskalen von Jahrtausenden. Durch Hochwasser in einen See eingetragenes detritisches Material bildet, eingeschaltet in den jährlichen Sedimentationszyklus, eine charakteristische Abfolge von Hochwasserlagen auf dem Seeboden. Das Zählen jährlicher Laminierungen und die Position innerhalb eines jährlichen Sedimentationszyklus ermöglichen die Datierung von Hochwasserlagen mit saisonaler Genauigkeit. Der Ammersee bildet ein ideales Archiv zur Rekonstruktion von Hochwassern. Detritisches Material wird durch nur einen Hauptzufluss, die Ammer, in das rinnenförmige Becken transportiert. Die warvierten Sedimente erlauben eine zuverlässige Detektion und Datierung selbst mikroskopischer Hochwasserlagen. An zwei warvierten Sedimentprofilen des Ammersees sind hochauflösende Mikrofazies und Röntgenfluoreszenz (µ-XRF) Analysen durchgeführt worden. Zum besseren Verständnis der Sedimentverteilung im See lag der Fokus der Untersuchungen auf der Detektion detritischer Lagen anhand ihrer sedimentologischen und geochemischen Eigenschaften und der Korrelation dieser Lagen zwischen beiden Sedimentprofilen. Die Datierung der detritschen Lagen erfolgte durch Warvenzählung und wurde durch AMS Radiokarbondatierungen bestätigt. In den Sedimenten der letzten 5500 Jahre wurden 1573 detritische Lagen gefunden. Aufgrund ihrer Eigenschaften lassen sich diese Lagen als Ammerhochwasserlagen interpretieren: (1) Die Mikrofazies deutet auf eine Ablagerung nach Starkabflussereignissen hin. (2) Die geochemische Zusammensetzung beweist die terrestrische Herkunft des Materials. (3) Das proximal-distale Ablagerungsmuster deutet auf die Ammer als Eintragsquelle des Materials hin. Eine Kalibrierung mit instrumentellen Hochwasserdaten der Ammer im Zeitraum von AD 1926 bis 1999 bestätigt die Sukzession der detritischen Lagen als eine Zeitreihe starker Ammerhochwasser im Frühling und Sommer, der Hochwassersaison am Ammersee. Die Häufigkeit der Hochwasserlagen in den letzten 5500 Jahren weist eine deutliche dekadische Variabilität auf. Trends in der Häufigkeit von Hochwasserlagen korrelieren negativ mit dem Index der East Atlantic-Western Russia Oszillation (EA-WR) während der letzten 250 Jahre (Zeitraum der durch die genutzten atmosphärischen Daten abgedeckt ist) und der solaren Aktivität während des kompletten Zeitraums. Diese Übereinstimmungen deuten möglicherweise auf einen solaren Einfluss auf die atmosphärische Zirkulation über Europa und damit auf die Häufigkeit von Hochwassern am Ammersee hin. Weiterhin weist die Zeitreihe der Hochwasserlagen drei Veränderungen der durchschnittlichen Lagenhäufigkeit und -mächtigkeit vor etwa 5500, 2800 und 500 Jahren auf. Die Kombination der Daten beider Sedimentprofile ermöglicht es, diese Veränderungen als schrittweise Anstiege der Hochwasserintensität zu interpretieren. Vermutliche Auslöser sind graduelle Reduktion der solaren Insolation in der Nordhemisphäre und langfristige Minima der solaren Aktivität. Die wahrscheinliche atmosphärische Reaktion auf dieses Klimaforcing ist ein verstärkter Temperaturgradient zwischen den niederen und hohen Breiten, der zu einer Erhöhung der potenziellen Energie in der Atmosphäre und verstärkter Baroklinität führt. Diese Energie wird transferiert in eine Verstärkung der zyklonalen Westwindzirkulation, extremere Niederschläge und eine Intensivierung der Hochwasser am Ammersee. Die Interpretation der Häufigkeit und Mächtigkeit von Hochwasserlagen in den Sedimenten des Ammersees ermöglicht eine Rekonstruktion der Hochwassergeschichte und die Identifizierung hochwasserauslösender Klimafaktoren in der Ammerseeregion während der letzten 5500 Jahre. Hochwasserhäufigkeit und -intensität sind nicht stationär, sondern durch komplexe Veränderungen im Klimasystem auf Zeitskalen von Jahren bis Jahrtausenden geprägt. In diesem Zusammenhang erscheinen die Resultate globaler Klimamodelle, die einen Anstieg des Hochwasserrisikos allein auf Basis eines thermodynamisch intensivierten hydrologischen Kreislaufs infolge der Klimaerwärmung prognostizieren, als stark simplifiziert.

