A 900-yr diatom and chrysophyte record of spring mixing and summer stratification from varved Lake Mina, west-central Minnesota, USA

Abstract

A high-resolution, independent pollen-inferred paleoclimate record and direct algal seasonality data from the actual time of sediment deposition are used to interpret the high-resolution diatom and chrysophyte record of varved Lake Mina, west-central Minnesota, USA during AD 1116—2002. This direct algal seasonality information was obtained by splitting varves into constituent winter-spring and summer lamina, and separately analyzing the siliceous algae in each layer. Analyses of integrated, continuous four-year diatom and chrysophyte samples from a sedimentary sequence show that the time period AD 1116—1478 (ie, the Atlantic-centered `Medieval Climate Anomaly' (MCA)) was characterized by periods of vigorous and prolonged spring mixing, suggesting that ice-out occurred early. However, the warm summer temperatures in the MCA, particularly in a massive drought spanning AD 1300—1400, frequently caused the lake to stratify strongly, leading to nutrient depletion. During AD 1478—1870 (ie, the Atlantic-centered `Little Ice Age' (LIA)), Lake Mina was characterized by weak spring circulation and increasing nutrient depletion, suggesting late ice-out conditions. Strong summer stratification and/or nutrient depletion in both time periods is shown by the occurrence of the nutrient-poor oligotrophic taxon Cyclotella pseudostelligera. The diatom and chrysophyte assemblages of the period of Euro-American settlement AD 1870—2002 show higher nutrient availability and increased spring mixing intensity, as a result of forest clearance and increasingly earlier ice-out (documented in regional historical records).