Late Pleistocene Desiccation of Lake Victoria and Rapid Evolution of Cichlid Fishes

Lake Victoria is the largest lake in Africa and harbors more than 300 endemic species of haplochromine cichlid fish. Seismic reflection profiles and piston cores show that the lake not only was at a low stand but dried up completely during the Late Pleistocene, before 12,400 carbon-14 years before the present. These results imply that the rate of speciation of cichlid fish in this tropical lake has been extremely rapid.     

Origin of the superflock of cichlid fishes from Lake Victoria,East Africa

Lake Victoria harbors a unique species-rich flock of more than 500 endemic haplochromine cichlid fishes. The origin, age, and mechanism of diversification of this extraordinary radiation are still debated. Geological evidence suggests that the lake dried out completely about 14,700 years ago. On the basis of phylogenetic analyses of almost 300 DNA sequences of the mitochondrial control region of East African cichlids, we find that the Lake Victoria cichlid flock is derived from the geologically older Lake Kivu. We suggest that the two seeding lineages may have already been lake-adapted when they colonized Lake Victoria. A haplotype analysis further shows that the most recent desiccation of Lake Victoria did not lead to a complete extinction of its endemic cichlid fauna and that the major lineage diversification took place about 100,000 years ago.     

Low lake stands in lakes Malawi and tanganyika, East Africa, delineated with multifold seismic data

Seismic data reveal that water level in Lake Malawi, East Africa, was 250 to 500 meters lower before about 25,000 years ago. Water levels in Lake Tanganyika at that time were more than 600 meters below the current lake level. A drier climate appears to have caused these low stands, but tectonic tilting may also have been a contributing factor in Lake Malawi. High-angle discordances associated with shallow sequence boundaries suggest that these low stands probably lasted many tens of thousands of years. Because of its basement topography, the Lake Tanganyika basin had three separate paleolakes, whereas the Lake Malawi basin had only one. The different geographies of these paleolakes may be responsible in part for the differences in the endemic fish populations in these lakes.     

Kilimanjaro ice core records: evidence of holocene climate change in tropical Africa

Six ice cores from Kilimanjaro provide an approximately 11.7-thousand-year record of Holocene climate and environmental variability for eastern equatorial Africa, including three periods of abrupt climate change: approximately 8.3, approximately 5.2, and approximately 4 thousand years ago (ka). The latter is coincident with the "First Dark Age," the period of the greatest historically recorded drought in tropical Africa. Variable deposition of F- and Na+ during the African Humid Period suggests rapidly fluctuating lake levels between approximately 11.7 and 4 ka. Over the 20th century, the areal extent of Kilimanjaro's ice fields has decreased approximately 80%, and if current climatological conditions persist, the remaining ice fields are likely to disappear between 2015 and 2020.     

The history of South American tropical precipitation for the past 25,000 years

Long sediment cores recovered from the deep portions of Lake Titicaca are used to reconstruct the precipitation history of tropical South America for the past 25,000 years. Lake Titicaca was a deep, fresh, and continuously overflowing lake during the last glacial stage, from before 25,000 to 15,000 calibrated years before the present (cal yr B.P.), signifying that during the last glacial maximum (LGM), the Altiplano of Bolivia and Peru and much of the Amazon basin were wetter than today. The LGM in this part of the Andes is dated at 21,000 cal yr B.P., approximately coincident with the global LGM. Maximum aridity and lowest lake level occurred in the early and middle Holocene (8000 to 5500 cal yr B.P.) during a time of low summer insolation. Today, rising levels of Lake Titicaca and wet conditions in Amazonia are correlated with anomalously cold sea-surface temperatures in the northern equatorial Atlantic. Likewise, during the deglacial and Holocene periods, there were several millennial-scale wet phases on the Altiplano and in Amazonia that coincided with anomalously cold periods in the equatorial and high-latitude North Atlantic, such as the Younger Dryas.     

A high-resolution paleoclimate record spanning the past 25,000 years in southern East Africa

High-resolution profiles of the mass accumulation rate of biogenic silica and other geochemical proxies in two piston cores from northern Lake Malawi provide a climate signal for this part of tropical Africa spanning the past 25,000 years. The biogenic silica mass accumulation rate was low during the relatively dry late Pleistocene, when the river flux of silica to the lake was suppressed. Millennial-scale fluctuations, due to upwelling intensity, in the late Pleistocene climate of the Lake Malawi basin appear to have been closely linked to the Northern Hemisphere climate until 11 thousand years ago. Relatively cold conditions in the Northern Hemisphere coincided with more frequent north winds over the Malawi basin, perhaps resulting from a more southward migration of the Intertropical Convergence Zone.     