La gestion et la conservation des lacs de haute montagne Pyrénéens dans le contexte actuel du changement climatique et de l’augmentation de la pression anthropique nécessitent une connaissance approfondie de leur fonctionnement biogéochimique. Dans cette thèse, cinq campagnes d’échantillonnage ont été réalisées (2017-2019) dans plus de 20 lacs alpins. L’analyse d’échantillons d’eau nous a permis d’étudier les teneurs, les profils en profondeurs, la répartition géographique, et les variations saisonnières de nombreuses caractéristiques physico-chimiques et biogéochimiques. Le cycle du dioxyde de carbone (CO2) et le devenir des Eléments Traces Potentiellement Dangereux (PHTEs) ont été étudiés. Le mercure (Hg) a été particulièrement étudié au travers du développement d’une procédure analytique pour la détermination de concentrations en traces dans les eaux naturelles et de recherches biogéochimiques sur la distribution et le devenir des espèces du Hg dans la colonne d’eau, et dans des archives de sédiments.La procédure développée pour analyser l’alcalinité totale (TA) et le carbone inorganique dissous (DIC) nous a permis de déterminer les autres paramètres du système du CO2, le pH et la fugacité du CO2 (fCO2). Les spécificités du substrat rocheux apparaissent essentielles pour l’état d’acidification des lacs étudiés. De plus, les valeurs de fCO2 obtenues montrent que les lacs sont des sources de CO2 pour l’atmosphère.La mesure de divers paramètres physico-chimiques nous a permis de classer les lacs en fonction de leur géochimie de l’eau mettant en évidence l’importance de l’état trophique des lacs, des caractéristiques géologiques et des apports atmosphériques. La présence, les sources et le comportement des PHTEs ont été étudiés, démontrant un contraste entre les apports géologiques et atmosphériques. Le suivi intensif a démontré que certains PHTEs sont très sensibles aux changements environnementaux comme la température et les conditions redox.La mesure des concentrations de Hg total dans les systèmes aquatiques reste complexe et il est nécessaire de développer des méthodes analytiques moins coûteuses et faciles d’utilisation. La méthode développée et optimisée dans ce travail a été appliquée avec succès et a montré une bonne limite de détection et une excellente répétabilité. La spéciation du Hg dans la colonne d’eau a démontré l’état intact et la dynamique des lacs Pyrénéens. L’homogénéité dans les concentrations de Hg total non-gazeux a confirmé l’absence de sources locales et l’utilisation potentielle de ces écosystèmes en tant que sentinelles de la contamination régionale et globale du Hg. Alors que lemercure inorganique (iHg) n’a pas montré de variations saisonnières, le monométhylmercure (MMHg) a été significativement plus élevé en automne 2018 et le mercure gazeux dissous (DGM) a fortement varié parmi les lacs. Les expérimentation in-situ ont confirmé les conditions qui favorisent la méthylation (eaux anoxiques stratifiées), la déméthylation et la photoréduction (intense lumière UV) du Hg.L’analyse des archives de sédiments a mis en lumière les tendances temporelles des taux d’accumulation du Hg (HgARs), avec une augmentation progressive depuis le 16ème siècle et l’industrialisation, reflétant la production de Hg dans les mines d’Almadén. Les isotopes stables du Hg permettent de tracer certaines sources anthropiques ainsi que les variations climatiques passées.Globalement, les changements environnementaux dans les écosystèmes des lacs, provoqués à la fois par les conditions climatiques (température, intensité lumineuse) et la pression anthropique (apports atmosphériques, eutrophisation, CO2 atmosphérique) sont susceptibles d’entrainer des répercussions importantes parmi le CO2, certains PHTEs et le cycle biogéochimique du Hg dans les écosystèmes montagnards
The management and conservation of Pyrenean high mountain lakes within the current context of climate change and increasing anthropogenic pressure require detailed knowledge of their biogeochemical functioning. In this doctoral thesis, five sampling campaigns were carried out (2017-2019) in more than 20 alpine lakes. The analysis of water samples allowed us to study the occurrence, the depth profiles, the geographical distribution and the seasonal trends of a large array of physico-chemical and biogeochemical parameters. Specifically, the cycle of carbon dioxide (CO2) and the fate of Potentially Harmful Trace Elements (PHTEs) were investigated. The mercury (Hg) was specially studied through the development of an analytical procedure for the measurement of trace concentrations in natural waters and through biogeochemical investigations on the distribution and the fate of Hg species in the water column, as well as in sediment archives.The new and robust procedure developed in this work to measure the total alkalinity (TA) and the dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) allowed us to determine the other two parameters of the CO2 system, the pH and the fugacity of CO2 (fCO2). The bedrock characteristics of the watershed appear to be the most important parameters influencing the acid status of the studied lakes. Moreover, obtained fCO2 values indicate that lakes are sources of CO2 for the atmosphere.The measurement of various physico-chemical parameters allowed us to discriminate and