Glacier-fed lakes on the Tibetan Plateau (TP) have undergone rapid expansions since the late 1990s, concurrent with the changing climate. However, the dominant cause(s) of lake area increases is still debated. To identify the drivers of lake expansion, we studied Aweng Co, a glacier-fed lake in the western TP, where surface area has increased (0.74 km2 year−1) since the late 1970s and most rapidly

Nitrogen (N) is often a limiting nutrient in lacustrine systems, and bulk organic matter stable isotope ratios of N (δ15N) are widely used in lake sediment studies to interpret N source inputs and lake trophic status. Although records of lacustrine sedimentary δ15N can provide critical information relating to past environmental change, often productivity interpretations from δ15N and lacustrine fossil

Chlorophyll is frequently used as a proxy for autochthonous production in lakes. This use of chlorophyll concentrations in sediments to infer historical changes in lake primary production relies heavily on the assumption that preservation is sufficient to reflect the productivity in a meaningful way. In this study, we use a series of freeze cores from a lake with annually laminated sediments to assess

Wetland carbon storage is an important and environmentally sensitive ecosystem service. Carbon burial in the floodplain lakes of the Pantanal (tropical South America) appears to have varied during the late Quaternary, but several paleolimnological studies have recorded unusually high sediment organic carbon content from ~ 7.3 to 6.0 cal kyr BP in lakes connected to the Upper Paraguay River. We conducted

We conducted a systematic review of 89 paleolimnological studies applied to archeological questions. Where we discuss the physical, chemical and biological sediment variables used in these studies in terms of their advantages and disadvantages as paleolimnological proxies for archeological studies. We make four key observations: (1) This field is rapidly growing, (2) More research is needed, (3) More

A multi-proxy study on a sediment core from Pedro Palo Lake, a mid-altitude endorheic Andean Lake in northern South America, was carried out to understand the effects of human activities and climate variability on tropical mountain freshwater ecosystems. Results indicate that between ~ 7980 and 4110 cal year BP the lake maintained well-mixed, mesotrophic conditions, within which a diverse planktonic

Peri-urban lakes offer many valued ecosystem services, but their vulnerability to climate change and anthropogenic disturbances increases with increasing human populations the effects and interactions of multiple stressors on lakes can lead to unexpected outcomes, affecting societal and ecological values, it is necessary to evaluate ecosystem trajectories and respective drivers in peri-urban lakes

A 9.3-m-long lake sediment core from dune-impounded Lake Kai Iwi in Northland, New Zealand provides a nearly continuous record of environmental changes from multi-proxy organic, physical index, and µ-XRF elemental data sets. The chronology for the upper 3 m of the core was established by 210Pb, 14C and tephrochronology and includes Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 1 (Holocene), MIS 2 and late MIS 3. From

Sediment cores retrieved from rivers, lakes, and coastal marine environment have been widely utilized to reconstruct historical variations of anthropogenic pollutants. A sediment core was collected in the Kizilirmak River, Turkey during 2014 and analyzed for a suite of metals (Cu, Pb, Zn, Ag, Ni, Co, Mn, As, Cd, Sb, V, Cr, Hg and Se) to reconstruct their temporal variations. Chronology was attempted

We collected a sediment core from the 6th (6J) Triglav Lake, a remote mountain lake in NW Slovenia, and analysed it for 25 elements, using k0-instrumental neutron activation analysis (k0-INAA). For Hg, we used cold vapour atomic absorption spectrometry (CVAAS). Data were analysed using Principal Component Analysis (PCA). PCA indicated several distinct groups of elements and sediment core samples. Ca

n-Alkanes are biomarkers that are widely used as paleoenvironmental reconstruction proxies in lacustrine sediments. However, studies on their sedimentation and factors affecting sedimentation in large lakes remain relatively scarce. In this study, 120 surface sediments collected from Selin Co, central Tibetan Plateau, were used to analyze the spatial distribution of n-alkanes in a modern sedimentary

Diatom communities are composed of three distinct water-depth-associated assemblages: a nearshore benthic assemblage, a deep-water benthic assemblage, and a primarily planktonic assemblage. Light attenuation with depth has been hypothesized to be the factor that controls benthic-to-planktonic (B:P) assemblage transitions. Previous studies, however, could not distinguish between the individual effects

Organic and inorganic geochemical analyses on sediments from Preto Lake, a central Amazon basin floodplain water body, were used to document hydrological changes of the Solimões River during the late Holocene. Between 3600 and 400 cal yr BP, Preto Lake received smectite-rich sediment from the Solimões River, with high concentrations of Al (~ 53 × 103 ppm) and Si (~ 210 × 103 ppm). The high detrital

