Methane efflux from lake sediments through water lilies

During winter, when water lilies have no surface leaves, the gases in the rhizome lacunae approach equilibrium with the gases of the sediment water. The resulting increase of internal pressure is manifested by the sustained streams of bubbles (up to 37 percent methane and 6 percent carbon dioxide) that escape when emerging leaves are torn in the spring. Methane continues to enter the roots and rhizome during summer, rapidly moves up the petioles, and passes out through the emergent leaves into the atmosphere.     

Methylmercury: bacterial degradation in lake sediments

During the first 50 days of a long-term period of incubation of lake sediments with inorganic mercury (Hg(2+)), low concentrations of methylinercury were observed to build up. Upon continued incubation there was a rapid decrease in amount of methylmercury in the system and a concomitant evolution of volatile inorganic mercury (Hg(0)). Transfer of the mixed culture to growth media containing methylmercury resulted in the degradation of methylmercury and the volatilization of Hg(0). Four bacterial isolates were obtained from the mixed culture which, in pure culture, rapidly degraded methylmercury to methane and Hg(0). The presence of methane in head space gases was confirmed by flameionization gas chromatography, and the presence of Hg(0) in head space gases was confirmed by mass spectrometry.     

Intensive pre-Incan metallurgy recorded by lake sediments from the Bolivian Andes

The history of pre-Columbian metallurgy in South America is incomplete because looting of metal artifacts has been pervasive. Here, we reconstruct a millennium of metallurgical activity in southern Bolivia using the stratigraphy of metals associated with smelting (Pb, Sb, Bi, Ag, Sn) from lake sediments deposited near the major silver deposit of Cerro Rico de Potosí. Pronounced metal enrichment events coincide with the terminal stages of Tiwanaku culture (1000 to 1200 A.D.) and Inca through early Colonial times (1400 to 1650 A.D.). The earliest of these events suggests that Cerro Rico ores were actively smelted at a large scale in the Late Intermediate Period, providing evidence for a major pre-Incan silver industry.     

The variability of holocene climate change: evidence from varved lake sediments

Varved sediments from a lake near the present forest-prairie border in northwestern Minnesota provide an annual record of climate change for the last 10,400 years. Climate-sensitive mineral, chemical, and biological components show that the mid-Holocene dry interval between 8500 and 4000 years ago is asymmetrical and actually consists of two distinct drier pulses separated by a moister interval that lasted about 600 years. Cyclic fluctuations with periods of several hundred years were abrupt and persistent throughout the Holocene and are most clearly recorded within the two drier pulses.     

Uranium-series dating of sediments from searles lake: differences between continental and marine climate records

One of the major unresolved questions in Pleistocene paleoclimatology has been whether continental climatic transitions are consistent with the glacial delta(18)O marine record. Searles Lake in California, now a dry salt pan, is underlain by sediment layers deposited in a succession of lakes whose levels and salinities have fluctuated in response to changes in climate over the last 3 x 10(6) years. Uraniumseries dates on the salt beds range from 35 x 10(3) to 231x 10(3) years. This range of dates allows identification of lake-sediment horizons that are time correlatives of the boundaries of marine isotope stages from the recent 3/4 boundary back to the 8/9 boundary. The 5/6 boundary coincided with a deepening of the lake, but the analogous 1/2 boundary coincided with desiccation. The 3/4, 4/5, 6/7, 7/8, and 8/9 boundaries correspond in age to horizons that record little or no change in sedimentation or climate. These hydrologic results demonstrate that the continental paleoclimate record at this mid-latitude site does not mimic the marine record.     

Deep layer of sediments in alpine lake in the tropical mid-pacific

Sediments from a unique high-altitude lake on Hawaii indicate ash falls and other airborne and waterborne materials for a period estimated to extend into the Pleistocene.     

Chlorine-36 dating of saline sediments: preliminary results from searles lake, california

Measurements have been made of the ratios of chlorine-36 to chlorine in five halite samples from Searles Lake sediments, previously dated by carbon-14, thorium-230, and magnetostratigraphic techniques. The ages calculated from the chlorine ratios are generally concordant with those from the other methods, implying the constancy of the chlorine input ratio over the last million years.     

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.     

Pollen grains in lake sediments: redeposition caused by seasonal water circulation

Annual pollen deposition per unit area measured in sediment traps is two to four times greater than deposition measured in surface sediment cores. The difference is due to repeated redeposition of pollen from the sediment surface during seasons of water circulation. This process reduces variations in the percentages of different pollen types in sediment, but causes differences in the total amount of pollen accumulated in various parts of the lake basin.     

Earthquake-induced structures in sediments of van Norman lake, san fernando, california

The 9 February 1971 earthquake in the San Fernando Valley damaged the Lower Van Norman Dam severely enough to warrant draining the reservoir. In March 1972 the sediment deposited on the reservoir floor was examined to determine whether the 1971 earthquake had induced sediment deformation and, if so, what types. A zone of deformational structures characterized by small-scale loads and slightly recumbent folds associated with the 1971 earthquake was discovered, in addition to two older zones of load structures. Each of the zones has been tentatively correlated with an historic earthquake.     