classify the studied lakes according to their water geochemistry, highlighting the importance of the trophic status of the lakes, the geological background and the atmospheric inputs. The occurrence, sources and behaviour of the PHTEs were investigated with evidence of a contrast between geological and atmospheric inputs. Intensive monitoring revealed some PHTEs to be highly sensitive to environmental changes such as temperature and redox conditions.Monitoring natural concentrations of total Hg in aquatic systems remains a difficult challenge and there is a need for the development of low cost and easy handling analytical methods. The method for analysis of trace Hg concentrations developed and optimized in this work was successfully operational and exhibits a suitable limit of detection and an excellent reproducibility. Hg speciation results in the water column demonstrated the pristine state and the dynamic of the Pyrenean lakes. The homogeneity in the non-gaseous total Hg concentrations in the studied lakes confirmed the absence of local sources and the potential use of these ecosystems as sentinels of regional to global Hg contamination. While inorganic mercury (iHg) did not show seasonal variations, monomethylmercury(MMHg) was significantly higher in autumn 2018 and dissolved gaseous mercury (DGM) varied strongly within and among lakes. In-situ experiments confirmed the conditions that promote Hg methylation (stratified anoxic waters), demethylation and photoreduction (intense UV light).The historical Hg record in sediment archives highlighted temporal trends in Hg accumulation rates (HgARs) with a progressive increase since the 16th Century and the industrialization, mirroring the Hg production in Almadén mines (Southern Spain). Besides, Hg stable isotopes allow the identification of distinct anthropogenic sources as well as past climate variability.Overall, environmental changes in lake ecosystems, induced by either climatic conditions (temperature, light intensity) or anthropogenic pressure (atmospheric inputs, eutrophication, atmospheric CO2) are likely to produce significant impacts among CO2, specific PHTEs and Hg biogeochemical cycles in mountainous ecosystems

Holocene patterns of sediment yield reconstructed from sediments in four lakes are used to assess the geomorphic sensitivity of four alpine-subalpine basins in Cathedral Provincial Park, British Columbia. A three stage process was used to assess basin sensitivity. Stage one involved appraisal of the potential generalisability over the landscape of the results to be derived from the lake basins. The four lakes, Quiniscoe , Glacier, Pyramid and Lake of the Woods lie at or just below treeline. Glacier, Pyramid and Quiniscoe lakes lie in cirque basins. Slope frequency analyses show that whilst slopes in these basins are representative of those in the cirques of Cathedral park they differ significantly from the wider landscape. Stage two of the process involved identification of Holocene variability in the sediment yield record. Cores from each of the lakes were correlated using magnetic susceptibility measurements and lithostratigraphy to define chronostratigraphic units. The mass of allochthonous mineral sediment deposited in each of these units was estimated using measured sediment density, carbonate content, loss on ignition, and biogenic silica. Sediment yield to the lake for each unit was calculated based on dating of zone boundaries, estimates of trap efficiency, and the mineral mass estimate. In order to identify significant variations in the record, a new method was developed for estimating error associated sediment yield estimates derived from lake sediments. Sediment yield estimates were compared with the published Holocene climate record to make an initial assessment of sensitivity. Stage three involved discriminating between true sensitivity to climate change in the record and coincidental correlation. The approach was to identify process linkages between the observed changes in sediment yield and the climate change record. Two methods of inferring process were used. Firstly process change was inferred directly from the sedimentology of the lake sediments. Secondly magnetic and mineralogical characterisations of lake and catchment sediments were used to identify changing sediment sources. The results show considerable variability in the patterns of Holocene sediment yield amongst the study basins. In particular, Glacier and Quiniscoe Lakes show a marked increase in sediment yield under cooler conditions ca. 3390 BP, which is not apparent at Pyramid and Lake of the Woods. The increase is driven by increased surface erosion in the two higher basins under cooler conditions, and with retreating treeline. The results suggest that the sensitivity of alpine and subalpine basins is both temporally and spatially contingent. The links between climate change, process change and variation in sediment yield are not simple, rather they is mediated by a series of 'resistances'. The variability in sediment yield was compared with the variable nature of the catchments and four important controls were identified: Sediment production, vegetation, relief, and the extent of fluvial development in the catchment. Maximum sensitivity was observed in steep ecotonal sites with a well developed fluvial system.