We examined diatom assemblages in a sediment core from Lake Superior (Canada/USA) that spans the interval ~ 500–1350 CE and includes the Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA), 950–1250 CE. We sought to determine whether diatom assemblages responded to climate change during that warm, dry period. From 500 to 1350 CE, diatom assemblages were dominated by Lindavia ocellata and Lindavia comensis and there were

Organic matter in lake sediments contains information that can be used to reconstruct lake environmental histories over decades or centuries. In this study, we used organic geochemical proxies (i.e., total organic carbon [TOC], TOC/total nitrogen [TN] atomic ratios [C/N], stable carbon isotope ratios of TOC [δ13CTOC] and palmitic acid [δ13CC16:0], and nitrogen isotope ratios of bulk sediment [δ15Nbulk])

We explored the roles of phytoplankton production, carbon source, and human activity on carbon accumulation in a eutrophic lake (Rostherne Mere, UK) to understand how changes in nutrient loading, algal community structure and catchment management can influence carbon sequestration in lake sediments. Water samples (dissolved inorganic, organic and particulate carbon) were analysed to investigate contemporary

Cyanobacterial blooms are increasing worldwide and have negative impacts on aquatic ecosystems and the services they provide to human societies. A lack of long-term environmental monitoring data, however, has prevented the development of a baseline perspective against which drivers of the increasing frequency and severity of cyanobacterial blooms can be identified. In this study, we evaluate application

Dangxiong Co is a salt lake located in the center of the Tibetan Plateau, China. We studied the petrology, mineralogy, geochemistry and microfossil assemblages in the Quaternary, first terrace of Dangxiong Co. Limnocytherellina was the most common ostracode in the first terrace and prefers warm-humid conditions. Grainy ankerite in the terrace exhibits obvious overgrowth edges and uneven surfaces. Rare

Previous paleolimnological studies demonstrated that the sediments of Garba Guracha, situated at 3950 m asl in the afro-alpine zone of the Bale Mountains of Ethiopia, provide a complete Late Glacial and Holocene paleoclimate and environmental archive. We revisited Garba Guracha in order to retrieve new sediment cores and to apply new environmental proxies, e.g. charcoal, diatoms, biomarkers, and stable

We analyzed the depth distributions of benthic diatoms in two adjacent, but hydrologically distinct subalpine lakes (Lakes Soiernseen, S-Germany). Lake Unterer Soiernsee is affected by marked water-level fluctuations and is light-penetrated to the bottom most of the year, while Lake Oberer Soiernsee provides more stable conditions and an extended aphotic zone. Mixed samples of epiphytic, epilithic

Assessments of aquatic paleoproduction and pigment preservation require accurate identification and quantification of sedimentary chlorophylls. Using chromatographic techniques to analyze long records at high resolution is impractical because they are expensive and labor intensive. We have developed a new rapid and low-cost approach to infer the concentrations of chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b and related

The Athabasca Oil Sands Region (AOSR) in northeast Alberta contains Canada’s largest reserve of hydrocarbons, and the third largest in the world. Extraction and processing operations generate contaminants and nutrients that are aerially deposited across the region. However, structured environmental monitoring efforts were only initiated decades following the establishment (1967) and escalation (~ 1980)

Exploring whether diatom diversity in a lake sediment core is representative of that of the entire lake is important for determining the response of lake diatom diversity to global climatic warming. In this study, Yunlong Lake, an alpine lake located in Yunnan Province, Southwest China, was investigated to explore this question over both space and time. Spatially, we investigated diatom diversity patterns

Lakes cover large parts of the climatically sensitive Arctic landscape and respond rapidly to environmental change. Arctic lakes have different origins and include the predominant thermokarst lakes, which are small, young and highly dynamic, as well as large, old and stable glacial lakes. Freshwater diatoms dominate the primary producer community in these lakes and can be used to detect biotic responses

The degree to which climate variability and anthropogenic stressors have impacted the rich array of boreal lakes in northern Saskatchewan and Alberta was explored in a dataset of 42 lakes from previous paleolimnological investigations of this region. This dataset was used to evaluate the extent of change in diatom assemblages over the past ~ 60 to 70 years in relation to lake and watershed characteristics

In the Forez Basin of the French Massif Central, clay-rich alluvial deposits include a series of red- and green-colored sediments and carbonate cement that record evaporation and oxidizing/reducing conditions related to intra-continental climate during the Early to Middle Miocene. The mineralogy, chemistry and relative chronology of authigenic calcite-ankerite, ferroan dolomite, pyrite, and analcite-clinoptilolite

Climate evolution and hydrological conditions have been crucial factors for cultural development on the east coast of China. The Hangjiahu Plain, given its unique geographic and bioclimatic location, and plentiful Neolithic sites, is an ideal area in which to examine the relationship between environmental change and cultural development along the Lower Yangtze River. We report high-resolution pollen

