High mountain lakes are valuable sentinels of global change because they are sensitive to environmental stress and integrate changes in the atmosphere and their catchment areas. This study tested the hypothesis that local and regional anthropogenic stressors have affected productivity, sedimentation, and organic carbon burial in two tropical high mountain lakes in central Mexico. We studied changes in the water column (Secchi disc depth, total suspended solids (TSS), and chlorophyll-a concentrations) and surface sediments (chlorophyll-a and organic carbon concentrations) in El Sol Lake and La Luna Lake during the period 2000–2018, and organic carbon burial rates in sediment cores (∼1884–2014) dated with lead-210 (²¹⁰Pb). We observed increasing water turbidity, TSS, and organic carbon in surface sediments in El Sol Lake. Different responses of the two lakes were caused by lower pH in La Luna Lake and a threefold residence time of TSS in El Sol Lake compared to La Luna Lake, mostly attributable to their different surface/volume ratios. Organic carbon burial rates were slightly higher at La Luna Lake until 2000, when they became higher at El Sol Lake due to increasing sediment accumulation and organic carbon concentrations. In both lakes, results show significantly higher organic carbon burial rates since the 1950s, likely resulting from the deposition of human-induced wind-blown particles derived from activities at the volcano slopes and long-distance transport from highly urbanized areas. Anthropogenic impacts rather than climate change, therefore, caused the recent higher organic carbon burial rates observed in both lakes. Methods and findings from this study provide a valuable basis for comparing changes in other high mountain lakes worldwide.

高山湖泊是全球变化的宝贵标志，因为它们对环境压力敏感，并整合了大气及其集水区的变化。这项研究检验了以下假设：墨西哥中部两个这样的热带高山湖泊中，局部和区域人为压力源已经影响了生产力，沉积和有机碳埋藏。我们研究了2000年以来El Sol湖和La Luna湖中水柱（Secchi盘深度，总悬浮固体（TSS）和叶绿素a浓度）和表面沉积物（叶绿素a和有机碳浓度）的变化。 2018年，沉积物芯中的有机碳埋藏率（〜1884–2014年）为铅210（210Pb）。我们量化了埃尔索尔湖表层沉积物中水浊度，TSS和有机碳的增加。与La Luna湖相比，La Luna湖的pH值较低和TSS在El Sol湖中的停留时间是La Luna湖的三倍，这两个湖的响应有所不同，这主要归因于它们不同的表面/体积比。直到2000年，拉卢纳湖的有机碳埋葬率才略有提高，由于沉积物积累和有机碳浓度的增加，该地区的有机碳埋葬率变得更高。在这两个湖泊中，结果表明自1950年代以来，有机碳埋葬率显着提高，这很可能是由于人为诱发的风吹颗粒的沉积所致，这些颗粒是由于火山边坡的活动和高度城市化地区的长途运输而产生的。因此，人为的影响而不是气候变化导致最近在两个湖泊中观察到的有机碳埋藏率更高。