博士
國立中山大學
海洋地質研究所
84
Humic substances can absorb the energy of solar radiation and transfer it to produce singlet oxygen in aqueous system. Singlet oxygen has higher reactivities to oxidize many organic compounds than the ground state triplet oxygen. In this research, the photooxidization of 4 different kinds of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), including naphthalene , anthracene, phenathrene and pyrene were studied. Humic substances can act as photosensitizer in the photoreaction of PAHs. The photooxidization rate of PAHs in humic water was faster than that without the existance of humic substances. The effects of soil humic substances are higher than those of the marine ones. The more rings the PAHs have, the slower photooxidization is. Changes in salinity and pH do not alter the photooxidization rates of PAHs, however, the higher concentration of humic substances or higher temperature can speed up the sensitized photoreaction. The addition of Ni2+ or Cu2+ can retard the indirect photoreaction rate, but the addition of Zn2+ makes no difference. Comparing the photoreaction rates irradiated with light sources of 546nm or 435nm wavelength, faster reaction rate was observed for the light with shorter wavelength. The PAHs themselves can also produce singlet oxygen under irradiation even without humic substances. The reactivities of PAHs to 3O2 are in the following order : naphthalene > anthracene > phenanthrene > pyrene. For 1O2, the reactivities are : naphthalene > anthracene > phenanthrene > pyrene.

碩士
國立臺灣海洋大學
地球科學研究所
106
Late Quaternary terrestrial environment reconstructions in Taiwan were mostly used palynology and geochemical proxies; however, diatom assembly was used rarely for paleo-environmental reconstructions. In this study, we used multi-proxy methods, including diatom, grain size and Itrax-XRF elemental analysis from a lacustrine sediment core (TLM-1) which was drilled from the littoral side of an alpine lake, Tunlumei Pond (TLM), at Nantou County of central Taiwan. For the diatom analysis, diatom valves were only preserved in upper 95 cm of the core TLM-1, and 34 genera and 83 species of fossil diatoms were identified. On the basis of cluster analysis, four diatom biostratigraphy zones were recognized. Concurrently, the occurrence of diatom valves and the increasing of wetland pollen suggested that the TLM water level attended to the present condition since 750 cal BP. During 750-610 cal. BP, the planktonic species S. pinnata increased, indicating the water level rose. Then, during 610-540 cal. BP, benthic species increased, indicating the water level declined. During 540-470 cal. BP, acidophilous diatom Eunotia intermedia presented a remarkable increase, which may link with frequent hydrological disturbances, such as typhoon or heavy rainfall events. Since 470 cal. BP, S. pinnata was continued to be dominant, indicating the stable aquatic environment as today. Due to the small catchment area of TLM, the large grain sets should be caused by heavy rainfall. Thus, there might have four heavy rainfall periods at approximately 550-450 cal. BP, 1050-950 cal. BP, 1550-1450 cal. BP, and 2200-2100 cal. BP.

There are at least three justifications for the examination of the geomorphology of the area in which ecosystem studies are conducted. First, the present landscape and the materials that make it up provide the substrate on which ecosystem development occurs and may impose constraints, such as where soil resources are limited, on that development. Second, the nature of the landscape and the geomorphic processes acting on it often define a large part of the disturbance regime within which ecosystem processes occur (Swanson et al. 1988). Third, the processes of weathering, erosion, sediment transport, and deposition that define geomorphic dynamics within the landscape are themselves ecosystem processes, for example, involving the supply of resources to organisms. In this last context, it is noteworthy that drainage basins (also called watersheds or catchments) were recognized as units of scientific study during a similar time period in both geomorphology and ecology (Slaymaker and Chorley 1964; Bormann and Likens 1967; Chorley 1969). The drainage basin concept, the contention that lakes and streams act to integrate ecological and geomorphic processes, remains important in both sciences and underlies the studies in Green Lakes Valley reviewed here. Over the past 30 years, Niwot Ridge and the adjacent catchment of Green Lakes Valley have been the subject of much research in geomorphology. Building on the studies of Outcalt and MacPhail (1965), White (1968), and Benedict (1970), work has emphasized the study of present-day processes and dynamics, especially of mass wasting in alpine areas. These topics have been reviewed by Caine (1974, 1986), Ives (1980), and Thorn and Loewenherz (1987). Studies of geomorphic processes have been conducted in parallel with work on Pleistocene (3 million to 10,000 yr BP) and Holocene (10,000 yr BP to present) environments in the Colorado Front Range (Madole 1972; Benedict 1973) that have been reviewed by White (1982). This chapter is intended to update those reviews in terms that complement the presentation of ecological phenomena such as nitrogen saturation in the alpine (chapter 5) as well as to refine observations and conclusions of earlier geomorphic studies.