呼伦湖、太湖和滇池总磷基准与控制标准制定探讨

[目的]制定湖泊总磷基准与控制标准。[方法]采用概率统计与Carlson模型分析相结合的方法,并以呼伦湖、太湖、滇池为例,制定湖泊营养物总磷(TP)基准与控制标准的参考值。[结果]呼伦湖、太湖和滇池水体中营养盐的含量一直处于富营养化状态,呼伦湖属于自然主导型富营养化湖泊,其他2个湖泊属于人为主导型富营养化湖泊。对于3个湖泊水体中TP基准与控制标准的参考值,呼伦湖分别为0.08和0.20 mg/L,太湖分别为0.03和0.06 mg/L,滇池分别为0.06和0.15 mg/L。[结论]制定的3个湖泊营养物总磷的基准和控制标准值为湖泊富营养化控制提供了重要依据。     

Paleoearthquakes in the puget sound region recorded in sediments from lake washington, u.s.a

Holocene sediments in Lake Washington contain a series of turbidites that were episodically deposited throughout the lake. The magnetic signatures of these terrigenous layers are temporally and areally correlatable. Large earthquakes appear to have triggered slumping on the steep basin walls and landslides in the drainage area, resulting in turbidite deposition. One prominent turbidite appears to have been deposited about 1100 years ago as the result of a large earthquake. Downcore susceptibility patterns suggest that near-simultaneous slumping occurred in at least three separate locations, two of which now contain submerged forests. Several other large earthquakes may have occurred in the last 3000 years.     

Wadi howar: paleoclimatic evidence from an extinct river system in the southeastern sahara

Field research into the climatic history and shifting of the East Saharan desert has furnished evidence that during Quaternary time the present extremely arid western part of Upper Nubia (northern Sudan)was temporarily linked to the Nile by way of a hitherto unknown 400 kilometer long tributary. From about 9500 to 4500 years ago, lower Wadi Howar flowed through an environment characterized by numerous ground water outlets and freshwater lakes. Savanna fauna and cattle-herders occupied this region, which today receives at most 25 millimeters of rainfall per year. At that period the southern edge of the eastern Sahara was some 500 kilometers further north than today and ground water resources were recharged for the last time.     

Early warming of tropical South America at the last glacial-interglacial transition

Glaciation in the humid tropical Andes is a sensitive indicator of mean annual temperature. Here, we present sedimentological data from lakes beyond the glacial limit in the tropical Andes indicating that deglaciation from the Last Glacial Maximum led substantial warming at high northern latitudes. Deglaciation from glacial maximum positions at Lake Titicaca, Peru/Bolivia (16 degrees S), and Lake Junin, Peru (11 degrees S), occurred 22,000 to 19,500 calendar years before the present, several thousand years before the B?lling-Aller?d warming of the Northern Hemisphere and deglaciation of the Sierra Nevada, United States (36.5 degrees to 38 degrees N). The tropical Andes deglaciated while climatic conditions remained regionally wet, which reflects the dominant control of mean annual temperature on tropical glaciation.     

Lake-atmosphere feedbacks associated with paleolakes bonneville and lahontan

A high-resolution, regional climate model nested within a general circulation model was used to study the interactions between the atmosphere and the large Pleistocene lakes in the Great Basin of the United States. Simulations for January and July 18,000 years ago indicate that moisture provided by synoptic-scale atmospheric circulation features was the primary component of the hydrologic budgets of Lakes Lahontan and Bonneville. In addition, lake-generated precipitation was a substantial component of the hydrologic budget of Lake Bonneville at that time. This local lake-atmosphere interaction may help explain differences in the relative sizes of these lakes 18,000 years ago.     

鄱阳湖干旱分析

[目的]分析鄱阳湖干旱状况及其成因。[方法]针对鄱阳湖干旱现象,对鄱阳湖10年前及近10年的干旱状况进行了论述,并探讨了鄱阳湖干旱产生的原因。[结果]鄱阳湖区干旱出现的频率高,连续发生严重干旱的次数也较多,21世纪以来鄱阳湖低水位日益加剧。鄱阳湖干旱主要受降水减少、长江及＂五河＂水位低、水利工程、工农业用水增加、其他方面等因素的影响。[结论]该研究为相关部门制定鄱阳湖抗旱措施提供理论依据。     

鄱阳湖采砂南移扩大影响范围——多源遥感的证据

采砂是一项具有巨大生态影响的经济活动。利用多源遥感影像描述鄱阳湖中部的采砂分布,分析其对悬浮泥沙浓度的影响。2011年7月28日的Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) 5用于采砂相关船只的识别,2009-2011年7-8月的Terra卫星中分辨率成像光谱仪(MODIS)影像用于悬浮泥沙浓度的反演,(Before-after-control-impact,BACI)方法用于采砂影响评价。Landsat TM 5影像解译结果发现鄱阳湖中部的两个采砂区和90余艘船只,MODIS Terra反演结果显示在采砂区及其下游区域悬浮泥沙浓度剧增,BACI评价结果揭示采砂是导致此区域悬浮泥沙浓度增加的主要因素。平衡经济发展与生态保护之间的关系,将因采砂而造成的负面影响降到最低,使鄱阳湖的各种生态功能全面发挥是紧要的。     

Historical nile floods and their implications for climatic change

Analysis of Nile flood stages from A.D. 640 to 1921 reveals major episodes of low Nile discharge during the years 930 to 1070 and 1180 to 1350 and major episodes of high Nile floods during 1070 to 1180 and 1350 to 1470. Examination of Nile flood maxima and minima and comparison with water levels in Lake Chad reveal a correlation between high Nile discharge and greater rainfall in equatorial East Africa. There is also apparently a correlation between low Nile discharge and cold climate in Europe.     