Stoco Lake (Tweed, Ontario, Canada) has a history of industrial contamination and is heavily influenced by inflow from the Moira River. Stoco Lake is frequently affected by nuisance algal blooms (including cyanobacteria), which have largely been attributed to cultural eutrophication. To further our understanding of the environmental dynamics of Stoco Lake, we applied paleolimnological techniques to

In recent decades, climate change in Peru’s Cordillera Vilcanota has resulted in massive reductions to its cryosphere and the upslope migration of species and agriculture. Little, however, is known about the response of the region’s many lakes that support local biodiversity and supply water to downstream populations. We analyzed fossil diatom assemblages in dated sediment cores from three lakes with

Mass accumulation rates, tracer element ratios, enrichment factors, excess measures, and centred log-ratios are elemental measures used in paleolimnological studies when more than one source (e.g. pollution and/or erosion) contributes an element of interest to the sediment archive, or when the closure constraint results in spurious correlations between element concentrations. To determine which measures

Loss-on-ignition (LOI) is the most widely used measure of organic matter in lake sediments, a variable related to both climate and land-use change. The main drawback for conventional measurement methods is the processing time and hence high labor costs associated with high-resolution analyses. On the other hand, broad-based near infrared reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS) is a time and cost efficient

Wildfire is the dominant natural disturbance agent in forests of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, and can have long-lasting impacts on local landscapes and limnologic processes. We applied a multi-proxy paleolimnological approach to infer the impact of forest fires on the catchment of Island Lake, Wyoming (USA), over the last ~ 350 years. Specifically, we examined whether fossil diatom assemblages

There are relatively few lake sediment records from the southeastern United States that span sufficient time to characterize the environment prior to substantial anthropogenic disturbance. This has made it difficult to characterize the magnitude and timing of the impact of industrial human activities within the context of natural variability. The objective of this study was therefore to use weight

The Holocene sea-level history of the east coast of India is relatively unexplored. We analysed a 17.37-m-long sediment core from Kolleru Lake, a fresh waterbody located in a deltaic setting along the east coast of India, to reconstruct the climate, environmental, and sea-level history of the region. Sedimentary facies and pollen assemblages, with nine accelerator mass spectrometry 14C dates (two mollusk

Stable isotopes of oxygen (δ18O) and hydrogen (δ2H) in precipitation are widely employed tracers of the global hydrologic cycle, and are frequently inferred from lake-water-derived proxies in sediments of high-latitude lakes. Lake-water isotope proxies archive precipitation δ18O and δ2H values, modulated by lake hydrological processes, which may be functionally classified into processes that affect

The oceanographic community routinely uses anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility to identify deformation associated with sediment core collection and sampling, as well as to reconstruct primary and post-depositional conditions. These measurements are also applicable to lacustrine settings. Using anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility, in combination with geochemical and physical analyses of lake sediments

Cladocera (Crustacea: Branchiopoda) quickly respond to changes in environmental conditions and their remains are usually found in large amounts in lacustrine sediments, which make them an important biological proxy in paleolimnological studies. Variations in species composition have been used to infer paleo-climate and paleo-environmental variables including lake depth, eutrophication, and deforestation

Accurate lake sediment-derived palaeoenvironmental reconstructions require in-depth knowledge on sediment record formation processes. In order to understand formation of laminated sediments in the eutrophic Lake Kierskie (western Poland) we conducted a year-round (November 2015–October 2016), monthly sediment trap study along with physico-chemical water properties, water transparency, hardness, alkalinity

Unfortunately, several plots in Fig. 3 labels are missed in the original version of this article. The author has provided the figure with the labels that were missed during editing.

We compile a multi-proxy Holocene record from North Raft Lake located in the sub-Arctic Hudson Bay Lowlands, Canada. Specifically, we use subfossil chironomid, diatom, and pollen assemblages, non-pollen palynomorphs, sedimentary chlorophyll a, magnetic susceptibility, and organic matter content to characterize terrestrial and lake processes and to track paleoclimate following land emergence from the

The state of paleolimnology in the tropics was analyzed using articles published between 1997 and 2015 in the Journal of Paleolimnology, and in other international and tropical-country-based journals. Results showed that most paleolimnological studies have been carried out in high-latitude regions. About 40% of the lakes on Earth, representing almost one-third of global lake surface area, lie within

We present two high-resolution records of Late Holocene (Meghalayan) fire history from lakes in the lowlands of southern Pacific Costa Rica and compare them with evidence of pre-Columbian agriculture in the same cores and with records of regional paleoclimate. Macroscopic charcoal influx at Laguna Danta and Laguna Carse shows several major and minor peaks for approximately the last ~ 800 years, but

We present a high-resolution record of Late Glacial and Early Holocene mercury (Hg) accumulation within the sediments of Laguna de Los Anteojos, a small headwater alpine lake in Venezuela. Our sediment core spans the Older Dryas (OD) and Younger Dryas (YD) climate reversals, providing new insight into the effects of abrupt climatic transitions on atmospheric Hg deposition. Sediment Hg concentrations

