Long-Term Trends in Lake Water pH and Metal Concentrations Inferred from Diatoms and Chrysophytes in Three Lakes near Sudbury, Ontario

Abstract

Diatom valves and chrysophyte scales were analyzed in sediment cores to assess historical (post-1860) and recent (since 1970) trends in lake water pH, total [Al], and [Ni] in Lumsden, George, and Acid lakes (Killarney Provincial Park, Ontario). Although acidification in Lumsden and Acid lakes started in the 1930s, rapid acidification only occurred since the 1960s. As lake water pH declined, inferred [Al] greatly increased causing the extirpation of the sport fisheries. In nearby George Lake, acidification started in the 1920s, and inferred lake water pH declined about 0.5 of a pH unit by 1960. The fish community in George Lake survived where the inferred acidification was less severe than Acid and Lumsden lakes. As in previous paleolimnological studies, chrysophytes generally indicate earlier and more marked acidification trajectories when compared with trends inferred from diatoms, probably because the vernal blooming and euplanktonic chrysophytes are tracking spring pH depressions. Although all three lakes have acidified and metal concentrations have increased during this century, our study provides evidence that these lakes, located as far as 60 km away from Sudbury, are showing signs of biological and chemical recovery as a result of recent reductions in SO2emissions from the Sudbury smelters.