博斯腾湖小湖面积动态变化及驱动力研究

基于3S技术,利用博斯腾湖小湖区1976、1990、2002与2009年卫星遥感资料,分析了近30多年来博斯腾湖小湖面积变化规律及其驱动机理。结果表明,近30多年来博斯腾湖小湖水域面积呈波动性变化趋势。小湖水域面积从1990年的2 385.58 hm2扩张到2002年的3 138.12 hm2,又从2002年的3 138.12 hm2减小到2009年的2 413.53 hm2,总体上呈现萎缩的趋势。研究区景观多样性、均匀度、优势度、景观分离度呈先增加后减小趋势,说明景观破碎化程度有加深趋势。气温的升高与降水量的增大是博斯腾湖小湖湖泊水域面积扩大的主要原因。从土地利用转移矩阵可知,人类活动对湖泊的作用开始加强。     

Catastrophic drought in the Afro-Asian monsoon region during Heinrich event 1

Between 15,000 and 18,000 years ago, large amounts of ice and meltwater entered the North Atlantic during Heinrich stadial 1. This caused substantial regional cooling, but major climatic impacts also occurred in the tropics. Here, we demonstrate that the height of this stadial, about 16,000 to 17,000 years ago (Heinrich event 1), coincided with one of the most extreme and widespread megadroughts of the past 50,000 years or more in the Afro-Asian monsoon region, with potentially serious consequences for Paleolithic cultures. Late Quaternary tropical drying commonly is attributed to southward drift of the intertropical convergence zone, but the broad geographic range of the Heinrich event 1 megadrought suggests that severe, systemic weakening of Afro-Asian rainfall systems also occurred, probably in response to sea surface cooling.     

Holocene--late pleistocene climatic ice core records from qinghai-tibetan plateau

Three ice cores to bedrock from the Dunde ice cap on the north-central Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau of China provide a detailed record of Holocene and Wisconsin-Würm late glacial stage (LGS) climate changes in the subtropics. The records reveal that LGS conditions were apparently colder, wetter, and dustier than Holocene conditions. The LGS part of the cores is characterized by more negative delta(18)O ratios, increased dust content, decreased soluble aerosol concentrations, and reduced ice crystal sizes than the Holocene part. These changes occurred rapidly approximately 10,000 years ago. In addition, the last 60 years were apparently one of the warmest periods in the entire record, equalling levels of the Holocene maximum between 6000 and 8000 years ago.     

长江中游湖泊柱状沉积物的垂直污染特征

为研究长江中游湖泊沉积物污染的变化规律和主要来源,采集了武汉东湖、黄石海口湖、钟祥南湖3个不同类型湖泊的柱状沉积物,研究总有机碳(TOC)、总氮(TN)和重金属(Zn、Cu、Ni、Cr、Pb)的垂直分布特征。结果表明:3个湖泊沉积物TOC、TN含量从底层到表层总体呈增加趋势,30~10 cm增加速度较大,与各湖泊环境演变时间一致,其中TOC含量最大的是黄石海口湖,TN含量最大的是武汉东湖。研究区Zn、Cu、Pb受人为影响较大,Cr主要来自土壤环境,5种金属污染程度为武汉东湖黄石海口湖钟祥南湖。主成分分析和相关性分析表明,三个湖泊污染人为贡献率大于自然贡献率,营养盐和重金属Pb是共有的污染问题,重金属的污染来源受多种因素控制。     

Blue-green algal inhibition of diatom growth: transition from mesotrophic to eutrophic community structure

Cell-free filtrates of axenic or bacterized cultures of the dominant blue-green algae from a freshwater lake inhibited the growth of diatoms isolated from the same lake. Lake waters, collected during blue-green algal blooms, also inhibited diatom growth. In situ observations over a 5-year period indicate that diatom bloom populations vary inversely with the levels of the preceding blue-green algal populations. Blue-green algal dominance of eutrophic lakes is attributed to this allelopathy, and dilution is proposed as one cause for the limited occurrence of blue-green alga dominance in marine waters.     

喀斯特高原地区人工湖泊富营养化治理初探——以红枫湖、百花湖为例

喀斯特高原地区人工湖泊地理环境与生态环境独特,湖泊自净能力差。通过对喀斯特高原地区人工湖泊特点与富营养化形成机理进行分析,以红枫湖、百花湖为例,提出湖泊富营养化的控制与治理应该遵循控源、湖泊生态修复原则,为喀斯特高原地区人工湖泊富营养化治理提供理论意义与参考价值。