In palynology and other laboratory-based disciplines, methodological literature often lags the development and adoption of new practices. Here we highlight the lack of literature on the application of heavy liquid density separation for pollen preparations, a technique that has become common practice in recent years. In a study of Holocene-age sediments from Lake Pupuke, northern New Zealand, we found

The Laurentian Great Lakes have been subject to substantial modification from diverse anthropogenic stressors, including nutrient enrichment, climate change, chemical and biological pollutants, and invasive species, yet little is known of the relative historical influence of these factors. Here we analyze diverse fossil metrics from vibracores at two sites, a bay area (Anchor Bay) and a tributary (Clinton

Salto Grande is a large South American reservoir on the border between Uruguay and Argentina that was impounded in 1979 and experiences recurrent, massive cyanobacteria blooms. A water-monitoring program was initiated 20 years after the dam was built, hence the causes and onset of cyanobacteria blooms remain poorly known. We collected two sediment cores from the old river channel in the reservoir (z = 17 m)

Hanabanilla Reservoir, south-central Cuba, is used for electric power generation, potable water supply and tourism. We examined stratigraphic shifts in algal assemblages that accumulated in the reservoir sediments from the time of construction in 1960 through 2012, and inferred the environmental drivers of such biological changes. Historical fluctuations in algal assemblages were driven by scouring

We evaluated the feasibility of using testate amoebae to infer the quantitative paleohydrology of ombrotrophic mires during their early stages (fen and fen-bog transition) of development. Two transfer functions, one derived from ombrotrophic and the other from minerotrophic mires, were applied to a peat core from an ombrotrophic mire in a taiga region of west Siberia. An ombrotrophic transfer function

The Aliança Formation, within the Brazilian Recôncavo–Tucano–Jatobá Rift System, is a succession of Late Jurassic sedimentary rocks that record the maximum flooding surface of shallow Capianga Lake in the Afro-Brazilian Depression, Gondwana. Several aulacogens and drift-marginal Mesozoic basins of eastern Brazil and western Africa recorded the great extensional event that occurred during the early

Despite a relatively large number of paleoenvironmental and archaeological studies in the Southern Urals, Russia, Holocene moisture dynamics in the region remain a subject of debate. Electrical conductivity (EC) of lake waters in the Southern Urals is climate-dependent and associated with effective moisture. I developed a transfer function using a 72-lake regional diatom dataset and inferred past EC

The grain size of lake sediments has been widely used to reconstruct environmental processes. However, the various components of lake sediments are influenced by different factors, and therefore the environmental significance of grain-size variations may be complex. For example, in situ authigenic biological siliceous components cannot be used to indicate variations in hydrodynamic conditions. Here

The Murray River is Australia’s economically most important river system. As a result of its economic importance, land use change and river regulation have resulted in ecological degradation of the river and associated river wetlands (known throughout Australia as “billabongs”). Palaeolimnology can provide otherwise unobtainable information about the relative impacts of stressors and identify “refuges”

Use of subfossil cladoceran remains for paleolimnological studies in Mesoamerica, especially in Central America, is constrained by the poorly known composition of cladoceran communities. We examined sediments from 56 waterbodies in Central America (Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras) and the Yucatan Peninsula (Mexico), and provide illustrations and descriptions of the remains of Chydoridae from the region

Sediment records from deep-drilling projects such as those carried out by the International Continental Scientific Drilling Program are often tens to hundreds of meters in length. To ensure the complete recovery of a stratigraphic section, a basin is usually cored multiple times in adjacent holes so that gaps between sequential cores, poorly recovered sections, or intervals affected by disturbance

Benthic diatoms are commonly used for palaeoenvironmental reconstruction in Arctic regions, but interpretation of their ecology remains challenging. We studied epilithic diatom assemblages from the shallow margins of 19 lakes from three areas (coast-inland-ice sheet margin) along a climate gradient in Kangerlussuaq, West Greenland during two periods; shortly after ice-off (spring) and in the middle

Observational evidence such as outflow channels and valley networks suggest that in the past there was flowing water on Mars. The images of fluvial features on Mars logically suggest that there must exist downstream locations in which the water pooled and the sediment load deposited (i.e. lakes). Sediments and morphological features associated with the martian paleolakes are believed to occur in Valles

The McMurdo Dry Valleys presently contain more than 20 permanent lakes and ponds, which vary markedly in character. All, with the exception of a hypersaline pond, have a perennial ice-cover. The dry valley lakes, and lakes in other ice-free regions of continental Antarctica, are unique on this planet in that they consistently maintain a thick year-round ice cover (2.8-6.0 m) over liquid water. The