Holocene trophic state history of a subtropical blackwater lake, South Georgia, USA

Abstract

Organic-rich sediment from Lake Louise, a dystrophic sinkhole lake in south Georgia, displays variations in C, N, P, C/N, δ13C, δ15N, biogenic silica (BSi) and diatom flora that document changes in trophic state over the past ~9,500 years. The lake initially was oligotrophic and moderately productive, but by the middle Holocene a rising regional water table, driven by eustatic sea level rise, caused expansion of wetlands around the lake and a shift to humic waters. Low rates of sediment accumulation, low C contents, rising C/N, and light δ13C and δ15N indicate this was a time of low productivity, more anoxic bottom waters and extensive recycling of littoral organic matter. These conditions persisted until ~1800 AD when a physical disturbance to the watershed, probably the Great Hurricane of 1780, resulted in a dramatic increase in productivity that has continued to the present day. We attribute this shift, recorded by a >tenfold increase in sediment accumulation rate, higher C, P, and δ15N, and lower BSi, to establishment of an inflow stream that increased nutrient delivery to the lake, raised water level, and expanded the wetland area around the lake. Since ~1930, logging, farming, and highway construction have impacted the lake, further accelerating biological productivity as well as the delivery of terrigenous sediment. Results of this study illustrate the potential of a single, catastrophic event to permanently alter the hydrology and chemistry of a lacustrine system and confirm that dystrophic lakes can be highly productive and therefore promising targets for paleolimnological study.