In this chapter a short overview of the evolution, geomorphological expression, sedimentary records, and discharge and sediment regimes of the major rivers in western Europe is presented. The rivers Elbe, Weser, Rhine, Meuse, Scheldt, Seine, Loire, Garonne, Rhône, and Danube will be separately reviewed but not necessarily in this order and not with equal attention. Emphasis is placed on the Quaternary record and most issues are exemplified by a discussion on phenomena and processes in the Rhine–Meuse delta. As almost all these rivers are strongly influenced by man’s activities, attention is also focused on river management practices, both in a historic context and at present. Finally, modern concepts and plans concerning river conservation and rehabilitation are briefly examined. The foundations of the modern drainage system in north-western Europe were laid in the Miocene when earth movements associated with Alpine orogenesis and the opening of the North Atlantic were at their height (Gibbard 1988). During the Late Tertiary–Early Quaternary the North Sea basin was dominated by an extensive fluvial system that drained the Fennoscandian and Baltic shield through the present Baltic Sea (Overeem et al. 2001; Fig. 6.2). The dimensions of this (former) drainage system were enormous; through empirical relationships based on recent fluvio-deltaic systems the drainage area is estimated to have been in the order of 1.1 × 106 km2. Cenozoic marine and fluvial sediments reach a thickness of more than 3,500 m in the North Sea basin. Quaternary sediments with a thickness of over 1,000 m imply a tenfold increase in sedimentation during this period in comparison to the Tertiary infilling. The fluvial system of Miocene to Middle Pleistocene age has been referred to as the Baltic River system (Bijlsma 1981). It is also designated as the Eridanos delta system by Overeem et al. (2001) named after the legendary Eridanos river in northern Europe mentioned in Greek records (7th century BC). In a seismo-stratigraphic study Overeem et al. (2001) have documented the large-scale basin-fill architecture in terms of external forcing by tectonics, sea-level variations, and climate. The development of this drainage system is attributed to the simultaneous Neogene uplift of the Fennoscandian Shield and the accelerated subsidence of the North Sea basin.

The French Uplands were built by the Hercynian orogenesis. The French Massif Central occupies one-sixth of the area of France and shows various landscapes. It is the highest upland, 1,886 m at the Sancy, and the most complex. The Vosges massif is a small massif, quite similar to the Schwarzwald in Germany, from which it is separated by the Rhine Rift Valley. Near the border of France, Belgium, and Germany, the Ardennes upland has a very moderate elevation. The largest part of this massif lies in Belgium. Though Brittany is partly made up of igneous and metamorphic rocks, it cannot be truly considered as an upland; in the main parts of Brittany, altitudes are lower than in the Parisian basin. Similarities of the landscape in the French and Belgian Uplands derive from two major events: the Oligocene rifting event and the Alpine tectonic phase. The Vosges and the Massif Central are located on the collision zone of the Variscan orogen. In contrast, the Ardennes is in a marginal position where primary sediments cover the igneous basement. Four main periods are defined during the Hercynian orogenesis (Bard et al. 1980; Autran 1984; Ledru et al. 1989; Faure et al. 1997). The early Variscan period corresponds to a subduction of oceanic and continental crust and a highpressure metamorphism (450–400 Ma) The medio- Variscan period corresponds to a continent–continent collision of the chain (400–340 Ma). Metamorphism under middle pressure conditions took place and controlled the formation of many granite plutons: e.g. red granites (granites rouges), porphyroid granite, and granodiorite incorporated in a metamorphic complex basement of various rocks. The neo-Variscan period (340–320 Ma) is characterized by a strong folding event: transcurrent shear zones affected the units of the previous periods and the first sedimentary basins appeared. At the end of this period, late-Variscan (330–280 Ma), autochthonous granites crystallized under low-pressure conditions related to a post-collision thinning of the crust. Velay and Montagne Noire granites are the main massifs generated by this event. Sediment deposition in tectonic basins during Carboniferous and Permian times occurred in the Massif Central and the Vosges: facies are sandstone (Vosges), shale, coal, and sandstone in several Stephanian basins of the Massif Central, with red shale and clay ‘Rougier’ in the south-western part of the Massif Central.