TY - JOUR

T1 - Drastic desalination of small lakes in East Siberia (Russia) in the early twentieth century

T2 - Inferred from sedimentological, geochemical and palynological composition of small lakes

AU - Fedotov, A. P.

AU - Phedorin, M. A.

AU - Enushchenko, I. V.

AU - Vershinin, K. E.

AU - Krapivina, S. M.

AU - Vologina, E. G.

AU - Petrovskii, S. K.

AU - Melgunov, M. S.

AU - Sklyarova, O. A.

PY - 2013/1/1

Y1 - 2013/1/1

N2 - Reconstruction of temporal and spatial climate development on a seasonal basis during the last few centuries may help us better understand modern-day interplay between natural and anthropogenic climate variability. The objective of this paper is to reconstruct hydrology and landscape changes of East Siberia during the termination of the Little Ice Age and the subsequent Recent Warming. We analysed sediment samples from the saltwater Sulfatnoe Lake, Bolshoye Alginskoe and freshwater Shuchie Lake using high-resolution X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy at 1-mm scan resolution, Fourier-transform infrared techniques and pollen analyses. The depth-age models of the cores were constructed by 210Pb activity using the constant rate of supply model. The lake sediment cover of these lakes began to form from ca. 1870. Three significant periods (1870-1895, 1895-1925 and from 1925 to the present) were defined in hydrology and chemical regime of these lakes for the past 140 years. Lake levels were extremely low and high saturated with salts during the final period of the Little Ice Age. Lake levels began to slowly rise from 1870 to 1895 and vegetation was poor at that period. Intensive desalination of the lakes occurred in 1895-1925, and environment conditions were temperate and favourable for the majority of the taxa of the regional vegetation. Regional precipitation significantly increased and water saturation of the catchments was high from 1925 to the present. The chemical precipitation of carbonate stopped completely in Lake Shichie and reduced considerably in Lake Sulfatnoe and B. Alginskoe. Strong increasing trend of weathering of the lake catchments began in 1970 and still continues.

AB - Reconstruction of temporal and spatial climate development on a seasonal basis during the last few centuries may help us better understand modern-day interplay between natural and anthropogenic climate variability. The objective of this paper is to reconstruct hydrology and landscape changes of East Siberia during the termination of the Little Ice Age and the subsequent Recent Warming. We analysed sediment samples from the saltwater Sulfatnoe Lake, Bolshoye Alginskoe and freshwater Shuchie Lake using high-resolution X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy at 1-mm scan resolution, Fourier-transform infrared techniques and pollen analyses. The depth-age models of the cores were constructed by 210Pb activity using the constant rate of supply model. The lake sediment cover of these lakes began to form from ca. 1870. Three significant periods (1870-1895, 1895-1925 and from 1925 to the present) were defined in hydrology and chemical regime of these lakes for the past 140 years. Lake levels were extremely low and high saturated with salts during the final period of the Little Ice Age. Lake levels began to slowly rise from 1870 to 1895 and vegetation was poor at that period. Intensive desalination of the lakes occurred in 1895-1925, and environment conditions were temperate and favourable for the majority of the taxa of the regional vegetation. Regional precipitation significantly increased and water saturation of the catchments was high from 1925 to the present. The chemical precipitation of carbonate stopped completely in Lake Shichie and reduced considerably in Lake Sulfatnoe and B. Alginskoe. Strong increasing trend of weathering of the lake catchments began in 1970 and still continues.

KW - Desalination

KW - East Siberia

KW - Fourier-transform infrared techniques

KW - Lake bottom sediments

KW - Pollen analyses

KW - The Little Ice Age

KW - The recent warming

KW - X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84874363379&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1007/s12665-012-1864-z

DO - 10.1007/s12665-012-1864-z

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:84874363379

VL - 68

SP - 1733

EP - 1744

JO - Environmental Earth Sciences

JF - Environmental Earth Sciences

SN - 1866-6280

IS - 6

ER -