Late glacial and early Holocene climate and environmental changes in the eastern Baltic area inferred from sediment C/N ratio
Laen...
Kuupäev
2019
Kättesaadavus
Ajakirja pealkiri
Ajakirja ISSN
Köite pealkiri
Kirjastaja
Springer
Abstrakt
We assessed the utility of using the
sediment total organic carbon/total nitrogen (C/N)
ratio as an indicator of paleoclimate changes in the
eastern Baltic area during the late glacial and early
Holocene. The C/N ratio in sediments from Lake
Lielais Sve ̄tin ̧ u, eastern Latvia, was compared with
other sediment variables that are used as proxies of
past climate and environment. Analysis revealed that
although the organic matter (OM) content in late
glacial sediments was extremely low, the C/N ratio
captured information about OM origin, and fluctua-
tions in the ratio tracked climate oscillations. The C/N
ratio was significantly positively correlated with
pollen-inferred mean summer temperature. Therefore,
C/N ratio was lower under colder conditions, indicat-
ing a predominantly phytoplankton origin of OM, and was higher during warmer conditions, when there was
more vegetation around the lake. A strong positive
correlation between C/N ratio and the paleopigment
beta carotene suggested that elevated phytoplankton
production resulted from higher nutrient availability
that was controlled largely by the input of terrestrial
OM to the lake during warmer climate episodes. Thus,
C/N ratio was a good indicator of paleoclimate
changes, at least for the late glacial period, when
generally cold conditions prevailed. This study also
demonstrates the power of multi-proxy paleolimno-
logical analyses for investigating past environmental
changes in lakes and their watersheds.
This study was supported by the Estonian Ministry of Education and Research through institutional research funding (IUT1–8, IUT21–2, PUT1173), the Estonian Science Foundation (ETF9031) EBOR project and national basic funding for science project Y5-AZ03-ZF-N-110 ‘‘Dabas resursu ilgtspe ̄jı ̄ga izmantosˇana klimata pa ̄rmain ̧ u konteksta ̄’’ Nr. ZD2010/AZ03. This paper was revised by Elsevier Language Editing Services. Two anonymous referees and Co-Editor in Chief Mark Brenner provided helpful comments on the manuscript.
This study was supported by the Estonian Ministry of Education and Research through institutional research funding (IUT1–8, IUT21–2, PUT1173), the Estonian Science Foundation (ETF9031) EBOR project and national basic funding for science project Y5-AZ03-ZF-N-110 ‘‘Dabas resursu ilgtspe ̄jı ̄ga izmantosˇana klimata pa ̄rmain ̧ u konteksta ̄’’ Nr. ZD2010/AZ03. This paper was revised by Elsevier Language Editing Services. Two anonymous referees and Co-Editor in Chief Mark Brenner provided helpful comments on the manuscript.
Kirjeldus
Märksõnad
late glacial, climate change, C/N ratio, multi-proxy, paleolimnology, Latvia, articles