普者黑河流-湖泊湿地表层沉积物磷素时空分布及影响因素

应用四步连续提取法和冗余分析(RDA),对总磷(TP)时空分布及各形态磷的环境影响因素进行深入探讨。结果表明:河流和湖泊湿地表层沉积物TP含量分别为415～1903、244～2474 mg·kg~(-1),均为中度污染水平,响水河与中段湖区为高含磷区域,枯水期TP含量较丰水期和平水期要高;两类湿地表层沉积物中各形态磷含量排序为:铁铝氧化态磷(NaOH-rP)难溶性磷(Res-P)有机质结合态磷(NaOH-nrP)可还原态磷(BD-P)钙磷(HCl-P)弱吸附态磷(NH4Cl-P)。其中,NaOH-rP、Res-P两者之和占TP比例达55.4%,而HCl-P、NH4Cl-P占TP均不足3%,潜在环境风险较高;从影响因素来看,NH4Cl-P受环境因子影响较大,BD-P、NaOH-rP与pH为负相关关系,与氧化还原电位(OPR)为正相关,总有机碳(TOC)的附着作用对NaOH-nrP的固定产生很大干扰,HCl-P与pH负相关,Res-P则相对稳定。     

Stone tools from mid-pleistocene sediments in java

Two stone tools (a chopper and a retouched flake) were found in mid-Pleistocene channel fills at Sambungmachan (Java), which earlier yielded a hominid skull cap with characteristics of Solo man and a Trinil-like fauna. The artifacts are the first discovered in place in deposits on Java that are assigned to the mid-Pleistocene on faunal grounds.     

高原湖泊流域不同类型农村沟渠底泥氮、磷和有机质分布特征及污染评价

为揭示高原湖泊流域农村沟渠底泥氮、磷和有机质的分布特征,以云南省4种典型农村(畜禽养殖型、生态休闲型、集镇型和传统型)为研究对象,分析其全氮(TN)、全磷(TP)和有机质(OM)的含量,并应用有机指数法和单因子评价法评价底泥的污染程度。结果表明,不同类型农村之间w(TN)、w(TP)和w(OM)的空间分布差异显著,w(TN)和w(TP)均表现为畜禽养殖型集镇生态休闲型传统型,w(OM)表现为畜禽养殖型生态休闲型集镇型传统型。TN与TP呈极显著正相关,说明氮磷元素在底泥累积过程中有着较高的同步性;TP与OM呈极显著正相关,说明OM是磷元素的重要载体;TN与OM的相关性不显著,表明农村沟渠底泥氮的主要来源并不是OM的矿化与分解。各村沟渠底泥氮和有机质污染均达到了重度污染状态,磷污染程度相对较低,畜禽养殖型农村属于中度污染,集镇型和生态休闲型农村属于轻度污染,传统型农村属于清洁型。畜禽养殖业是高原湖泊流域典型农村沟渠底泥氮、磷和有机质污染的主要来源。     

Plutonium speciation in water from mono lake, california

The solubility of plutonium in Mono Lake water is enhanced by the presence of large concentrations of indigenous carbonate ions and moderate concentrations of fluoride ions. In spite of the complex chemical composition of this water, only a few ions govern the behavior of plutonium, as demonstrated by the fact that it was possible to duplicate plutonium speciation in a synthetic water containing only the principal components of Mono Lake water.     

Lessons from the silica "decline" in lake michigan

A new analysis of data obtained from water treatment plants on Lake Michigan fails to support published contentions, based on such data, that the silica content of the lake has declined during the last five decades. The purported silica decline appears to have been due to changes in analytical methods and laboratories. Had such changes been avoided, an invaluable record of the silica content of the lake could have been obtained.     

High concentrations of toxaphene in fishes from a subarctic lake

Concentrations of toxaphene and other organochlorine compounds are high in fishes from subarctic Lake Laberge, Yukon Territory, Canada. Nitrogen isotope analyses of food chains and contaminant analyses of biota, water, and dated lake sediments show that the high concentrations of toxaphene in fishes from Laberge resulted entirely from the biomagnification of atmospheric inputs. A combination of low inputs of toxaphene from the atmosphere and transfer through an exceptionally long food chain has resulted in concentrations of toxaphene in fishes that are considered hazardous to human health.     

Allerod--younger dryas lake temperatures from midge fossils in atlantic Canada

Remains of freshwater midges are abundant in lake sediments, and their species distributions are closely related to the surface-water temperature of lakes; their distributions thus provide a powerful tool for paleoclimatology. The distribution of species in a core from Splan Pond in Atlantic Canada indicates that there were abrupt transitions in late-glacial temperatures between warm and cold states. The transitions are correlative with the well-known warm Aller?d and cold Younger Dryas events in Europe. These data thus confirm the inference from palynological data that these events affected regions on both sides of the Atlantic.     

Pollen sequence from late quaternary sediments in yellowstone park

A radiocarbon-dated pollen diagram from a depression near the end of the southeast arm of Yellowstone Lake, Wyoming, records the vegetation sequence from the retreat of Late Wisconsin (Pinedale) ice to the present time. The tundra Picea-Abies-Pinus albicaulis (spruce-fir-whitebark pine) parkland vegetation inferred during late glacial time changed rapidly to a Pinus contorta (lodgepole pine) forest shortly before 11,550 carbon-14 years ago, suggesting a warming trend at that time. The Pinus contorta forest persisted with minor modification throughout postglacial time.